Gene Simmons offers an understatement when describing 'The Elder'

KISS' 1981 album is so bad it can't be forgotten by most people, and what Gene Simmons said about it is an understatement

With a shift in style on 1979’s Dynasty and 1980’s Unmasked, and as Peter Criss and Ace Frehley became disengaged and eventually left the band, KISS struggled to find footing. The answer, or so they thought? A concept album, which led to 1981’s Music From The Elder.

As the 40th anniversary of the ‘The Elder’ approaches later this year, Gene Simmon talked about it during an interview with Guitar World.

"It was a time of flux. A lot of bands were trying to figure out who they were and so were we. Sometimes if you do the same thing forever, you think, like that Peggy Lee song, ‘Is that all there is?’ We did try to fool around on some tracks like [Destroyer song] Great Expectations [sings chorus in falsetto]. "

Never one to mince words, calling it a “time of flux” for KISS in particular is quite the understatement from Simmons.

“The Elder” quickly faded from the public eye, and led to KISS turning back heavier for 1982’s well-done Creatures Of The Night (check out my podcast review of that album here). But it did yield one song that stands as one my favorite KISS songs, albeit the MTV Unplugged version (video below), “A World Without Heroes.” It was also the lone single from the album, which I’ve also posted a full video playlist of in the bottom of this post.