10 Rock Albums That No One Was Asking For

One of the main reasons why people idolized KISS was just how different they seemed compared to every other rock and roll band. Rock isn’t going to run short on bands just willing to play, so seeing the rock and roll equivalent of superheroes was a lot more interesting, giving you a circus act whenever you saw them live. With that as your entire demographic, why they decided to make a progressive flavored concept record still boggles the mind. While you can’t really call Music from the Elder prog in the truest sense, it’s impossible to even nail down what it’s going for in the first place.

Framed as a rock opera of sorts, the entire album seems like some of the most generic fan fiction that you would expect out of someone like Gene Simmons, talking about the mythic power of magic and the need for heroes in a world dominated by people like Mr. Blackwell, who’s motives in the context of the album are still totally unclear. After trying desperately to get the thing made, Ace Frehley was beside himself listening to the final mix, making him quit the group right as they were about to go on tour, wanting to make a more rock focused record than create a bunch of storylines that he didn’t want to write in the first place.

Even if you were following along with the story though, the whole thing becomes irrelevant with different editions, putting the songs in a different order and completely mixing up the flow of the album. This may have been the first album without the Fearsome Foursome together, but if you were in Eric Carr’s position behind the drum kit, you’d probably be questioning just what the hell you got yourself into playing these songs.