| "I Love It Loud" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byKiss | ||||
| from the albumCreatures of the Night | ||||
| Released | 1982(US) | |||
| Recorded | Record Plant Studios, Los Angeles,1982 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 4:15 | |||
| Label | CasablancaNB-2365 (US) | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Gene Simmons,Vincent Cusano | |||
| Producer(s) | Michael James Jackson, Gene Simmons & Paul Stanley | |||
| Kiss singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| ||||
| Alternative cover | ||||
 7" Vinyl version | ||||
| Music video | ||||
| "I Love It Loud" onYouTube | ||||
"I Love It Loud" is a song by Americanrock bandKiss. It was released on their 1982 albumCreatures of the Night. It was proven to be a staple of the band's live show, being performed on almost every tour the band had done aside from theReunion andPsycho Circus tours.
The track was written by bassist/vocalistGene Simmons and guitaristVinnie Vincent, although some versions of the album mistakenly credit Paul Stanley and Vincent. The latter had been working with songwriter Adam Mitchell when he discovered that Mitchell had connections to Kiss, and Vincent made it a point to meet Simmons through Mitchell. After meeting and exchanging phone numbers with Simmons, the two got together and wrote "I Love It Loud" in addition to another song called "Killer", which appeared on theCreatures album during the same writing session.
The song fades out, only to come back even louder, and then fades out a second time. This idea was taken fromthe Beatles' songs "Helter Skelter" and "Strawberry Fields Forever".
Released as a single in 1982, it was only the second Kiss single to feature a picture sleeve and marked the final Kiss single released on theCasablanca label.[4] As a single, the song did not fare particularly well, failing to crack theBillboard Hot 100, although it did "bubble under" at No. 102.[5] The song hit #45 on the RPM Singles Chart in Canada in March 1983. Musician and musicologistJulian Cope, calling it the "sole classic" fromCreatures of the Night, described its "J. Bonham-as-Thor drum fundament" as "one of thee most colossal pounded in many a year." He continued: "Even the video was damned fine for its time, but those drum stops still sound like Ragnarök to me every time."[6]
Cash Box said that "Eric Carr’s primitive drum throbs, the group's tribal cries and co-writer Gene Simmons’ fierce lead vocal set a scene where 'the Jungle is the only rule.'"[7]
A video was filmed which featured the band, then officially consisting of Simmons, guitarist/vocalistPaul Stanley, drummerEric Carr and guitaristAce Frehley, on stage performing the song while teenagers, watching them perform on television, are being hypnotized (or inspired) by their performance. As the song progresses, the father's newspaper catches fire, the telephone melts, a teacup explodes, the refrigerator door swings open and food items tumble out as the mother stops and stares in disbelief, and a large crack appears in the wall near the television. Howard Marks, one of KISS's business managers from 1976 to 1988, stars as the father in the video.
The video was directed by Paul Davey and produced by John Weaver for Keefco.[8] It also marked the final video for which Kiss wore their famous make-up before unmasking in 1983. Although the lead guitarist who recorded the song really was the unofficial memberVinnie Vincent, the music video features performing Ace Frehley due to contractual reasons, being the last Kiss video to include him (excluding various television appearances Frehley did with the group in support forCreatures of the Night) before his departure later that year.
"I Love It Loud" was the last Kiss single to feature Simmons on lead vocals until "God Gave Rock 'N' Roll to You II" in 1991, and the last to feature Simmons as the sole lead vocalist until "Unholy" in 1992.
This song also appears on other releases such as 1993'sAlive III and on Kiss'The Box Set in2001. The single of the live version reached number 22 onBillboard'sMainstream Rock Tracks.[9] A remixed version of the track appears on Kiss's1988 greatest hits album,Smashes, Thrashes & Hits, that features a notably different drum sound and is missing the fade out in the middle of the song.
ThePhunk Junkeez reworked the song and covered it on their 1995Injected album, retitled "I Love It Loud" (Injected Mix). The song was later included in the soundtrack for the 1995 comedy film,Tommy Boy (starringChris Farley andDavid Spade); a music video for the song was made that featured Farley and Spade (in their film character roles) come upon and take part in a concert held by the Phunk Junkeez while clips from the film were interspersed. The song reached number 88 on the AustralianARIA Singles Chart.[10]
In 1999,Snow recorded a dancehallreggae cover of the song, entitled simplyLoud, on hisCooler Conditions album.[11]
For many years, when the band performs the song in concert the second verse is shortened.[citation needed]
| Chart (1983) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Singles (Kent Music Report)[12] | 76 |
| Canada Top Singles (RPM)[13] | 45 |
| USBubbling Under Hot 100 (Billboard)[14] | 102 |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
