It was their first album to feature a lead vocal performance from Ace Frehley, making it the first Kiss album to feature lead vocal performances from all four band members. It was also the last studio album to feature Peter Criss on every song, as he was replaced by session drummer Anton Fig for all but one song on 1979's Dynasty. A cardboard "Love Gun" was included inside the album, along with a Kiss merchandise order form. Before Love Gun was completed, a Gallup poll indicated that Kiss was the most popular band in the United States, beating Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin and the Eagles. On August 26, 27, and 28, 1977, Kiss recorded three shows at the LA Forum for their next release, their second live albumAlive II. The album cover was painted by fantasy artist Ken Kelly, who previously contributed the cover for 1976's Destroyer.
Songs
"I Stole Your Love" Written by Paul Stanley, "I Stole Your Love" is in the same vein as songs like "Makin' Love" and "C'mon and Love Me". Stanley has said that this song was influenced by Deep Purple's "Burn". "Christine Sixteen" Then-unknown guitarist Eddie and drummer Alex Van Halen played on the demo of this song, as well as "Got Love for Sale". The lyrics have a similar theme to "Goin' Blind" from Hotter Than Hell; both songs involve older men falling in love with younger girls. Sampled by Tone Lōc on "Funky Cold Medina". "Shock Me" The song was inspired by an event that took place during Kiss's Rock and Roll Over tour, when Ace Frehley suffered an electric shock. On December 12, 1976, Kiss performed a concert at the Lakeland Civic Center in Lakeland, Florida. During the opening number, Frehley touched an ungrounded metal staircase railing. He was knocked backward, and the concert was delayed for 30 minutes. The show was eventually completed, and Frehley lost feeling in his hand for the remainder of the concert. This was the first lead vocal that Frehley recorded. In his autobiography, he states that he originally intended for Simmons to sing the song, but the bassist encouraged Frehley to try it himself. Frehley recorded his lead vocal part while lying on the floor of the studio, because he liked the added pressure on his chest. "Tomorrow and Tonight" The song was written to try to recapture the feeling of "Rock and Roll All Nite", but never reached the success of the aforementioned hit. A soundcheck recording of the song appears on Alive II. The song was never played live by the band until Kiss Kruise VII in November 2017. "Love Gun" The title song has been played on every Kiss tour since its release. Stanley has cited it as one of his favorite Kiss songs. It was the first song that Stanley wrote, arranged and produced in its entirety. The song shares many of its lyrics with "The Hunter", written by Booker T. & the M.G.'s, and recorded by Albert King, Ike and Tina Turner, Blue Cheer, and Free. In his autobiography Face the Music, Stanley acknowledges the derivation: "I stole the idea of a 'love gun' from Albert King's version of 'The Hunter,' which Zeppelin also nicked from for 'How Many More Times' on their first album." "Plaster Caster" The song was inspired by Cynthia Plaster Caster, a former groupie famous for casting penises of famous rock musicians, such as Jimi Hendrix. "Then She Kissed Me" The song is one of several gender-reversed covers of the Crystals' 1963 single "Then He Kissed Me".
Reissues
Love Gun was reissued in 1985. The reissue included the original artwork, and while it featured a plain sleeve the jacket still contained a reference for the original color sleeve. The first 10,000 pressings included an error on the labels; Track 3 on Side A was listed as Plaster Caster but actually played Got Love For Sale. Side B was completely out of order. Love Gun was remastered and reissued in 1997 as part of the Kiss Remasters series. It was remastered and reissued again in a deluxe edition on October 28, 2014, with sleeve notes by Def Leppard's Joe Elliott and a second disc containing demos, live rarities and a 1977 interview with Gene Simmons. All tracks on the second disc were previously unreleased, bar the demo of "Reputation", which had appeared on the compilation Kiss 40 a few months earlier. The three live tracks were recorded at the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland on December 20, 1977. "The potential for this to be the greatest deluxe edition of all time," noted music writerGeoff Barton, "is ruined by a too-clean remastering job – plus, if truth be told, a track that has dated badly in 'Christine Sixteen'."
