In late-1981, KISS tried to make one for the critics and released (Music From) The Elder, a medieval concept album – and a supposed soundtrack for a film that didn’t exist - produced by Bob Ezrin and featuring songs co-written by Lou Reed. I personally have loved the album from the day it came out and found it quite adventurous with some of the best musicianship the band has ever produced. But I was certainly in the tiny minority, as The Elder bombed spectacularly, and within the space of two years KISS had gone from playing Madison Square Gardens to an act that would barely be able to fill school auditoriums – a popularity slump that would only start improving when the band finally decided to ditch the make-up and costumes two years later.
To coincide with the release of The Elder, KISS filmed a music video for the closing song from the album, “I” (one of only two or three songs on the LP that sounded traditionally KISS-like). The video was ultimately never released and for over 35 years has been a holy grail for KISS video collectors.
Now, a heavily watermarked, time-coded and somewhat grainy copy of the “I” video has finally surfaced, and it is not too hard to see why the video was ultimately buried! Filmed on a set that looks like leftovers from Superman’s Fortress of Solitude and featuring the band performing the song in front of what look like a bunch of blow-ins from a Solid Gold or Soul Train audience, this video rivals their infamous 1978 TV movie KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park for goofiness…the shot of Gene singing part of the song while bopping up and down on the shoulders of a lucky audience member is one of many fun highlights.
Still good to finally get to see it after all these years. Check it out now in case Gene gets it taken down!
