Lick It Up

Lick It Up is an album by the U.S. hard rock/heavy metal band Kiss. On the day of the album’s release, Kiss appeared on MTV without their trademark makeup. It was the first public appearance without makeup by Kiss since the very early days of the band. The album cover had bassist/band co-founder Gene Simmons sticking out his long trademark tongue to show fans that the quartet were still Kiss, with or without makeup. Lick It Up was certified Platinum on December 19, 1990.

While the title track remains a regular staple on the band’s live performances, the rest of the album is seldom played live.

This is the first Kiss release to feature the band (Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, the late Eric Carr and Vincent Cusano) without their trademark greasepaint that made therm famous in the early seventies. Lineup changes and musical direction had plagued the group since the ‘78 release of the four solo albums, which was an ego-fueled decision, and a bad one. This effort put them back in the forefront of hard rock’s top arena acts, and gained them some respect from some that considered them a “gimmick.”

Lick It Up built upon the harder sound Kiss had displayed on 1982’s Creatures of the Night. But while Creatures of the Night was a commercial disappointment for Kiss, Lick It Up sold much better. It was certified gold on December 22, 1983, the first Kiss album to achieve certification since 1980’s Unmasked. This is at least partially attributable to the increased publicity the band received after their unmasking.