Unholy - KISS

Artist: KISS
Song: Unholy
Year: 1992
Album: Revenge

KISS tends to be a cyclical band. It changes with the musical trends of rock. It hung up the costumes and washed away the makeup in the eighties and stayed away from it until the mid nineties. KISS has done disco, ballads, hair metal, heavy metal and everything in between. So this album was inevitable.

The death of drummer Eric Carr hit the band hard and grunge was starting to eat away at their late eighties successes. They decided to go heavy once again to fit in with the heavier sound that was on the airwaves. With a new direction, Gene Simmons took the lead vocals for the first time since the early eighties. His voice fit the heavier sound better.

After the sexcapades and airy sound of the eighties, this was a welcome change. While this album doesn't get a huge amount of respect, it was the right album at the time. KISS was forced to play their hand or be swept aside. This song and a few others on the album were co-written by Vinnie Vincent, who was fired by the band eight years prior. The heavier sound from that period returned.

The album is uneven, but that's only because KISS was in a transitional phase. This was the building block to something bigger that never quite happened. There are still the eighties type ballads like "God Gave Rock N' Roll To You II" on the album. Something this jarring couldn't be taken all at once. It's just a shame that KISS didn't continue on this path longer. Instead, they donned the costumes and makeup and gave the fans living in the past another look at their youth.

Lyrics:
I was there through the ages
Chained slaves to their cages
I have seen you eat your own
I'm the cycle of pain
Of a thousand year old reign
I'm suicide and salvation
The omen to nations
That you worship on all fours
I'm the infection and famine
That's knocking at your door

That's why you're feeling so

Unholy
Oh, I was created by man, you know I'm....
Unholy
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

I am the incubus
I lay the egg in you
The worm that burrows
Through your brain
But you are the beast
That calls me by my name

You send your children to war
To serve bastards and whores
So now you know
You created me
On the day that you were born

Unholy
I was created by man, yeah I'm the Lord of the flies, you know I'm
Unholy
From the left hand of power comes the father of lies
Unholy - Unholy!

I lay you down to sleep
Your soul to keep
Better cross your heart before you die
And now you know
Know that you are mine

That's why you're feeling so

Unholy, Unholy, Unholy - Unholy!!