(Music From) The Elder

It’s a stretch to say that Kiss’s infamous concept album flop Music From “The Elder” is a lost masterpiece – or any masterpiece. But it really has to be heard to be believed, and unlike the majority of the dull or vaguely competent studio albums they released in later years, the big budget, courtesy of Bob Ezrin’s return as producer, is easily sensed throughout. The curiosity of Lou Reed cowrites like the mournful “A World Without Heroes” is one attraction, the jawdropping wannabe ‘epic’ moves of songs like “Odyssey” another (opening lyric: “From a far off galaxy!”)