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"Shock Me"
"Shock Me"
Song by Kiss
from the album Love Gun
Released	June 30, 1977
Recorded	May 1977
Genre	Hard rock
Length	3:47
Label	Casablanca Records
Songwriter(s)	Ace Frehley
Producer(s)	Eddie Kramer

"Shock Me" is a song by American glam rock band Kiss, which first appeared on their 1977 album Love Gun. It was written by lead guitarist Ace Frehley, who made his lead vocal debut with the track. The song was inspired by an event that took place during Kiss' Rock and Roll Over tour, when he was nearly electrocuted from his electric guitar. It was ranked #50 in Guitar World magazine's "100 Greatest Guitar Solos Ever".^[1]

Background

On December 12, 1976, Kiss performed a concert at the Lakeland Civic Center in Lakeland, Florida. During the opening song, Frehley touched a metal staircase railing, which was ungrounded. He was knocked to the ground, and the concert was delayed for 30 minutes. The show was eventually completed, and Frehley claimed to have lost feeling in his hand for the remainder of the concert.^[2]

Frehley presented "Shock Me" to Kiss in completed form. According to Gene Simmons, the rest of the band was not involved in the song's arrangement. Although Frehley had written a number of Kiss songs previously, this was his first time performing lead vocals. The song has since become his "theme song" for the band. Frehley, who was insecure about his singing, recorded his vocals while lying on the floor.^[3]^{[self-published source]}

Live history

"Shock Me" was added to Kiss' setlist starting with the Love Gun Tour. Frehley's guitar solo, previously performed during "She" and then "Cold Gin", was added to the song. The song was dropped from the setlist after the 1977–78 Alive II tour. Kiss did not perform the song again until Frehley returned to the group for their 1996–97 Alive/Worldwide Tour. It remained in the group's setlist during the Psycho Circus World Tour, although Frehley's guitar solo was moved to "Into the Void".^[2] Since Frehley's departure, Kiss continued to perform the song live with Tommy Thayer on lead vocals until it was dropped from the setlist in 2012 in favor of his song, "Outta This World".

Reception

"Shock Me" is widely considered one of Kiss's best songs. In 2014, Paste ranked the song number ten on their list of the 20 greatest Kiss songs,^[4] and in 2019, Louder Sound ranked the song number seven on their list of the 40 greatest Kiss songs.^[5]

Appearances

Kiss

Love Gun (1977)
Alive II (1977)
The Box Set (2001)
Gold (2005)
Ikons (2008)

Cover versions

Acid Drinkers - Are You a Rebel? (1990) - retitled "Fuck Me", a bonus live track on the 2008 re-release
Red House Painters – Shock Me EP (1994); Retrospective (1999)
The opening riff was incorporated into the Buckcherry song Lit Up in 1999

Personnel

Ace Frehley – lead vocals, all guitars, bass
Peter Criss – drums, percussion, backing vocals
Paul Stanley – backing vocals

Notes and references

^ "The 50 greatest guitar solos of all time". 25 February 2021.
^ ^a ^b Gooch, Curt and Jeff Suhs. KISS Alive Forever: The Complete Touring History, Billboard Books, 2002. ISBN 0-8230-8322-5
^ Gill, Julian. The KISS Album Focus, Volume 1 (3rd Edition). Xlibris Corporation, 2005. ISBN 1-4134-8547-2
^ Lore, Mark (June 26, 2014). "The 20 Best KISS Songs". Paste. Retrieved April 5, 2022.
^ "The 40 best Kiss songs of all time". Louder Sound. July 15, 2019. Retrieved April 5, 2022.