I Was Made for Loving You

Those crazy boxed Halloween costumes...

Okay - I have to admit that I was always a bit afraid of Kiss. When they were really at a highpoint in the music world, I was in kindergarten. I remember that year, and I was only 5. All of the boys in my kindergarten class dressed up as Kiss for Halloween, and it honestly scared the daylights of out me. Back in 1980, we had these horrible Halloween costume "sets." It was basically a plastic mask held on by a thin elastic strap stapled to each side and then a big, smelly, plastic/rubber smock as the costume. Ugh, they were awful, and the smock/dress costume thing always ripped. But, we had to have them!

That being said, I think it's alright to put "I Was Made for Loving You" into this blog, even though the song was released just a year earlier (1979). As I mentioned, I was always afraid of the band, so I didn't listen to much of their music even as an adult. Old habits die hard. Anyway, I was looking around the internet and discovered that Kiss performed in Australia in 2003 with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. The performance was recorded, and a live album was released titled Kiss Symphony: Alive IV. Low and behold, I saw some videos from the show, and I was blown away by the performance of "I Was Made for Loving You." I read that the conductor of the Melbourne Symphony arranged the orchestral parts, which I am sure was no small task. The orchestra sounds AMAZING in this performance - powerhouse brass section, awesome strings playing swiftly together with perfect intonation. If was incredible. The orchestra really seemed to amp up the performance to a level that you wouldn't normally expect from a classical instrumental ensemble. Even better, the orchestra members were all wearing Kiss makeup! Even the wind players. It is so amazing. Wish I had that gig! There are just so many layers and tonal colors that orchestras have in and of themselves. When you add that to a rock band live on stage, well, the results are unbelievable.

Meanwhile, the song itself needs no interpretation. Lyrics are to the point and very clear, although it is kind of neat to think about two people being made for each other. We hear that as a cliché expression: "Oh, those two were made for each other." Kind of sounds syrupy-sweet and kind of cutesy. But, when Paul Stanley is up there with Kiss singing "I was made for loving you baby, you were made for loving me...I can't get enough of you baby, can you get enough of me..." it really packs a punch!!! Yeah! The performance is truly amazing in the video - orchestra, guitar solo, drums, vocals. It's insane. I especially love the punctuation of the lyrics with pyrotechnics toward the end..."I was made" BOOM, "You were made" BOOM, "Can't get enough" BOOM, "No I can't get enough" BOOM! Hope you enjoy this incredible performance!