"Rise to It" is a song by American rock band

Kiss A kiss is the touching or pressing of one's lips against another person, animal or object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely; depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sex ...

, released in 1989 as the third and final single from their 15th studio album ''

Hot in the Shade ''Hot in the Shade'' is the fifteenth studio album by American rock band Kiss, released in 1989. It is the first Kiss studio album since 1981's '' Music From "The Elder"'' to feature lead vocals from someone other than Paul Stanley or Gene Simmon ...

''. It only charted on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and

Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart published by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States. It is an administrative category that combines the " active rock" and " heritage rock" ...

.Kiss > Hot in the Shade > Charts & Awards > Billboard singles

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

. Retrieved December 3, 2011. It is the final single by the band on which

Eric Carr Paul Charles Caravello (July 12, 1950 – November 24, 1991), better known as Eric Carr, was an American musician. He was the drummer for the rock band Kiss from 1980 until his death in 1991. Caravello was selected as the new Kiss drummer afte ...

plays drums. He was diagnosed with terminal heart cancer following the supporting tour.

Composition and lyrics

"Rise to It" is a

glam metal Glam metal (also known as hair metal or pop metal) is a subgenre of heavy metal music, heavy metal that features pop music, pop-influenced Hook (music), hooks and guitar riffs, upbeat arena rock, rock anthems, and slow Sentimental ballad#Powe ...

song written by rhythm guitarist and vocalist

Paul Stanley Paul Stanley (born Stanley Bert Eisen; January 20, 1952) is an American musician who was the co-founder, frontman, rhythm guitarist, and co-lead vocalist of the hard rock band Kiss (band), Kiss from the band's inception in 1973 to their retireme ...

, and

Bob Halligan Jr. Robert Sidney Halligan Jr. (born January 3, 1953) is an American singer, musician, music producer and songwriter who has collaborated with many artists, particularly in the hard rock/heavy metal music, heavy metal genre, throughout his career. He ...

Starting with an acoustic intro, which has been compared to

Cinderella "Cinderella", or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a Folklore, folk tale with thousands of variants that are told throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988. The protagonist is a you ...

's "Bad Seamstress Blues", the lyrics explore the life of an unknown musician who claims that he will "rise to it".

Release

The song was added to the setlist for the second show of the

Hot in the Shade Tour The Hot in the Shade Tour was a concert tour by American rock band Kiss in support of their fifteenth studio album ''Hot in the Shade''. Background Following the Crazy Nights World Tour, Stanley had embarked on a solo club tour in 1989 while th ...

and was performed until the end of the tour. The band dropped the song from the setlist of the

Revenge Tour The Revenge Tour was a concert tour by Kiss (band), Kiss in support of the band's studio album ''Revenge (Kiss album), Revenge''. Background It was the first tour with drummer Eric Singer, replacing Eric Carr who died of cancer on November 24, 19 ...

and never played it alive again. The lowest charting single off the album, it reached No. 81 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, the last Kiss song to do so, and No. 40 on the

Music video

The music video, directed by

Mark Rezyka Mark Rezyka (born 11 June 1959 in Montreal, Canada) was best known as a top director of Heavy metal music, heavy metal music videos in the 1980s and 1990s. With partners Marcelo Epstein and Dominic Orlando, he founded Pendulum Productions in 1982, ...

, features Stanley and Simmons in their iconic makeup personas for the first time since the ''

Creatures of the Night ''Creatures of the Night'' is the tenth studio album by American rock band Kiss, released in 1982. It was the band's last for Casablanca Records, the only label for which Kiss had recorded up to that point. The album was dedicated to the memor ...

'' tour in 1982. The video's intro and epilogue scenes take place at the band's dressing room in 1975. While putting their makeup on, Stanley and Simmons debate about performing without it. The epilogue has the band preparing for their show, where Stanley states no matter what changes, they will still be Kiss. The costumes used in these scenes are historically inaccurate; Simmons' costume is from ''Unmasked'' (1980), while Stanley's is from ''

Love Gun ''Love Gun'' is the sixth studio album by American hard rock band Kiss, released on June 30, 1977. Casablanca Records and FilmWorks shipped one million copies of the album on this date. It was certified platinum and became the band's first top ...

'' (1977). In addition,

Peter Criss George Peter John Criscuola (born December 20, 1945), better known by his stage name Peter Criss, is an American musician, best known as a co-founder, original drummer, and an occasional vocalist of the hard rock band Kiss. Criss established th ...

and

Ace Frehley Paul Daniel "Ace" Frehley (, ; born April 27, 1951) is an American musician who was the original lead guitarist, occasional lead vocalist and founding member of the rock band Kiss (band), Kiss. He invented the persona of The Spaceman (a.k.a. ...

are substituted with body doubles

and

Bruce Kulick Bruce Howard Kulick (; born December 12, 1953) is an American guitarist best known as a former guitarist of the band Kiss (band), Kiss (19841996). He was also a member of Union (band), Union with John Corabi from 19972002, Blackjack (American ba ...

(who was wearing

Vinnie Vincent Vincent John Cusano (born August 6, 1952), better known by his stage name Vinnie Vincent, is an American guitarist. He is a former member of the rock band Kiss from 1982 until mid-1984 during the band's transition out of their 1973–1983 makeu ...

’s “Ankh Warrior” costume).

Personnel

–

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a guitar technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse (music), pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., d ...

Gene Simmons Gene Simmons (born Chaim Witz; ; born August 25, 1949) also known by his stage persona "The Demon", is an Israeli-born American musician. He was the bassist and co-lead singer of the hard rock band Kiss (band), Kiss, which he co-founded wit ...

–

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

–

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

, backing vocals *

–

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

, backing vocals

Charts

References

{{Kiss singles Kiss (band) songs 1989 songs 1990 singles Songs written by Paul Stanley Songs written by Bob Halligan Jr. Mercury Records singles