Don’t close your eyes — because you won’t believe what you see when you re-open them: KIX has cracked the Billboard Top 50.
A round of applause for the state of record sales in 2014, everyone.
The veteran hard rock band, perhaps best known for 1988 platinum-selling record Blow My Fuse, released their first album in 19 years earlier this month, and Rock Your Face Off’s first week album sales propelled it to Number 50 on the Billboard Album Top 200.
We’re taking the piss here with the tone of this post, but hey, good for them. And surely they’ll have a better showing in town than that recent Quiet Riot disaster at the Wilbur. If BulletBoys can have their own freakin’ tour bus in 2014, we suppose KIX could have a charting record.
Listen to the lead single “Love Me With The Top Down” below, but not before revisiting their ’80s hit “Don’t Close Your Eyes.” Here’s official word from their label, Loud & Proud:
Fans of KIX — Steve Whiteman (vocals), Brian “Damage” Forsythe (guitar), Ronnie “10/10” Younkins (guitar), Jimmy “Chocolate” Chalfant (drums), Mark Schenker (bass) — have waited almost two decades for new music. Now that their seventh album was released August 5 on Loud & Proud Records, their unwavering and undying support has landed ROCK YOUR FACE OFF in the Top 50 on Billboard’s “Top 200 Albums” chart.
Elsewhere in Billboard, in addition to the #48 chart debut, ROCK YOUR FACE OFF debuted at #5 on the Independent Albums chart, #11 on the Top Internet chart, #17 on the Top Rock Albums chart, #27 on the Indy/Small Chain Core Stores chart and #33 on the Physical chart. It also debuted at #1 on Amazon’s Hard Rock and Metal chart.
KIX 2014 LIVE DATES
August 16: Greencastle, PA Greencastle Legion Grounds Sat
September 13: Berlin, MD Soundwave Festival at Airlift Acres Sat
September 20: Baltimore, MD Rams Head Live Sat
October 25: Camp Hill, PA Radisson Convention Center Sat
December 20: Baltimore, MD Rams Head Live (KIXmas)