In conjunction with KISSFAQ’s month-long NovElder retrospective, KING'S X guitarist Ty Tabor discussed KISS' 1981 concept album, Music From The Elder, offering his recollections of being a fan of the album upon its release. Tabor also offered insight as to why the album failed to resonate with KISS fans. Following are excerpts from Tabor's interview with KissFAQ's Tim McPhate:

KF: From a fan perspective, what do you recall the word on the street being about Music From The Elder in 1981?

Tabor: "To be honest, I had heard a lot of people badmouthing it and I was thinking, 'Wow, there just seems to be a very strong opinion about this record,' which made me want to hear it even more. So I went out and bought it immediately. I had the opposite reaction. When I started listening it to it, my first impression was, 'They're really getting serious with this one,' as far as branching out with the songwriting and everything. I personally was floored by it when I heard it. I couldn't understand why people weren't getting it, because I thought it was killer."

KF: What are some of your favorite tracks on the album?

Tabor: "There are several songs that struck me as heavy as can be. That one song that has the galloping rhythm (sings eighth note with two sixteenth rhythm)...

KF: 'The Oath'.

Tabor: "I remember that one blew me away. There are a couple of Gene songs that are super bad too, really heavy. But believe it or not, some of the more adventurous Paul stuff really intrigued me too. I guess it was both because for me I got the KISS out of it I wanted to get out of it because they did do some rockin' stuff on the record that was right up the alley of what you'd expect from KISS, but at the same time it was flavored with all this other stuff that I don't know, when the heavy stuff came in, it made it even bigger and better to me. There was a day and night between things. There was comparison. There were low points, high points. For instance, there are certain songs where it's more like the parts of the songs and where they choose to go are what struck me as amazing."

KF: Of course, The Elder ended up not performing well, commercially speaking. You're actually part of the minority being a fan who liked the album at the time. Ultimately, why do you think the album did not resonate with the KISS fanbase? Was it just too much of a left turn?

Tabor: "Yeah, I think so. The fact is the stuff that has worked for them is the stuff that has been the stuff that has been more directly to the core, more straight-ahead -- right to the melody, right to the chorus, to the excellent bridge with an excellent solo. They had delivered so many powerful blows in that fashion that when this came out I imagine a lot of people were just close-minded to it because it wasn't what they were expecting. It's just that simple."

KF: Do you think that because the album was released by KISS, it was not given a fair shake? In other words, if a band like PINK FLOYD or RUSH, who had more progressive pedigrees released The Elder, would people have had a different reaction to the material?

Tabor: "I think they would have had to because by that point everybody had their own idea of what they believed KISS was in their own mind. And it's hard to break loose of that once people have formed their opinions. I think if they had not existed as a band ever until that moment and that was the first thing they did, I think people would have been extremely impressed."

Read the entire interview here.