KISS released their self-titled debut album on February 18, 1975. The album features the band’s first single, “Kissin’ Time,” which peaked at number 83 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Many of the tracks on the first KISS album were written by Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley when they had been bandmates in Wicked Lester. That group had formed in New York City in 1970 and recorded an album for Epic Records which was never released. The album was produced by Richie Wise, who says he wasn’t thrilled by the album’s sound when it first came out:“At the time I thought it sounded wimpy. I didn’t think the guitars were distorted enough. I didn’t think the album was aggressive enough,” he said in “Kiss: Behind the Mask” by David Leaf.