Marking a stylistic departure from the pop-influenced glam metal which characterized much of the band's 1980s output for a heavier sound, the album reached the Top 20 in several countries, though it failed to reestablish the group back in the mainstream and its sales were equal-to or less than its predecessors, ultimately only being certified gold by the RIAA on July 20, 1992.

[4] But Simmons, Ezrin and Paul Stanley rewrote the lyrics to the verses of the song, which they recorded at Ocean Way Recording, The Enterprise and A&M Studios in California, with both Eric Carr and Eric Singer: Singer played the drums while Carr, who was unable to play for his health problems, sang the a cappella line "...to everyone, He gave his song to be sung."

God Gave Rock 'n Roll to You II was featured in Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey with a 40-second Steve Vai solo instead of the Kiss intro found on the album and was a major success, hitting the Top 30 in seven countries, including the Mainstream Rock Tracks in the United States.

"[6] With Dave "The Snake" Sabo of Skid Row, Stanley wrote "Do Ya Wanna Touch Me Now", which ultimately failed to make the tracklist.

They later discussed Stanley's possible appearance for Skid Row's recording of Kiss' "C'mon and Love Me" for the all-covers EP B-Side Ourselves.

The collaboration began before the sessions for "God Gave Rock 'n' Roll to You II" and during the recording of Warrant's most successful album Cherry Pie.

"So, like most things I do, I bullheadedly picked up the phone, tracked down his manager, and said, 'Hi, I'm that guy who sticks his tongue out, and I wanna write a song with Dylan,' or words to that effect.

'"[citation needed] The song, originally titled "Laughing When I Want to Cry", was later renamed to "Waiting for the Morning Light" and released on Simmons's second solo album Asshole.

Additional personnel included Dick Wagner of Alice Cooper on the guitar solo for "Every Time I Look at You" (Wagner had previously performed as a ghost player on Destroyer),[8] Kevin Valentine on drums for "Take It Off" (Valentine later performed drums as a ghost player on Psycho Circus),[9] Jesse Damon, Tommy Thayer, and Jaime St. James on backing vocals.

During the Kissology Volume Two: 1978–1991 special aired on VH1 Classic, Simmons stated that "God Gave Rock 'n' Roll to You II" is "not just a cover song for a soundtrack, but a testament to Eric Carr".

"[12] After the success of "God Gave Rock 'n' Roll to You II", Mercury Records released "Unholy" as a single in Europe and it charted in 5 countries.

The following singles – "Domino", "I Just Wanna" and "Every Time I Look at You" – were less successful, with the first two receiving only consistent airplay on mainstream rock radios in the US.

Billboard acclaimed the return to form of the band,[17] while at the same time Rolling Stone's review was harsh, giving the album one out of five stars.

[16] John Franck of AllMusic praised Ezrin's production, which made Kiss sound "fresh again" and wrote that "some of the cuts are excellent, delivered with conviction and panache, but for all the hype, the album is also tainted with filler.

"[13] Canadian journalist Martin Popoff liked the album and remarked "the new levels of intricacy and surprise metalodies" in the songs, "putting Kiss back in charge of their particular brand of doofus metal".

Despite the high debut, the album quickly fell off the charts but sold enough for the gold certificate in the United States and Canada.