Well, with the band having played their final show, I figured the time was right to discuss them, the music, their impact, and their legacy.
And no, I'm not going to praise them as if they were the best band ever, because they're not, heck even they themselves would acknowledge that. So I'm also going to name the low points in their 50-year history.
And let me start off with the band at their lowest: during the eighties. Gene Simmons to his own account "wasn't there" during that decade, he showed up in terrible movies and wore ridiculous wigs on stage to hide the fact that he had his hair short.
And having mentioned terrible movies...
This is what happens when the management decides to give the band members themselves NO input in what they saw as a Kiss version of "A hard days night." Paul said in his book that when he saw the finished movie at the release, that he "Wanted the earth to open up and swallow him right there and then."
As I stated earlier, Gene to his own admission "wasn't there" during the eighties, when the band devolved into a run-of-the-mill hair metal band. Paul kept the band going through sheer determination and persistence. Even if it DID result in them doing humiliating opening slots for bands that used to open for them, or making appearances where they would half-ass mime a performance.
And then we have the most recent low point.
Taking a page out of the books by bands like Gorillaz and ABBA, Kiss have decided to replace the band and have CGI avatars do the shows. Making sure the band goes on even without physical members. Oh well, at least there are enough tribute bands doing what Kiss will no longer be doing themselves: putting up a Kiss show with live music.
Okay, that were some of the low points, let's look at what they did right.
Well, first of all, they got royal approval, Elvis totally got what they were doing and what the idea behind the makeup was, and I love how he thought that Ace'Frehley's way of playing was "X-rated"
Kiss toured with Rush, facilitating Rush's big break. They weren't the only band who owed their carriers to touring with and opening shows for Kiss.
Iron Maiden did their first European tour supporting Kiss in 1980, Steve Harris said that he spoke with Paul extensively about the scale of the show, making mental notes on how to get it done. He later returned the favor in helping Kiss play Monsters of Rock 1988.
Wanna talk "truth in advertising?"
Yeah "Show of shows" is an understatement if there EVER was one. AC/DC opening up for Kiss and no doubt giving them a run for their money.
Eeeeyup, yet another band getting their big break when playing opening slots for Kiss was Bon Jovi. Legend says that Jon asked Paul to write some songs for their then upcoming album "Slippery when wet" Paul declined but instead promised Jon to introduce him to a character called Desmond Child. I guess I only need to mention the titles "You gave love a bad name", "Bad medicine" and "Living on a prayer" will say enough on how cool of a gesture that was from Paul's side.
So how about their music? Well, as the band themselves would agree to, they weren't exactly original: you'd take Humble Pie, The Beatles, the Who and Led Zeppelin, add a good dose of Glam Rock like Slade and there we are. But when they were ON it, that did result in some pretty hard slamming songs.
Ace Frehley said that the first song the band made him play during his audition was "Deuce" and that he "Loved it from the get-go."
Likewise, when Peter Criss auditioned for the band, he was quoted as saying "Oh, I think we have something SPECIAL here." when Gene and Paul brought forth THIS one.
Now let's talk about IMPACT.
Rick James with a Kramer Gene Simmons Axe bass. In addition, he also recorded a song called "Love Gun", taking the title from Kiss' 1977 album and single. Showcasing that Kiss' impact reached far beyond just rock and metal.
Parliament/Funkadelic were Casablanca records label mates of Kiss and George Clinton has admitted to taking a couple of leafs out of Kiss' book on how to put on an epic show.
But the real impact they had was inspiring young rockers to pick up guitars and starting up bands.
The Late great Dimebag Darrell showing his Ace Frehley Tattoo to the man himself. Dimebag was actually buried in a Kiss coffin.
Scott Ian showcasing his Gene Simmons Tattoo
Kiss was one of the first bands who acknowledged the fact that metal fans see themselves as a society of its own, a society of misfits and freaks. Sam Dunn, a metal fan anthropologist, saw that as his main inspiration to start his metal documentaries.
So were Kiss the perfect Rock band?
- No.
But was their music simple?
- Just try to write a good Rock song, you'll be surprised how difficult it is.
And in the end, it was always THEM on stage, not the critics who were always undermining what Kiss were doing.
Well, with the band having played their final show, I figured the time was right to discuss them, the music, their impact, and their legacy.
And no, I'm not going to praise them as if they were the best band ever, because they're not, heck even they themselves would acknowledge that. So I'm also going to name the low points in their 50-year history.
And let me start off with the band at their lowest: during the eighties. Gene Simmons to his own account "wasn't there" during that decade, he showed up in terrible movies and wore ridiculous wigs on stage to hide the fact that he had his hair short.
And having mentioned terrible movies...
This is what happens when the management decides to give the band members themselves NO input in what they saw as a Kiss version of "A hard days night." Paul said in his book that when he saw the finished movie at the release, that he "Wanted the earth to open up and swallow him right there and then."
As I stated earlier, Gene to his own admission "wasn't there" during the eighties, when the band devolved into a run-of-the-mill hair metal band. Paul kept the band going through sheer determination and persistence. Even if it DID result in them doing humiliating opening slots for bands that used to open for them, or making appearances where they would half-ass mime a performance.
And then we have the most recent low point.
Taking a page out of the books by bands like Gorillaz and ABBA, Kiss have decided to replace the band and have CGI avatars do the shows. Making sure the band goes on even without physical members. Oh well, at least there are enough tribute bands doing what Kiss will no longer be doing themselves: putting up a Kiss show with live music.
Okay, that were some of the low points, let's look at what they did right.
Well, first of all, they got royal approval, Elvis totally got what they were doing and what the idea behind the makeup was, and I love how he thought that Ace'Frehley's way of playing was "X-rated"
Kiss toured with Rush, facilitating Rush's big break. They weren't the only band who owed their carriers to touring with and opening shows for Kiss.
Iron Maiden did their first European tour supporting Kiss in 1980, Steve Harris said that he spoke with Paul extensively about the scale of the show, making mental notes on how to get it done. He later returned the favor in helping Kiss play Monsters of Rock 1988.
Wanna talk "truth in advertising?"
Yeah "Show of shows" is an understatement if there EVER was one. AC/DC opening up for Kiss and no doubt giving them a run for their money.
Eeeeyup, yet another band getting their big break when playing opening slots for Kiss was Bon Jovi. Legend says that Jon asked Paul to write some songs for their then upcoming album "Slippery when wet" Paul declined but instead promised Jon to introduce him to a character called Desmond Child. I guess I only need to mention the titles "You gave love a bad name", "Bad medicine" and "Living on a prayer" will say enough on how cool of a gesture that was from Paul's side.
So how about their music? Well, as the band themselves would agree to, they weren't exactly original: you'd take Humble Pie, The Beatles, the Who and Led Zeppelin, add a good dose of Glam Rock like Slade and there we are. But when they were ON it, that did result in some pretty hard slamming songs.
Ace Frehley said that the first song the band made him play during his audition was "Deuce" and that he "Loved it from the get-go."
Likewise, when Peter Criss auditioned for the band, he was quoted as saying "Oh, I think we have something SPECIAL here." when Gene and Paul brought forth THIS one.
Now let's talk about IMPACT.
Rick James with a Kramer Gene Simmons Axe bass. In addition, he also recorded a song called "Love Gun", taking the title from Kiss' 1977 album and single. Showcasing that Kiss' impact reached far beyond just rock and metal.
Parliament/Funkadelic were Casablanca records label mates of Kiss and George Clinton has admitted to taking a couple of leafs out of Kiss' book on how to put on an epic show.
But the real impact they had was inspiring young rockers to pick up guitars and starting up bands.
The Late great Dimebag Darrell showing his Ace Frehley Tattoo to the man himself. Dimebag was actually buried in a Kiss coffin.
Scott Ian showcasing his Gene Simmons Tattoo
Kiss was one of the first bands who acknowledged the fact that metal fans see themselves as a society of its own, a society of misfits and freaks. Sam Dunn, a metal fan anthropologist, saw that as his main inspiration to start his metal documentaries.
So were Kiss the perfect Rock band?
- No.
But was their music simple?
- Just try to write a good Rock song, you'll be surprised how difficult it is.
And in the end, it was always THEM on stage, not the critics who were always undermining what Kiss were doing.
According to Gene, he's had plenty of cougars attack him.
Well, for one thing, Siegfried and Roy (Or to put it more correctly: Siegfried UND Roy) never had multiple platinum selling album under their belts. Nor have they ever inspired budding musicians to pick up guitars and starting bands.
Except it really wasn't...
I knew exactly what I was hearing when I was a junior audience, and I was a big Stones fan, too, and never once did I hear a song from KISS that sounded like the Stones until they covered 2000 Man on Dynasty. I still can’t think of anything they did that sounded like the Stones.
Well, with the band having played their final show, I figured the time was right to discuss them, the music, their impact, and their legacy.
And no, I'm not going to praise them as if they were the best band ever, because they're not, heck even they themselves would acknowledge that. So I'm also going to name the low points in their 50-year history.
And let me start off with the band at their lowest: during the eighties. Gene Simmons to his own account "wasn't there" during that decade, he showed up in terrible movies and wore ridiculous wigs on stage to hide the fact that he had his hair short.
And having mentioned terrible movies...
This is what happens when the management decides to give the band members themselves NO input in what they saw as a Kiss version of "A hard days night." Paul said in his book that when he saw the finished movie at the release, that he "Wanted the earth to open up and swallow him right there and then."
As I stated earlier, Gene to his own admission "wasn't there" during the eighties, when the band devolved into a run-of-the-mill hair metal band. Paul kept the band going through sheer determination and persistence. Even if it DID result in them doing humiliating opening slots for bands that used to open for them, or making appearances where they would half-ass mime a performance.
And then we have the most recent low point.
Taking a page out of the books by bands like Gorillaz and ABBA, Kiss have decided to replace the band and have CGI avatars do the shows. Making sure the band goes on even without physical members. Oh well, at least there are enough tribute bands doing what Kiss will no longer be doing themselves: putting up a Kiss show with live music.
Okay, that were some of the low points, let's look at what they did right.
Well, first of all, they got royal approval, Elvis totally got what they were doing and what the idea behind the makeup was, and I love how he thought that Ace'Frehley's way of playing was "X-rated"
Kiss toured with Rush, facilitating Rush's big break. They weren't the only band who owed their carriers to touring with and opening shows for Kiss.
Iron Maiden did their first European tour supporting Kiss in 1980, Steve Harris said that he spoke with Paul extensively about the scale of the show, making mental notes on how to get it done. He later returned the favor in helping Kiss play Monsters of Rock 1988.
Wanna talk "truth in advertising?"
Yeah "Show of shows" is an understatement if there EVER was one. AC/DC opening up for Kiss and no doubt giving them a run for their money.
Eeeeyup, yet another band getting their big break when playing opening slots for Kiss was Bon Jovi. Legend says that Jon asked Paul to write some songs for their then upcoming album "Slippery when wet" Paul declined but instead promised Jon to introduce him to a character called Desmond Child. I guess I only need to mention the titles "You gave love a bad name", "Bad medicine" and "Living on a prayer" will say enough on how cool of a gesture that was from Paul's side.
So how about their music? Well, as the band themselves would agree to, they weren't exactly original: you'd take Humble Pie, The Beatles, the Who and Led Zeppelin, add a good dose of Glam Rock like Slade and there we are. But when they were ON it, that did result in some pretty hard slamming songs.
Ace Frehley said that the first song the band made him play during his audition was "Deuce" and that he "Loved it from the get-go."
Likewise, when Peter Criss auditioned for the band, he was quoted as saying "Oh, I think we have something SPECIAL here." when Gene and Paul brought forth THIS one.
Now let's talk about IMPACT.
Rick James with a Kramer Gene Simmons Axe bass. In addition, he also recorded a song called "Love Gun", taking the title from Kiss' 1977 album and single. Showcasing that Kiss' impact reached far beyond just rock and metal.
Parliament/Funkadelic were Casablanca records label mates of Kiss and George Clinton has admitted to taking a couple of leafs out of Kiss' book on how to put on an epic show.
But the real impact they had was inspiring young rockers to pick up guitars and starting up bands.
The Late great Dimebag Darrell showing his Ace Frehley Tattoo to the man himself. Dimebag was actually buried in a Kiss coffin.
Scott Ian showcasing his Gene Simmons Tattoo
Kiss was one of the first bands who acknowledged the fact that metal fans see themselves as a society of its own, a society of misfits and freaks. Sam Dunn, a metal fan anthropologist, saw that as his main inspiration to start his metal documentaries.
So were Kiss the perfect Rock band?
- No.
But was their music simple?
- Just try to write a good Rock song, you'll be surprised how difficult it is.
And in the end, it was always THEM on stage, not the critics who were always undermining what Kiss were doing.
