KISS

[soundgardener75]

I dreaded this day.

I wouldn't have imagined liking Kiss. AT ALL. I absolutely HATED Paul Stanley's vox.

Then I realized I've only been familiar with 80's Kiss. Other than Rock And Roll All Nite, I'm not familiar with their stuff. Well, other than Gin Blossoms covering Christine Sixteen and Anthrax's take on Parasite is pretty awesome!

Only the 70's Kiss mind you. Did not care much for their stuff onwards.

CSB

[wrongnote85]

facebook thread, done it.

[100 watt]

Was riffin' Parasite earlier, if that counts

[Dave Lister]

Best of Paul Stanley's between song banter.

http://soundcloud.com/thatericalper/01-track-01/

http://soundcloud.com/thatericalper/26-track-26/

http://soundcloud.com/thatericalper/05-track-05/

[soundgardener75]

Best of Paul Stanley's between song banter.

http://soundcloud.com/thatericalper/01-track-01/

http://soundcloud.com/thatericalper/26-track-26/

http://soundcloud.com/thatericalper/05-track-05/

The Love Gun spiel...

[100 watt]

Laugh but I'd still like to have one of those cheesey broken mirror Ibanez Iceman guitars Paul used to play.

[monwobobbo]

teenager in the 70s so i'm pretty sure it was the law that if you liked rock then you had to be a Kiss fan. remember many a day of cranking Alive at peak volume. still a fan although they had a few rough spots where i lost interest. after Love Gun they kinda lost it until Creatures Of the Night (great album) the next couple we alsopretty good and then they got to soft sounding. the 2 most recent albums are suprisingly good and highly recommended. met Gene out in the audence during the COTN tour he was out watching opener Night Ranger. this was at the end of the makeup days but i knew it was him. said hi but as soon as i did the roadie hustled him away as he must of figured gene would get mobbed if others recognized him.

[GuitarBilly]

I was a huge KISS fan growing up. I had all their records, a shit ton of merchandise and even a KISS Army membership. I still listen to them quite a bit today but I am not the fanatic I used to be. But yeah they're a big part of my childhood and pretty much my first motivation to learn the guitar.

[benjamin801]

This was already one of KISS's heaviest songs, and this version crushes. Bush is so fucking awesome.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhGtG0msj9Q[/video]

[Dave Lister]

I was a huge KISS fan growing up. I had all their records, a shit ton of merchandise and even a KISS Army membership. I still listen to them quite a bit today but I am not the fanatic I used to be. But yeah they're a big part of my childhood and pretty much my first motivation to learn the guitar.

What are the benefits of enlisting in the KISS Army? Money for college? Signing bonus?

[DoubleBarrel]

I was a huge KISS fan growing up. I had all their records, a shit ton of merchandise and even a KISS Army membership. I still listen to them quite a bit today but I am not the fanatic I used to be. But yeah they're a big part of my childhood and pretty much my first motivation to learn the guitar.

What are the benefits of enlisting in the KISS Army? Money for college? Signing bonus?

You get Kiss Shampoo..............



[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kw5oJoUYTb8&list=PLC7E04DC6054AF1B0&index=1[/video]

[ShaneV]

Little known fact, but KISS + Paula Abdul + Wakko from Animaniacs = pretty fantastic

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lR211iIPN_g[/video]

[Tortuga]

I'm just about 2 or 3 years too young to have been indoctrinated into the 70's era Kiss - I got into music in the early 80's - but I never really saw why anyone thought Kiss was anything but the makeup and outrageous (at the time) stage antics. I honestly cannot havent heard anything by that band that doesn't make me cringe. And why does Ace Frehley get the respect he does by playing (in my opinion, mind you) such horrible leads?

[Reverse Entropy]

I was enthusiastically anti-Kiss for ages. As a drummer I sneered at Peter Criss's solo on "Alive" ("guys, it's JUST a phase shifter"), nonono I was too good for it, listen to this solo by Richie Blackmore, etc etc. Eventually I decided I liked a few of their songs. Parasite, Come On And Love Me, She, Let Me Go Rock n Roll, Love Her All I Can, a few others.

Many years later, I decided to go with some old 'head' friends to see Kiss's Farewell Tour (the first one, not sure what version they're on now). Managed to get up to my seat right as all the chemistry kicked in massively. Whew, cut that a little close. There I sat with a giant coke, two soft pretzels, a case of the giggles and it was exactly 8PM.

They started that show RIGHT on time. They were on stage and rocking 30 seconds later. They played straight through until 11 PM. I didn't hear a single flub all night, not one single goof. Paul ended by saying "this is what it means to get your money's worth, and the next band that comes through selling tickets, you all remember KISS." I thought "no shit dude. Respect earned."

[Mesa/Kramer]

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIyo4kpsEas[/video]

[Devin]

I've seen them live about 15 or 16 years ago.....cool show but I'm still not a fan

[mac1215]

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izPnDdpIqUs[/video]

[100 watt]

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIyo4kpsEas[/video]

I love playing Parasite. My fave kiss song

[frumiousbandersnatch]

Truly awful, but truly deliver.
Because every once in a while, you just gotta have a Jack-In-The-Box taco.
You know they're bad, you know they're not even technically a taco, but man can they hit the spot..

[Dickarms]

my kiss affection historical timeline:

little: those dudes look fucking satanic. best steer clear
little older: "those guys are f*gs!!!" (jeff spiccoli voice)
heard god of thunder on the black label skateboards video: wait a sec....
now: some gems in a sea of hairy dude chests and facepalm moments. dont understand the fanatics, but i wish i would have caught them live in their prime

[ovid9]

my kiss affection historical timeline:

little: those dudes look fucking satanic. best steer clear
little older: "those guys are f*gs!!!" (jeff spiccoli voice)
heard god of thunder on the black label skateboards video: wait a sec....
now: some gems in a sea of hairy dude chests and facepalm moments. dont understand the fanatics, but i wish i would have caught them live in their prime

Well put sir, well put.

[benjamin801]

Truly awful, but truly deliver.
Because every once in a while, you just gotta have a Jack-In-The-Box taco.
You know they're bad, you know they're not even technically a taco, but man can they hit the spot..

Thank you for summing us KISS so succinctly. Now and for the rest of my life, I will call KISS the musical equivalent of a taco with a slice of American cheese in it.

[greatmutah]

I got into KISS in the early 90s. I was about 10 then and I asked my parents about them. My mom immediately bought me a copy of Alive on cassette. I don't think I stopped listening to it for about a year. Fast forward a couple years and I'm pretty well versed on who's in the band now and that they haven't worn make up in years etc. That part of their career was done. So I eagerly watch this unplugged concert on MTV and they bring out Ace and Peter to do a few songs. At 12 years old this is like the second coming of Jesus in Rock and Roll terms to me.
Then they announce the reunion tour and its kick off at Tiger Stadium on 6/28/1996 in Detroit. My dad and I got tickets. We had box seats in the upper bowl and were front row of said box at the front of the bowl. Had a direct view of the stage. I was almost 13. That show changed my life. I had never been as entertained and blown away by a live band as I was that night. This was the real deal. This was really, really KISS. Not Gene and Paul and whomever they had working with them (although I really liked Bruce Kulick's playing). The music, the theatrics, hell everything I saw that night told me I needed to be doing something with music for the rest of my life. From Ace's smoking guitar, to Gene being raised to the scaffolding for God of Thunder and to top the whole thing off raising the drums on a pedestal coming out of the stage during the end of Black Diamond I was sold.

I'm 30 now. I went through my phase of saying Kiss sucks and the best part of the show was the theatrics but recently I started listening to the 70s stuff again. And truth is I still love that music. So yeah I know it isn't great all the time. But it's a big part of my rock and roll education. And at this point I'm ok with that. I'll happily jam I Stole Your Love.

[Nixerx]

This my come as a shock to my fellow forumites that know my prog-whore tendencies...but I never liked Kiss. I tried to see the attraction but was repulsed.

I do however like 80s kiss. Conversely the "worst" Kiss, according to hardcore fans. Heavens on Fire is a great track. Animalize is a great disc chock full of 80s cheese.

[stephen sawall]

I saw KISS at Cobo Hall in Detroit when they recorded Alive. One of the girls on the back cover holding the poster was a friend of mine. They usually put on a pretty good show.