I dunno, I always felt KISS were just a poor-man's Banana Splits.
I dunno, I always felt KISS were just a poor-man's Banana Splits.
I never would have suspected you'd feel this way, Gruno.Originally Posted by Gruno
"I wanna rock and roll all night and part of every day..."
Meh. They were fun to watch; it *was* a visual spectacle, to be sure. The one time I saw them, Rush was on the same bill. Rush played first, and they were, well, Rush - always a well-played kick-butt show. When Kiss came up, the comparison was inevitable. Kiss were a visual spectacle, but musically a garage band. Entertaining, but nothing musically interesting.
Sorry to Kiss fans, but that's how I heard/saw it.
Gnish-gnosh borble wiff, shlauuffin oople tirk.
I have never seen Kiss live myself, but many people tell me that they are great. In your experience, maybe it was a case that Kiss had a musically better band opening for them.
I wish they would have retired in the '90s. It's more of a circus now. I go to select events these days.I never would have suspected you'd feel this way, Gruno.
I may like the band, but I know exactly what the music is in terms of musicianship and I will call them out on many things in their career. Gene Simmons and I had a long-running feud from about 2001-2006. I have gone toe-to-toe with him many a time. I do not blindly follow them. I collect KISS stuff, but that's the bonus, as I see it. It's fun music and fun times at the shows. Others can put them down all they like, it has no affect on me. It does not diminish how I see the band and what their music means and has meant to me in my life.
No, KISS are not a great band from a purely technical standpoint. I do think they are a great band when it comes to putting on an entertaining show, I think they have written a lot of great hooky songs and I seriously think they are a terrific vocal band. Can they go toe-to-toe with a majority of bands as players? Probably not (though the two ringers in the band currently are far better than their original counterparts). But they're as good as they need to be to play their songs, so who cares? Actually, speaking of Ace, he may not have been a virtuoso but he had a style that was instantly recognizable and he had some great riffs. Dude was cool. I think the reason that KISS gets a bad rap as players is the old adage that a great drummer makes a bad band great and a lousy drummer makes a great band lousy. The rhythm section in KISS was the weak link.
All's good Gruno! KISS are an easy target. I used to be a complete KISS maniac when I was a kid, like 13-14 years old. I had pictures of them plastered everywhere on my walls, KISS Army and all... so much so, that I still have relatives today that think I still worship the band!
They were cool as a kid though, because they were so visual, in a graphics way - not only with their look, but the album covers and the stage show. Their album covers had a huge impact on me, and they were the easiest band to draw because they had clown faces (so to speak). I saw them live I believe on the R&R over tour, and the Love Gun tour. Back in the days when going to a concert on the south side of Chicago was actually a dangerous thing for a 14 year old to do. I have many vivid memories of the street antics and smoke filled atmosphere of the events.
There was a stigma however towards the end of the 70's if you still liked KISS. At least where I lived, it was not cool at all once I got into H.S. Not that it should matter if I really liked them, but at that same time I was being turned onto bands like Led Zeppelin, RUSH, Scorpions, Nugent, UFO, Van Halen, and a lot of bands that were ultimately blowing away Detroit Rock City & Ace's Snow Blind. Holy shit, did Neil Peart floor me, after listening to Peter Criss before then!! Looking back at their catalog today, I can't say their music holds interest to me, not even in a sentimental way... in fact, I was asked to go see them a while back and I declined. But hey, I wouldn't go see Nugent, or UFO, or a lot of other bands I liked back then as well. But, I did like Gene's reality show if that counts for anything! And I am somewhat fascinated by their longevity and dedicated fan base.
Ha! I practically did the same thing.
I hated KISS when I was in high school. It really took about 20 years for me to get the bug out of my ass...
To me, Kiss is like an adequate accountant who goes to work in an elaborate medieval wizard outfit, festooning his desk with blacklights and tapestries. He gets your attention, and you appreciate his offbeat personality, but in terms of productivity, he's just another accountant, no matter how competent he may be,
It took you 20 years to figure out girls like guys with a long tongue.
NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF STUPID PEOPLE IN LARGE GROUPS!
I saw them open for BOC in 74 on some drug or other. They were fun to watch but the music sucked. BOC played three hours and were great. They continue to be so. I commend KISS for the scam they've pulled off all these years.
Yeah, cause we all know writing good songs and putting on a show is a scam.
Last edited by JIF; 05-31-2013 at 04:36 PM.
How do you write a good show?
I mean write a good song.How do you write a good show?
Two pages any no one yet has remarked about how the only album worth anything is Music From The Elder. You guys are off your game this week!
I have mentioned my love for Music From The Elder on other threads. I see no difference between The Elder and Destroyer. Yes, I know The Elder is a concept album, and people say that it has a crap story. It can't be no more of a crap story than Tommy, Operation: Mindcrime, The Wall, or The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway.Two pages any no one yet has remarked about how the only album worth anything is Music From The Elder. You guys are off your game this week!
Last edited by JIF; 11-01-2013 at 09:04 PM.
Been reading this thread for a while and thought I would chime in. I am also a KISS fanatic. I have shared my music room KISS shrine pictures with Gruno and others on the forum. I saw my first KISS tour in 78 with Priest opening. Thought they were great then and saw just about every non make up tour up until the reunion. Saw both reunion tours with all orginals including a trek that involved shows in Philly, NNJ, New York and Baltimore all in a row. My favproite album is still Destroyer which in my opinion easily stands the test of time. However, for me the forgotten jem is Creatures of the Night. I even like some of the stuff they did in the 80s and early 90s. Love - Thrills in the Night, Animalize and All Hells Breakin Loose. Need more respect for these guys even if Gene is a major prick.
Ace was on Celebrity Ghost Stories last night. I got a few good chuckles, not least of which when the show described Ace as "considered one of the best guitarists of all time". Talk about your hyperbole! In what alternate universe?! I like Ace a lot, but I'd never call him "one of the best guitarists", certainly not in the context that most people mean it (ie in terms of technique).
There were not many things in that show that were real. Nearly everything Ace said was false. That house didn't cause the end of Ace's marriage. The house isn't up for sale; it's damn near foreclosure. Ace never lived there with his girlfriend Rachel; they would stay there when he would need to do some work on the east coast. Etc...
http://www.lohud.com/article/2013022...osure?gcheck=1
A rock 'n' roll legend may be KISS-ing his Yorktown house goodbye.
A bank is accusing Ace Frehley, a former member of the rock group KISS, of not paying the mortgage on his Yorktown home for almost two years. U.S. Bank National Association claims that the rock star, whose real name is Paul Frehley, stopped paying his $735,000 mortgage on March 1, 2011.
In its Feb. 15 foreclosure filing, the bank asked the court to order a sale of the home to pay for the outstanding principal of $703,581.48 plus interest, late charges and other expenses. ...
I was gonna ask you about that, because a lot of the stuff he was talking about, it had been wondering exactly when this happened. It's a known fact (and Ace has admitted it) that he used to have a drinking problem. Some of the stuff he was blaming on the house seemed to me to be stuff that one might associate with such bad habits, ie "This house caused the breakup of my marriage", "I have no recollection of what happened that night", etc...uh, Ace that kinda stuff is caused by excessive drinking. But if this happened in the last few years....well, Ace says he's been clean and sober for the last 7 years or whatever it is. Of course, just because somebody says they haven't fallen off the wagon doesn't always mean it's true.
I know that he hasn't fallen off the wagon. At least not openly to his close friends. Ace is definitely in a better mental place than ever before. I witnessed his night of drunken idiocy in 2006 at the VH1 Rock Honors show. Having spent time with him many times over the last few years, with the most recent one being just a month or so ago, Ace has a better grasp on what his responsibilities to himself are. I hope he continues his sobriety.
That show must have paid him well to twist some of those stories around.
Well, that's certainly good to hear. I too hope he stays sober.
My two favorite tracks from this album:Two pages any no one yet has remarked about how the only album worth anything is Music From The Elder. You guys are off your game this week!
If Paul Stanley would have reworked lyrics to fit the theme of the Elder, this could have been a nice addition to the album:
You say Mega Ultra Deluxe Special Limited Edition Extended Autographed 5-LP, 3-CD, 4-DVD, 2-BlueRay, 4-Cassette, five 8-Track, MP4 Download plus Demos, Outtakes, Booklet, T-Shirt and Guitar Pick Gold-Leafed Box Set Version like it's a bad thing...
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