Gene Simmons needs to defend his hair-do.

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Naturalust
It's easy to look at KISS today and be judgmental and critical but back in the day they had something going on, mainly a very entertaining live show and superb marketing based on their wild visuals. I was never really a fan, liked maybe 2 of their songs but I still respect them for what they were....a rock and roll circus act.

I categorize them with manufactured bands like The Archies, The Monkees and The Partridge Family , their target audience was similar, kids. It was a gullible time for kids too young to participate in the wild rock of the day but smart enough to know something musical was happening which was changing the landscape and their big brothers and sisters....KISS was a natural outlet for them. IMO

Of course as an adult, it's hard to continue to take them seriously, except in a nostalgic way..

peace

the bands target audience was not originally kids. how do you target kids playing in dive bars in new york? do they let kids into bars at midnight in NYC

Calling them talentless is obtuse. Like their gear or not, but the line up w Chriss and Frehley are talented musicians and could actually compose half decent music at times - their childish and absurd lyrics assured them that they would never be taken seriously even if the make didn't.

"I'm a dancer, a romancer, I'm a Capricorn, she's a cancer"....I mean...really?
What rhymes with rhyme at it's worst.

But they also know how to entertain and get feet tapping and that's all rock n roll really ever was.

Gene probably relates to Satanics even moreso after the release of the '82 LP The Elder - definitely Kiss' other side of the coin or "depth" as he might say. A commercial failure from hell - so from then on the world got gloss/80s rock rubbish as it sold and I guess who could blame them?

I wanted to vomit after reading (only half) of Gene's autobio as the man makes Donald Trump look as though he's just misunderstood, and not the full blown narcissist he is. Trump could learn much from Gene in the "I love me" department.
But I remember seeing (or reading?) an interview with Gene once in the early 80s and he was asked "If you could be anything what would it be?" to which he responded "A member of the Rolling Stones". Guess we have something in common after all.

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Roll73

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Come On

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DandelionPowderman

Is it only in Sweden we can see nothing on a link like this one?

Don't worry - you're not missing much. (Other than a lot of hair).

And it's not really hair.

I don't think I ever told this story here -

About an hour after the May 20th Rolling Stones Staples Center show I am walking some friends back to their apartment in the neighborhood a few blocks away. I notice a guitar pick on the ground. It's a Gene $immons guitar pick. Then I see another. And another. Got 5 in total. Find out later he was at the show. Does he just throw his guitar picks out the window wherever he goes?

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keefriffhard4life

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Naturalust
It's easy to look at KISS today and be judgmental and critical but back in the day they had something going on, mainly a very entertaining live show and superb marketing based on their wild visuals. I was never really a fan, liked maybe 2 of their songs but I still respect them for what they were....a rock and roll circus act.

I categorize them with manufactured bands like The Archies, The Monkees and The Partridge Family , their target audience was similar, kids. It was a gullible time for kids too young to participate in the wild rock of the day but smart enough to know something musical was happening which was changing the landscape and their big brothers and sisters....KISS was a natural outlet for them. IMO

Of course as an adult, it's hard to continue to take them seriously, except in a nostalgic way..

peace

the bands target audience was not originally kids. how do you target kids playing in dive bars in new york? do they let kids into bars at midnight in NYC

You're right, I should have said when they were professionally "marketed" their target audience was kids, but I'm sure there were plenty of older folks who got off on their wild concerts and stage show too. And to be fair the kids were the ones buying the majority of records so it was solid strategy. True for the Stones and Beatles too, cut their teeth in dive clubs but were later successfully marketed to a much younger demographic.

I remember visiting my grade school age cousins in a tiny farm community on the Alberta Canada prairie some time in the mid 70's and seeing posters of KISS on their bedroom walls. They were a couple hundred miles from the nearest bar which played live rock music...I'd call that pretty successful marketing.

peace

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treaclefingers

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CousinC
For most people already being into music in the years before them Kiss was just a joke, really!Never took them anywhere serious.

While I agree with the premise they are a joke, I do think they had some good tunes, Detroit Rock City, Deuce, Hard Luck Woman, the 2000 man cover, even Rock and Roll All Night isn't a bad 'party' tune.

But there is too much to dislike.

Their album from 1997, 'Carnival of Souls' is pretty rough too..More metal than just lukewarm washing-up water..

2 1 2 0

Ace Frehley had lots of talent. Check out "She" from Dressed To Kill for some good Led Zep-ish rock'n'roll. Check out his first solo album with Anton Fig as well.

Their "serious" (still horrible lyrics) album, The Elder, is actually something close to a masterpiece. It bombed in the charts, of course

Their marketing strategy strangled their creative output, imo.

Gene has always had to spend half his interviews defending his views, without ever seeming to realize there must be a reason he has to constantly defend them.

They put on a fun concert. That's good enough for me.

They are great. Kiss is better live today than the Stones. Sorry but that's a fact.

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Redhotcarpet
They are great. Kiss is better live today than the Stones. Sorry but that's a fact.

No need to apologize...you're obviously wrestling with some very serious demons.

.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015-03-28 15:03 by camper88.

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Redhotcarpet
They are great. Kiss is better live today than the Stones. Sorry but that's a fact.

That's so funny!! Thanks for making my laugh!

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treaclefingers

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Redhotcarpet
They are great. Kiss is better live today than the Stones. Sorry but that's a fact.

No need to apologize...you're obviously wrestling with some very serious demons.

I watched some live concert of Kiss on cable a few months ago. I couldn't believe how bad they are as a band live. Like kids just starting out.

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treaclefingers

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Redhotcarpet
They are great. Kiss is better live today than the Stones. Sorry but that's a fact.

No need to apologize...you're obviously wrestling with some very serious demons.

Lol! No not really. No Im just saying the obvious. They were a great club band -actually they were underground in the very beginning 1973/1974.

When I saw them a couple of years ago I was surprised, as are many "real rock" fans who think nothing of a Kiss concert. I think they were all underrated to some degree in the 70s. Some of their songs suck, some are nothing more than a soundtrack to a show, or a party on the beach in 1976. And then there some great songs.

One of the best quotes ever: "Most bands wanted to be the Beatles or the Stones. Kiss wanted to be McDonald's.''

I saw them last month. Tokyo Dome was only about 2/3 full, but they were out there working hard, relishing all of the applause. It was pretty silly, I suppose. Gene's breathing fire and spitting blood, Paul's flying over the audience to the B-Stage, platforms rising three or four stories above the stage, flames, explosions, lasers, and to top it off, they were joined on stage for the encore by a Japanese pop group consisting of little girls called Momoiro Clover. It was practically surreal. Here's my video of the encore - you be the judge.







Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015-03-23 16:21 by drbryant.

[loudwire.com]

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Redhotcarpet

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treaclefingers

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Redhotcarpet
They are great. Kiss is better live today than the Stones. Sorry but that's a fact.

No need to apologize...you're obviously wrestling with some very serious demons.

Lol! No not really. No Im just saying the obvious. They were a great club band -actually they were underground in the very beginning 1973/1974.

When I saw them a couple of years ago I was surprised, as are many "real rock" fans who think nothing of a Kiss concert. I think they were all underrated to some degree in the 70s. Some of their songs suck, some are nothing more than a soundtrack to a show, or a party on the beach in 1976. And then there some great songs.

I saw them a couple of years ago in Oslo, and they were surprisingly good.

Saw them at the Alamo Dome a few years ago. It was a blast.
I remember an episode of Family Jewels where Gene and his son, Nick, go to England, and the at the top of their list of things to do was to visit Olympic Studios where the Stones recorded. And they just stood there in the studio in awe. Think what you want about Gene, but he genuinely reveres the Stones music.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2015-03-24 01:56 by stupidguy2.

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drbryant
I saw them last month. Tokyo Dome was only about 2/3 full, but they were out there working hard, relishing all of the applause. It was pretty silly, I suppose. Gene's breathing fire and spitting blood, Paul's flying over the audience to the B-Stage, platforms rising three or four stories above the stage, flames, explosions, lasers, and to top it off, they were joined on stage for the encore by a Japanese pop group consisting of little girls called Momoiro Clover. It was practically surreal. Here's my video of the encore - you be the judge.

it looks like a good show

No Ace, no Peter...no Kiss. It all ended with Dynasty.

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DandelionPowderman
Ace Frehley had lots of talent. Check out "She" from Dressed To Kill for some good Led Zep-ish rock'n'roll.

lmfao, C'mon man, "She" is definitely riff based rock but to compare it to Zeppelin is really stretching it. The only thing even close is the Les Paul through a Marshall stack tone...

peace

Apparently there was a time in the 70s when there was a horrible fight between the band members backstage just before a concert was to start, in fact it was delayed by almost an hour.

It had something to do with the Paul's eye liner...Gene borrowed it without asking or something but whatever actually happened, it became a big brou ha ha.

The audience was getting unruly and throwing things onstage.

The band's manager had had enough, and told the band to kiss and makeup.

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Naturalust

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DandelionPowderman
Ace Frehley had lots of talent. Check out "She" from Dressed To Kill for some good Led Zep-ish rock'n'roll.

lmfao, C'mon man, "She" is definitely riff based rock but to compare it to Zeppelin is really stretching it. The only thing even close is the Les Paul through a Marshall stack tone...

peace

You forgot to mention the similarities within the groove, the single-string riffs and the beat changes

It also had the same lifeless drum sound, some of the same phrasing as Page (albeit less sloppy), but lacks the adventurousness of LZ and the vocals, of course.

This is serious, man







Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2015-03-24 16:26 by DandelionPowderman.