Paul Stanley says former bandmates were anti-Semitic.

[Mai72]

I liked KISS when Vinnie Vincent was at lead guitar.

My favorite songs from KISS were Heavens on Fire and Lick it Up!

 

[Oyeve]

I have that marvel comic with kiss blood. Had gene sign it years ago at some comic-con. Thats about all that I own of kiss.

 

[alkemyst]

And then have yourself buried in a genuine Kiss Coffin.

This book by Kiss is almost as expensive

http://www.kissmonsterbook.com/buy-the-book/

 

[preCRT]

I remember when you never saw them without the heavy makeup, folks wondered what they really looked like. Then after they went public without it, you couldn't wait til they covered up again. Even Alice Cooper was better looking.

 

[momeNt]

The entire band is Jewish. Very late April's fools, hardly any lulz.

 

[alkemyst]

I remember when you never saw them without the heavy makeup, folks wondered what they really looked like. Then after they went public without it, you couldn't wait til they covered up again. Even Alice Cooper was better looking.

Gene Simmons has slept with about 5,000 women. Has been dating / with many hot celebrities as well.

This was all before he was worth mega-millions.

 

[KeithTalent]

Gene Simmons has slept with about 5,000 women. Has been dating / with many hot celebrities as well.

This was all before he was worth mega-millions.

Pretty sure that was the entire reason they started the band; to bag chicks. Mission accomplished! 😀

KT

 

[The Boston Dangler]

old, old news.

Ace Frehley is a drugged racist pig with low self esteem who did nothing

gene simmons' mother and uncle were the only family members to survive the holocaust.

 

[smackababy]

Pretty sure that was the entire reason they started the band; to bag chicks. Mission accomplished! 😀

KT

Isn't that the reason anyone starts a band?

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Chuck Klosterman, who loves Kiss, just wrote this interesting piece summarizing their history and reviewing all their albums - http://grantland.com/chuck-klosterman-kiss-hall-of-fame/ Here is an excerpt:

In his essay collection The Disappointment Artist, Jonathan Lethem writes about his insecurity over analyzing the legacy of literary hero Philip K. Dick, an author whose best work had already been chronicled and whose worst work is relatively awful. Early in the piece, Lethem sums up his feelings with a lyric from Bob Dylan: “I’m in love with the ugliest girl in the world.” I strongly relate to this sentiment, particularly since that’s what Gene Simmons literally resembled in 1986.

Kiss do not make it easy for Kiss fans. There’s never been a rock group so easy to appreciate in the abstract and so hard to love in the specific. They inoculate themselves from every avenue of revisionism, forever undercutting anything that could be reimagined as charming. They economically punish the people who care about them most: In the course of my lifetime, I’ve purchased commercial recordings of the song “Rock and Roll All Nite” at least 15 times (18 if you count the 13-second excerpt used in the introduction to “Detroit Rock City” on Destroyer). Considered alone, this is not unusual; there are lots of bands who capitalize on the myopic allegiance of their craziest disciples. In 2009, Pavement announced a reunion tour and asked their most dogged fans (myself included) to purchase tickets a whopping 53 weeks in advance. Every decision was premeditated for maximum fiscal impact. “Instead of one announcement mapping out the entire tour itinerary,” noted the Washington Post, “concerts have been announced one by one, in a fine-tuned sequence seemingly designed to maximize profits in every possible way.” It was savvy business (and almost no one complained). Yet Pavement would never brag about this level of calculation. They would rationalize their actions, or they’d remind the media that they never explicitly said they wouldn’t add extra shows, or they’d chuckle about the swindle only when no one else was around. Pavement would always take the money, but they’d simply (a) say nothing, (b) feel bad about it, or (c) pretend to feel bad about it.

But not Kiss.

Whenever Kiss cajole people into paying more money than the market demands, they tell everyone they know. They give instructional interviews about how future bait-and-switch endeavors can be designed, and they adopt the newest dodgy model for all prospective undertakings. Moreover, they’d insist the exchange was mutual. They would say the experience they offer is singular and nontransferable, and that anyone who isn’t willing to pay for the Kiss experience isn’t a Kiss fan (and therefore does not matter, or perhaps even exist). It’s the guiding principle behind everything Kiss does: To “qualify” as a Kiss supporter, you have to be a Kiss consumer. And this is nonnegotiable — it doesn’t work any other way. If you try to enjoy Kiss in the same way you enjoy Foghat or Culture Club or Spoon, you’ll fail. You might like a handful of songs or appreciate the high-volume nostalgia, but it will inevitably seem more ridiculous than interesting. To make this work, you need to go all the way. And this is because the difficult part of liking Kiss — the manipulative, unlikable part — is how you end up loving them.

Even Klosterman concedes that the band's principal talent is self-marketing and image. For a band that has occupied so much of the popular landscape, they have made remarkably little listenable music, and essentially none that's good as far as I can tell. I loved them when I was a little boy for the image, but there was never a time I'd have said that I liked their music. As an adult it just feels like a rock version of pro wrestling - just a carefully cultivated marketing plan rather than anything truly artistic or even sincere. Gene Simmons, in particular, is about as obnoxious and shameless a windbag as anyone I've ever heard. Overall they can eff off as far as I'm concerned.

 

[KeithTalent]

Isn't that the reason anyone starts a band?

What about the music, man? Gotta do it for the love of music. :hmm:

KT

 

[dennilfloss]

I like KISS. Bought several of their LPs during the 70s. 🙂

The greater shame, though, is that Grand Funk Railroad is not in the R&R HoF. In the eyes of the HoF, they suffer from the same 'deficiency' as KISS, namely that they had immense commercial success for a rock band.

 

[preCRT]

Gene Simmons has slept with about 5,000 women. Has been dating / with many hot celebrities as well.

This was all before he was worth mega-millions.

He has an enormously long, um, tongue.

 

[Gibsons]

Huge article from Chuck Klosterman just out today.

http://grantland.com/chuck-klosterman-kiss-hall-of-fame/

 

[MagickMan]

Seen them twice; the first time was great (1987), the second time sucked balls (2004).

 

[Brian Stirling]

That is how it has always been. Pretty much any band whose name was the frontman, they were the ones people cared about. Jimi Hendrix? Even Ozzy. You are naming someone billed as a single artist and ignoring bands billed as bands. Who were the musicians that played with Bowie? Michael Jackson? Prince? The iconic, singular billed artists always overshadowed their stage musicians.

I'm sure plenty of people know who are in the bands of today, especially outside of the pop genre. Plenty of rock, jazz, metal, etc have well known musicians that aren't the frontmen.

Well yes and no...

Yes, bands known by the name of a single person were always dominated by that single person and yes, many rock, jazz and other non pop bands of today still have musicians that people know beyond the lead singer, but the percentage of those bands relative to the single name "acts" has declined, particularly in income and exposure. There was a time when true bands were seen on TV but today about the only thing you see on TV is the single name acts.


Brian

 

[Pacfanweb]

Isn't Gene Simmons Jewish?

Yep, he is Israeli, actually. Real name is Chaim Witz.

 

[Wingznut]

:thumbsup: I never liked their music or their stupid look. KISS sucks balls.

Word, I cant believe they are in the hall of fame.

It's too bad that you can only bands that YOU like, and not be able to recognize others that have influenced generations of musicians.

 

[Wingznut]

The greater shame, though, is that Grand Funk Railroad is not in the R&R HoF. In the eyes of the HoF, they suffer from the same 'deficiency' as KISS, namely that they had immense commercial success for a rock band.

Then how would anyone explain ABBA being in the RRHOF?

While they are finally coming around (Rush getting in last year, KISS this year)... So much just doesn't make sense about who gets in.

How Deep Purple can be snubbed year after year is just beyond my comprehension.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

I am also anti-semenitic.

Spit, don't swallow. That's just gross.

 

[Hugh Jass]

:thumbsup: I never liked their music or their stupid look. KISS sucks balls.

+1

 

[alkemyst]

Then how would anyone explain ABBA being in the RRHOF?

While they are finally coming around (Rush getting in last year, KISS this year)... So much just doesn't make sense about who gets in.

How Deep Purple can be snubbed year after year is just beyond my comprehension.

Esp like Grandmaster Flash and Run DMC.

The voting is not really done by the public. It's an old-men's club. Kiss actually did not want to be in, but their fans wanted it so they complied.

 

[alkemyst]

I am also anti-semenitic.

Spit, don't swallow. That's just gross.

I think you may be doing it wrong if you get to that part as your options.