AWOL from the Kiss Army

[Clammy]

I was HUUUUUUGE KISS fan in the late 70s! The 80s KISS, was so-so to me. When they did the reunion tour, I was STOKED. I saw that tour and was completely blown away. It was like I was 10 years old again!! I also saw the first "farewell tour", and at the end when they wer eplaying Rock and Roll All Night, I believed that was it - the last time they would perform, and I was actually a little choked up.

I honestly have nothing against them for all the merch, etc... but having Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer sporting Ace and Peter's costumes, to me, is VERY wrong. They should either remove the makeup altogether, or creat new characters for them like they did with Eric Carr and Vinnie Vincent. Oh, and I saw Paul in "The Phantom Of The Opera" in Toronto, and he was awesome!

Even now, I throw on Love Gun or Destroyer, or KISS, or Hotter Than Hell, and I love that shit!

KISS was my gateway to METAL!! They were the first live band I ever saw. They made me want to play music and be a rock star! I will always have a very special place in my music collection and heart for that band!

I amy not be an "official" memebr of the KISS army anymore, but I am still a fan!

Cheers!

 

[Greeno]

It was like I was 10 years old again!!

KISS was my gateway to METAL!! They made me want to play music and be a rock star!

See what I mean?!!! Clammy's post supports what I said earlier, as cheesy as KISS was, in the late 70's if you were 10 or 12 years old they were the best fuckin' band on the planet! Either that or Clammy and I are just 2 goofballs that think alike...

I'm telling you Clammy, you're my long lost Canadian twin.... separated at birth and reunited by the heavy metal thunder of KISS! That or just 2 more 10 year old idiots that Gene and Paul conned out of their allowances each week.

 

[Bryant]

"metal" started with "Back in Black" for me. I was into Boston, Kansas and Styx in the late 70's. As far as I was concerned 70s Kiss sounded a bit dull and dry compared to the bands I was into. I had friends that had their albums and stuff and to hear great music, you had to keep flipping and changing the records. There stuff was pretty spotty to me.
I think the addition of Vincent, Carr and then Kulick helped the band make more interesting music and put out better releases. Although Kiss lost some of that mystery and stripped down their staqge show, I thought their music was much better. Having siad that, I did like many of the 70's Kiss songs, but 90% of them were Paul's.
Kiss kicked Kulick to the curb after over 11 years of service in '96 and that pissed me off. I pretty much ignored them since.

Bryant

 

[TRrEiTxIxRiE DTrash]

Crazy Nights is my fave KISS album Along with Lick It Up, Asylum and Creatures Of The Night.

 

[Hawk]

"metal" started with "Back in Black" for me. I was into Boston, Kansas and Styx in the late 70's. As far as I was concerned 70s Kiss sounded a bit dull and dry compared to the bands I was into. I had friends that had their albums and stuff and to hear great music, you had to keep flipping and changing the records. There stuff was pretty spotty to me.

Bryant

Exact reflexion of my experience in the late 70s. I guess it was indeed a matter of age. But besides that, I think both Bryant and me have a prog-heads view of music.

I do see your point Greeno. In 1973/75 I was enjoying Alice Cooper [Elected], David Bowie [Jean Jenie], Suzie Quatro [48 Crash], Slade [Come on Feel the Noize] Status Quo [Roll over Lay Down] The Sweet! That is, their better songs. I hated wigwambam! But "Love is Like Oxygen" is still a great song!

And another thing may have been important; Kiss was a US band. I live in Europe and it took awhile for their records to get known here. Maybe if I had heard them earlier like say in 1975, who knows?

Great tread with good contributions from all!

Old school rules OK!!

 

[carnut]

I was a fan of their earlier work, loved the "alive" albums a lot....I even had all the solo albums once, don't even remember a song of those, must have sucked, only know the Gene Simmons first song was kinda good/special...ages ago it seems... with the heavier stuff coming out in the 80's I totaly lost interest in Kiss, guess all their records were weeded out that time. I also remember having AC/DC, Uriah Heep and Van Halen albums back than, and those were played more than Kiss....but still, I respect them for being an influence on so many people, they definitly were an inspirations for all kind of later metal bands...

 

[TRrEiTxIxRiE DTrash]

Kiss were definitely one of, if not the, most influencial rock band in terms of inspiring other bands and being a band that got people into metal/hardrock.

The solo albums do suck, but Paul Stanley's is EXCELLENT. Great stuff on that one!

 

[Bryant]

Exact reflexion of my experience in the late 70s. I guess it was indeed a matter of age. But besides that, I think both Bryant and me have a prog-heads view of music.

I agree with you to a point Hawk. At an early age, production and technical virtuosity were big in my ear even though I didn't understand why. My Mom was big into music of all genres and I grew up around it. In fact, Mom introduced me to some great stuff from all genres of music, even stuff like John Denver. Back then and even today I can barely tolerate his vocals, but I can overlook it due to his awesome acoustic guitar work. I mean he was progressive folk/country and I will defend him till the end. He is my acoustic guitar hero, though I have a different "style." I still listen to his guitar work today even though I still haven't been able to digest his voice. The same goes for The Beatles. Mom had all the later "experimental" stuff that they did. I was tripping on "I am the Walrus" at probably nine years old or so.
Don't get me wrong... AC/DC is the anti-prog, but show me a band... any band that had guitars and vocals that sounded like "Back in Black" in 1980. If you think about dark and gloomy etc. sure bands like Sabbath were a little ahead of AC/DC, but no one could match the intensity of AC/DC until I heard Accept's "Metal Heart." Accept was so powerful and intense I didn't really relaize that they were actually technically well above the curve. I started then delving into bands that were technically more developed than Accept.


Bryant

 

[Bryant]

Kiss were definitely one of, if not the, most influencial rock band in terms of inspiring other bands and being a band that got people into metal/hardrock.

Trix that is the best post on this thread. Though it was AC/DC that moved me into "metal," Kiss did that for many people. Sabbath did it for others and Zep for some others. Metallica for some of the younger guys as well.

Bryant

 

[sixxswine]

Kiss were definitely one of, if not the, most influencial rock band in terms of inspiring other bands and being a band that got people into metal/hardrock. The solo albums do suck, but Paul Stanley's is EXCELLENT. Great stuff on that one!

I disagree, they were THE most influencial band? Gimme a Break!
You forgot about this little band from across the pond called Led Zeppelin?
Or how about Sabbath? The Who? Stones? And countless others...
I disagree, that Paul "Permapucker"Stanley's, record was the best of the four.
It was Ace"Drunken"Frehley that had the better of the four. His was the only one that had any direction & was structured.

 

[Greeno]

I agree with Trix. KISS had more to do with kids (from my gen) wanting to be in a band than any other band from that era. They may not have influenced the sound of the music that those kids ended up making but they got them wanting to play guitar or drums or bass or whatever.

I've played guitar now for about 20 years and I can't tell you how many times I've been talking to another guitar player my age and asked him "who made you want to play guitar" and the answer be ACE. I bet 80% of them have answered ACE! Not that he influenced how those guys played but he was the reason they wanted to start playing in the first place. (And just to let you know, I wanted to play drums like Peter but could never talk my parents into buying me a set. So ACE was not the reason I started playing guitar... Peter was .... hahahaha... I could pay for my own cheap ass guitar but not a drum set. )

I think Sabbath has influenced more people when it comes to the sound of the music though. And as for Zeppelin, I don't think they have really influenced the sound of any bands... maybe for a couple of year there in the late 80's when some of the hair metal bands were adding a little blues into the mix.... like Badlands, GnR, and Kingdom Come... I know I'll get flamed for saying that but that's how I see it. Zeppelin get's far too much credit, and at the end of the day Sabbath (and yes even KISS) were much more important in the history of hard rock/metal......... there I've said it, go ahead and let me have it....

 

[JonnyD]

Hahahaha I wont Flame ya But I do think the First Zep album Beats any that Sabbath or Kiss ever made combined! hahahaha its not like I'm a very big Zep Fan cause I'm not I just Love that album!

 

[Greeno]

Hahahaha I wont Flame ya But I do think the First Zep album

Out of all of their albums that's the one I can listen to the most, it has a raw sound to it. However I don't think I've ever been able to sit down and listen to a complete Zep album from start to finish, they don't hold my interest very long.

 

[JonnyD]

Out of all of their albums that's the one I can listen to the most, it has a raw sound to it. However I don't think I've ever been able to sit down and listen to a complete Zep album from start to finish, they don't hold my interest very long.

I know what you mean! hahaha But I cant Sit through a Whole Kiss or Sabbath album either

 

[Psychonaut]

When I was a little kid, my cousin was HUGE into Kiss. His walls were completely covered in posters and his dressers and shelves littered with Kiss stuff. He had all of their albums (at the time) on 8-track and played them religiously. I was not allowed into his room for too long for fear I would become corrupt (but it happened anyway). I used to walk into his room in awe and stare and the posters with the leather, spikes, platform shoes, and makeup. I thought it was sooo cool and at that time I didn't even know anything about rock and roll, much less metal.
Years passed and I finally crossed over to the metal plane and I paid a visit to my cousin to see how his shrine was progressing. To my dismay, he had gotten rid of all of it (mostly thrown in the trash) because he was into country music now. Even then I realized what a financial mistake that was.
I was never big into Kiss, even with my cousin idolizing them and I never really bought any of their albums. I did see them on the Revenge tour and had a great time. It was a fun show. I was flying pretty high after the stage show and started to buy their albums but the albums seemed to fall flat without the show. I won't buy any more Kiss stuff but I would go see them again live. The music just isn't good enough and the only way it can be enjoyed is with all the fire and blood to push it along.

 

[TRrEiTxIxRiE DTrash]

Sixx as I said, they were the most influencial in terms of inspiring people to wanna play and to start bands and getting people into hard rock or music in general, not in terms of breaking ground musically. I don't tihnk any band has quite as many people say stuff like "KISS is why i play music" as Kiss do.

Paul's solo album is the most structured I think! It has the most direction by far. Peter's and Gene's are all over the place, Ace's and Paul's are both more focused but Paul's has a great continuity to it and the songwriting and his vocals are excellent, Ace's is alot more patchy and doesn't have the same flow as Paul's.

 

[sixxswine]

Sixx as I said, they were the most influencial in terms of inspiring people to wanna play and to start bands and getting people into hard rock or music in general, not in terms of breaking ground musically. I don't tihnk any band has quite as many people say stuff like "KISS is why i play music" as Kiss do.

Paul's solo album is the most structured I think! It has the most direction by far. Peter's and Gene's are all over the place, Ace's and Paul's are both more focused but Paul's has a great continuity to it and the songwriting and his vocals are excellent, Ace's is alot more patchy and doesn't have the same flow as Paul's.

I misread you post, Sorry. In terms of having inspiration to young kids to play? Yes. I could say that they were key in inspiring the Glam Era of the 80's...
SIXXSWINE-

 

[carnut]

Heck Yeah, I know a guy here that was the singer of Belgian Thrash/Death band Exoto. Talk about the difference of style in music with Kiss !! But the guy allways had Tshirts and stuff from Kiss. So Kiss's popularity brought thousands of people into harder style music !!

 

[TRrEiTxIxRiE DTrash]

Yep that's true. I remember an old Hard N Heavy video actually, I think it was the one with Gene Simmons as the Legends On Film and they opened that segment by showing all these unrelated interviews they'd done with other bands who happened to mention KISS in their interviews, there were tons! From hair bands to thrash bands to bands like Celtic Frost...

And the thing with KISS is that they influenced non-hardrock & metal bands too. They were also a key influence to sooo many grunge bands for example, and you can't get further from the depressing sound & image of grunge than an over the top band like KISS!

I think they are definitely the band when it comes to inspiring other bands, but as far as musical influence they aren't the most influencial... however they are certainly the most influencial specifically for the hair/glam scene.