Monsters Of Rock!

I'm not saying it is because of their songs & musicianship alone. But rock & roll also isn't about songs & musicianship alone, and KISS delivered the entire package as the ultimate rock & roll band.

They deliberately planned everything they did to have the effect it did, and it worked. The saw exactly what the rock scene needed and filled that gap and became the ultimate fantasy band in every way. They don't claim to have been so successful because of their musical talent. But that's not what music is about anyway, it's about giving your listeners a certain feeling when they hear your music and see the band. KISS excited their audience and delivered alot of memorable songs that have become special to people and that's more what music is about than guitar skills or insightful lyrics if you ask me.

I'm not gonna criticise them for becoming huge through other means, or for wanting to take over the world, or planning out every aspect of their image, performance, merchandising, etc to become more than a band and more of a legacy & institution, because I wanna do the same! And I'm sure most other people out there would also love to have a band with a legacy & history as rich as KISS', and a fan base as lotal as KISS', and as much success as KISS, and still packing out arenas around the world 30 years later playing to 15,000 fans amidst thundering pyrotechnics all around you on stage and millions of women wanting to fuck you even though you're 50 years old and ugly!

My opinion is, you can only criticise somebody if they don't achieve what they have claimed to achieve. KISS never claimed to be the best musicians or most insightful songwriters. They do however claim to be the biggest rock & roll circus in the world, and they are. They achieved what they set out to achieve, you have to respect & admire that, whether you like the band or not.
 
Oh, but just for the record as well... they DID write great songs, even if they weren't great musicians (well the original lineup weren't, nobody can deny that Bruce Kulick, Vinnie Vincent and Eric Singer aren't great musicians).

They sold 15 million albums between 1983-89 without makeup and every one of those albums went platinum in most countries. And in that era, they looked no different to every other band at the time and had a much SMALLER stage show than Motley Crue, Bon Jovi, Poison etc did. Not only didn't they have theatrics and special effects, but they didn't even have ANY pyrotechnics on some of those tours. I have a Crazy Nights show that has ONE explosion at the very end of the concert, that's it, and they start the show by casually walking out on stage, Paul plays a chord to see if his guitar is working, and then Eric counts in Love Gun haha! Yet Crazy Nights was their biggest selling album in the '80s.

So as much as KISS' success was certainly based on image, theatrics, marketing etc moreso than music, the fact is that they still have a huge arsenal of great classic songs and even more hidden gems that are even better, and that most diehard KISS fans who are still fans today (which is millions) love them for the songs. Most people who saw them this year said the Palais show was their favourite. A club show with no theatrics, effects or pyro.
 
Im going to criticise them for being whores and ripping off their fans just because they can. Its fucking disgraceful. Being an honest whore desnt make you any less of a whore. Charging $500 for a lithograph...

Fuck, even Metallica dont have the hide to pull that shit, all the stuff in their online store is quite reasonably priced and affordable for most fans. Have a look at the Kiss box set prices, then look at Bon Jovis box set price. Kiss are whores who deliberately rape their die hard fans of their money because they know they can get away with it.

I like Kiss, just because im willing to call bullshit on them doesnt mean I dont like the music, or the stageshow, or the mystique surrounding the band. But its embrassing to watch someone so blind that they defend even the worst aspects of a band.
 
I'm not defending Gene Simmons ripping off the fans because I agree with that and I wouldn't spend that kind of money on lithograms and stuff.

But the KISS boxed set was only like $120, HMV is selling the Bon Jovi one for $115 so I don't see the difference there?!? Have you seen the book that comes with the KISS one? It's unreal! They deliver the goods for your money, same goes with their concert prices. High ticket prices coz the show is expensive. And this year prices were as low as $45-50 for FLOOR tickets...
 
The Bon Jovi one is about $90, HMV are a ripoff (not just on music, DVDs as well) and the KISS one is full of stuff a lot of the diehard fans had already, plus heaps of studio versions of the songs as well! The Bon Jovi one is all unreleased stuff, with a dvd. Theres no comparison. The Kiss boxset is just as shitty as the Judas Priest one.

They dont deliver the goods for your money. The lithographs and photos would cost nothing to make, then they sign them for less than 2 seconds and charge a shitload of money for them.
 
I think its a crap best of with some rare stuff just about every Kiss diehard fan has already heard. Just like the Judas Priest one is crap. Its sad :(
 
The booklet makes it worth it, its great hahaha.

Plus Time Traveller alone makes it worth getting because it's in the top 5 KISS songs of ALL TIME if you ask me. And I wouldn't say its a crap best of either, they picked pretty good songs for it.
 
Yeah I know, and its not like there are any Kiss best ofs out there anyway, plus, anyone who would buy a whole boxset of Kiss stuff certainly wouldnt already have most of, if not all of them... Its 60% studio songs, 30% "rare" stuff any fool can get on ebay for ten bucks and 10% stuff nobody had. BARGAIN! :worship: :)
 
The packaging is cool, but its still a ripoff :) Download the 10% of rare tracks and put on a Kiss best of.
 
But there hasn't been a good KISS best-of, that's the problem. The boxset is the best KISS best of... Every other one SUCKS!

Double Platinum is a GREAT 1974-77 best of but that's not very much of their career. And every other best of has the same overplayed boring anthems. The best compilation that is out there wasn't released by KISS, it's The Millenium Collection Part II which is all 1982-1989 songs.
 
Trixxi Trash said:
Fuck, even Lemmy performs on the latest KISS tribute album, and Ozzy Osbourne sings praises to KISS on a couple of videos I have, and talks about how much KISS blew him away when they opened for Sabbath (ironically on the tour Sabbath kicked them off lol). "They were unbelievable!"

What is your point? Garth Brooks performs on a kiss tribute, Busta Rhymes performs on an ozzy tribute. You can perform on a tribute and not like the band all that much, most tribute players get a performance fee up front for doing such albums, seeings as they won't see a dime in royalties.
 
Winmar said:
Back on KISS again, here's an exerpt from an interview with Humphrey B. Flaubert from TISM:

"There would be no reason for TISM to ever unmask. When KISS unmasked, it was kind of interesting. There was a certain element of shock that this band that looked, sounded and acted like a bunch of dumb New York wog guys with hairy chests, were in fact, a bunch of dumb New York wog guys with hairy chests."

"KISS were crap, are crap, and always will be crap. Also, this concept of KISS becoming 'post modernly' accepted is crap. TISM have more in common with Delta Goodrem than we do with KISS. Furthermore, anyone who makes the comparison with TISM and KISS should have red hot bamboo shoots stuck under their fingernails, and then be buried alive in concrete under the house of well-known Melbourne promoter, Frank Stivala."

On Slipknot:
"Slipknot.....purport to be very scary ,when in fact they're nothing more than 14-year-old-male bedroom masturbation music. TISM's target demographic, however, is 15-year-old-male masturbation music, which is an important distinction to make."

:lol:
I hope none of you were taking this seriously.
 
I agree Gorey!

Even I would say that you shouldn't take KISS too serious (hell they don't take themselves seriously anyway, just watch KISS Exposed) but to take that shit seriously would just be silly lol.