KISS (band)

KISS

Rooted in the campy theatrics of Alice Cooper and the sleazy hard rock of glam rockers The New York Dolls, Kiss became a favorite of American teenagers in the '70s. Most kids were infatuated with the look of Kiss, not their music. Decked out in outrageously flamboyant costumes and makeup, the band fashioned a captivating stage show featuring dry ice, smoke bombs, elaborate lighting, blood spitting, and fire breathing that captured the imaginations of thousands of kids.

But Kiss' music shouldn't be dismissed — it was a commercially potent mix of anthemic, fist-pounding hard rock driven by sleek hooks and ballads powered by loud guitars, cloying melodies, and sweeping strings. It was a sound that laid the groundwork for both arena rock and the pop-metal that dominated rock in the late '80s. Kiss sold more records in the US than any other band except The Beatles.

Kiss was and continues to be the brainchild of Gene Simmons (bass, vocals) and Paul Stanley (rhythm guitar, vocals), former members of the New York-based hard rock band Wicked Lester. The duo brought in drummer Peter Criss through his ad in Rolling Stone and guitarist Ace Frehley responded to an advertisement in The Village Voice.

Even at their first Manhattan concert in 1973, the group's approach was quite theatrical; Flipside producer Bill Aucoin offered the band a management deal after the show. Two weeks later, the band was signed to Neil Bogart's fledgling record label, Casablanca. Kiss released their self-titled debut in February of 1974; it peaked at number 87 on the U.S. charts. By April of 1975, the group had released three albums (Kiss (1974), Hotter Than Hell (1974), and Dressed to Kill (1975) and had toured America constantly, building up a sizable fan base. Culled from those numerous concerts, the legendary Alive! (released in the fall of 1975) made the band rock & roll superstars; it climbed into the Top Ten and its accompanying single, "Rock 'N' Roll All Nite," made it to number 12. Their follow-up, Destroyer, was released in March of 1976 and became the group's first platinum album. It also featured their first Top Ten single, Peter Criss' power ballad "Beth."

A 1977 Gallup poll named Kiss the most popular band in America. Kiss mania was in full swing and thousands of pieces of merchandise hit the marketplace. The group had two comic books released by Marvel, pinball machines, makeup and masks, board games, and a live-action TV movie, Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park. The group was never seen in public without wearing their makeup and their popularity was growing by leaps and bounds; the membership of the Kiss Army, the band's fan club, was now in the six figures. Two more studio albums continued to fuel the Kiss fire (1976's Rock and Roll Over and 1977's smash hit Love Gun' before Kiss released the sequel to Alive! in 1977.

Even such enormous popularity had its limits, and the band reached them in 1978, when all four members released solo albums on the same day in October. Simmons' record was the most successful, reaching number 22 on the charts, yet all of them made it into the Top 50. The first Kiss album in two years, Dynasty, released in 1979, continued their streak of platinum albums. Unmasked, released in the summer of 1980, was their last recorded with the original lineup, as Peter Criss left in 1980. Unmasked was their first record since Destroyer to fail to go platinum.

Criss' permanent replacement, the dynamic Eric Carr, joined the band in time for their 1980 world tour. The band stunned audiences and disgusted most hardcore fans with the release of the symphonic concept album, 1981's Music From "The Elder", their first album recorded with Carr. It didn't even go gold. In fact, it couldn't even climb past number 75 on the charts.

Reaction to The Elder was harsh, and nearly killed Kiss's career. Much of the album contained horns and strings, and was based on a fictional film that never saw the light of day. On the surface, The Elder is a great album in many respects, but not for a band like Kiss, who was known for its pounding rhythms, sex-based lyrics, and blood-laden stage show. The band was committed to go back in the studio and make the heaviest album of their career.

After recording only four songs, plans for the new album were scrapped. The four leftover songs were combined with classic Kiss material from the 1970s for the 1982 release Kiss Killers. The band made good on their promise with 1982's excellent Creatures of the Night, the hardest album the band had released up to that point. Creatures of the Night fared better than Music From the Elder, yet it couldn't make it past number 45 on the charts. Unfortunately, Ace Frehley left the band after its release; he was replaced by Vinnie Vincent in 1982 in time for the Creatures of the Night tour.

Sensing it was time for a change, Kiss shocked the music world by removing their makeup live on MTV. The publicity worked, as the 1983 album Lick it Up became their first platinum record in four years. However, Vinnie Vincent was fired after Lick it Up and was replaced by Mark St. John. Animalize, released the following year, was just as successful, and the group had clearly recaptured their niche. "Heaven's on Fire" and "Thrills in the Night" became huge MTV hits, and the band continued to be a large concert draw. St. John, however, was soon taken ill with Reiter's Syndrome and left the band shortly into the 1984 Animalize tour. Bruce Kulick became Kiss' new lead guitarist, and would remain with the group for the next 12 years.

For the rest of the 1980s, Kiss turned out a series of best-selling albums (1985's Asylum, 1987's Crazy Nights, and the critically acclaimed 1989 release Hot in the Shade), culminating in the early 1990 hit ballad "Forever," which was their biggest single since "Beth."

Kiss was scheduled to record a new album with their old producer, Bob Ezrin, in 1990 when Eric Carr became severely ill with cancer. The drummer died in November of 1991 at the age of 41. Devastated, Kiss continued and replaced him with formber Black Sabbath drummer Eric Singer and recorded the highly praised Revenge (1992), their first album since 1989. The album, considered by many fans as the best latter-day Kiss album, was a Top Ten hit and went gold. Kiss followed it with the release of Alive III the following year. The album performed respectably, but not up to the standards of their two previous live records.

In 1995, the band returned to the studio for the first time in three years to record Carnival of Souls. However, the release of the album would be delayed for years thanks to MTV: The band joined the long line of rockers to perform on MTV Unplugged shortly after the recording of the album. Original members Peter Criss and Ace Frehley were in the audience, and joined Kiss onstage for several songs at the end of the set. Reaction was so positive that, in 1996, the original lineup of Kiss — featuring Simmons, Stanley, Frehley, and Criss — reunited to perform an international tour, complete with their notorious makeup and special effects. The tour was one of the most successful of 1996.

In 1998 the reunited group issued Psycho Circus, the first album with the original lineup since 1980's Unmasked. While the ensuing tour in support of Psycho Circus was a success, sales of Kiss' reunion album weren't as stellar as anticipated. Reminiscent of the band's late-'70s unfocused period, the band seemed more interested in flooding the marketplace with merchandise yet again instead of making the music their top priority. With rumors running rampant that the Psycho Circus tour would be their last, the quartet announced in the spring of 2000 that they would be launching a U.S. Farewell tour in the summer, which became one of the year's top concert draws.

But on the eve of a Japanese and Australian tour in early 2001, Peter Criss suddenly left the band once again, supposedly discontent with his salary. Taking his place was previous Kiss drummer Eric Singer, who in a controversial move among longtime fans, donned Criss' cat-man makeup (since Simmons and Stanley own both Frehley and Criss' makeup designs, there was no threat of a lawsuit) as the farewell tour continued. With the band scheduled to call it a day supposedly by late 2001, a mammoth career-encompassing box set was set for later in the year, while the summer saw perhaps the most over-the-top piece of Kiss merchandise yet — the "Kiss Kasket."

The group was relatively quiet through the rest of the year, but 2002 started with a bang as Gene Simmons turned in an entertaining and controversial interview on NPR where he criticized the organization and berated host Terry Gross with sexual comments and condescending answers. He was promoting his autobiography at the time, which also caused dissent in the Kiss camp because of the inflammatory remarks made towards Ace Frehley. Frehley was quite angry at the situation, leading to his no-showing of an American Bandstand anniversary show.

Despite saying the Farewell Tour was their last, Kiss launched a double headlining tour with Aerosmith in 2003. Peter Criss rejoined the band earlier in the year, but unfortunately, Ace Frehley refused to continue on with Kiss. He (and his makeup) were replaced by former Black N Blue guitarist Tommy Thayer. Shortly after the arrival of Thayer, the band recorded Alive IV with a symphony orchestra while in Australia. The Aerosmith tour was a tremendous success, but Simmons and Stanley were unimpressed with Criss's uneven and chatoic drumming style (his skills had in fact deteriorated over time). Criss was fired in late 2003 and once again replaced by Eric Singer.

Kiss played to sold out houses throughout the US on the 2004 "Rock the Nation" tour, and shows no signs of slowing down.

by Stephen Thomas Erlewine & Greg Prato and Haywood Jablowme

1 Current Members
2 Original Members
3 Other Members
4 KISS Albums
5 External links

Current Members

Gene Simmons – vocals, bass (1972 – present)

Paul Stanley – vocals, guitar (1972 – present)

Eric Singer – drums (1992 – 1995, 2001 – 2002, 2004 – present)

Tommy Thayer – guitar (2003 – present)

Original Members

Gene Simmons – vocals, bass (1972 – present)

Paul Stanley – vocals, guitar (1972 – present)

Peter Criss – vocals, drums (1972 – 1980, 1996 – 2001, 2003)

Ace Frehley – vocals, guitar (1972 – 1982, 1996 – 2002)

Other Members

Eric Carr – drums (1980 – 1991)

Vinnie Vincent – guitar (1983)

Mark St. John – guitar (1984)

Bruce Kulick – guitar (1984 – 1995)

KISS Albums

Kiss (1974; Gene, Paul, Peter, Ace)
Hotter than Hell (1974; Gene, Paul, Peter, Ace)
Dressed to Kill (1975; Gene, Paul, Peter, Ace)
[[Alive!]] (1975 live; Gene, Paul, Peter, Ace)
Destroyer (1976; Gene, Paul, Peter, Ace)
Rock and Roll Over (1976; Gene, Paul, Peter, Ace)
Love Gun (1977; Gene, Paul, Peter, Ace)
Kiss Alive II (1977 live; Gene, Paul, Peter, Ace)
Double Platinum (1978 compilation; Gene, Paul, Peter, Ace)
The Best of Solo Albums (1978; Gene, Paul, Peter, Ace) — 3 tracks each from each solo album
Dynasty (1979; Gene, Paul, Peter, Ace)
Unmasked (1980; Gene, Paul, Peter, Ace)
Music from "The Elder" (1981; Gene, Paul, Ace, Eric C.)
Kiss Killers (1982; Gene, Paul, Ace, Eric C., plus old songs with original lineup)) — unavailable in North America
Creatures of the Night (1982; Gene, Paul, Ace, Eric C.)
Lick It Up (1983; Gene, Paul, Eric C., Vinnie) — first album cover without face paint
Animalize (1984; Gene, Paul, Eric C., Mark)
Asylum (1985; Gene, Paul, Eric C., Bruce)
Crazy Nights (1987; Gene, Paul, Eric C., Bruce)
Smashes, Thrashes, and Hits (1988; Gene, Paul, Eric C., Bruce, plus compilation of old songs)
Hot in the Shade (1989; Gene, Paul, Eric C., Bruce)
Revenge (1992; Gene, Paul, Bruce, Eric S.)
Alive III (1993; Gene, Paul, Bruce, Eric S.)
MTV Unplugged (1995; Gene, Paul, Bruce, Eric S.)
Carnival of Souls (1996; Gene, Paul, Bruce, Eric S.)
You Wanted the Best, You Got the Best (1996; old compilation, Gene, Paul, Peter, Ace)
Greatest Kiss (1997; Gene, Paul, Peter, Ace)
Psycho Circus (1998; Gene, Paul, Peter, Ace)
The Very Best of Kiss (2002; compilation, Gene, Paul, Peter, Ace, Eric C., Vinnie, Bruce, Eric S.)
Alive IV – Kiss Symphony (2003; Gene, Paul, Peter, Tommy)

External links

Categories: Heavy metal musical groups | American musical groups