|
Post by kds on Nov 6, 2019 13:35:00 GMT
Reminder never to believe KISS: the band is returning to the Twin Cities almost a year after their most recent final show and 20 years after their first two final shows here (which were a few months apart in 2000).
If there's money to be made, Gene and Paul will still have this Farewell Tour going in 2026. Maybe Gene and Paul are trying to compete with those Pet Sounds Final Performances.
|
|
|
Post by Sheriff John Stone on Nov 6, 2019 14:31:50 GMT
Reminder never to believe KISS: the band is returning to the Twin Cities almost a year after their most recent final show and 20 years after their first two final shows here (which were a few months apart in 2000).
If there's money to be made, Gene and Paul will still have this Farewell Tour going in 2026. Maybe Gene and Paul are trying to compete with those Pet Sounds Final Performances. Another chance! I blew it last summer. KISS came to Hershey, PA - right in my back yard - and I didn't go. No excuses. Now they're coming to Allentown, PA in February 2020, a little bit of a drive but no big deal. I never saw KISS live. We'll see...
|
|
|
Post by kds on Nov 6, 2019 14:33:09 GMT
If there's money to be made, Gene and Paul will still have this Farewell Tour going in 2026. Maybe Gene and Paul are trying to compete with those Pet Sounds Final Performances. Another chance! I blew it last summer. KISS came to Hershey, PA - right in my back yard - and I didn't go. No excuses. Now they're coming to Allentown, PA in February 2020, a little bit of a drive but no big deal. I never saw KISS live. We'll see... If you've never seen them live, I'd encourage you to do so. Just on the off chance that this really is the end.
|
|
|
Post by Sheriff John Stone on Nov 6, 2019 23:02:47 GMT
To their credit, KISS has always acknowledged their musical influences, and ultimately did them justice with their outstanding cover versions. Check out this similarity between "High School" by MC5 and KISS's own "Room Service":
|
|
|
Post by Kapitan on Nov 6, 2019 23:06:27 GMT
This really hit home for me during the process of listening to every song on every (studio) album. I made several references and could have made quite a few more, sometimes of riffs or melodies that even go beyond influence into minor theft. (But as we've said in the Zeppelin thread, and could easily say in a Dylan thread, these things happen all the time in popular music.)
One of the Gene Simmons "vault" appearances had him actually discussing specific riffs he stole. He's quite open about it, for better or for worse.
|
|
|
Post by kds on Nov 7, 2019 13:52:23 GMT
This really hit home for me during the process of listening to every song on every (studio) album. I made several references and could have made quite a few more, sometimes of riffs or melodies that even go beyond influence into minor theft. (But as we've said in the Zeppelin thread, and could easily say in a Dylan thread, these things happen all the time in popular music.)
One of the Gene Simmons "vault" appearances had him actually discussing specific riffs he stole. He's quite open about it, for better or for worse.
You wouldn't think Gene would be so candid about something that could potentially cost him money at some point.
|
|
|
Post by Kapitan on Nov 16, 2019 22:51:41 GMT
KISS, final thoughts
As well as I knew most of the KISS catalog from my adolescence, I found going through it all album-by-album as an adult really informative. With perspective and distance, I think I understood the band much better.
First of all, the story of KISS is a two-volume work: there’s the less-than-five-year rise and pinnacle, which takes you through Alive II; and there’s 40 years wandering through the desert. (The timing really worked out fortunately for the metaphor on that latter part.)
But it’s not a satisfying story at all. There is no powerful conclusion to it, just chapter after chapter of almost unrelated, differently derivative work that neither comes together nor blows up at the end. Instead it just peters out.
Two features remain present throughout: the lyrics speak to the 13-year-old boy’s mind (or rather, his loins), basically one-dimensional and loaded with such blatant sexual references that even calling them double entendres or innuendos would be a stretch; and the band will never miss an opportunity to sell product in any way, shape, or form.
The first volume of their career is (the elitist in me shudders to say) artistically pretty satisfying and inarguably enjoyable. It’s not consistently brilliant, but there is no shortage of really strong, catchy music. “Heavy Beatles” was the descriptor that stood out, and it is apt. KISS in the mid-70s were a dumbed-down, heavy metal-influenced Beatles, with hooks and harmonies galore.
But from the 1978 solo albums onward, the band lost the plot. And then the band lost the band. They went from seemingly oblivious to criticism and fashion to indecisive slaves to it. Not only did they chase trends, but they couldn’t decide which to chase, and so seemingly shifted strategies with every album.
It did’t help that throughout the first half of the ‘80s, they also shifted personnel virtually every album (if not always officially or publicly). KISS went from a real band, a quartet, with four competent singers and songwriters (again in the vein of the Beatles) to a diarchy. Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley—especially Stanley, at least musically—ruled over the group of hired hands with iron fists, if not steely confidence.
Maybe most surprisingly was how often throughout the ‘80s and early ‘90s, in particular, one could not only identify the trend being chased, but specific bands being mimicked and specific songs being stolen from.
The mismanagement caught up to them as they bungled decision after decision, album after album, trend-hop after trend-hop, and eventually reunion after reunion. In doing so, they lost the seemingly bottomless well of goodwill of many of their hardcore fans and failed completely to recruit new ones.
Eventually the group dropped all pretense of being a creative entity and settled in as a tribute band to themselves. They continue as an increasingly poor live act (at least with respect to Stanley’s vocals) whose every show is seen by some as disrespectful to co-founding members Ace Frehley and Peter Criss as Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer not only play their parts, but their very characters. It has become unworkable that Frehley and Criss could even participate in the (latest alleged) farewell tour.
For the ugliness, though, the first half-decade of this band’s career was legendary, and even their second decade included multiple hits and several strong albums. They released 20 studio albums, eight live albums, and 13 greatest hits albums. They have sold more than 75 million albums, had 30 gold albums, 14 platinum albums, and three multiplatinum albums. They’ve had 25 Top 100 singles and seven Top 25 singles.
Their influence on hard rock and heavy metal as well as on live performances and marketing is inescapable.
|
|
|
Post by Sheriff John Stone on Nov 20, 2019 22:16:44 GMT
Thanks again, Kapitan, for all of the work you put into the KISS katalogue. I'm sure it was a labor of love. Your writing was very educational and entertaining. I'm just happy that KISS came along when they did. Those first three or four albums came out at a time when I was just a young kid getting into hard rock, and KISS's music was just what I was looking for!
|
|
|
Post by Kapitan on Nov 20, 2019 23:02:46 GMT
I'm just happy that KISS came along when they did. Those first three or four albums came out at a time when I was just a young kid getting into hard rock, and KISS's music was just what I was looking for! I envy you that: I think it would have been loads of fun to experience that whole circus at the right age and in real time. (I experienced it at the right age ... but a decade after it happened.)
|
|
|
Post by Kapitan on Nov 22, 2019 16:53:39 GMT
|
|
|
Post by Sheriff John Stone on Dec 20, 2019 21:48:46 GMT
|
|
|
Post by jk on Dec 21, 2019 13:09:22 GMT
I'm not that familiar with KISS (apart from a vague flirtation with Dynasty, which I thought sounded quite good). My biggest interest in them, I suppose, stems from the appearance in their ranks of Vinnie Vincent. I first encountered him in a Dan Hartman video and found him a fascinating figure. I lent an ear to quite a lot of his solo stuff while at PSF, which means I can't check the titles. Maybe he's already been discussed at length in this most impressive topic...
|
|
|
Post by Kapitan on Dec 21, 2019 16:18:43 GMT
We went through the whole catalogue, actually! (It was fun ... and agonizing at times.) For the Vincent years--which you're right, are absolutely fascinating stuff--start here and peruse the subsequent page or two. And if there's anything you want to chat on the topic, I'm glad to dive right back in.
|
|
|
Post by jk on Dec 21, 2019 18:11:21 GMT
We went through the whole catalogue, actually! (It was fun ... and agonizing at times.) For the Vincent years--which you're right, are absolutely fascinating stuff--start here and peruse the subsequent page or two. And if there's anything you want to chat on the topic, I'm glad to dive right back in. Yes indeed--I remember listening to some powerhouse stuff from the Vinnie Vincent Invasion, and a solo EP with a funny name? Maybe you know, Cap'n. My next listen is going to be Lick It Up! That was a fascinating and most enlightening read, Cap'n (and Sheriff).
|
|
|
Post by jk on Dec 22, 2019 22:35:36 GMT
I remember listening to some powerhouse stuff from the Vinnie Vincent Invasion, and a solo EP with a funny name? Maybe you know, Cap'n. My next listen is going to be Lick It Up! That was a fascinating and most enlightening read, Cap'n (and Sheriff). The name wasn't so funny after all--it was Euphoria: And very fruity it is too. Mr. Vincent certainly could play! And I've been getting back into Lick It Up (I remember it now from PSF--great stuff!)
|
|