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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Mar 6, 2022 13:57:19 GMT
Gene speaks about Russia and...Kanye:
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jun 5, 2022 0:27:21 GMT
R.I.P. KISS album artist, Ken Kelley.
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Post by Kapitan on Jun 16, 2022 17:00:53 GMT
I just saw this article, "How KISS Backed away from the Brink of Disaster with 'Killers'" and coincidentally had this era on my mind recently. I had been tuning in and out to some VERY long, fan-made documentaries that combined the musicians' own audiobook versions of their autobiographies (Gene's and Paul's read by themselves) as well as both contemporaneous interviews, news reports, concert footage, TV appearances, etc., and specifically had been watching the one of this period.
While I had never really thought of Killers as a comeback album, I guess in a way it was: it was that, not Creatures or the more successful Lick it Up, that pointed them back toward harder rock, and also brought them a more modern hard rock sound.
I do remember buying a cassette of it when I was a huge KISS fan, circa late 80s, when I was about 12-14. Obviously we're talking pre-internet, plus I was living in the middle of nowhere with no real information resources or even older, serious fans. But I was so confused as to how and why there was a half-greatest hits album just a couple years after Double Platinum. I also wasn't sure what the hell was going on with the pink cover, Paul's purple headband, and more generally the guitar playing. Ace was on the cover here...did he play? (No.)
Considering that was all me confused 6-7 years after the fact, I can only imagine how fans in real time were trying to figure out what was happening. It's crazy that there was probably about a two-year gap, arguably even more, when Ace was for all practical purposes not in the band, but was still listed and shown as being there.
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Post by Kapitan on Jun 24, 2022 14:17:54 GMT
While I was checking out today's new releases, I saw that AllMusic's Greg Prato did a list of five KISS album tracks he considers underrated/overlooked. I'll ruin the surprise by listing them here, but the article gives descriptions and reasoning, plus has embedded YouTube versions of each.
"Strange Ways" (1974, Frehley song sung by Criss on Hotter than Hell) "Mr. Speed" (1976, Stanley with Sean Delaney, Rock and Roll Over) "Larger Than Life" (1977, Simmons, Alive II studio side) "Magic Touch" (1979, Stanley, Dynasty) "Not For the Innocent" (1983, Simmons and Vincent, Lick It Up)
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Post by Kapitan on Sept 22, 2022 19:25:38 GMT
Yesterday was the 35th anniversary of the first KISS album I ever bought upon its release, Crazy Nights. I'd have been 11 years old, and I am pretty sure my only previous exposure had been checking out from the library the cassette of Unmasked. It's possible, but I am not sure, that I'd gotten (or at least heard) Destroyer by this time, too. But as far as a new album, this was the first one. I'd been too young and generally oblivious to the earlier '80s one. I knew KISS by reputation--makeup, characters, etc.--but not by their music.
And that album? It fit right in with what else I was hearing: Def Leppard, Bon Jovi, Poison, Motley Crue, Twisted Sister. It was on the poppy end of the spectrum, really, presumably thanks to Paul Stanley and producer Ron Nevison (Survivor, Heart, Jefferson Starship). In a way I was disappointed that it fit in: as was the case with Guns n Roses, another band I knew by reputation before I heard them, I had KISS in mind as a kind of superhero band, something dramatically different than--and better than--anyone else. Instead it was ... fine. It was good. I liked it. But it wasn't out of the ordinary for the era.
Here is then-guitarist Bruce Kulick's short video about it.
Anyway, happy 35th to Crazy Nights, a solid example of a pop-metal album of the mid-to-late 80s, and a reminder that I am getting old. Thirty-five years ago!?
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Post by Kapitan on Oct 3, 2022 23:55:03 GMT
It's funny, because I realize someone who only knows me here might think I'm a huge KISS fan. I'm actually not. I almost never go out of my way to listen to them, though they were a very big part of my teenage musical life. But especially these past 10 years or so, I am increasingly interested in their story in the same way I'm interested in the Beach Boys' story. (The Beach Boys, though, are among my top couple favorites, and I consider BW one of the greatest artists in American musical history, so there's that difference...)
YouTube decided I should watch the below. And I found the first 10 minutes or so, all footage before the actual interview begins, to be absolutely fascinating! There seems to be a corresponding Paul Stanley interview, and I'm hoping for similar off-air footage. The behavior of an artist (as well as a journalist) off air, discussing the mundane, the professionalism, or interacting with staff, is really interesting to me.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Oct 4, 2022 12:11:22 GMT
That's ^ about as sedated and normal I've seen Gene Simmons, especially pre-interview. He is his usual articulate, honest, and sometimes "biting" self, though, as the interview progresses. I used to read Lisa Robinson in Creem magazine in the mid/late 1970s. She usually covered the New York scene, and in those days it was pretty wild and sleazy. Those were the days.
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Post by Kapitan on Oct 20, 2022 22:16:07 GMT
Another one of those mid-80s interviews, unedited footage, that is pretty interesting. This time with Paul Stanley. I know I've said it before and will again, but this band is far more interesting than they ever were good.
"Elvis Presley wasn't Frank Sinatra, and the Beatles weren't Elvis." This when asked about the glory days of the '70s and getting back to them. (Granted, I think it inflates his idea of KISS in the '70s, but that's another story.) I do think he's absolutely correct that emulating past stars only gets you so far. Inspiration is great, but things change. Get over it.
"I never wanted to be a starving artist, I don't want to paint the Sistine Chapel. I want to make Wonder Bread for the public." As much as I usually prefer artists who maybe do want to paint the Sistine Chapel, it's hard for me to disregard this approach. Call it "dumbing down" if you want, but making things that people like seems pretty reasonable...
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Oct 20, 2022 22:48:50 GMT
I know I've said it before and will again, but this band is far more interesting than they ever were good.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Feb 3, 2023 21:35:51 GMT
I had to chuckle at this, then I realized...this is what I looked like in 1976! Shout it, shout it, shout it out loud...
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Mar 3, 2023 13:47:10 GMT
KISS on Howard Stern 3/1/23:
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Post by Kapitan on Mar 30, 2023 12:35:45 GMT
How long can men in their 70s extend their junior-high squabbles? Paul and Gene are consistently like Mike Love only worse about Ace and Peter, but these comments from Ace just play into the childishness. It comes across like "meet me after school by the flagpole, we're going to fight!" Cool... ultimateclassicrock.com/ace-frehley-demands-apology-paul-stanley/
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 2, 2023 11:47:37 GMT
With their purported last-ever show approaching (the first couple days of December 2023), chatter about whether original guitarist Ace Frehley and original drummer Peter Criss might appear in some way, shape, or form is increasing again. I listened to Gene Simmons on an Italian woman's podcast/radio show the other day, and I knew one segment of it would be picked up by aggregator sites... Sure enough, I'm seeing a lot of "Gene Simmons Can't Believe Ace Frehley and Peter Criss Refuse to Join Kiss" or "Ace Frehley and Peter Criss Refuse Offer to Rejoin Kiss," and so on. I think it's important for people to think about how Simmons is framing the issue, though. And real journalists would be a little more critical in their writing about it. At least according to Frehley in recent interviews, and I think even based on Simmons's wording, he called them to offer that they come up on stage for a couple of songs at the last show or two. So, yes, to rejoin Kiss ... kind of. But not really. As Frehley said, how is he supposed to dress? He's going to join a quartet on stage, the guitarist of which is dressed like, is playing like, and is acting like him. Does Ace go on stage in jeans and a t-shirt? Does he put on the same costume and makeup--his costume and makeup--that Tommy Thayer is wearing? Does Tommy leave the stage, only to be replaced by Frehley in the same getup? And this is without even getting into the financials... It's safe to say that Simmons and Paul Stanley are making a lot of money on these final shows. What is the offer to Frehley and Criss? Reading between the lines, it seems like something between little and nothing, as if it is a favor to let them stand on stage for a couple songs. I can understand why Frehley is reluctant to accept that kind of offer. (And can assume Criss might feel similarly, though I haven't heard him speak about it.)
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 7, 2023 21:50:31 GMT
Piers Morgan had Gene Simmons on his show for "the full hour." (I love that phrase in TV/radio, which of course in ad-free time usually means about 37-45 minutes. But I got the phrase from Norm Macdonald, who I think took it from Larry King, who presumably took it from ... Methuselah?) Anyway, Morgan kicks things off by saying Simmons is "quite possibly the world's smartest-ever rock star," which I assume Simmons enjoys hearing... (I haven't listened yet. Just starting.) (Also, no disrespect to Simmons's intellect, but you could put forth a number of competitors for that title.)
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jul 8, 2023 11:51:38 GMT
I watched the entire interview. Gene Simmons is an enigma. He can be such a contradiction. His morals and value system is so...paradoxical. One side of Gene is greedy, pompous, braggadocious, and crude. He will say anything that has shock value (even if it IS the truth). He doesn't care. Actually, I think he enjoys shocking or impressing. Then, like with this interview, he can be humble, sensitive, thoughtful, and even possessing grounded morals and values. He will go from bragging about his talent or sexual escapades or wealth, then make a self-effacing comment to bring himself down. The way he compared KISS to The Beatles, or how he addressed bullying, and of course, how he became emotional talking about his mother. Fascinating. I can see how Gene would be fun to be around, to have a relationship with, and Shannon did a good job explaining that.
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