The offical Kiss thread

Chairman_Smith wrote:

I'm listening to all the Kiss CDs back to back... i haven't used the skip button yet.... but Peter Criss's album is the next in the changer... so no promises

I suppose I should get all the way through it at least once.

That is the mark of a devoted fan!!!!

This new album will be The Gene & Paul Show, but I think they'll make use of Tommy & Eric's abilities.

@ this release date. Every time Paul comments it gets pushed back further. First he said spring, then summer, now fall ?!?!?!

I don't understand why they don't use Kulick, am I missing something did they fire him?, at least he had been with KISS for many years even though they were not the make up years it was still KISS

Kulick can't be Ace, and Tommy's been involved with the band behind the scenes forever, so he gets the nod to walk out on stage with them.

Ben Grimm wrote:

I don't understand why they don't use Kulick, am I missing something did they fire him?, at least he had been with KISS for many years even though they were not the make up years it was still KISS

He was fired when the original line up reformed but he did some ghost solos and guitar tracks on 'Psycho Circus' and also played on a few tracks on Gene Simmons solo album 'A**hole', he currently is in Grand Funk Railroad replacing Mark Farner.

James B. wrote:

I would love to hear the current line up do a cd of cover tunes

That would be interesting.

I have a question about Tommy Thayer. I'm only vaugely familiar with his work in Black N' Blue, but from what I'd gather, I'd say he's probably a more skilled/technical player than Ace. Not to take anything away from Ace, I love the guy and he's got his own style, but it seems that these 2 guys are very different types of guitar players. Now since Tommy is playing the role of Ace live in concert, will he also play like Ace on this new recording or will he be allowed to show off his chops a little more?

MetalGuy71 wrote:

James B. wrote:

I would love to hear the current line up do a cd of cover tunes

That would be interesting.

I have a question about Tommy Thayer. I'm only vaugely familiar with his work in Black N' Blue, but from what I'd gather, I'd say he's probably a more skilled/technical player than Ace. Not to take anything away from Ace, I love the guy and he's got his own style, but it seems that these 2 guys are very different types of guitar players. Now since Tommy is playing the role of Ace live in concert, will he also play like Ace on this new recording or will he be allowed to show off his chops a little more?

I am sure he is going to be asked to play in more of Ace's style than his own, but who knows both Vinnie Vincent and Bruce Kulick were allowed to showcase their in own style, at least within the restrictions of the KISS sound.

manny wrote:

MetalGuy71 wrote:

James B. wrote:

I would love to hear the current line up do a cd of cover tunes

That would be interesting.

I have a question about Tommy Thayer. I'm only vaugely familiar with his work in Black N' Blue, but from what I'd gather, I'd say he's probably a more skilled/technical player than Ace. Not to take anything away from Ace, I love the guy and he's got his own style, but it seems that these 2 guys are very different types of guitar players. Now since Tommy is playing the role of Ace live in concert, will he also play like Ace on this new recording or will he be allowed to show off his chops a little more?

I am sure he is going to be asked to play in more of Ace's style than his own, but who knows both Vinnie Vincent and Bruce Kulick were allowed to showcase their in own style, at least within the restrictions of the KISS sound.

That's pretty much what I'm thinking, but it's probably kinda weird for Tommy. It's one thing to mimic a style live, playting songs you didn't write, but when he's in the studio, I can just hear Gene saying over the intercom "No Tommy, that's not how Ace would do it. Play it more like Ace". Oh well, I guess as long as Tommy looks at it like a steady paying gig, I guess he'll be fine with it. Who knows? I'm just rambling here.

If the rumor of a KISS/Queen tour this summer is true, I'll have to pass. I'm not a big fan of Queen, and I can't afford to take out a second mortgage for pavilion seats.

Can someone tell me how I missed this song "Heart of Chrome?" Man, I frickin' love this song! I swear, it wasn't on Revenge when it first came out. Haha. It's like a new song to me every time it comes on. I don't get it.

Eyesore wrote:

Can someone tell me how I missed this song "Heart of Chrome?" Man, I frickin' love this song! I swear, it wasn't only Revenge when it first came out. Haha. It's like a new song to me every time it comes on. I don't get it.

It makes you wonder why the band couldn't keep make songs of that caliber. Heart of Chrome is friggin excellent. I'm interested to see what Thayer and Singer will bring to the band on their new LP.

Eyesore wrote:

Can someone tell me how I missed this song "Heart of Chrome?" Man, I frickin' love this song! I swear, it wasn't only Revenge when it first came out. Haha. It's like a new song to me every time it comes on. I don't get it.

I'd say I'm a pretty casual fan of KISS, but that whole Revenge cd is one of their best releases as far as I'm concerned. Lotsa good tunes on that one.

The first studio album from KISS in more than a decade will include songs “about the obvious things,” says bassist-singer Gene Simmons, citing titles such as “Rotten To The Core.” “No secret to life, no political messaging, nothing like that,” he says of the lyrics.
As previously reported, Simmons confirms KISS’ first album since 1998’s Psycho Circus will be produced by singer-guitarist Paul Stanley. “I don’t have enough time to tie my shoelaces and there’s nobody else I trust more than Paul,” says Simmons, who’s currently in Toronto to find three Canadian acts to sign to his recently resurrected Simmons Records, for which he has partnered with Universal Music Canada and businesswoman/former politician Belinda Stronach.
While he juggles all his other projects and pursuits, the band is also in the studio. The songs are all written, Simmons says. “There’s nothing to prove to anybody. We’re not interested in musical trends or anything else. We’re too long in the tooth for that. So it’s going to be sort of a classic ’70s rock & roll vibe. Meat and potatoes. You know, sometimes you just want to go out and have a meat and potatoes thing [and] forget the French dressing.”
KISS-Simmons, Stanley, guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer-will also continue touring for its 35th (now 37th) anniversary, beginning in South America in Santiago, Chile. Last year, the Kiss Alive/35 World Tour hit Europe, U.K., Australia, New Zealand and a few U.S. cities.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

Eyesore wrote:

Can someone tell me how I missed this song "Heart of Chrome?" Man, I frickin' love this song! I swear, it wasn't only Revenge when it first came out. Haha. It's like a new song to me every time it comes on. I don't get it.

I'd say I'm a pretty casual fan of KISS, but that whole Revenge cd is one of their best releases as far as I'm concerned. Lotsa good tunes on that one.

It is. "Unholy" is killer. But for whatever reason, "Heart of Chrome" came on the other day and I assumed it was a b-side from one of the singles I recently ripped. Nope. Totally weird. But yeah, awesome song.

Quote :

As previously reported, Simmons confirms KISS’ first album since 1998’s Psycho Circus will be produced by singer-guitarist Paul Stanley. “I don’t have enough time to tie my shoelaces and there’s nobody else I trust more than Paul,” says Simmons,

What he meant to say was "If we gotta pay someone to produce this album, it might as well be Paul, so all the money stays in the same accounts."

AHHHH ha ha. Gotta love Gene.

I didn't really care for Kiss growing up, but I love them now. I recently snagged "Hotter Than Hell", "Dynasty", "Destroyer", "Alive", "Dressed To Kill", and "Creatures of the Night". I Quite enjoy them all; they're a lot of fun.

I've also been meaning to pick up "Unmasked" and "Music From The Elder".

Here is Paul Stanley's other lucrative career:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29728662/

From a blog on classic rock magazine, thought it was interesting, and also it expresses the opinion that has already been offered up by several members of this board:


With the band about to head into the studio to record their first album since 1998’s Psycho Circus, Geoff Barton speculates the pro’s and con’s of what we can expect from the brand new Kiss album. Click here for previous Classic Rock Opinions.
At their Download festival press conference last summer, Kiss – well, bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons, to be precise – poured cold water (cold gin, more like) on the prospect of Kiss ever recording a brand new album.
“The record industry is dead,” Simmons snarled. “It’s six feet underground and unfortunately the fans have done this.”
He continued: “They’ve decided to download and file-share. There is no record industry around so we’re going to wait until everybody settles down and becomes civilised. As soon as the record industry pops its head up we’ll record new material.”
Rhythm guitarist/vocalist Paul Stanley defended Kiss’s policy of only playing their old hits live.
“With any classic band that hits the road, the last thing you want to hear is their new songs,” he said. “Trends come, fashion comes. But we don’t go away. We’re like herpes.”
So, what’s changed in a few short months? How come Kiss have performed an amazing about-face (not easy in those sky-high platform boots) and decided to record an all-new album after all?
You probably remember Stanley’s exclusive revelation to Classic Rock back in November ’08: “I thought that I’d be content for Kiss to remain a heritage act, just playing our greatest hits – Detroit Rock City and all that. But the new Kiss line-up with Tommy Thayer (guitar) and Eric Singer (drums) is proving to be so good, so strong in spirit, it would interesting to see how we perform in the studio.”
Stanley added: “I must stress that no recording time has been booked at this point. But if we were to go into the studio, the intention would be to make a Kiss album in the style of our 1970s recordings. A classic Kiss album, unmistakably.”
Well, hell. As we write this Kiss ARE in the studio making a new album, with a release date projected for autumn 2009.
All of which is extremely good news, obviously. But to be honest, we don’t quite believe the Starchild’s claim that the reason for recording a new Kiss album is purely down to the strength of the band’s current line-up.
Neither, it should be noted, has the record industry ‘popped its head up’ since last June. Indeed, as Simmons has doubtless noticed, it’s still cowering under a rock somewhere.
No sir. We suspect Kiss’s decision to enter the studio has got something to do with a couple of things that happened directly after their Download appearance – namely, the releases of Metallica’s Death Magnetic and AC/DC’s Black Ice albums.
Both were unashamedly retro offerings – as Kiss are promising their new album is going to be.
Encouraged by producer Rick Rubin, Metallica returned to their 1980s thrash-metal roots with Death Magnetic – and with frankly spectacular results.
AC/DC’s sole nod to modernity with Black Ice was to employ producer-of-the-moment Brendan O’Brien. (Just why O’Brien is so fêted is beyond this writer, but that’s another subject entirely.) Other than that, Black Ice was pretty much like any other AC/DC album. Just because it was released in 2008 doesn’t mean it couldn’t have gone on sale in 1998, 1988, 1978…
But you know what? Both Death Magnetic and Black Ice sold by the truckload. “Old is the new new,” you could say. The likelihood is that Simmons observed this significant fact, and anticipated those dollar signs glittering in front of his eyes once again if Kiss made the pure‘n’simple move of going back to basics.
So, what can we expect from Kiss’s new album, their first full-on studio project since 1998’s Psycho Circus? Well, Paul Stanley is producing, which we reckon is a good sign. The album is also being recorded in analog rather than digital, which arguably is an even better sign.
As Stanley recently affirmed: “It’s a Kiss album in the most true and classic sense — we’re recording it in analog, not digital, and writing it ourselves.”
So, yes, we’re expecting great things. We have but two qualms. First, Eric Singer might be a better drummer than original Kiss tub-thumper Peter Criss, but he ain’t as good a vocalist – as anyone who heard Singer on Black Diamond at Download will testify. So let’s hope Eric is content just to beat the skins on Kiss’s new record.
Second, Tommy Thayer may be a more technically proficient guitarist than Kiss’s original six-stringer Ace Frehley (notice a theme developing here?). But part of Kiss’s original charm was the Spaceman’s delightfully stumblesome playing, not to mention his endearingly heavy-handed riffs. Frehley’s barking-mad singing style shouldn’t be ignored, either. Can Thayer step up to the plate and match Ace’s past glories? We hope so. We have no reason to expect otherwise.
We’ll find out for sure sometime this autumn. But at this stage only one thing is totally certain: it’s gonna be a lo-o-o-o-o-ong wait…

I feel like I've asked this question before, so apologies if I did.

I know Eric Singer has sung Peter Criss tunes live, but does Tommy Thayer ever sing Ace songs live in concert or is he strictly playing guitar?

Cool. I guess that answers that question. Nice job by Tommy. But now here's the follow-up. Is this part of their regular set or were they just throwing him (and fans) a bone that night? Does he do the smoking guitar trick too?

The only time I've seen KISS live was back during their Reunion/Farewell Tour back in '96(?) with the 4 original guys.

Damn, Tommy's even got the Ace stage moves down. It's almost creepy.

Fat Freddy wrote:

Damn, Tommy's even got the Ace stage moves down. It's almost creepy.

The knock-knee'd wobble!! Awesome!

Quote :

But you know what? Both Death Magnetic and Black Ice sold by the truckload. “Old is the new new,” you could say. The likelihood is that Simmons observed this significant fact, and anticipated those dollar signs glittering in front of his eyes once again

I wouldn't be surprised if the next KISS album ends up being a Wal-Mart exclusive like AC/DC's BLACK ICE was. I'm sure Gene watched that entire process very closely.

Can you imagine if Gene and Paul hooked up with Sharon Osbourne? There would be blood.