Black Diamond 2: Excerpts

INTRODUCTION:
"Got my KISS records on. . . ." --From the song, "Surrender" by Cheap Trick

When I first started writing BLACK DIAMOND, I never intended to end up with a two volume collection. In fact, I never intended to do more than the portion of the set that you now have in front of you.

My initial idea was a book that would serve as a guide for fans wanting to know more about albums by KISS. Not just a listing of catalog numbers or dates of release, or maybe even a list of songs on each album -- I wanted to get more in-depth than that. I wanted to talk about how each album came into being; what songs were cut from the albums and why; who worked on each one and where they went from there. I wanted to flesh out each and every album in the readerĖs mind so they could perhaps look at them anew and discover something they never noticed before.

Then, my vision for the book grew: why stop at just the KISS albums? Each member of KISS had been involved with other albums outside of KISS at one time or another, surely they should be looked at as well. And what about foreign releases? Some of them are just as unique in their own right than many of the American releases; not counting the variations (big and small) among the albums that every fans already has in their collections. Most fans canĖt pick up those albums even if they wanted to. There are so many variations, so many countries, so many products, it is just impractical for a fan to try to collect it all. And, no matter how hard one tried, when one thought they had everything, that's when something new would pop up. ("Hey, I finally got my Japanese copy of KILLERS!" "That's great. Have you got the Australian edition with different tracks from the Japanese AND West German ones?" "Huh?!")

There's also the albums that featured tributes or parodies of the band. Certainly some fans would be interested in reading about them. Not to mention the few products that came out which were rumored for years to be either KISS or Gene Simmons. Bootlegs are also a collectorĖs market that needed to be looked at, and listing concerts that have circulated in fan-circles (some for years) is merely an extension of bootlegs as well.

To go completely nuts, I also decided to discuss the many videos that KISS and its band members have appeared in over the years. The complete the long list of topics, I decided to review the many books and comic books about the band. With that, my list to the KISS book (and my conviction to the insane asylum) was complete.

After a certain point I came to the realization that I needed to flesh out the text more in order to give readers a good understanding why and when certain albums or projects were done. To do that, I needed to branch out and discuss the early careers of the band members and other projects that they had been involved with as well. So, I ended up writing a biography first, then working on the reference section (which was supposed to be the initial project anyway).

I also ended up with a manuscript that was nearly 1,200 pages long. Double-spaced, of course; but still a book that, if it had been printed in itĖs original complete form and with photos, would have been impossible for my publisher to produce. It just became unrealistic and it was decided to simply publish the biography first while we fine-tuned the reference section.

Even then, I could only cover the output of certain countries. What you will find here are a complete listing of official releases for four countries: The United States, the United Kingdom, Japan and Australia. I picked these countries as they are the most important in terms of not only fan history, but also due to the many variations of the same albums that have occurred in each country. Admittedly, there are other countries that produced albums that are certainly unique from the ones listed here; yet, these differences tended to be minor changes in album art or a usage of a difference language in the text on the album's jacket cover. There is also little availability for accurate research about the albums in some countries. Thus, it was thought best to stick with the four countries that represent the bulk of KISS collectibility.

You will also not find listings for merchandise outside that of vinyl, CDs, books, comic books and video. While most fans do have the assorted toys and games featuring KISS, the main thrust of their collection is the music. Thus, the albums and videos are what take up the bulk of each fan's collection, and it is what this book is about. It will be up to other individuals to put together a book on the toys and games of the band (and there certainly will be more of that to come in the next few years).

I wanted the book to be something fans would pull out while listening to those albums or watching those videos -- like having a fellow fan discussing the album as if they were right there in the room with them. To do that, I wanted to limit the amount of pandering to the collector's mentality of "owning it all" or "this is worth that" and, instead, deal with where one can find the music and what went into each product before it was placed on the market. In other words, this is NOT a price guide. Which is just as well, most price guides are meaningless within two months after they come out (some even before then); they end up being used only as a reference anyway, so why not cut out the middle-man here?

Most of all, I wanted this book to be fun -- for the people involved in making this book happen; for the researcher; and for the you, the reader. Hopefully I have achieved that quality. And as the reader, I hope you find things in this book to discuss as well. After all, we're all fans here.

See you at the record bins.

--Dale Sherman
August 1, 1997