Time For A Reality Check People
By: Tom Hickey

It seems that the KISS Army camp has divided itself into three camps:

1) "I think KISS are a joke with their tired set list and over the top merchandising - I cannot take being dissapointed anymore."

2) "I wish it would be like the old days - why aren't Ace and Peter more involved."

3) "We are lucky to have them back - count your blessings because they won't be around much longer."

In reality, the truth is that the answer is somewhere in between.

If you are looking for credibility, KISS is not the band for you. Outside of the loyal KISS Army, there is probably not a band in rock'n'roll history that has had less credibility (well maybe the Bay City Rollers, but that's another story:). Up until 1976 and the success of Beth, KISS were perceived as a threatening act - your parents did not want you to buy the albums, protesters would accuse them of satanic worship and another acts of perversion. There was an air of mystery and mystique.

By the time the solo albums and Dynasty had been released (2-3 short years later), KISS was a bubblegum rock act with 5 year olds attending their concerts. Even Love Gun showed the downward slide (I mean "Then She KISSed Me" - give me a break). The weak sales of Unmasked caused a rethinking, and in the search for credibility The Elder was released. But it was too late: 5-12 year olds were not interested in that kind of music, many of the fans had moved on in embarassment at the 1978-81 period, and poof it was over. The magic was gone. Even Creatures, a great heavy album, couldn't salvage the credibility- it was gone. KISS lost focus on their core audience, and to some extent never got it back.

With regards to Ace and Peter's participation, I can understand why they are under such tight control and restrictions. Don't get me wrong, Ace is my favorite band member - and the heart and soul of the band - but he is lazy, extremely sloppy at times, and himself and Peter created untold grief in the band back in the 70's. And Peter can't write songs worth a damn. Further, substitute drummers and guitarists have been used for years on many of the different albums (and not just KISS either by the way). Anyone who expects the 4 of them to sit down in the studio for 3 months and write songs together is ignoring the reality of how the band had functioned since day 1. Even many of the songs on the first 3 albums were written before the band ever got together. By the time Destroyer was released, Ace was already having his parts played by someone else.

Am I saying that the 4 of them could not do it together? Not at all. I am simply saying that as fans on the outside, we do not understand the personal feelings and dynamics of how Ace, Gene, Paul and Peter interact. KISS is a business. I have a feeling that if you made them record an album together like that, they'd proably kill each other. Then again, you might end up with a really aggressive record, the problem being that they would probably refuse to tour together once it was done. To think that the hands of time could be turned back to 1973/74 and have them hole up in a studio like in the old days is wishful thinking.

But what if?

What if Bill Aucoin, Stanley and Simmons had not gone over the top with marketing and the whole Super KISS concept had been forgotten? What if they had decided that less was better than more and from 1976 on - following Rock'n'Roll Over - only 1 album a year or two apart had been released with the only marketing efforts centered on the album and tour promotion? What if they had decided to disappear from public view between albums following a tour?

Would the lack of constant exposure have caused the novelty factor to wane and popularity to fade, or conversely would it have kept the public wanting more, always wondering what the next tour would bring and still wondering "What do they look like?" It would seem that this approach would have kept the band's more threatening image, and while causing less short-term hysteria, would have sustained the band longer and maybe allowed the fan base to grow with them.

Conversely, there never would have been a reason for a Reunion Tour assuming that the 4 originals kept plugging away and gradually faded out of favour in the 80's. There would have been no mystique left and yearning back to the original days. Aside from the original die-hards who at age 30-45 went to the Reunion shows, there were also a lot of the smaller 80's KISS army who wanted to experience the original band live.

As such, we would probably not even be having this debate now. Personally, the last 3 years have been fun for us old-time KISS fans who got to re-live our youth (I'm 36, which is gettin' long in the tooth by rock'n'roll standards), and in hindsight I'm glad they left a legend behind that created so much excitement 15 years later.

So, although we all may get frustrated with what goes on with the band, my advice to all KISS fans is this:

1. Ignore what you don't like.
2. Stop trying to turn back the clock - it isn't going to happen.
3. Enjoy the last tour for yourself and forget about how much Gene is making off it - in 2001 we'll probably have nothing but a box-set and memories.

The end is near people, enjoy it people, while you can.

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