Paul Is Dead
By: Anders Stalsby

OK, so KISS is in the midst of what is said to be their farewell tour. It's funny, I never even imagined KISS calling it quits before either Gene or Paul died. KISS has always been Paul's main priority and we have all read many interviews where Gene has stated that he isn't interested in dignity and that he will have to be dragged screaming and kicking off the stage before he quits. But maybe Paul actually has died. Creatively speaking, that is.

The farewell announcement was something of a shock for me and I have felt kind of weird ever since. Get a life, I hear you yelling. Yeah I agree, but having been a KISS fan since 1976 when I was ten years old, KISS has become something of a constant in life. They have often been annoying and disappointing, but going to the record store to pick up a new KISS album still creates the same buzz as it did well over twenty years ago, a buzz no other band could generate. This seems like a good time to share some thoughts on the reunion and what now seems like the break up of KISS.

There will be a lot of complaining and whining in this article so it's important to start off on a positive note by saying that I think the reunion was great, a dream come true. I'm really happy I was able to see the original line up back together in the 1990's. The four shows I saw on the reunion tour was a truly happy experience. I also have every respect for Paul for wanting to do other things in life and create a new career as a singer and actor in musical theater. But as a fan I reserve the right to be purely egotistical, and that means I sure would prefer KISS to stay together and record new material!

It's quite obvious that Paul, despite his lack of musical integrity (more on that later), always has been the glue that kept KISS together. During most of the eighties KISS was more or less Paul's solo project. Gene was concentrating his energy on everything else but KISS and the other members in the band were just sidemen. But now Paul isn't interested anymore. And that means that the band is over. Gene sure as hell doesn't want KISS to break up and I'm sure it wouldn't be very difficult to persuade Ace and Peter to continue in KISS.

Yes, as you now have noticed, I have a hard time with KISS breaking up. And the main reason for this is that I think KISS have wasted a lot of opportunities after the reunion tour. The reunion tour was a fantastic way of picking up where they had left off in 1977 before things went sour. But for some reason, despite all their experience, things went sour again very quickly. And it seems that at least Gene & Paul didn't learn very much from what happened during the late seventies. So it's with a feeling of "but hey, there's so much left for them to do" that I now try to get used to the break up of KISS.

I don't think Gene and, especially, Paul felt any real desire for the reunion to start with, since it would make KISS a less well-oiled machine and would mean a lot of hard work by dealing with difficult people, i.e. Ace and Peter. But during the nineties KISS had lost more and more of their popularity. Gene & Paul had tried everything else to get KISS back on track with very little success. There was an album produced by Bob "Destroyer" Ezrin, another live album, an unplugged album, and even a self initiated tribute album. These were all things that had worked before for KISS or for other bands in need of regained popularity. But they didn't work for KISS this time. Instead of selling cheap items, such as albums, in huge quantities, Gene & Paul started selling hugely expensive items, such as the KISStory book and the tickets for the official convention tour, in small quantities to maintain the cash flow. But I guess the feeling wasn't quite the same. There was, however, one more trick in the book: the reunion of the original line up.

It's often said that KISS and Aerosmith were rivals in the seventies, but I think it was much harder for Gene & Paul to see the reunited Aerosmith being so successful in the late eighties and remaining a double platinum act throughout the nineties. The only way for KISS to create enough interest from the media and the general public was to reform the original line up. And it worked! KISS won the lottery; they were back on the roller-coaster ride again. And I don't care about the reasoning behind the reunion, since it gave me the opportunity to experience the greatest show on earth again!

Sadly, after the reunion KISS went quickly from "the spirit of '76" to "the spirit of 1978". The talk about putting the music first and keeping the merchandising under control this time was soon forgotten. It was back to the ego excess of the late seventies. Gene's & Paul's energy was concentrated on solo activities and merchandising. The success of the reunion was merely used as a vehicle for different non-KISS activities.

In an interview in 1992 Bruce Kulick said he was glad that "Gene had gotten his brain back" and was concentrating on KISS again instead of acting in movies and running record companies. Well, after the success of the reunion Gene quickly lost his brain again... Instead of concentrating on the new studio album he started spreading himself too thin again, trying to be the master of a thousand trades. Gene's talk of "KISStianity" around the release of Psycho Circus was rather sad and reminded me of interviews with Gene I read around the release of his solo album in 1978.

>From my point of view things went seriously wrong the day Bruce Fairbairn was chosen to produce the new studio album after the Reunion Tour. Psycho Circus shows clearly that Bruce Fairbairn had no idea of what KISS is about. KISS, and especially Paul, has always been "easily lead" (musically, that is!) and have fallen victim to current trends in music and producers with bad ideas (e.g. Bob Ezrin in his early eighties haze). KISS have never had a strong musical identity like AC/DC, so KISS need a firm hand to guide them through a recording session. Sadly, Psycho Circus is one very unfocused and misguided album. It sounds like a hodgepodge of demos from the different band members and from different eras of the band. The interaction between band members is close to non existent.

The only thought that seems to have gone into the recording process was "let's do it the way Aerosmith did it". KISS hired the same producer and took help from professional song writers. KISS' carbon copy of the Aerosmith strategy was, however, ten years too late and just didn't work. Aerosmith have obviously sold their souls, playing streamlined power ballads written by professional song writers instead of blues based rock n' roll. But at least they are successful. In his darkest moments Joe Perry can take a look at the sales figures and his bank account, and I'm sure he soon feels better... The music climate of the late nineties was completely different from that ten years earlier and I honestly believe that a raw rock album in the vein of Rock And Roll Over would have worked a lot better than the slick Psycho Circus album. Quite a few unpolished rock bands do actually sell a lot of records these days. The disappointing sales of Psycho Circus must have been something of a shock for the band. Getting a gold album is of course a great achievement for most bands, but for the reunited KISS the sales figures were a slap in the face.

It seems like Gene & Paul thought that hiring Bruce Fairbairn was a guarantee for success and that they didn't have to care too much about what went on the record. For the Psycho Circus recordings it's obvious that Gene more or less just opened his drawer of old song ideas and grabbed what happened to be on top. No thoughts whatsoever went into the process because Gene had more important things to do... He was busy trying to get movie deals and signing licensing agreements for merchandise!

Gene's & Paul's plan was evidently to record another "Gene & Paul-album" with studio musicians and a few guest appearances from Ace and Peter. Bruce Fairbairn was known for being able to handle difficult people, so that would keep Ace and Peter under control. The plan included Paul writing one song for Peter to sing and Gene writing one song for Ace to sing. Recording a "real" KISS album was obviously never considered.

I can appreciate the fact that both Peter and Ace are difficult to work with compared to professional musicians like Bruce Kulick and Eric Singer. But for the reunion to have worked on a creative level I think Gene & Paul should have said to themselves "OK, this project will be a bumpy ride and not as smooth as working with professional studio musicians, but to get the chemistry right we have to let those bums Ace and Peter have some artistic input". Ace and Peter would have been satisfied without in any way dominating the album. With two songs from them each on the album I imagine they would have been very happy indeed. The fact that Paul wrote and played several typical Ace Frehley solos on the album must have been truly humiliating for Ace. Well, the solo on Psycho Circus fooled me when I first heard the song. (The abuse of Ace and Peter of course continues to the bitter end. It's hard to understand how Gene & Paul can even consider releasing a live album by KISS in the year 2000 without including 2,000 Man on the domestic release.)

There have seldom been very much collaboration between the band members on recordings, but by letting Ace play the guitar solos, Peter play the drums and by singing backing vocals on each others songs, a band feeling can be created. The song Within is a typical example of this. The album version of the song is purely a Gene demo (with Bruce Kulick playing the backwards guitar intro). On the live version of the song Ace plays a great guitar solo and Paul sings the background vocals. Suddenly it sounds almost like a KISS song!

During the nineties it became evident that song writing was becoming more and more of a struggle for Paul. This, I think, is one of the reasons for the longer and longer gaps between studio albums and also one major reason behind the break up of the band. Paul's past casts a big shadow over him and it seems that Paul doesn't believe that he can come up with new material that matches what he wrote when he was younger. I truly believe that he doesn't feel the urge to write another song in his life and that the thought of going into the studio one more time seems unbearable for him.

Paul has, of course, never written tons of songs like Gene and he has taken help from outside writers since the late seventies, but in interviews after both Carnival Of Souls and Psycho Circus he stressed that "writing the songs was hard this time". It seems like Paul has come to the conclusion that since he believes he can never top the songs he wrote in the seventies he doesn't need to write anything at all. This, I think, is rather sad. You might not be able to write with the same youthful energy when you are 50 as when you are 25, but you might still be able to write great music, a fact proven by many middle aged musicians.

The fact that Paul has relied so heavily on professional song writers because of lack of self confidence has, in my opinion, made his songs weaker and more unoriginal than if he had settled for what he could come up with himself. Why on earth does he sing those clichÈs people like Holly Knight and Dianne Warren write for him? The lyrics to Nothing Can Keep Me From You from the soundtrack to the Detroit Rock City movie is by far the cheapest thing I have heard in a long time, thoroughly embarrassing. In how many songs have that theme of mountains, oceans and rivers that can't stop someone from getting to the one they love been used? Too many for sure! Paul could come up with more imaginative lyrics himself in five minutes time! It sure is tragic if this was the last new song put out under the name of KISS.

Oh well, my amateur psycho analysis of Paul's state of mind continues... One line of the lyrics to I Pledge Allegiance To The State of Rock & Roll struck me as being very odd when I first heard the song. The lyrics are probably written by Holly Knight, but anyway: "I'm satisfied until the day I die" That's not a very rock n' roll thing to say, is it? "But I ain't satisfied until the day I die" would have been a more understandable line. Rock music, like most art forms, is based on lack of satisfaction (I do believe the Rolling Stones wrote a song about that...). So if Paul is satisfied, well, then there is nothing left for him to do but to sit back and enjoy the memories. Alternatively he can move into another area where he can feel renewed hunger. The latter is, of course, what Paul is trying do. Paul has, as we all know, found an alternative career and can continue as a singer, singing other people's material in musical theater. If he will become a respected artist in musical theater remains to be seen, but he might well succeed. He doesn't act on a whim like Gene. Paul is a man who takes things seriously!

Just like the Psycho Circus album went in the wrong direction, the tour that followed was also something of a disappointment. The Reunion Tour was, all things considered, as great as it could have been. It was truly a party and it was a fantastic feeling to see the original line up together again after all those years. It was nothing new, but no one expected it to be that either. The songs performed were all classics and the set list contained quite a few surprises. It was great to hear songs like Let Me Go Rock 'N' Roll and 100,000 Years, not the most well known KISS songs, but classics nonetheless.

To maintain interest the Psycho Circus Tour had to be something different. Sadly, all creativity was spent on the infamous 3-D-effect. Well, it WAS impressive, but only for thirty seconds... "Overweight" is the word that in my opinion best describes the tour. And I don't mean that only physically. It was not the mean and lean affair it should have been. Instead the tour was kind of reminiscent of the Dynasty Tour. The outfits were massive. OK, they were new versions of the Destroyer outfits, but since the guys are fatter these days (especially some), the outfits became bigger as well. It was almost scary to see all the new chins Ace had grown since the tour before! The stage set up was busy and the performance was tired compared to the reunion tour. The biggest problem in my opinion, however, was the choice of set list. KISS have a huge catalog of classic songs, but for the majority of the shows on the Psycho Circus Tour they chose only to play songs that had been performed on the Reunion Tour plus three songs from the new Psycho Circus album.

Now KISS had a problem. The new album wasn't received too well by the fans and there were no real reason for people who had seen the Reunion Tour to see the band again on the Psycho Circus Tour. By saying this I do by no means say that I believe KISS would have turned the mediocre ticket sales into a "four sold out shows at the Madison Square garden"-success by adding Ladies In Waiting to the set list. No, but I do mean that the hard core fans have an important role in the success or lack of success of an album or a tour. Maybe Gene & Paul should have listened to what Gene likes to refer to as the "warped ones" or the "Internet minority". I do believe it's important to have the hard core fans acting as "advertisers" and spreading the word. If the fans, instead, are disappointed and say to their friends that "it's only the same old show and the same old songs again", then the general public will not be interested. And that was more or less what happened. Only the fans bought the album and in order to reach platinum sales you need the general public as well. Only the fans saw the band in concert and that put a very early halt to the tour.

One way of keeping the fans happy and making them tell the world how great KISS are is by creating an interesting set list. Paul has said about the Farewell Tour that "there will be no obscure songs that only 30 people in the audience want to hear". Oh, well... Firstly, for the KISS fans there is no such thing as an obscure KISS song; even Mainline and Getaway are well known songs for the hard core fans. Secondly, concerning the general public, I think Bruce Fairbairn was right when he said in an interview that KISS have very few songs that the general public is aware of. There is Rock And Roll All Nite, Beth, I Was Made For Lovin' You and maybe Forever but not many more. Before the Reunion Tour Paul put it differently and said that there are about 10 songs KISS have to play but apart from them KISS can fill the set list with any songs they like. Sadly they haven't taken his opportunity to achieve some variation. About 15 songs or 75 percent of the set list has remained the same through the Reunion Tour, the Psycho Circus Tour and the Farewell Tour.

So you got to ask yourself: Would it scare ticket buyers off if KISS played Hotter Than Hell or Parasite instead of 100,000 Years? Would the prospective ticket buyer say "no, I won't see KISS because they play I Want You or Ladies Room instead of Let Me Go Rock 'N' Roll? No, I don't think so. It's very hard to understand why KISS choose such a stale set list. OK, the songs they play are classics, but many other songs are classics as well. By introducing a bit of variation the show would feel a lot fresher. Historically almost every classic song has been dropped at one point or another. Deuce wasn't played between 1976 and 1988. Shout It Out Loud wasn't played between 1983 and 1987. Do You Love Me wasn't played between 1977 and 1995. I believe only Rock And Roll All Nite, Detroit Rock City and Love Gun have always remained in the set list.

If the Psycho Circus album and tour had been more successful I believe the reunion would have lasted a lot longer. The Farewell Tour now seems to be a reasonable success. It's sad, though, that only "the reunion" and "the farewell" was successful and that KISS couldn't keep their popularity in-between. I must say I really admire bands like AC/DC and the Rolling Stones that know who they are, put out a great album every five years, have all the time in the world to do whatever they want to do outside the band, but don't even consider quitting. Admittedly the Stones were close to a break up during the second half of the eighties but they got their act together and went on to huge and well deserved success. It's too bad KISS won't or can't work the same way. You got to hand it to Gene, though, that despite his lack of involvement during certain periods, he never discussed leaving KISS. "It's good to go out on top" Paul says about the break up. Hmm, they should have quit in 1977 then... I don't mind them being old and ragged, though. For me KISS was never about being young in age but about believing in yourself and staying true to your ideals.

So there you have it, I believe the reason for the break up is partly Paul's feelings of not being able to or not feeling any urge to write new songs, partly the lack of success when the band tried going forward and released new material.

There will still be new KISS products put out, though. After the reunion I often felt that there was too much icing and too little cake. Now there will be new dolls, new comic books, the odd movie, more wrestling, and so on, i.e. all icing and no cake at all... For me KISS was firstly about the music, secondly about the theatrics and the great live performance. The toys and all the other merchandising never interested me. Neither did it bother me, however, as long as the band kept putting out new music.

Concerning the future of "core KISS activity" I believe it all depends on Paul's success in musical theater. If he is successful this is probably the end of KISS as we know it. If he's not successful, there will probably be some KISS activity in a couple of years. Maybe there will not be a full tour, but official conventions, maybe with the band playing live, are not unlikely even though Paul recently ruled them out in an interview. In the meantime Gene hopefully dusts off the ideas for the box set!

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