Over the years KISS ASYLUM has had some great articles from our columnists in the Video Spotlight (Byron Fogle), KISS Thought Vault (Ron Albanese), Diamonds In The Rough (Dale Sherman), and KISS Album Focus (Julian Gill) features among others. In addition to the reoccuring articles from these great authors, we wanted to open the door to other writers out there and give them a place where they can voice their opinions about KISS. We realize not everyone may want to write a column on a regular basis, but we bet there are more than a few of you who have at least one KISS related topic burning in you that you'd love to write a one time piece about. Well, KISS ASYLUM is happy to bring to you a forum in which to do so in our new feature "SOUND OFF!" KISS ARMY.
"SOUND OFF" is the place where YOU get a chance to be a guest columnist at KISS ASYLUM. If you have something you want to get off your chest and share with other KISS fans we encourage you to email us and submit the essay! From your own creative idea for how KISS could gain new fans, to what you think really went "wrong" with the KISS/Vinnie Vincent relationship, to your take on the KISS merchandizing, to an analysis on the evolution of KISS album covers.... if you want to write about it, we want to help you share it with fellow members of the KISS ARMY! Perhaps you have been motivated to respond to something written by one of the other feature writers here at KISS ASYLUM? Now is your chance to "SOUND OFF" and be heard!
"SOUND OFF!" - SOUND OFF Archives: Recent Articles | Articles 1-20 | Articles 41-60 | Articles 61-80 | Articles 81-100
In his "Sound Off" essay, author Bobby Mitchell has decided to address the different scenarios which might occur should Ace leave KISS after the first of the year. The way he sees it, any of the following are options: Gene and Paul going back with Bruce and Eric without make-up; Ace quits KISS and Gene, Paul and Peter continue on with a new guitarist with make up; KISS calls it quits; and Bobby's own "fantasy" scenario. No one really knows how this will turn out, but Bobby wonders Will Ace Really Be The 2000 Man?
Being a relatively new KISS ASYLUM visitor hasn't stopped "Tuckers" from jumping into the "Sound Off" mix. Professing to be somewhat amused by the "old" vs. "new" KISS fan debate, it's a point our most recent author finds moot since, "either by poor management or BIG egos KISS was turned into (in order of appearance) a sick pop band, a strange version of the Moody Blues, a metal band, a spandex and hair band, a metal band again, a grunge band, and finally a band trying to sound like old KISS." Ever since the solo albums were released "real KISS ceased to exist" which, of course, means The Kings Are Dead, Long Live The Kings!
Joshua Aaron Day takes a somewhat philosophical approach in his "Sound Off" essay, noting that: "I think as people get older they get too critical of things, and forget to look positively at the situation. This goes for the real world, as well as the entertainment world." Joshua for one, "always thought seeing the original band get back together would be neat, and hoped they'd do it before they got to old or too dead." Finding himself both happy to see the original line up reunite, but sad to see Bruce Eric leaving the band, Joshua has similar mixed feelings about a lot of the recent events in KISStory. When all is said and done, Joshua thinks he falls Happily Somewhere In The Middle Ground.
"When KISS is good, they're unbeatable. When they're bad, they're... human." So says "Sound Off" author and music critic John Kereiff, who also believes that, "KISS has done a lot to be embarrassed about lately... mostly, it would seem, at the behest of Gene Simmons. " This does give fans legitimate reasons to be concerned, as some previous essays have suggested. However, as other essays have also suggested, John thinks that as a fan you should take the good with the bad. So on that note, as far as John's concerned Everybody Is Right!
Well, Joe Spinelli's "Sound Off" certainly hit a nerve with some of the "older" KISS fans! Harvey Haigler is the second "Sound Off" author to structure his essay in terms of a point by point response to the 19 year old Spinelli's thoughts on: The Reunion, Psycho Circus, Playing 80's Songs, and the fact that It Won't Last Forever. When push comes to shove, Harvey still thinks things are better than they are worse, so in response to Joe's challenge to "put up or shut up" Harvey says, I'm Putting Up Spinelli.
From reading some of the previous "Sound Offs" Tom Hickey thinks the KISS fans seem to have divided themselves into three major group, roughly translated as those who: think KISS has become a joke; are longing for the old days; consider themselves lucky for whatever they can get. Tom, however, thinks that "in reality, the truth is that the answer is somewhere in between" and that it's Time For A Reality Check People.
"Sound Off" author Kevin Brookshire is really beginning to question KISS's continuous claims that they "do it for the fans." Having been denied backstage access during the Revenge club tour, despite having a valid backstage pass, and then seeing KISS leave the official KISS Konvention he attended before everyone got a chance to meet the band and have something signed, Kevin thinks "maybe Gene and Paul have shown their true colors -- not black and white, but simply green! Maybe when they introduce KISS as "The Hottest Band in the World!" they can modify it to say: "The Hottest Band in the World Who Will Do Anything For A Buck!" Yes, Kevin definately thinks it's time to question if Is KISS Due For A Fan Backlash?
Tom Rapley has come full circle in his outlook concerning the KISS reunion. Having first become a fan in the 90's, when he first heard about the Reunion he had a few concerns: "KISS were too old to pull off the full spectacular show; was this going to be a Reunion Tour and then the end of KISS; Did anyone care enough?" However, after seeig the band at the Castle Donington Monsters of Rock show all doubt was removed.... for awhile. Now, Tom is starting to get concerned again: "The movie was a good idea, but has flopped. The wrestling was a terrible idea, and flopped. The tour was postponed. Ace is not interested, Peter can't play, Paul wants to go into theatre, and Gene just wants $$$!" Now more than ever, It's Time To Put Out Or Break Up!
Striking a curious balance between saying KISS should either push on ahead full steam or hang it up, Tom Dixon thinks there is an in between that could be cool. After putting out one more album with the originals (for real this time), Tom thinks KISS should hit the road for one more make-up tour (perhaps culminating in a massive "KISStock" all day show!) and then pursue side projects. The catch? Not formally disbanding, but still coming together periodically to record and perform between side projects. Not possible? Well Tom thinks it's one way to prevent KISS from totally becoming nothing but Memories.
As a fan who has been lucky enough to experience 25 years of KISStory, "Sound Off" author Rod Russell really feels for "all of the newer ("younger") fans who haven't had the years to enjoy this thing called KISS." In particular, Rod read previous "Sound Off" author Joe Spinelli's posting with great interest, and decided to address the same points Joe did, but from the viewpoint of a KISS fan "Elder" so to speak and answer the question of whether it's time to Lump It Or Leave It?
"Sound Off" receives a visit from one of the Internet "Elders" in this essay. Hunter Goatley goes back a long way in online KISS fandom, having started the first ever KISS mailing list and the second ever KISS webpage on the world wide web. Unlike most fans, Hunter did not welcome the Reunion with open arms, and in fact predicted at the time it was announced that the Reunion would end up "ruining" KISS. Well, several years later -- as the wheels appear to be falling off the KISS wagon -- Hunter is back with his latest observations of how KISS screwed themselves and the fans, All For The Sake Of $$$
"Long before Gene, Paul, Ace and Peter were battling Abner Devereaux's bizarre cybernetic creations in the cult classic 1978 TV-movie, they were battling an even greater adversary: The Enemy Within. Once success kicked in after the "Alive" album, so did excess and its effects on KISS would have far-reaching ramifications." Yes, "Sound Off's" first two time author Chris Karam has decided to tackle that age old "studio musician" dilemma in this outing, tracing the history of how KISS Meets The Phantoms Of The Studio.
AJ is definately tired of hearing the same old song and dance from KISS. In fact, according to AJ, "We have seen all their tricks and we are tired of them milking it until the cow is dead. The cow has been dead for a while now and the carcas stinks." There's no doubt AJ was upset when both the Psycho Circus shows he had tickets to were cancelled, but there's more to it that makes him say that with KISS lately every time you turn around It Just Gets Worse.
From Carnival of Souls ("would have been a great Pearl Jam album"), to the Reunion Tour ("possibly the greatest tour of all time"), to Psycho Circus ("the most overhyped album of all time") and beyond ("But if they want to go out on a high note they better start writing..... take the bull by the horns and churn out some good old fashioned rock and roll and take the fans' suggestions"), James Borgic presents his take on the Pros And Cons Of The Last Few Years In KISStory.
"Gene Simmons is a hypocrite." Leave it to KISS ASYLUM "Fact of the Week" feature author Bob Rodrick to start of his "Sound Off" essay in a low key fashion! Yes, using Gene's own interview quotes and behavior to analyze events of late, Bob dissects the Demon and takes him to task for having "gone way over his head in getting KISS involved in merchandising and other projects that really are not necessary." Mind you, Bob's not against merchandise in theory - the guy owns "over $12,000 worth of classic KISS merchandise" after all. It's the type and manner of merchandising going on since the Reunion that Bob finds so disappointing. However, rather than just complain, Bob also offers up some suggestions for the type of quality merchandise he believes the band should be putting out. Bob has created his take on the merchandise and The Way It Should Be.
Want to talk about eerie? Well Dave Scott has performed a very interesting analysis in his "Sound Off" that you might find down right disturbing! We all know KISS seems to be repeating some of the same mistakes this time around that contributed to the demise of the original line-up, but you might be surprised exactly to what degree and detail (for better or worse) history seems to be repeating itself! Using a 20 year comparison rate (1975/1995; 1976/1996; etc), Dave points out that with the Reunion, maybe we should have been more Careful What We Wished For.
Fred Battiato sure doesn't pull any punches in his "Sound Off" essay, and it's not just KISS he has his sights set on! While Fred does say, "I would be proud to call most KISS fans brothers", he also goes on to note, "but there is a large population of them that I would rather not associtate with. Too many were (are??) dorks with no lives, and couldn't get laid in a morgue." Fred also calls it like he sees it with regard to Ace playing 80's material when he says, "Have you heard Ace live latley? No way in hell he can do what Bruce did. It would be embarassing! They've already slowed the tempo of his OWN songs down, can you imagine how slow they would have to play to even give Ace a chance?" Yes, Fred certainly has "sounded off" on a number of topics in his essay, and he thinks that Deep Down You Know He's Right.
"Sound Off" author Aaron Nauman thinks that KISS really missed the boat with the second chance they were given in the "Psycho Circus" album and tour. Noting that Entertainment Weekly gave PC an "A" rating, which he pretty much agrees with, Aaron still points out that very few of the songs were "concert worthy." And concert worthy or not, that pretty much doesn't matter since: "the demon is just an overweight bass player who plays two strings, and Peter Criss couldn't play a drum solo or keep a beat to save his life." Fair weather fans are not a new thing in the world of fandom Aaron rightly notes, but as a way to expose KISS to a whole new generation and "flavor" of KISS fans, Aaron thinks that "Psycho Circus" for KISS was a squandered opportunity for what Could Have Been The I-Mac Of The Music World.
For twenty two years Alain Langlois has been a KISS fan. The way Alain sees it, KISS is no longer about being a rock group. KISS is a business, pure and simple. KISS might have started out as "superheroes" with larger than life personas, but they "took the magic out of the band. And if you take out the magic, you got nothing left but business." It's not that Alain doesn't understand (and even symathize a little) with the approach the band has taken recently, the problem is they can't even get the business right! "You know what I hate the most? It's when somebody promises you the world and at the end they look at you and say, 'That was a big joke man!' Where is the biggest show on earth? If it costs too much money, then don't say anything. Otherwise, do it!" Alain fears KISS just isn't listening to the fans anymore, instead letting their wallets make the decisions. However, through it all Alain still pledges to Keep The Faith.
Anita Christian first remembers seeing KISS on TV in New Zealand performing "I Was Made For Lovin' You." She didn't think much more of KISS, really, until the Reunion Tour hit Auckland in '97. She went to see the show and was hooked.... on the music. Says Anita, "After that show I went out and bought every KISS video I could find, I would pounce on every magazine that featured the smallest article on them, and I even bought some of their 70's albums. I really did like them. " But then came Psycho "session players" Circus and all the merchandising. KISS initially hooked Anita with their awesome music and stage show. They've now lost her by not delivering either anymore. Between all the merchandising and the "various artists soundtrack" otherwise known as Psycho Circus Anita has lost interest. If KISS ever decides to put out "a real KISS album again" instead of focusing on selling toys Anita might be interested. But until then, she says the answer is "No!" to the question of whether or not KISS Can Take Her Order.
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