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 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! Now is your chance to "SOUND OFF" and be heard!
"SOUND OFF!" - SOUND OFF Archives: Recent Articles | Articles 1-20 | Articles 21-40 | Articles 41-60 | Articles 61-80
The way I feel about the band right now, it's positive. I'll remember the good things more than the bad. I believe that KISS has changed a lot over the years, maybe not for the better when it comes right down to it, but I don't care. I personally know for a fact that they could never out do themselves. I really think we've seen the best they have to offer already. No matter what they do, they will never live up to their legacy, so maybe they have stayed at the dance too long. You could almost compare them to actors or pro athletes or even pro wrestlers. As far as actors, I believe Clint Eastwood has stayed around for too long. There are far too many athletes to name. But a few months back, I was sitting around watching pro wrestling and the person who stood out like a sore thumb was Hulk Hogan. Here's a man that stayed around way too long and he's so old he just looks silly. He'll never live up to his history. His climax was a match with Andre the Giant from Wrestlemania 3 from 1987 in front of 90+ fans. KISS were at their high point on the Love Gun tour. I never thought I would compare KISS to Hulk Hogan, but those are big names. All of the fans that idolized Hulk Hogan growing up now despise him because he stayed around too long and wore out his welcome. Judging from most of these Sound Offs, maybe some KISS fans feel that way about KISS.
Sometimes I think Mr. Simmons & Mr. Stanley always take the wrong decisions. They wanna retire as a live band and we can respect this feeling , cause you can't be "that" rock at "that" age. But at the same time they'll keep on goin' with all the merchandise that nobody really dreams of. Broadway is cool, films are cool, but what's the point? Why can't KISS record a couple of more albums?
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.... 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.
Well, after reading numerous of the Sound Off submissions, I have to admit to having a gut-wrenching disappointment about the "band formerly known as KISS". The best thing that could happen is for a "New Edition" style Kiss to come forth... the older members retire, and let younger, fresher (and less money-hungry) members of the KISS Army step in as replacements. If you want to see someone who is true to the original idea behind KISS, it would be a fan. They want it to remain, and don't want a lot of screwing around with the formula.
Let me begin this Sound Off by saying that I truly hope that this is Kiss' last time out. I doubt that anyone wants to see a farewell tour a la Ozzy Osbourne, The Who, and whoever else has claimed that "This is our last time out, man." Frankly, I never wanted to see anything beyond the Reunion tourăno album, no movie, and especially no merchandise (Kisstory II was a good idea, but I don't consider that on the same level as race cars, dolls, etc.). Listed below are the reasons I feel the "farewell" tour should be avoided...
When I first heard about the track listing for the new KISS box set, I was not a happy camper. I envisioned this collection to be 100% unreleased material. However, only 25% of the box set features the "rare" stuff. I did not, and still don't, think any "original" songs from the albums should have been in this box set. All die-hard KISS fans have the original albums and another collection of these songs would not be geared toward the die-hard fan, but for the fair weathered KISS fan or rock fan in general. I understand this mentality since the goal is to make money and get to as many people as possible. Still, I believe the box set should have been marketed to the die-hard fans-the ones who want "Stanley the Parrot" or Elder material live from the show "Fridays." In the past, when I was younger and lived and breathed KISS, I would have run out and bought the box set the day it came out. Instead, this time, I waited for Christmas and luckily, under the tree, I opened up the $60 addition of the set. I specifically said I didn't want someone spending extra money for the guitar case. If I were to spend extra cash on the box set, I would have wanted a few more discs or a video for my extra money-not a toy. I'm grown up now, and a mini guitar case does not interest me. With this said, I am quite impressed and excited about the box set.
I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but I can't wait until KISS breaks up. I think everyone should stop paying so much attention to the what if's and what should be's and face the reality of the situation. Let's review the facts, shall we?
I've been a sort of a Kiss fan for 16 years and know all their music. I've never been interested in the merchandise thing, but interviews I've collected plenty, for I've always (naturally, I would say) been interested in the personalities behind the music. Only now have I become obsessed with a mystery that I've always taken for granted, perhaps too much so. There is, you see, a name that keeps appearing on the album covers, magazines, collectibles and now, of course, on the Internet. I've learned to connect that name with a certain face. A face that was revealed about 17 years ago after ten years of complete obscurity. The name I've come to recognize is said to be not his original one. What is this name? - Gene Simmons.A few months back I started on a job on which another guy started at the same time. He once told me that some people have questioned even the existence of such a personality as Homer (not forgetting Jesus Christ, but our minds are programmed to deny anything "unnatural"). Anyway, I've talked to him about this ever decreasing significance that this Mr. Simmons seems to have had in Kiss' actual studio performances. Once in a while it is so announced that the bass part in this and that song was actually played by this lead guitarist, or that roadie. Or more often, by the song writer; very rarely by the actual bass player himself. (Although it has been reported that in his own songs he not only played the bass parts, but often would also play rhythm guitar or occasional guitar fills.) This led my colleague into an interesting idea that immediately caught my attention. Put in one sentence: What if this Simmons figure never existed?
I , for one, am very, very, very sad and disappointed at the idea of KISS auctioning off all of The Stuff. It feels as if they are just giving it, ( *it* being the memories, the thoughts, the hard work, the time, the effort and did I mention, the MEMORIES, away for a price.) And to me, well, that just breaks my heart. To think that 23+ years of being a loyal, dedicated fan has come down to me watching all of what I held so dear and special, go to the highest bidder, who very well may NOT even BE a fan. THAT sucks. BIGTIME. We all know what even the littlest piece of memorabilia means to us and to think of someone who is in a much higher tax bracket than I , getting to own something I would probably put in a hyperbolic chamber with a spotlight shining on it, just makes me sad. They wouldn't look at it the same as an ARMY member and will see it as simply another investment. What a way to end KISS. I NEVER thought it would come to this and I am very confused about the entire concept of an auction. HOW could they do that to The Stuff ?!?!? If I was disenchanted before with all the bRand hoopla taking away from the BAND, I am even MORE so now, with the BAND , selling out, ( yes, that is how I see it, sorry ), to the highest bidder.
So it seems everyone has their own idea about why KISS is starting to "suck". Why does the band consistantly tell us one thing and then do something else. Why do they whore the KISS name? Why do they tell us how happy they are to be together and then, well, never really do anything together? The answer is simple folks, PSYCHOLOGY. Before you roll your eyes, I just want to say that I do work in the medical field and am exposed to many people with delusions of greatness. On a daily basis I speak to people who have difficulty grasping their own reality and their purpose in life. Some actually live in a world where they are invincible, nothing can harm them, they've weathered many storms and have an almost godlike feeling as a result, but most of the time, they are so busy basking in their own "hoorah", that they don't see the impact their attitudes are having on their lives and the lives of those around them.
Vinnie Vincent intrigues me greatly, you know. I mean, when you actually stop and think about it, he could have achieved everything his heart desired in his musical career thus far, if it wasn't foräwell, a lot of factors, really. Much has been made of his short stay in KISS between '82-'84, but his tenure within he band keeps prompting me to continually ask myself the question "What if?"
First of all, there is something that I wanna tell you: This essay is just my opinion. I don't intend to have "the last word" about KISS. I don't think that I'm the "true keeper" neither. There must be as many "trues" as KISS fans around the world, and this is just another one. It's a story from my heart, my soul and my love for KISS. I just want to share it with you because it's my point of view. Another thing: I'm writing from Chile, South America. My name is Aldo Loyola, I'm 37 years old, I'm married, I work at Warner Bros., I have a cat, a car, a five hundred CD collection, etc... etc... etc... but the most important thing to me is that I'm a KISS fan since 1975 and I'm proud of it (and will always be).
First of all, as a KISS fan now for 18 years, I would like to thank KISS Asylum for a SUPERIOR product; and for providing Kiss fans (true fans) a forum to discuss ideas and opinions. That having been said, I would very much like to offer comment on many of the recent articles posted on "Sound Off". Particularly Mr. Mehta's recent, and very naive, essay, "What Goes Around". The question he asks: "Does anyone out there actually believe that KISS cares about their music anymore?" Answer . . . a mighty YES!
I have mulled it over for weeks, thinking about KISS. Thinking about what they are, they were, what they have done and not done, what others think of them; most of which has been written already! What else can be said about the fab four? A chance remark by some work colleagues (clinical psychologists no less!) about my liking for Gene Simmons - and there it was. Why Gene? Why The Demon? What is it about this 50 year old man, with mediocre looks and a big ego which sets the pulse of this 38 yr old woman on fire?
Mr.Gene Simmons: If you are reading this, please read it carefully, and think about what my letter to you says. I have been a KISS fan since the age of 4 in 1976. I have loved your band no matter who was in it, no matter what anyone else said about it or cared. KISS taught us to believe in ourselves and be somebody. And we live and breathe KISS just like you do. You yourself know this to be true. The KISS Army loves KISS, and we know this band inside out. We give our all to KISS. Look at fans like Robert Conte, who is so into KISS that he pointed out all of the errors in your catalog of albums down to a tee... We love KISS, and yes, we want the best from KISS. Year in and year out, KISS has had a great rapport with the KISS Army. And year in and year out, the fans of KISS have stood strong behind you and supported you like no other band's fans. Even when things were disappointing, or if we felt that the band had strayed from the original concept of KISS, to go out and have a good time, and not care what anyone thought, we still supported you.
One thing I want to write about is on-line KISS fans. These people are the worst "fans" imaginable. I hate to be in the same category as these people, but unfortunately, I have no choice other than not be on-line anymore. I think these "fans" are some of KISS's worst enemies. All I've heard from everyone is how they are tired of the same old songs tour after tour. Well, the band listens and decides to do something different by adding 80's material to the setlist they haven't even performed one show yet and 'I've already began hearing complaints! What gives?!
There are many people who think they know what a "real" KISS album should sound like, or how it should be written. However, do we REALLY know what a "real" KISS album does sound like?? Let us consider the KISS studio albums. The first thing we have to look at, is who got writing credits for songs on each album, and how much outside influence there actually was within the song-writing process, not to mention the different studio musicians involved in the actual recording of the songs themselves.
With all of the "Sound Off's" lately it seems like a lot of bitching and moaning like "Why didn't Peter play on this," or "Why is there so much merchandising?" or "Why can't they play this song, instead of that one?" Yeah, I admit, I'm guilty of this myself. So now, instead of focusing on something entirely negative, why don't we focus on something positive? One big question that everyone has raised is, "How should KISS end it, when it's over?" The big answer to this question, pretty much seems to be "Release the boxed set, put out one more album, and one last tour." Fair enough. But shouldn't something bigger happenn than that?
Things are never peaceful in KISSdom anymore are they. In fact I don't recall them having been since 1981, so it is no surprise to see the disenchantment voiced in the Sound Off section on KISSAsylum.com. My essay will sidestep the usual sentimental "I'll never forget the first time..." explanation of why I have enjoyed this band so much, and try to explain the malais, as well as offer some of my suggestions for moving on so to speak. It is not necessary to sum up the KISS History... we all know, we were there. What we need to do is look beyond the facts.
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