KISS: It's Not All Foundation & Lip Gloss
From: Dotmusic.com via Anthony Thornton
When Kiss came together in 1973, band members Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss wanted to stage the ultimate rock'n'roll spectacle. Now, 75m worldwide record sales later, the original four are back together in make-up and costume. Moreover they are back on course to fulfil their ambition with a new album, Psycho Circus, and a live production to top anything from their past. Fans old and new will get their first sighting of the "greatest show on earth" at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on October 31. Providing support for this Halloween event are Smashing Pumpkins plus the Psycho Circus itself a full-scale carnival that Kiss manager Doc McGhee has long wanted to bring into the rock'n'roll arena.

"Without doubt, this is the biggest thing IÕve ever been involved with," says McGhee, whose previous managerial credits include Bon Jovi and Motley Crue. "I feel like I'm juggling 60 chainsaws... any one of which could kill me!" Over the past two decades, Kiss have set the pace in a number of areas, be it building an international fan club (the Kiss Army) or gaining profile via sponsorship and merchandising. And now the band have jumped, stackheels first, into the world of 3-D.

"Never again will there be a bad seat in the stadium," says bassist/vocalist Simmons, fresh from appearing in the video for Cheated (To All The Girls), the forthcoming UK single (released on September 28) from Fugee Wyclef Jean. "We have cameras that will project live 3-D images of ourselves onto giant screens, so the show will actually be in 4-D / 3-D with live performance on top."

The Psycho Circus world tour is expected to last two years, with UK dates planned for spring 1999. Early indications are that this latest trek could be more successful than the Kiss world tour of 1996/97, which saw the original line-up playing 193 shows to 2m people, climaxing at London's Finsbury Park in July last year.

"We were able to exorcise a lot of old demons on that tour," says Simmons "which helped us when it came to the new album."

What they had in their sights was a Nineties version of the Bob Ezrin-produced Destroyer (1976), something of a concept record featuring the live staples Detroit Rock City and Beth. Ezrin was first-choice producer for Psycho Circus, but due to other commitments was unable to proceed beyond pre-production. Ultimately, recording of the bandÕs 27th album was completed with Bruce Fairbairn.

The UK press and marketing campaigns for Psycho Circus are designed to build the album over a period of time, consolidating the hardcore fanbase in the short-term and then working to a wider brief once shows here are confirmed. ÒWe plan to hold back on releasing a single until the band are in the UK to play and we can get some TV exposure,Ó says Mercury product manager Paul Reidy.

For Mercury, the challenge will be to open doors for Kiss via talking points like the Wayne Isham-directed 3-D clip, while at the same time emphasising the pedigree of a band who are poised to top The Beatles record for the greatest number of gold albums released in America. -- Dante Bonutto