Young Hollywood Team

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105.7 The X Rocks

Kiss is in the process of revealing the cover for its upcoming album, Monster, a little bit at a time.  Using their recently launched Monster Hunt Facebook app, the rockers have been exposing portions of the image at various websites around the Internet since earlier in the week.  The album cover will be unveiled in its entirety on Monday.

In a new interview with RollingStone.com, Kiss bassist/singer Gene Simmons sings the praises of Monster, which will be released on October 16.

“If this was a first record by a new band, I’d be floored,” he gushes.

With regard to material on the record, Simmons says Kiss’ faithful fans will be treated to one hard-rocking tune after the next.  “If you like guitars and drums, this is right up your alley,” Simmons declares.  “Which is better than right up your ass.  It’s relentless till the end.”

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Kreatures of the South

We are just a one week away from the 2012 ORLANDO KISS EXPO (Orlando Marriott, 1501 International Parkway, Lake Mary, FL.), and we’d like to announce our awesome lineup of guests. Celebrating the ’20th Anniversary’ of “REVENGE” (undoubtedly one of KISS’ heaviest LP’s ever!) Former KISS Lead Guitarist BRUCE KULICK…..joining BRUCE will be one of his former bandmates Former MOTLEY CRUE & UNION Lead Vocalist JOHN CORABI…..Both JOHN & BRUCE will be performing a very special acoustic set for the fans LIVE…..(1) Lucky fan will WIN Bruce’s Artist Series ESP Guitar that Bruce will be performing with! (Compliments of ESP Guiatrs)….Former KISS Cheif Bodyguard ‘BIG’ JOHN HARTE.….KISS Author Gordon Gebert….and hailing from Sarasota F…L…A is our KISS Tribute Band “KISS AMERICA!” Come on out, and share in the celebration of the latest “MONSTER“ Studio release & Tour with your fellow KISS Army mates! For more details on the show please check us out at: www.kreaturesofthesouth.com or ‘LIKE’ our photo gallery on Facebook www.facebook.com/kreaturesofthesouth

NJKissExpo.com

Get ready – the premier KISS Expo of the entire world is Saturday September 8, 2012 at the NJ Convention and Exposition Center in Edison New Jersey. Last year’s re-boot of this legendary event was such an over-whelming success, we have had to move it to this new, much larger location.

Our guest list, special events and ticket prices will be announced in the next few days – be sure to check back here at KISSasylum.com for all updates.

Dealer tables are now available. Although the space is large, it is still limited and we expect to sell out, so please make your dealer arrangements as soon as possible. Click HERE for dealer info.

We look forward to this being the biggest and best New Jersey KISS Expo yet – see you there!

Visit the official site – NJKISSexpo.com

Dan Hyman | Rolling Stone

It’s been just shy of four decades since KISS released their eponymous debut album. But as Gene Simmons says, the hard rock titans – who are set to drop their 20th studio album, Monster, on October 16th – are still firing on all cylinders.

“The band is more focused than ever,” Simmons tells Rolling Stone. “The weather looks great for the band – reinvigorated, redefined, refocused and reborn.”

While Simmons and lead singer Paul Stanley remain the band’s only original members, Monster marks the second consecutive KISS record, following 2009’s Sonic Boom, created with a lineup that includes drummer Eric Singer and lead guitarist Tommy Thayer. Simmons insists the new album ranks up there with some of the notoriously outlandish crew’s finest work. “If this was a first record by a new band, I’d be floored,” he says.

Monster was recorded at studios in and around Los Angeles and, like Sonic Boom, was co-produced by Stanley and Greg Collins. Though it has been finished for a few months, the bassist and perennial self-promoter says there was no point in rushing out something this epic. “Just because you have a lot of ammunition doesn’t mean you have to shoot your wad right away,” he says. “You have to pace yourself.”

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Caryn Little | Fox Charlotte

Chris Czynszak | Decibel Geek

The Decibel Geek podcast has released Episode 43 – The Kutting Room Floor for downloading and streaming as a part of their KISSMAS in July promotion which features KISS-related themes each week during the month of July. In this episode, hosts Aaron Camaro and Chris Czynszak discuss the volume and diversity of KISS songs and where they came from and spin some of their favorite demos, alternate takes, and unreleased tracks. Tracks from demos sessions for Destroyer, Music from the Elder, Rock and Roll Over, Asylum, and Sonic Boom are included among many others.

KISSmuseum.com | From: Brian

Your costume and inflatable bass were a BIG hit – Hunter was mobbed from the time we walked into the pavilion and the road crew and people working for KISS liked it enough to take him backstage to meet Gene! Can’t thank you enough for the costume and great customer service. Here are a few pics….

Thanks again, Brian

Rustyn Rose | Examiner

Kiss is undeniably one of the most polarizing bands in rock history. From their outrageous makeup and stage shows, to bassist Gene Simmons massive ego and gratuitous fiscal gluttony, the music is often overlooked. However, Kiss as a whole has inspired innumerable bands, many of whom have gone on to stellar careers. Unlike Kiss, several have even found their name in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Kiss remains, nearly 40 years into its career, a dynamic band which has made a unique impact in the world of rock music, for better or worse. This October, Kiss will release its twenty-fourth studio, “Monster“. In honor of that, the Examiner has ranked all 23 of the band’s studio albums.

The masked crusaders have often been known more for the spectacle of their live performances and make-up, so it is no surprise that the band’s best album of all time remains, “Kiss Alive!”. Still, when the paint and bombast are stripped away, the music still stands on its own as many discovered when the band went unplugged back in the 90s. This list below focuses solely on the studio albums, and the music that Simmons, and co-founder Paul Stanley have created through four decades.

Love Gun (1977) — This represents the last of the band’s classic 70s albums before disco and new wave twisted rock ‘n roll into another dimension.”Love Gun” is also the first album to feature all four members singing at least one song. Legend holds that guitarist Ace Frehley had to lie on the studio floor to sing “Shock Me”.

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David Von Bader | New Times

Kiss, the band, garners fanatical, obsessive devotion more than almost any other musical act, maybe ever. Despite countless attempts to ruin the fun with bad glam albums, dramatic reality television, and the replacement of two original members with impostors wearing the same makeup, Kiss still manages to maintain a fan base large enough to be called an army without even a hint of irony.

To better understand the Kult of Kiss, we asked bona fide Kiss superfan, Miami ex-pat, and former Torche and current MonstrO guitarist Juan Montoya to describe his fixation. A high-ranking member of the Kiss Army, Montoya offers us his Kisstory.

New Times: How did you get into Kiss initially?

Juan Montoya: I actually saw a poster of them when I was living in Venezuela. We were in the downtown area shopping, and I walked by a store, and they had a giant Kiss poster, and it’s funny because I remember the image vividly. I usually don’t remember, like, two days back in my adult life, and I don’t even remember most of the ’90s, but I do remember this actual picture from when I was a kid!

So, I saw Kiss back then, but I didn’t hear them until I got back up to the United States. My mom had a friend with a 16-year-old son, and I was 7 years old. And I went through his record collection. Of course, the minute I saw a Kiss record, I was like, “Holy shit! Those are the people that I saw in that picture! Those are the freaks that I saw in that picture!”

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Rustyn Rose | Examinier

Nearly four decades into its bombastic career,Kiss hit the road July 20 for its biggest tour in years. Along for summer’s biggest rock and roll spectacle will be the band they inspired,Mötley Crüe. Crüe turned 30 last year, and this week released its newest single “Sex”.

The tour, which kicks off in Bristow, Va. will run through September 23 in Hartford, Conn. Joining the band will be upstart U.K. rockers,The Treatment. The band, which released its debut album “This Might Hurt” in 2011, also released a five-song covers EP this week, ”Then & Again”.

Kiss which began its earliest formation in 1972, released its debut album in 1974 and has since been one of the most readily identifiable bands in rock and roll history. The group has sold in excess of 100 millions records, which includes 28 gold albums, more than any other American rock artist. Despite the legendary act’s persuasive history and the impact made on countless artists over the years, they remain snubbed by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. This fall the band will release its twentieth studio album, “Monster”.

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EON

LOS ANGELES, TORONTO & NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Legendary rock band KISS (www.kissonline.com) has tapped Ortsbo (www.ortsbo.com), the world’s leading real-time experiential communications platform, to create the first globally social fan engagement platform, broadcasting fan communications worldwide for the band’s 40-city summer tour, entitled: KISS Motley Crüe The Tour 2012. Reaching fans in multiple languages, the platform will aggregate more than 17 social networks in a central platform at the social hub through www.kissonline.com with instant translation and real-time integration to Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, Flickr, Vevo, and more. The launch will effectively transform in-venue fan engagement during a live music performance into a global, social and merchandising experience.

“This unrivaled approach to combining more than a dozen social networks, real-time language services in up to 53 languages and fans of KISS, around their summer tour, may set a new standard in socially-powered music fandom”

A world first in music & fan communications, Ortsbo’s revolutionary multilingual social network aggregator will enable the tour’s on-site team, concert-goers, KISS members and fans worldwide to converse across language barriers, continents and all the top social networks. Built to transform the way audiences, musicians and staffers share live and static entertainment experiences, the new hub will serve as a global base for KISS fans, tour attendees and viewers around the world. Gathering data and statistics in real-time, the service will also collect invaluable information on its back-end for further refinement, development and perfection of the platform while creating unprecedented, niche audience information for advertisers and marketers to potentially tap as well.

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Andrew Leahey | Washington Times

Friday night marks the official launch of Kiss‘ summer tour, a mammoth cross-country jaunt in support of the band’s upcoming album, “Monster.”

Talk to a local veteran, however, and he’ll tell you that the real tour started on Thursday evening, when Kiss staged a private show for 1,600 members of the U.S. military.

“We owe so much to the brave men and women who voluntarily put on that uniform and go to places where people don’t like them,” Gene Simmons explained earlier this week, several hours before he and his three band mates — Paul Stanley, Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer — paid a visit to patients at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

“The vets that we’ve met never ask for praise, glory or money,” he added. “They just want to re-enter society and get a job. We do these all-vet shows to show our appreciation, because what they do for us is beyond comprehension.”

Kiss have a long history of paying tribute to vets on both sides of the Atlantic. Earlier this summer, the guys staged a small show in London to benefit the British troops, and their 2011 tour featured a recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance during each concert.

Tim McPhate | KissFAQ.com

Upon preparing to enter the studio in 1975 to record the follow-up to the successful “Alive!” album, KISS knew the creative ante needed to be upped considerably. KISS wanted to reach a new level, one that would seal their status as larger-than-life superstars. But they would need some assistance to attain their goal.

Enter Bob Ezrin, an erudite producer/musician who was fresh from masterminding Alice’s Cooper’s “Welcome To My Nightmare.” One-part collaborator, one-part musical wizard and one-part drill sergeant, Ezrin’s songwriting input, sharp arrangements and studio prowess helped transform rough gems such as “Detroit Rock City,” “God Of Thunder,” “Shout It Out Loud,” and “Beth” into shining diamonds.

Though initial reviews were mixed after the album’s release, after KISS appeared on the “Paul Lynde Halloween Special” and “Beth” shot into the Top 10 in late 1976, “Destroyer” had surpassed platinum sales. Peter Criss, Ace Frehley, Gene Simmons, and Paul Stanley had reached a new level, one they would elevate throughout the remainder of the ’70s.

More than 36 years later, the double-platinum “Destroyer” still stands as a classic benchmark in the KISS catalog. However, technological limitations and lingering sonic deficiencies had always irked Ezrin. True to his storied reputation, it’s fitting that Ezrin got the proverbial ball rolling on “Destroyer: Resurrected,” a project that saw him remix the entire album with the aid of the “magic of modern technology.”

With the rebooted album now confirmed for an Aug. 21 release, KissFAQ has your exclusive first preview of the resurrection of “Destroyer” and reflections on the making of the album that was, straight from the legendary producer himself.

KissFAQ: Greetings, Bob. Let’s get right to it. How did “Destroyer: Resurrected” get off the ground?

Bob Ezrin: I started the project. I basically wrote Gene and Paul and said, “What are we doing for [“Destroyer'”s] 35th anniversary?” And there was a sort of collective blank stare. I said, “Why don’t I remix it? And let’s bring the album up to modern standards, sonically, and also look to see if there’s anything new we can discover in the vaults.” 

Everyone thought it was a really cool idea. So we got to work and the folks at Universal, as well as the KISS guys, were digging around in their vaults and archives. It was hard at first to find the original multitracks for the album. But finally they were located and once we knew we had them, then we got to work. It was so much fun to do, I cannot tell you, Tim.
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KISSmuseum.com

Up for auction is the number 1 of 25 in the series of KISS Autographed Art Canvases. These high-quality items are FIVE FEET TALL and photo-printed with the newest technology of it’s kind today to bring you most vivid, sharpest details in this over-sized image.

All info and many more photos are HERE on the eBay auction page, ending this Sunday at 9:44 pm.

If you don’t want to wait for the auction, we have the other higher numbers of the series for $299.95 at KISSmuseum.com