Jeff Giles | Ultimate Classic Rock

They’ve gone from makeup to unmasked, hard rock to prog, and been one of the world’s biggest rock bands for several decades, releasing a slew of classic studio and live LPs along the way. Ranking the Kiss discography isn’t a job for the faint of heart, in other words — but in this installment of Worst to Best, we give it our best shot.

It’s been well established that the ’80s were a bumpy time for the band, so it should be no surprise that the lower reaches of our list lean heavy on the decade of synths, drum machines and MTV. But we haven’t ignored the lowlights of the ’70s and ’90s, either, or the group’s forays into disco and grunge.

Of course, as with every other Worst to Best list, we come not to bury the band, but to praise them, and with the whiffs in the discography out of the way, we tackle the tough task of organizing the group’s best albums — which means singling out some of the less-heralded entries as well as attempting to put all of the classic Kiss records in the right order.

So which Kiss album is worst, which one is first, and how does our list stack up against your personal running order? The answers to all those questions can be found by hitting “play” on the video at the top of this post, so what are you waiting for? Let’s start the countdown.

Anthony De Lucia, Jr | www.alive75.com

The drive to deliver the ultimate classic KISS Tribute experience reaches a new milestone this month, when J.R. Smalling joins Alive! ’75 for their March 28th show at the Sherman Theater in Stroudsburg, PA.

“I cannot begin to describe how excited we are to have J.R. Smalling join us at the Sherman” says Anthony De Lucia, Jr., the shows creator and producer.  “This takes our show to a whole new level and provides yet another element of excitement and opportunity for the classic KISS fan!”

We suspect J.R. Smalling needs no introduction to our readers, but for the few that may wonder what all the fuss is about, he is the voice of the Alive! album, a member of The Original KISS KREW (TOKK) and their first road manager.  J.R. and The Original KISS KREW have recently published a brand-new book titled “Out on the Streets” that chronicles their tales on the road with the hottest band in the land during the “Glory Days” of 1973 through mid-1976!

Anthony continues: “We knew right from the start when we built this production that we needed it to be something different – something more than just another KISS tribute band.  There are already plenty of KISS Tribute acts out there, and a number of them do a really great job.  Our challenge was to find a way to differentiate ourselves and bring something new and interesting to the table.  Something that KISS fans would want to see.”

“It wasn’t enough for us to simply dress-up and play KISS songs.  We wanted to do more – capture an era, focus on a theme, deliver a complete experience.  We didn’t see anyone doing anything like this so we jumped right in.  The Alive! album is iconic – arguably the most significant KISS album ever, on a whole number of levels.  Bringing the album to life has become our passion, and we work very hard on every detail to do just that.  Now having J.R. Smalling involved makes it that much more special!”.

More special indeed, and the two elements together make for a great combination.  Classic KISS fans get an exciting, period-specific live concert experience in Alive! ’75, and with “Out on the Streets”, they get an up-close and behind-the-curtain look at KISS during these very same formative years on the road.

“When the guys from Alive! ’75 reached-out to me I was immediately intrigued.” says J.R. Smalling.  “The approach they’ve taken with their KISS-tribute show is unlike any other I’ve seen – it’s very, very cool.  And the period they bring to life, well, that was my time!   I’m stoked to be part of this and I am looking forward to meeting fans at the show.”

And with J.R. on board at the Sherman, the Alive! ’75 “experience” goes to a whole new level.  Besides having copies of the recently released book “Out On the Streets” available for sale at the show, J.R. will be available to meet and greet fans and autograph copies of the book.  And as if that wasn’t enough, J.R will host an interactive Q&A discussion with the Alive! ’75 audience, telling stories, taking questions and talking about what is was like back then with the hottest Band in the land!

“This is huge for Alive! ’75 – it’s an opportunity for classic KISS fans to hear directly from a guy who was there in the trenches with KISS as they fought their way to super-star status” says Anthony.  “And there’s more where this came from.  We’ve got a bunch of conversations underway and lots of ideas being kicked around.  We are vey excited about the possibilities and will continue to bring more and more of the 1975 classic KISS experience to future shows!”

With so many KISS-tribute bands in the marketplace,  Alive! ’75 – A Tribute to KISS looks to be different by providing a complete package, including the period-specific 1975 experience.  For die-hard classic KISS fans (those who appreciate their early works), as well as general fans of rock ‘n roll nostalgia, this is definitely an experience not to be missed!

Tickets are now on sale for their Stroudsburg, PA, performance on March 28th.  Complete details on this one-of-a-kind experience may be found at www.alive75.com   Contact ‘info@alive75.com‘ for more information.  For more details and/or to order a copy of “Out on the Streets”, see The Original KISS KREW at www.theoriginalkisskrew.com.