William Michael Redman
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Preamble
“You wanted the best, you got the best! The hottest band in the world …
What a great time to be a KISS fan! 2014 marks 40 years since their debut album, and tickets for the summer tour with Def Leppard have just gone on sale.
April 2014 in particular is notable due to a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, where the four original members will be honored. In the same week, Paul Stanley’s long-awaited autobiography will be on the shelves, completing the quartet of published life stories told by each of the original members of KISS.
And on a completely different note, the professional arena football team, The LA KISS, have made their debut this year.
I’ve been a KISS fan most of my life, and I’ve decided to take this month of April 2014 — which I am declaring as KISS Month — to write down some things: what songs I like, what album covers appeal to me most, and what each band member has meant to me.
I’m also going to present a series of writings which will try to explain why I have such a fascination with the band and the brand. I’ve titled this series: Unmasking the Masks of KISS.
My hope is that my musings here are as interesting and entertaining as KISS is to me. It wasn’t always easy being a diehard fan of this group, but I feel proud to have backed a band which has finally beaten down their detractors and is getting the recognition that they deserve of being one of the most important rock bands of all time.
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The Unmasking of the Masks of KISS, Part One of Five
First Smack to the Head
I received my first rock music album in 1980 when I was 9 years old. It was a birthday present from my best friend, who had himself been given the exact same gift fifteen days before on his 9th birthday. The album was KISS Alive II, released in October of 1977 over two years prior, which accounted for the sliced off lower left corner indicative of its rescue from a cut-out bin. My pal had fallen under a spell of KISS fever in those two weeks between our birthdays, and he most graciously went to Camelot Music or Musicland at the mall and searched out another copy to present to me as a gift.
Upon the unwrapping of it, I too contracted KISS fever and have been living with it ever since.
I make it sound like a disease, and in an obsessive-compulsive disorder manner, I suppose it is. I am a fan. As in fanatic. Truly. I have an internal and eternal desire to seek out, own, and know all things KISS, be it the music, the merchandise, the books and comics, the websites and blogs — really any and all tidbits of data fed to a constantly growing World Wide Web ocean of information about a band and a brand I have been loyal to since I gazed, dazed, upon that larger-than-life cover of that glorious birthday present given to me over 34 years ago.
The first smack to the head was the cover. Alive II has one of the largest-sized fonts of the unmistakable KISS logo of their 40-plus official album releases, and it is in the beautifully rendered red to purple to indigo gradient outlined by a block of black and highlighted with a bright orange-yellow line. The album title is also in a large size, the font the same as the one from their first live album, loudly proclaiming this album as the natural successor to and continuation of their groundbreaking double set, Alive!, from 1975.
And then … there are the faces. Specifically, that first one on the left. Looking as if he were the hate-child of the Wolf Man, Dracula, and the Frankenstein monster, the gestational fluids of his evil birth-hatching still clinging to him, The Demon, with his bat-wing eyes and the blood spittle oozing down his chin, chain collar, and chest, strikes a cinematic pose of the vilest of silver-screen villains and prepares himself for his next conquest. He will satisfy his hungers.
One face over to the right is made in our own image, except for that black hole of a star where his right eye should be. He’s standing above a living star, possibly our Sun, which illuminates his androgynousness as his lion’s mane hair and bright red pouty lips are prominent against a facial canvas of pure white. The Starchild is looking down from the Heavens upon us on Earth with genuine compassion and concern, protecting us from the horrors we might see and hear.
Another celestial being is next. He’s looking down at something but it is not us, for Earth and its inhabitants are certainly not his concern. He is a builder, a tinkerer, an inventor, a thinker, and his eyes are on his hands, which are the tools he uses to build technical marvels of sonic, optical, and cybernetic origins. With his silver mask, The Spaceman is not an astronaut but an audacious warrior, and his weapons of choice are from dimensions we have yet to explore.
That last, whiskered face is familiar. He even looks a little happy to see us. Or is that the trick that the beast inside plays on us? We share our Earth with him but we no longer belong in his kingdom. Rumor has it that he’s faced Death before, sometimes winning the battle, sometimes not. Yet he still manages to reign on. He’s got a gentle side, but make no mistake, The Catman is a spiritual warrior, and he fights with nothing to lose as only one who has the power of Resurrection could.
These four faces grab your attention by the throat and pull you in close and whisper forcefully, “We are KISS. Worship us. We are eternal.”
That’s what they did to me when I was 9 years old, staring at this double album from the cut-out bin, which I held framed in my clutches. I was simultaneously afraid and aroused, disgusted and attracted. I felt my own developing personality shifting around, trying to find a place amidst these four creatures where I could fit in. I hadn’t even heard a note, but my mind, blown, has never been the same.
I am writing this series of articles in order to get decades of musings on the subject of KISS out of my head. It’s going to be unavoidably and unabashedly opinionated as the only person involved with the thoughts, reflections, and lists is Me. And while I would consider myself an expert in all things KISS, if there were such a field of study (KISSology, KISSics, KISSistry), my purpose here is not to educate nor inform nor pontificate on the merits of KISS.
I simply want to know why am I so attracted to, enthralled with, and excited by this band and this brand. What is it about KISS that makes me and many like me devotees, volunteers in an Army that chooses this rock group over all other rock groups?
After my initiation into KISS fandom, I rummaged through leftover issues of 16 Magazine my older sister bought in the late 1970s, and I savored every morsel of information about KISS, ripped out every shot of the band and pinned it to the wall or glued it into a scrapbook. I followed this habit through the changing of members and the unmasking in the early 1980s, moving to other sources of information like Circus and Hit Parader magazines once I became a teenager.
I’m not an insider, but I do know more than necessary about the band — the creators, the owners, the members, the recordings of the albums, who played or didn’t play on what cuts, the make-up era, the non-make-up era, the break-up, the reunion, the second break-up, the deaths, the lawsuits, and the current line-up. I have albums on vinyl and tape as well as multiple copies of the albums on compact disc. I have much of the merchandise that’s ever been available, and I’ve seen the music videos, video albums, live concert DVDs, countless interviews, and the band live with my own eyes and ears on pretty much every tour since 1984’s Animalize tour.
But I’m not talking about any of that in The Unmasking of the Masks of KISS because my deep commitment to KISS stems from something more than all of that. This isn’t about the pyrotechnics or the merchandise, the behind-the-scenes stories or the interpersonal relationships of past and present band members.
Surprisingly, it’s not even about the music.
It’s about the faces.
It always has been.
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The Top 5: Underrated KISS Classics
What makes a song a KISS Classic? Simple: Anything before the solo albums. That’s it. The four Originals playing on the majority if not all of the tracks. This happened from the self-titled debut album in 1974 all the way through Alive II in 1977. That’s six and a half studio albums from which to choose.
What makes a song underrated? Even simpler: Songs that should be but are rarely or never played live. Also, they are awesome.
5. Strange Ways from Hotter Than Hell
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GWLg5kkhME
One of two Ace Frehley solo-penned tunes off the second album, this song is one of the heaviest songs ever recorded by the band. Had the album been produced and recorded better, it would’ve been even heavier, like Black Sabbath-heavy.
As is, it has a plodding, ethereal feel to it which lends itself just fine to the lyrics. Ace absolutely crushes the guitar solo, perhaps his most inventive ever. Peter Criss sings lead and sounds great, but I do wish that Ace would’ve been more comfortable on the microphone during these early years — I can hear his voice in my mind’s ear singing this and it really sounds tailor-made for the song. But alas, even on his 2011 Anomaly tour where he played this song live, he was still reluctant to take the lead vocals on it.
Eric Singer has sung this live with the Eric Singer Project, so it doesn’t seem unreasonable to put this into the KISS set every once in a while and let him sing something more besides the verses to Black Diamond.
4. Hooligan from Love Gun
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thbATsHlRtk
Another Peter Criss lead vocal — one of the finest things about classic KISS is Peter’s voice — this time on a song co-written with his longtime collaborator, Stan Penridge. I like Peter’s drumming on this one, too — his tom-toms sound great, and he plays an excellent, almost Charlie Watts-like hi-hat pattern (or is that anti-pattern?)
Off of a flawless masterpiece of an album helmed by the best KISS producer, Eddie Kramer, this song is surrounded by great cuts. Yet I find myself wanting to hear this song more than any other these days (although I never seem to tire of I Stole Your Love and Shock Me). Paul and Gene question Peter’s contributions to the songwriting quite often, but Hooligan has great hooks in it and certainly has more KISS-ness to it than the Gene cuts on the album (Got Love For Sale, Almost Human, Plaster Caster).
KISS hasn’t played this tune live since probably the Love Gun tour. But if the current Spaceman gets to play Shock Me, I say let the current Catman sing this one every couple of nights during the upcoming tour as well.
3. Love Her All I Can from Dressed to Kill
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpIIm4e3D_s
Paul Stanley wrote this while in Wicked Lester, and they even cut a version on their never (officially) released self-titled album. There is something very special about the tandem vocals of classic KISS, and it shows here in the verses where Gene and Paul and Peter do their best impression of the “heavy metal Beatles.” However, when the chorus comes along, Paul sings it alone — a very unique arrangement as the chorus is usually when all the voices sing together. In fact the whole arrangement of the song is unique: Opening guitar riff that is never repeated again, chorus minus the vocals, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, breakdown with lead guitar fills, lead guitar solo, verse, chorus, breakdown with drum fills, more lead guitar solo, done. In and out of this tune in under three minutes.
And the song is just catchy. Each section is a hook. I cannot help but sing along and air drum on the cowbell when this comes on.
I think KISS did recognize the brilliance of the song when Gene and Paul sang the verses together on the B-side to the 1993 CD single release of Black Lodge by Anthrax. KISS played this on the 2004 Rock the Nation tour but it has since disappeared from the set list, although I think it makes it into their acoustic shows. I’d like it on all set lists, permanently.
2. Makin’ Love from Rock and Roll Over
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVZEh3jObcE
This song, the final cut on another Eddie Kramer-produced album, with it’s recycled riff from my favorite Led Zeppelin classic, Communication Breakdown, has made me happy since I first heard it. All the guitar work is excellent here, including the acoustic flourishes during the bridge and the freneticism of the guitar solo, which is perhaps the fastest Ace’s fingers ever moved on a fretboard. This tune from 1976 has a punch that makes it stand out from other songs from the early years, and is a precursor to the hard rock sound coming off the Sunset Strip in the early 1980s from bands like Quiet Riot or Mötley Crüe.
There is no mistaking what the lyrics are about. As a 9 year-old, I sensed it was about something I wasn’t quite in tune with yet, but it didn’t detract me from air jamming with my friends to the record playing on my little portable, denim-covered record player. It was the most straightforward, hard rocking tune that KISS had recorded up to that point, especially apparent on Alive II.
Again, this tune made it on the Rock the Nation tour — a show which had many more deep cuts than any of the previous Reunion-era tours. A statement, I’m sure, from Gene and Paul that this current incarnation of KISS was going to be able to play anything from any era, and play it well — a great inclination which I hope they continue to surprise us longtime fans with in the future.
1. Flaming Youth from Destroyer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1451yBNb_Q0
When I first listened to this album, this is the song that stuck out for me. I picture the carnival arriving in town when I hear this song, no doubt due to the calliope playing during the chorus. A carnival is for the youth, and the youth is ready to show the world what it’s got. This song made me pump my fist in the air, and the lyrics were so empowering to a pre-teenage boy.
More of a piecework put together by producer Bob Ezrin, the main guitar riff is certainly from a Gene Simmons’ tune called Mad Dog, which can be heard on The Box Set. However, Ace Frehley is given first credit on the song, and the lyrics definitely seem to be written from Ace’s perspective. And, like Strange Ways, I can hear Ace singing this tune in my head and really selling it and having fun: “My parents think I’m crazy, and they hate the things I do. I’m stupid and I’m lazy. Man, if they only knew …”
Released as the second single off Destroyer, it has been played live only sparingly in the past. The carnival atmosphere that they try to establish in the shows now by leading off with Psycho Circus would be enhanced by launching right into Flaming Youth, a back-to-back leadoff which could work as well as the Detroit Rock City / King of the Night Time World leadoff from Alive II, connecting immediately with both modern day and longtime KISS fans.
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The Originals: Peter Criss
Peter Criss bashing has become modern day sport. From the sound bite-driven tongues of both Simmons and Stanley, to an anonymous commentator on a KISS-related internet thread, everyone has become an expert on how terrible of a drummer Peter Criss was.
And they are all wrong.
Peter’s drumming defined what kind of band KISS was at their core: an American, hard rocking, popular song-driven band. They were not heavy metal — listen to Black Sabbath through Metallica for that sound. They were certainly not progressive (though Bob Ezrin twice tried to get them there).
KISS followed the lineage of English rock bands playing American rock and roll — the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Small Faces, Slade — and they spiced this up with some homegrown rockabilly, some Motown, and yes, even a little big band swing. These last three American styles emanated from the sticks and feet behind the drum kit of Peter Criss.
Ringo Starr. Charlie Watts. Mitch Mitchell. Keith Moon. These guys are all “feel” rock drummers and contemporaries of Peter Criss. The drummers before them were jazz drummers. Music was an avenue of expression — even for the drummer — and the parts were played organically along with the other musicians in the band, capturing numerous takes if needed until they all hit upon the one take they wanted on record for perpetuity.
Listen to classic KISS — the swinging triplet feel of big band jazz is evident on songs like 100,000 Years and Detroit Rock City and Love Gun. But everything up thru Alive II bops or shuffles along, and all of this is due to the instinctual or sub-conscious way Peter “feels” about the music and the drums.
Could he play in a big band? Probably not, but there are few rock drummers who could. Could he play in Black Sabbath or Metallica? They certainly wouldn’t be the same bands.
But he could play — and play well — in KISS. He was there at its creation. He was the drummer and helped to define their sound. He was as proficient on his instrument as anyone else in the group was on theirs. He was literally irreplaceable until the solo albums happened.
As much as I think Bob Ezrin’s contributions to KISS are somewhat overrated, I will give him credit for sticking with Peter Criss behind the drums for the recording of Destroyer. By all accounts, Peter worked as hard or harder than anyone else in the band to make this record, and the drumming on Destroyer is fantastic. Besides making Peter a better drummer, the work he did on these sessions surely boosted his confidence as a musician.
After Peter left KISS, Simmons had to state publicly that Eric Carr would bury Peter Criss as a drummer. But even Eric Carr was victim to the Bob Ezrin credo — replaced by a studio drummer on the last song on the album Music from The Elder titled “I”, which was a swinging, shuffling, classic KISS-sounding tune, which would have certainly been in Peter’s wheelhouse.
Comparing Peter’s playing in the ‘70s to Eric’s playing in the ‘80s is pointless — the musical style was different, the music industry was different, the band was different. Rock music albums in general changed from organic, plug-in-and-play type recordings, to the highly polished, perhaps over-produced and over-exposed songs of the MTV years.
KISS rode this evolutionary train of hard rock music in order to survive. Along the way, a studio musician played on the dance and pop rock songs on Dynasty and Unmasked. And even though Eric Carr’s drums were very organic-sounding in the beginning of his reign, eventually, even his role was regulated to simple pop rock rhythms as on Crazy Nights, or even worse, replaced by a drum machine pattern from a polished demo as on Hot in the Shade.
Musical expression of the drummer had been replaced by the solid timing of a machine.
The real tragedy of the loss of Peter Criss from KISS in 1980 was that we never got to hear him play drums again with the band on a full album. Into the Void was special because the Originals played on it together as a band. But Psycho Circuswas not the follow-up to Love Gun that the world was anticipating: there were replacement musicians throughout the album, and the drummer didn’t sound anything like Peter Criss.
Peter was a markedly different drummer in 1996 than he was in the classic KISS years. A take-command drummer in the 1970s, Peter seemed hesitant on the Reunion Tour show I attended — not something you want in a rock drummer. The worse thing you can do to a “feel” drummer is tell him that he’s dragging or speeding up, especially while he’s playing in front of an audience. This seemed to happen more than necessary. Peter played too cautiously and messed up occasionally. However, he seemed happy to be there, smiling more than not, grooving to the music with his trademark head shakes and nods.
On the Psycho Circus Tour and Farewell Tour shows that I attended, I thought Peter played well. Though he never attacked the drums with wild abandon like he did in his earlier years, there was a journeyman confidence which emanated from behind the kit. An Original, regulated to a hired gun, evolved into a professional drummer just doing his job.
This was even more apparent on the KISS Symphony DVD. Playing with a rock band and a symphony has to be one of the most intimidating situations for a drummer. Not only did Peter have two guys in his band who’d publicly bashed him over his skills, he had to play with world class, legitimate musicians from the Melbourne Symphony. If he was so horrible, why didn’t he crumble? He played with confidence here and pulled off what would’ve been difficult for any rock drummer.
There has been a lot of rewriting of KISS’s history. Sound bites throughout the years have contradicted each other to an absurdist level. But taking credit away from one of the Originals — the creator of the Catman persona, the drummer of the classic KISS tunes, a lead singer of songs on every classic KISS album, and a songwriter on their biggest radio hit — seems unnecessary and over-the-line.
I thought Peter’s 1978 solo album was second only to Ace’s. In fact, it has three great ballads which I can listen to without ever tiring of them. I like Out of Control (1980) a lot, Let Me Rock You (1982) less, and I don’t enjoy Cat #1 (1994) orOne For All (2007) very much at all. Perhaps Peter Criss’s success as a drummer and songwriter has lessened over the years because his heart hasn’t been “feeling” it since he first left KISS 34 years ago.
But he will always be the Original drummer, and his attitude and musical expression will forever live, on those first six and a half studio recordings and the two greatest live rock albums ever put to vinyl. There are no sound bites that could ever take any of that away.
And whether he owns the rights to the make-up or not, Peter Criss is and will always be the creator of the Catman, his alter ego. Painters sell their creative works, but that doesn’t take away from their roles as the creators of the paintings. As far as the Catman make-up and persona goes, Peter Criss should always be given credit as the creator. He is the Original.
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The Unmasking of the Masks of KISS, Part Two of Five
The Rock: Good and Evil in the House of KISS
We are a race of beings whose story can be told by a series of diametrically opposed yet complementary forces: sun and moon, light and dark, heaven and hell, masculine and feminine, virtue and sin, mind and body, east and west, nature and nurture, rational and instinctual, outer space and terrestrial, industrial and primitive, humanistic and animalistic.
And, of course, Good and Evil. They are complementary because one cannot exist without the other. It is part of the human condition.
As a kid — thanks to comic books, television shows, and Star Wars — I knew that Good has to overcome Evil in order for the endings to be happy and satisfying. And although I would root for the hero, there was always something very appealing to me about the villain. Villains had a story too, one that had much murkier woods to pass through and more sinister mentors to learn from. The best villains were doing the best they could with what cards they were dealt, as much the “heroes” of their stories as the actual heroes were of theirs.
And the best villains made the heroes even more heroic. Superman had Lex Luthor, Batman had the Joker, and Spider-man had the Green Goblin. Luke Skywalker had Darth Vader. Even Fonzie had the Malachi Brothers.
And as I saw it, The Starchild had The Demon. In part, the faces of KISS are important because two of them represent the human condition with their masks of Good and Evil.
The Demon is obviously the embodiment of Evil within this group of iconic masks. He is greedy and selfish, loathsome and self-serving. The only thing he gives up is the blood he vomits and the fire he breathes. He has leathery wings and flies to his perch above his masses, making it all the more easier for his Army to worship him.
He wears battle armor and brandishes an axe as a weapon. His dragon familiars adorn his feet, and he sticks out his tongue like a snake. Bat wings adorn his mask and his costume. And he sings about elderly men with underage women, machines of war, and being not quite human and unholy. Oh, and he is the God of Thunder.
Is he pure Evil? I don’t think so. He exists within a group which works together to create something magical. If he was purely selfish, purely independent, purely vile, he would destroy the others and keep everything they have built for himself. But he doesn’t; in fact, he protects the members of his group. Even though he is the villain, The Demon knows that without all four of them, there would be no Army.
The Starchild as the embodiment of Good within the group of iconic masks is not as apparent. He is androgynous, shaking his mane of hair and pouting his red lips, shaking his hips and strutting around the stage like he owns it. He is the least committed to keeping his costume on, but often, before he sheds it, one can see that it is often adorned with feathers.
He sings about love and heartache, rocking and winning. He interacts with the Army, leading them through the shows with preacher-like stage banter. He is an evangelist, and the show is his electric church. He welcomes, he comforts, he gives thanks. And he flies above the Army and sings from their point of view before flying back to his band.
If it is not yet clear why he is the embodiment of Good in the group, then check out the art on the cover to the 1976 album, Rock and Roll Over. Above the picture of the Starchild’s face, you can see that he has wings. Angelic wings. For the Starchild is after all, an Angel. He is the hero in KISS, the force for Good. He must be. Someone has to protect the Army from the Demon.
The embodiment of Good and Evil represented by The Starchild and The Demon surely affected my subconscious as I studied the covers of the albums and the posters in the magazines. KISS went hand-in-hand with my love of the fantasy worlds of Marvel and DC, Star Wars and Dungeons & Dragons. KISS was more than a rock and roll band — they were a band of superheroes/supervillains that existed together to create something more powerful than any of them could ever be on their own. It was this harmony, this balance of opposing yet complementary forces — partly created by the personifications of Good and Evil on those faces of The Starchild and The Demon — that resonated within me. It was an understanding of the human condition that I, as a 9 year-old kid, could relate to then. It still speaks to me now.
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The Top 5: KISS In Flux Songs (1979-1982)
The departures of Peter Criss in 1980 and Ace Frehley in 1982 were not easily apparent to the seeing public. The Catman’s face appeared on both Dynasty and Unmasked, even though he played and sang on only one song on the former and no songs on the latter. And the Spaceman’s name was on The Elder even though he probably only played on two songs, and his face was on the covers of both Killers and Creatures of the Night, both of which contained none of his playing.
Membership — besides Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley — was in flux, as was the sound. Eric Carr started his drumming tenure as The Fox on the Unmasked Tour and The Elder album. Vinnie Vincent wrote and played on three tunes on theCreatures of the Night album, then donned The Ankh Warrior make-up and costume for that tour. There were some good tunes amidst these variations of the classic KISS sound. Here are my picks for the best rock and roll songs from each of the five albums from 1979 to 1982.
5. Hard Times from Dynasty (1979)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMeHbl-ViMk
Ace had three songs on this record, and though 2000 Man gets most of the attention, I like this song the best. It is an autobiographical piece written at a time when Ace was at his creative peak coming off his solo album, and it easily could have been on that record. Like all of Dynasty, it is a bit too polished-sounding for me, but I can hear it in my head with a heavier drum sound and a little more distorted guitar and it is a true rock and roll classic. Wish he would play this live these days — the crowds would go insane!
4. Is That You? from Unmasked (1980)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSwVRzpdND8
Unmasked was the first brand new album by KISS that I bought and listened to, so this is the first new KISS song I ever heard. I didn’t know that they didn’t write it, and I didn’t care. I loved this song from the moment it came on. I still do. It’s got heavier drums and guitar than I remember, and has great lyrics and background singing, and a cool vocal breakdown section. From the opening “Ow!” Paul sings great, letting the last note on many of the “Is That You?” phrases rise up to a squeaky high pitch — very effective, and I’m sure it made lots of girls crazy back in the day.
3. “I” from The Elder (1981)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2PxwnqYUNw
Sounds to me like this could have come off of Destroyer, which is not surprising as it has Bob Ezrin’s influence all over it. The shuffle beat and chord progressions at the top are reminiscent of Detroit Rock City. Paul and Gene trade off lead vocals on the verses, à la Shout It Out Loud. The chorus is bigger than simply the background vocals of members of KISS — they probably pulled in everyone they could snag off the street to sing those call-and-answer background vocals. Then the finger snapping begins. Not sure why. Then back to the verses, a final chorus, and then out … no wait, that’s dialogue from the movie that was never made!
I’m making a little fun of it, but I really dig this tune, and have since I first heard it when they played it live on the TV show Fridays back in 1981. KISS on TV was such a rarity back then, and I remember being so excited to see them in their new costumes playing some new songs. I was taken aback a bit by the shorter hairdos and strange costumes, but man, they were still KISS, that was still Ace, and the new drummer was playing his heart out!
2. Down on Your Knees from Killers (1982)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NEpyRTfRAE
Paul Stanley wrote four new songs for this compilation album which had never been released in the US until this year, as part of the KISSteria: The Ultimate Vinyl Road Case release. It seems that this song was never to Paul’s or the band’s liking, but I think it was the strongest of the four new songs on Killers. And it was an ideal transition song from the ‘70s sound to the ‘80s. It was sleazy like the old KISS, and it certainly was heavy enough to be on the forthcoming Creatures of the Night album. While I think Paul has written many great songs, sometimes I feel that the ones that he likes best are never the ones that I feel are special, and vice versa. That is the case here. I wish KISS would revisit this song and put it to use in their show one time, just to see what happens.
1. Creatures of the Night from Creatures of the Night (1982)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJEofi_eJ-A
Great drumming on this track — Eric Carr finally got to show why he was the rightful heir to Peter Criss’s throne. Strong vocals from Paul Stanley sell these very appropriate lyrics. Nice guitar solo too, from … somebody not in the band. It is from the heaviest album KISS has ever recorded, with maybe the most bombastic drum sounds ever. I love this production. Michael James Jackson is the most underrated KISS producer, as he got KISS back on track with the four new songs on Killers, the solid Creatures of the Night, and the best KISS album of the 1980s: Lick It Up.
KISS played Creatures of the Night throughout their shows in the 1980s and the first half of the 1990s, but since the Reunion Tour in 1996, it has disappeared from the set list. This is a killer tune that the current lineup should bring back to the stage, and pronto.
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The Originals: Ace Frehley
I dressed up as Spider-man first. Then I was a Stormtrooper. But from 1980 until I didn’t dress up for Halloween anymore, I was Ace Frehley. These costumes were those boxed plastic masks and vinyl jumpsuits made by the companies that licensed all the biggest properties in popular culture from the 1950s to the late 1980s. I always felt silly wearing those full body pieces but I dealt with them … until I was Ace Frehley. Ace would never wear something like that — it just wouldn’t be cool enough. I promptly cut the jumpsuit off at the waist, put on my pair of jeans, slid the mask over my face, grabbed my orange Jack-o-lantern candy receptacle, and hit the streets feeling much better about myself.
Bugs Bunny. The Fonz. Vinnie Barbarino. Han Solo. Ace Frehley. A screwball rabbit who messed with a guy with a gun and cracked wise; a high school dropout who could start the jukebox by hitting it just right; a remedial student who could dance while verbally sticking rubber hoses up people’s noses; a galactic smuggler whose best friend was a walking, howling Bigfoot; and The Spaceman from Jendell who played lead guitar in the hottest band in the world.
These characters were the epitome of cool to me. So what did they have in common that made them so cool? I think it was this: they all had outwardly carefree attitudes because everything always seemed to work out in their favor. Bugs always got the best of Elmer Fudd, Marvin the Martian, or the Tasmanian Devil. The Fonz always saved Richie, Joanie, Chachi or whomever was in trouble that week. Barbarino was King of the Sweathogs and charmed his way out of trouble with his smile and not-so-witty comebacks. Han Solo was the one guy in the galaxy you shouldn’t count on that youcould count on.
And Ace Frehley was the guy who would stumble over to center stage and bring the song to another level with his catchy, integral lead guitar solos that propelled a whole generation of kids to start playing guitar. Or drums. Or bass. Or to start singing. I still can’t wait for the classic KISS songs to get to the guitar solo so I can emulate my childhood hero and pigeon-toe my feet, touch my knees together, and pretend like there’s smoke coming out of my air guitar as I sing along to the perfectly sloppy notes and genius phrasing spewing out of the speakers. Ace was rock and roll personified, and the fact that he also happened to be a superhero from another planet just made him that much cooler.
Now I wasn’t privy to all the behind-the-scenes shenanigans of the band back during this time period. Bill Aucoin and his team buried any and all bad press to protect the group’s superhero image — remember, by 1980, KISS was as Disneyfied as could be, with young kids like me all over America going to their concerts and dressing up as them for Halloween. Rock bands like Led Zeppelin, AC/CD, Aerosmith, and Judas Priest were for older teenagers and adults, but KISS had turned a corner with their make-up and merchandising that put them in the category of comic book, TV, and movie licensing for the kiddie market.
Colorforms, Hot Wheels cars, Mego action figures, coloring books, notebooks, trading cards, model kits, and the Halloween costumes — KISS had become too big to let news of Gene’s and Paul’s sexploits or Peter’s or Ace’s substance abuse problems make it to the public’s awareness. Luckily for KISS there was no TMZ or Instagram back then. Otherwise, bad PR might’ve sunk their kiddieland meal ticket ship before it could even be launched.
I was into music because of Ace Frehley, so of course, I wanted to play electric guitar. But I had to choose an instrument that was played in school band so I chose the drums. And I liked the drums and was a fairly proficient percussionist through my college years. But at heart, all I ever wanted to be able to do is play every single Ace Frehley lick and solo from those classic KISS records.
The magic of having Ace and Peter back in KISS with Paul and Gene for the 1996 Reunion Tour was genuine. On stage, it was The Originals again. It was like removing the years 1978–1995 from the space-time continuum, and the KISS that existed before the destructive force of the solo albums was back.
Should have known that it wouldn’t last long. It was just like the original story, except it only took 5 years instead of 7 years for Peter to leave again, and 6 years instead of 9 for Ace to hit the road. This time, however, both had to leave their make-up and costumes behind in the dressing room for the next guys to wear.
But Ace will always be The Spaceman. More than any of the other characters created, Ace’s alter-ego matched his regular-ego the closest. From walking like he’s having trouble adjusting to Earth’s gravitational pull to shooting rockets out of his custom-made blaster on his Sunburst Les Paul, Ace Frehley is the most unique and creative lead guitarist in the history of rock and roll. He doesn’t need to actually dress up like The Spaceman — he is the prototype. He is the Original.
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The Top 5: Underrated KISS Songs, 1983-2014
There have been a lot of great KISS songs since 1983, and I think the ones that were hits were the best of the bunch. I’m talking about Lick It Up, Heaven’s On Fire, Tears Are Falling, Reason to Live, Forever, and Unholy. Videos played a big part in helping these songs get heard, as radio still never played KISS.
There are some songs from these two decades though that I feel didn’t get the attention they deserved. KISS albums, since the demise of the Originals, are essentially two mini-albums — one by Paul Stanley, one by Gene Simmons. I’ve heard stories about each having the power of veto, and that they can use it on the other one’s choices for singles from the albums. Perhaps that is the reason that some of the songs that I think are hits get passed over and forgotten.
5. See You Tonite from MTV Unplugged (1996)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqxhXTZpXIM
Cheating right out of the gate! This song originally appeared on the 1978 Gene Simmons solo album, an album that I thought was the least effective out of the four. But when KISS surprised everybody in 1996 by dusting off this obscure track and letting Gene show off his best Beatles-style tune, we all got a big acoustic treat. Paul receives a lot of accolades for his vocals, and most of the time it is warranted. But live or on a KISS record, I don’t think I’ve ever heard Gene sing out of tune. This version of the song is superior to the studio cut and should have been released as a single.
4. Do You Remember Rock ’n’ Roll Radio? from We’re a Happy Family (2003)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6SYfguaJtk
Another cheat, as this is not really a KISS song. It’s a Ramones tune from 1980, but its roots go back to 1950s pop — not surprising as the album it first appeared on was produced by the-now-notorious-for-a-different-reason Phil Spector. I remember Paul saying that he wasn’t influenced by the Ramones because they came after KISS. But both groups can trace their roots back to the early American rock and roll sound, and this song was a perfect song for KISS to cover. Tandem lead vocals by Paul and Gene make this a classic. This might be the only recording of KISS with a rock and roll horn section. Awesome.
3. Never Enough from Sonic Boom (2009)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7yL7DHvCzg
What happened to this song? From the first time I heard it, I knew that this song was a hit. Since they had led off with Modern Day Delilah as the first single, I figured that this was going to be next. It had the hooks, great lyrics, and a chorus that I could sing along with the second time it came around. Had this been 1986, this song would have been on heavy rotation on MTV. Is this an instance where Gene had veto power and stopped this song from being a single? (Correction: it was the third single off the album, but released 10 months after the album’s debut. It was never played on the Sonic Boom Over Europe Tour.) Or maybe another instance of Paul not liking one his songs as much as I did. Either way, I think they missed out on getting more interest in Sonic Boom when it came out — Modern Day Delilah just didn’t have the hooks that this one did.
2. A Million to One from Lick It Up (1983)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnbjuLpOZPw
One of the most heartfelt yet heavy songs KISS has ever recorded. Written by Paul Stanley and Vinnie Vincent, this song is perfect. I can’t wrap my head around the fact that it wasn’t the follow-up single to Lick It Up. Or at least the third single after All Hell’s Breakin’ Loose. It had everything you needed in a song to be a hit in the ‘80s: power ballad lyrics, a great hook of a chorus, and a brilliant guitar solo. It’s a shame they let this one pass through unnoticed.
Vinnie was the perfect guitar player and songwriter for this transition period: from make-up to non-make-up, from ‘70s style rock to ‘80s style rock, from writing songs with outside songwriters to getting back to writing with just the members of the band. Vinnie has become persona non grata to the KISS camp, and perhaps the reasons given are truthful. But we’ve never really heard Vinnie’s side of the story. He co-wrote 8 of the 10 songs on Lick It Up — by far the most prolific songwriter in the band — yet I doubt that he makes the most money from the songwriting on that album.
1. It’s My Life from The Box Set (2001)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6bDLxIkQGE
This song was written during The Elder era in 1981, with a chorus by Paul Stanley and verses by Gene Simmons. It first appeared on the 1984 album WOW by Wendy O. Williams, which was produced by Gene, and that was a great version with superior lyrics. KISS finally recorded the song in 1998 during the Psycho Circus sessions, and though I doubt Peter Criss or Ace Frehley played on the song, Ace does sing lead on the last verse, which was an arrangement they also used on Shout It Out Loud in concert during the Reunion years.
It’s an anthem that sums up everything KISS had ever stood for, yet the song never made it onto any KISS album untilThe Box Set compilation in 2001. Tragic mistake not recording this decades ago — it would be a staple in the current live sets rather than a throwaway track used to entice KISS fans to buy yet another compilation. One of the best songs they ever wrote and recorded, and they don’t even know it.
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The Top 5: 1980s Paul Stanley Vocal Workouts
Paul Stanley “found” his full voice in the 1980s, circumventing the falsetto he utilized for high parts during the previous years. Whether he was trying to compete with the younger “hair metal” vocalists, or trying to match the lead guitar pyrotechnics of the new guard of shredders, Paul let loose his vocal cords and recorded some impressive stuff. Many were put off by it, calling him a Robert Plant imitator, but it was undeniably impressive. Besides, when was being compared to Robert Plant ever a bad thing?
Paul had vocal cord surgery in 2011 so unfortunately, I don’t think we’ll be hearing any of these songs live in a KISS show any time soon.
5. Keep Me Comin’ from Creatures of the Night (1982)
Nobody sells sleaze like KISS. From Room Service to Love Gun, from Rocket Ride to Fits Like a Glove, KISS are the undisputed champions of lyrical innuendo. This tune is one of their sleaziest. Even the guitar riff feels dirty. Paul’s vocal growth from the questionable use of falsetto on The Oath on The Elder to the, yes, Robert Plant-like full voice runs on the chorus on this song is apparent and welcome. I’m sure it took a lot of work for him to get strong enough in that short a period of time. Maybe not touring for an album for the first time since 1974 let him rest up and build up his pipes.
4. Exciter from Lick It Up (1983)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3oOalhhQSs
I love the album Lick It Up. I was just becoming a teenager as KISS was taking off their make-up and costumes. Music had become a serious topic for me, and with the removal of their make-up, also for KISS. They had to prove that the gimmick was just that, and that the music was what made them who they were. Of course, who they were was not possible because half of that band was gone. Eric Carr and Vinnie Vincent were the two guys next to Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons on the cover — unmasked for the first time. This song kicks off the album — the first album where all the songs were written only by the four members of the band — and it introduced us to the non-make-up KISS with some high octane (and high octave) vocals courtesy of Paul Stanley.
3. Get All You Can Take from Animalize (1984)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLSRj86RdhY
I mean the following in a good way: Get All You Can Take sounds kind of like a Led Zeppelin LP spun at 45 rpm. The pitches are so high, Paul almost sounds like he’s been sped up like one of those Chipmunks recordings. I thought this song was new ground for KISS, really bringing them into the current metal scene of 1984. Paul was singing as high as Joe Elliott from Def Leppard; the biggest difference was that you could actually understand the words Paul was singing. And those lyrics were in line with the classic KISS attitude of don’t worry about what other people think, do things the way you want to do them and you’ll already be winning.
This is Mark St. John’s only KISS album, and he wails his whammy bar all over the place during the guitar solo on this song, a big departure in sound from Ace Frehley and even Vinnie Vincent. It’s a shame he only lasted this one album, but according to an interview I read with Mark St. John, the stress of making this record — of having to basically make two separate mini-albums and traveling back and forth across town to the different studios that Paul and Gene were recording in separately — led to the physical manifestations of the autoimmune disease which prevented him from playing on the Animalize Tour and from ever playing with KISS again. I think it would have been interesting to hear more of his contributions on future records. It is sad that we will never hear him play guitar again.
2. King of the Mountain from Asylum (1985)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d91t5jQt6nw
Not my favorite song, nor my favorite album, but this list is about impressive vocals and that certainly qualifies this track for inclusion. And KISS certainly knows how to open an album — this is a high-energy, lyrically-positive piece that never really lets up. And the musicianship here — the double-bass drumming, the guitar licks and solo, the background harmonies, the complicated arrangement — is superb. This was Bruce Kulick’s first recorded effort with KISS, and his signature style is there right from the start.
I’m impressed that they let Eric Carr have a solo drum piece at the beginning of this song. Eric was writing songs and not getting them on the albums. Perhaps this was a concession to alleviate some of the animosity that no doubt brewed under the surface. Eric Carr was the perfect KISS drummer for the ‘80s. With him behind the kit, KISS had a drummer on par with Tommy Lee of Mötley Crüe, Bobby Blotzer of Ratt, Nicko McBrain of Iron Maiden, and Lars Ulrich of Metallica. It is sad he died so young — there was certainly a huge amount of music and kindness that he still had to give to this world.
1. I’ll Fight Hell to Hold You from Crazy Nights (1987)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZ0NIoSd0Ko
Paul Stanley writes another love letter here, and like he did with A Million to One on Lick It Up, he does it better than anybody else. The strongest rocker on this over-produced album, this track has such a sense of urgency to it thanks to the intense vocals of Paul and the great rhythm guitar track.
I really enjoyed it when new KISS records came out. I listened to them non-stop for weeks. I did that with Crazy Nights. But it’s a tough listen now. I like this song best, and I think that Reason to Live is a well-written song. The keyboards throughout the record are unnecessary, and I wish Bruce’s tone was a little grittier, a little more street. These guys were dressing up in satin and crazy colors at the time, and this record sounds like that looks.
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The Unmasking of the Masks of KISS, Part Three of Five
The Roll: Instinct and Invention
While two of the four masks of KISS represent the diametrically opposed yet complementary forces of Good and Evil that are part of our human condition, there is something a little more intimate represented by the other two masks. Both represent answers to the question: What is it to be a human being?
As natural beings living on this planet, we are terrestrial and attached to the earth. We share the ground with all the other living beings who root themselves in it or tread upon it. We swim in the oceans and lakes with all the other creatures thriving there. We share the air, the sun, the moon, the wind, and the rain. Life on Earth is what makes our planet special, but we are but one of 8.7 million non-bacterial species that inhabit it.
We have biological imperatives to survive. The hard truth of the matter is that in order for us to live, something else has to die. We’re all killers. Part of being a human is understanding that we are at our essence, an animal. We make war because we feel our survival is threatened. We steal because we’re hungry, we cheat because we want to, we lie because we’re defensive.
The Catman reminds us of this innate state of our existence. He is instinctual, and he beats the drums and crashes the cymbals in time with the rhythms of his heart and soul. The rest of the band has to work hard to keep up with his pace as he runs through the rock and roll jungle. He waves his shaggy, spotted mane from side to side, as if he’s ripping out the jugular of his prey and waving the flesh around as a sign of dominance. Oftentimes, he’s smiling about it.
The King of the Beasts, he sits on his throne as his royal instrument rises up, higher and higher into the air. His golden feline guardians rise with him, and you’ll have to get through them first if you want to fight him. After he performs his sacrificial solo for the Army, the levitating kit starts to descend, another reminder for all of us earthbound creatures, that while we may leave the earth occasionally, we always land with our feet back on the ground. That is, until we are buried under the ground.
Even The Catman will die one day — though he does have nine lives. But another commonality that humans share with the rest of the living beings on the planet, is that there will be another to take our place. Another being can become The Catman because it is something that is bigger than the individual — it is a role, a mask, a spiritual reminder of what we are at our core.
What makes humans special, however, is our ability to transcend the biological imperatives and fill our lives with more than simple survival. Civilizations and cultures have been built, mythologies and religions have been formed, sciences and arts have blossomed. Technological advances throughout our existence have propelled us to greater and greater heights. Humans have a capacity for great things, and as long as we can perpetuate the species without destroying it, there is no limit to the things we can achieve.
The Spaceman represents our human curiosity and our need to transcend our current state and strive for something bigger and better. He plays with a rock and roll band as a of way of recruiting the members of the Army to join him as he jettisons off planet again, taking us and our hopes and dreams to a place where they can become a reality.
He shows us his new tinkerings while he’s here — one of his instruments of seismeic assault shoots rockets at the rafters, overheating and smoking yet remaining a weapon of sonic beauty. Sparks fly off another one of his musical creations, contributing to the electrical party vibe as the band plays the Army’s anthem and brings the show to an end.
Where The Spaceman goes afterwards is a mystery. Beyond the sun, beyond the stars, beyond all comprehension. He’s light-years ahead of us, leading the way so swiftly that we lose sight of him almost immediately. Luckily for us, he comes back down to our planet from time to time, to give us a glimpse of the future and an auditory reminder of the limitless creativity in our hearts, minds, and souls.
We have an Instinct to survive, to thrive, to protect our own, and to kill in order to live. We share these biological imperatives with all other living beings on our planet. What sets us apart from those other beings is our abilities to question, to comprehend, to rationalize, and to create new ideas and tools to make our lives more profound. Our propensity for Invention — be it technological, cultural, mental, or spiritual — has propelled our species to the status of custodians of the Earth. The bestial and celestial duality that resides in us — and in KISS in the faces of The Catman and The Spaceman — gives us the compassion to care for the planet and its beings, and the intelligence to create new ways in which to do so.
P.S. The Fox and The Ankh Warrior
Like The Catman before him, The Fox mask in KISS is a beast that represents the same Instinct for survival that humans have, grounding us alongside our animal brethren. He is perhaps slyer and less confrontational than his predecessor, but he rules his neck of the woods with canine tenacity. His thunderous footsteps on his double bass drums deceive his smaller stature, and his ceaseless energy and enthusiasm for life make him the worthy heir to the throne and a towering figure of musicality and creativity.
The Ankh Warrior might be more recognizable to modern man as Pharoah, a word which originally was used to describe the great royal palace in Ancient Egypt before being used as a title for the king. As Pharoah, he was in charge of ordering the creation of the greatest technological wonders of the ancient world, many of which stand today. As the successor to The Spaceman, The Ankh Warrior also represents Invention in the masks of KISS, pointing to our past instead of our future to show all the great advances we are capable of creating.