Kiss (band)

Kiss
Kiss at the Hellfest Festival 2013.
General information
origin	New York City , United States
Genre (s)	Hard rock , heavy metal , glam rock , glam metal
founding	1973
Website	www.kissonline.com
Founding members
Vocals , rhythm guitar	Paul Stanley The Starchild
Vocals, bass	Gene Simmons The Demon
Lead guitar , vocals	Ace Frehley (until 1982, 1996-2002) The Spaceman
Drums , vocals	Peter Criss (until 1980, 1996-2001, 2002-2004) The Catman
Current occupation
Vocals, rhythm guitar	Paul Stanley The Starchild
Vocals, bass	Gene Simmons The Demon
Lead guitar, vocals	Tommy Thayer (since 2002) The Spaceman
Drums, vocals	Eric Singer (1991–1996, 2001–2002, since 2004) The Catman
former members
Lead guitar	Vinnie Vincent (1982-1984) The Ankh Warrior
Lead guitar	Mark St. John (1984; † 2007)
Lead guitar	Bruce Kulick (1984-1996)
Drums, vocals	Eric Carr (1980-1991; † 1991) The Fox

Kiss is an American hard rock band formed in 1973 in New York . With more than 100 million albums sold worldwide, the group is one of the most successful rock bands.

Made up faces

The band members stood out for their individual costumes and only appeared in public with make-up until 1983, with each band member having their own set make-up mask (The Demon, The Starchild, The Spaceman, The Catman). The faces were painted white. The masks painted on were black or silver (at Ace Frehley ). For example, Peter Criss had a cat's mask. In addition to the poster-white face primer that emphasized his angular chin, Paul Stanley always wore a blood-red mouth and a black star around his right eye. When asked why they went on stage with makeup on, Stanley said in 1994, “Just because we thought it was fun. Of course, we shocked people with those wild colors on their faces. But we laughed at it. And got exactly the attention we wanted. "

The design changed a little over time. Most noticeably, Gene Simmons changed . Peter Criss' make-up can be seen clearly differently on the cover of the Kiss album . Ace Frehley's makeup changed mainly on the eyebrows. Paul Stanley's Starchild design remained almost unchanged (before the Starchild design, there was initially the Bandit design). Eric Carr's Fox makeup also had two versions. Before that, there was the hawk make-up that he was supposed to wear first, but everyone advised against it because it would make him look like a chicken from Sesame Street. Tommy Thayer's make-up has a few small differences to the original by Ace Frehley: the shape of the mouth, the silver color (in Thayer's case rather gray), the width of the black lines, the eyebrows and the lack of blue color in Thayer's face. Even Eric Singer's makeup has many differences from the original by Criss: The whiskers, the shape of the green areas in the eyes and other small differences in shape.

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  The Starchild - Paul Stanley

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  The Demon - Gene Simmons

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  The Spaceman - Ace Frehley and (slightly changed) Tommy Thayer

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  The Catman - Peter Criss and (slightly changed) Eric Singer

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  The Fox - Eric Carr

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  The Ankh Warrior - Vinnie Vincent

history

Founding years

The origins of Kiss can be traced back to the New York rock 'n' roll band Wicked Lester . In 1972, elementary school teacher Gene Klein aka Gene Simmons and taxi driver Stanley Eisen aka Paul Stanley met and decided to make music together. At first they took over backing vocals in some bands before founding Wicked Lester. Simmons and Stanley asked the other members to leave the group after Epic Records accepted a self-produced album by the band in late 1972. However, the other members did not want to leave the band. So they left the band themselves, knowing that the rest of the band couldn't keep the contract (without the only two songwriters and singers).

After the exit, Simmons responded to an advertisement in Rolling Stone from drummer Peter Criss , who was looking for a band. Criss completed a successful audition and joined the band. In January 1973 Paul "Ace" Frehley joined as lead guitarist. In the same month the group name was changed and from then on it was called KISS. The name change is attributed to Stanley, while the design was by Frehley. The lightning-like component "SS" was often interpreted as a victory rune . Gene Simmons later said: “We weren't Nazis. It had nothing to do with the SS . After all, I am a Jew . ”The use of the logo was neither prosecuted in Germany, nor was it forbidden by law. The later German record company wanted to avoid "unnecessary difficulties" in public perception and have the logo changed. She therefore put the appropriate pressure on the Kiss management (which finally agreed to the change of the logo on the album covers of the 1980s).

The first appearance under the new name Kiss took place on January 30, 1973 in front of three paying viewers in the Popcorn Club in the New York borough of Queens . In June of the same year, the group, led by music producer Eddie Kramer, recorded a demo tape with the five titles Deuce, Cold Gin, Strutter, Watchin 'You and Black Diamond in the Electric Lady Studios . The tape ended up with Neil Bogart of Buddah Records.

In the summer of 1973, Bill Aucoin became the band's manager. He managed to get Kiss a record deal with Bogart's new label Emerald City Records (renamed Casablanca Records shortly afterwards ). On October 10, 1973, Kiss began recording their first album at Bell Sound Studios in New York . On December 31, 1973, Kiss had her first official appearance at the Academy of Music in New York. At this concert, Simmons accidentally set his hair on fire for the first time during a fire-breathing act . He himself suspected it might have been the hairspray he'd used in large quantities.

On February 5, 1974, the band began their first tour of North America with a concert in Edmonton, Canada . On February 18, 1974, the debut album Kiss was released . The photo on the cover showed the band members in makeup. The album reached number 87 in the charts.

Casablanca Records and Kiss promoted the album throughout the spring and summer of 1974. Kiss first appeared on American television on March 29, 1974. They played the tracks Nothin 'to Lose , Firehouse and Black Diamond on Dick Clark's in Concert . On April 29, 1974, Kiss appeared on the Mike Douglas Show , where they played Firehouse and had an interview with Gene Simmons.

In August 1974 the band flew to Los Angeles to record their second album Hotter Than Hell , which was released on October 22, 1974. The only single from this album, Let Me Go, Rock 'n' Roll , was not a commercial success. The album also didn't get past 100th place in the charts.

Although Kiss had succeeded in gaining some notoriety, hit parade successes did not occur until 1974. In 1975, Casablanca Records boss Neil Bogart personally took on the task of producing the third album. He changed the group's sound from the “ garage band sound ” to a well-produced studio album. The result of the work came out under the title Dressed to Kill in March 1975. On the album was the song C'm On and Love Me , which became a successful radio hit.

Stage shows with make-up, platform boots and fire in the guitars

Dressed to Kill achieved better sales than the two previous albums; However, it was above all the excessive live performances of the band that made Kiss known. The group's show performances during their concerts included the “blood spitting” by bassist Gene Simmons (the blood consisted of a mixture of yogurt and food coloring) and fire-breathing, also performed by Simmons. Among the painted faces and long, black hair dyed the band members always wore elaborately designed costumes and fancy high platform boots .

The instrument of lead guitarist Ace Frehley apparently went up in flames during a solo (corresponding effects were built into the guitar); the rising pedestal of the drummer Peter Criss gave off sparks. Paul Stanley's stage show, aided by pyrotechnic effects, included smashing his guitar in the style of Pete Townshend .

Late 1970s

In September 1975 their live album entitled Alive! released. Most of the tracks on the album were recorded during the performance at the Detroit Cobo Arena . The live album sold millions of copies. It was awarded four platinum awards and the single Rock and Roll All Nite released brought Kiss into the top 40 of the charts for the first time.

For the follow-up album, the group selected Bob Ezrin as producer. The result of this collaboration was the album Destroyer , which was released in March 1976. It became Kiss' most commercially successful studio album. The cover came from Ken Kelly and later served as a motif for various merchandising products such as t-shirts, posters and other devotional items .

In October 1976, Kiss appeared with the titles Detroit Rock City , Beth and King of the Night Time World on The Paul Lynde Halloween Special .

Rock and Roll Over was released in November 1976 and Love Gun in June 1977 . In November of the same year the group released their second live album Alive II , which was released as a double LP and contained new studio recordings on the fourth side.

In Japan, Kiss broke the attendance record for a concert previously held by the Beatles . The group was at the height of its success. Marvel Comics released two volumes of comic strips with the group as heroes. There were pinball machines with the likenesses of the musicians, the band members as dolls, make-up utensils to put on make-up in the style of the band, Halloween masks, board games and much more.

Their popularity was also reflected in the membership of the band's official fan club. In the meantime the Kiss Army had reached six figures.

In April 1978, Double Platinum was released, the first of the group's numerous greatest hits albums.

Tape crisis

At the height of their popularity, tensions within the group grew. In September 1978 solo albums each of the four band members were released simultaneously . On these albums, the musicians had the opportunity to live out their respective musical preferences. Frehley's album was the most successful of the four and produced the only radio hit of all four projects: New York Groove (a cover version of the hit of the same name, written by Russ Ballard by the group Hello ) entered the top 20 of the US charts. Although the numerous pre-orders for the albums ensured that every LP made it into the Top 50 on the Billboard Album Chart , sales plummeted very quickly.

The retailers therefore made an effort to return their large stocks to the record company. Casablanca Records basically granted retailers a "100 percent return policy", which meant that retailers could return unsold goods for a full reimbursement - this also applied to goods that retailers had received free of charge as a discount, so that, for example, one record was sold across America officially delivered (“sold”) 750,000 units, but got a million units back - a big minus business.

In October 1978, NBC showed a television film titled Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park (Eng. Title: KISS - Hunted by Phantoms ), in which they fight against a mad inventor and KISS look-alike created by him in the Six Flags Magic Mountain amusement park have to enforce in order to save the park from ruin. According to the concept, the film was supposed to be a mixture of A Hard Day's Night and Star Wars , but the high expectations were not met and the film received scathing reviews. Even so, it became one of the most watched television films in the United States in 1978 and was released in a few countries, including a. in Germany, 1979 even in the cinemas.

In May 1979, Kiss released a new album, titled Dynasty . It sold well and went platinum. The track I Was Made for Lovin 'You was extracted from the LP . It became the band's best-selling and most successful single and reached the highest positions on the charts worldwide. The song combined the typical sound of Kiss with elements of the meanwhile dominant disco music .

On Dynasty - as on the follow-up album Unmasked - Peter Criss was replaced by session drummer Anton Fig on the instructions of producer Vini Poncia . Poncia was of the opinion that Criss' drumming was no longer of sufficient quality. So he only played on the track Dirty Livin ' .

The tour for the Dynasty album in 1979 was a sign of the group's declining popularity. If you were used to sold out concert halls, Kiss now often played in half-empty halls.

Controversy over the logo

Phonogram GmbH press release on the change of the Kiss logo, August 1980

Shortly after the band's logo with the lightning-shaped letters "S" became known through record sales in Germany, criticism of its design came up. The comparison with the victory rune used by the National Socialists as a symbol for the SS was obvious and sparked discussion. In the late 1970s and early 1980s there were publications by reputable newspapers that wanted the band to be located in the right-wing political camp. They described Kiss as a “brutal rock group,” who “conquered German teenagers in the Blitzkrieg with infernal show demeanor and fascist gestures” ( Der Spiegel ) or as “SS minions of rock n 'roll” ( Neue Zürcher Zeitung ).

Criticism was expressed that public prosecutors and courts did not seem to recognize that Kiss was using symbols of unconstitutional organizations, which is prohibited under Section 86a of the German Criminal Code . The public prosecutor's office in Frankfurt am Main does not even pursue advertisements in this direction, since “the logo does not quite match the SS runes”. In Stade and Bremen , on the other hand, record stores were asked by the public prosecutor to remove Kiss records with the original logo of the band from their offer, otherwise they could be confiscated .

The reason for the reporting of the mirror was the fact that the engineer Ulrich Pakleppa after a control of the police in Darmstadt appear was because he a Pin "stops Antifascist Action with the lettering ostrich " in black-white-red background had worn. The name Strauss was spelled with a double S, and the last two letters in the name of the CDU / CSU candidate for chancellor at the time were stylized as SS runes. Pakleppa then received a penalty order for 300 D-Marks , against which he appealed.

In August 1980, the German record company Phonogram announced that the group would use a redesigned logo for marketing in Germany in the future. It became aware of the importance of the original logo as a trademark, which was "not incriminated in most countries". The reason for the change lies "solely in the hardly disputable similarity of the spelling of the" old "Kiss logo with a Nazi symbol", and as such it was understood "despite the completely different context from different sides."

In the following years until today (2019) there were repeated criminal charges against people who publicly wore the original logo of the group, but the case law repeatedly came to the conclusion that a mix-up could not be ruled out, but also not assumed. In 2016, the Berlin Regional Court pointed out that there are clear differences in the design of runes and letters: The SS mark “consisted of two isosceles sigrun, the middle line of which was not horizontal, but diagonal”. Neither of these applies to "the" S "in the Kiss group's logo."

1980s

In May 1980 the LP Unmasked came on the market. Shortly afterwards, Peter Criss, struggling with drug addiction and a marital crisis, left Kiss. Although Criss can be seen on the cover of the album and was featured in the music video for Shandi , he was no longer involved in the recording of the album. Only Anton Fig played the drums.

Although Unmasked was produced in a contemporary way, it became the first album since Dressed to Kill that did not go platinum. At the start of the Unmasked tour, there was only one US concert in New York's Palladium Theater on July 25, 1980 to introduce the new drummer Eric Carr . During the subsequent tour through Europe, the Kiss logo was optically changed for the concerts in Germany and the supposed SS symbol was only “defused” there. In Germany, the new lettering was then used on the covers of all albums that had been released up to that point. The continuation of the unmasked tour through Australia and New Zealand was also very successful for Kiss.

In November 1981 the first album appeared in the new line-up with Eric Carr on drums. Music from the Elder was a concept album . The album did not sell well for Kiss standards and did not get past number 75 in the charts. The alcoholic Ace Frehley had hardly been involved in the production. He only contributed the two songs Escape from the Island and Dark Light .

In the spring of 1982, Kiss separated from long-time manager Bill Aucoin and downsized the entire organization that had taken care of the group's business. In June of the same year, the compilation album Killers was released outside the USA , which contained four unreleased tracks. For the cover of this album, the "defused" German version of the Kiss logo was used internationally for the first time. Around this time, Ace Frehley had made the decision to leave the group, but Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley wanted, for image reasons, that Frehley still appeared on the album Creatures of the Night . So it happened in October 1982 that he can be seen on the cover and in the music video for I Love It Loud , although he was no longer involved in the studio recordings.

Creatures of the Night was another tough album by the group after several years. Various guitarists replaced Frehley on the recordings. Steve Farris, Bob Kulick and Vincent Cusano, who later became known as Vinnie Vincent , can be heard on guitar. Some of the tracks on the album were written by Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance . Creatures of the Night sold significantly better than Music from the Elder , but only reached number 45 on the hit parade. Since Frehley had officially left the band shortly after the filming of the video of I Love It Loud , the group had to quickly find a replacement for him in order not to let the 10th Anniversary Tour fall into the water. Vinnie Vincent, who had already worked on the recordings for the album, stepped in and disguised himself in the ancient Egyptian style.

Although the tour in the USA did not match the group's old successes, Kiss played in front of more spectators than ever before in their career: In June 1983, 137,000 spectators saw the concert in Brazil . During this tour, Kiss was seen for the last time in their masks for a long time. It was not until June 28, 1996 that the musicians put their make-up back on.

Unmasked

In order to promote their album Lick It Up , the group decided in 1983 to appear unvarnished at a live performance on the music channel MTV . This performance had the intended effect and the album sold better than the two previous ones.

There was another change in the line-up. The new guitarist Vinnie Vincent was released in May 1984 and replaced by Mark St. John . In September 1984 the album Animalize came on the market and was just as successful as the previous album . Kiss had successful single hits with the titles Heaven's on Fire and Thrills in the Night , and the group's album tour was well attended. Mark St. John fell ill during rehearsals for the following tour of Reiter's disease and was at the concerts of Animalize replaced by Bruce Kulick tour in Europe, which lasted from 30 September 1984 to 5 November 1984th When Kiss returned to the USA, St. John took part in the tour that began on November 15, 1984, but was also represented here by Bruce Kulick and watched the concerts from the stage or the auditorium. It was only at the concert in Baltimore on November 27, 1984 that he was able to perform with Kiss for the first time. St. John also played at the next two concerts, each the entire show, but had to be completely replaced by Bruce Kulick on December 2, 1984 in Indianapolis. St. John accompanied the band in the first week of December 1984, but received his notice on December 7, 1984 and was sent home. The unpredictable development of his illness was ultimately decisive for the decision to fire him. Bruce Kulick joined the band a day later.

In the second half of the 1980s, Kiss released a number of successful albums. Asylum was released in September 1985 , Crazy Nights in September 1987 , the compilation Smashes, Thrashes & Hits in November 1988 and finally Hot in the Shade in November 1989 . On the Crazy Nights Tour , Bruce Kulick played a keyboard on Reason to Live . The rest of the time, Gary Corbett played keyboards, but hidden behind the stage behind a curtain. In addition to Corbett, Derek Sherinian played the keyboard on the Revenge tours .

1990s

The 1990s got off to a very successful start for Kiss, with the ballad Forever ( co-authored by Michael Bolton ) being the most successful single since I Was Made for Lovin 'You . Despite these successes in their "unmasked" era, Kiss felt competition from newer groups such as Mötley Crüe , Guns n 'Roses and Bon Jovi , which sold significantly more albums and attracted more viewers to the concert halls.

In the midst of the planning for the new album, directed by producer Bob Ezrin, Kiss learned that Eric Carr had cancer. The drummer died on November 24, 1991 at the age of 41. Eric Singer took over the position of drummer on the recordings. With him they recorded the album Revenge , which was released in May 1992. Revenge reached the top ten in the charts and was awarded gold. The tour for the album this time took the group to numerous smaller clubs and less to large halls.

In May 1993 Kiss released their third live album, Alive III .

In June 1994 Kiss My Ass was released , an homage album to which a wide variety of artists contributed their versions of well-known Kiss titles. The artists included u. a. Lenny Kravitz at Deuce , Yoshiki , who contributed a piano / classical version of Black Diamond . The Mighty Mighty Bosstones played a ska version of Detroit Rock City . Garth Brooks sang Hard Luck Woman . The version of the album released in Germany contained a bonus track on which Die Ärzte can be heard with a German version of Unholy (the only piece from the "unmasked time").

In 1995 Kiss embarked on the Worldwide Kiss Convention Tour . The conventions were events that lasted all day. Old stage outfits and instruments of the group were presented, cover bands performed, merchandising products of all kinds were offered and, as a highlight, Kiss himself was present. The band members were available for interviews, gave autographs and played an approximately two-hour unplugged concert, with the performances often being selected according to the wishes of the fans. At the first of these events in the USA on June 17, 1995, there was a reunion with Peter Criss, who also sang two pieces with the group: Hard Luck Woman and Nothin 'to Lose .

On August 9, 1995, Kiss appeared on MTV Unplugged . Stanley and Simmons had invited former members Criss and Frehley to attend this concert. Both agreed and joined the concert during the encores. In the weeks after the unplugged appearance, Kiss recorded the album Carnival of Souls , which was released two years later.

Reunited

KISS concert in Munich 2008

The experience of performing with Criss and Frehley on the Unplugged Show had been so positive that the group went on the Kiss Alive / Worldwide Tour in 1996 with the original cast and again with make-up .

Kiss pulled out all the stops in marketing the reunification. The campaign began on February 28, 1996 with an appearance at the 38th Grammy Awards ceremony . On April 16, 1996, the group held a press conference aboard the USS Intrepid in New York, where they announced their "plans to achieve world domination." The press conference, moderated by US television star Conan O'Brien , was broadcast in 58 countries. On June 28, 1996, the Kiss Alive / Worldwide Tour began with a concert at the sold-out Tiger Stadium in Detroit. The doctors appeared in the opening act for the performances in Germany and Switzerland .

In September 1998 the reunited band released the album Psycho Circus . Although it was largely marketed as the first album by the original line-up since 1977's Love Gun album , actual contributions from Frehley and Criss on Psycho Circus were minimal. Most of the lead guitar parts were from Tommy Thayer and Bruce Kulick. The drum parts were recorded by the studio musician Kevin Valentine.

On August 13, 1999, the Simmons-produced feature film Detroit Rock City was released in American cinemas. The film is set in 1978. The story centers around four teenagers trying to get tickets to a sold out Kiss concert in Detroit. Two days before the film premiered, Kiss had received star number 2142 on the famous Hollywood Walk of Fame . For the film, the band re-recorded the song Detroit Rock City , but this new version was only used in one concert scene in the film and was not part of the soundtrack album. Also for the soundtrack, Paul Stanley recorded the ballad Nothing can Keep Me From You , written by Diane Warren , with the help of Bruce Kulick (bass) and Steve Ferrone (drums) and a 30-piece orchestra , which also appeared on the album as a Kiss song .

In the spring of 2000, Kiss announced a US farewell tour that was to take place in the summer and became one of the best-attended concert series of the year. At the beginning of 2001, shortly before the start of the Japan and Australia tour, Criss left the band again. He was replaced by previous drummer Eric Singer, who appeared in Criss' cat makeup.

The 2000s

KISS at the concert in Munich in 2008

In 2002, Simmons published his autobiography . He barely left a good hair on Frehley in this book, who did not appear in protest at a television appearance by the band.

In 2003, Kiss went on another tour with Aerosmith . Criss had meanwhile returned to the group, but Frehley was missing, who no longer wanted to play with Simmons and Stanley after the events in 2002. Tommy Thayer played in his place. With this line-up, Kiss recorded the fourth live album Alive IV at a concert in Australia. The group was accompanied by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra .

In March 2004, Criss had to leave the band again. Simmons and Stanley did not renew his contract. On his website, Criss describes how his release took place: Stanley called him and told him that “the band needed fresh blood”. Again it was Singer who replaced him. The Rock the Nation 2004 World Tour took Kiss together with Poison .

In June 2004 the second solo album by Gene Simmons was released. It was titled Asshole .

On June 27, 2006, the group opened a Starbucks- style coffee house in Myrtle Beach ( South Carolina ) under the name Kiss Coffeehouse . Simmons and Stanley were present at the inauguration.

Short-term guitarist Mark St. John died on April 5, 2007 of a cerebral haemorrhage.

Kiss is still touring regularly on all continents. Only founders Simmons and Stanley are from the initial formation. They tried to bring Criss back, at least for a few appearances, but he always canceled.

In 2008 the band went on a world tour on the occasion of their 35th anniversary, the Kiss Alive / 35 -Tour. This started on March 16 in Australia, continued to Europe and for the first time also to Russia and Latvia. In Germany the group gave eight concerts.

In February 2009 and in the following years, Kiss officially announced on their homepage that they were working on a new studio album. The album Sonic Boom was released in early October 2009.

On June 3, 2010, Kiss opened the Rock am Ring festival as the first headliner .

The band started working on a new album entitled Monster in April 2011 and published the official Tour Magazine in late June 2012. On July 2, 2012, Kiss released the single Hell or Hallelujah . The album Monster was released on October 5, 2012.

The founding members of Kiss were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on April 10, 2014 .

In January 2015, Kiss released a single with the Japanese group Momoiro Clover Z, which was available in both a Japanese version ( Yume No Ukiyo Ni Saitemina ) and a Kiss version ( Samurai Son ).

In December 2016, KISS declined Donald Trump's invitation to appear at the inauguration ceremony on January 20, 2017. Gene Simmons justified the cancellation with the European tour of Kiss 2017. The first concert of the European tour was scheduled for May 1, 2017 (four months later) in Moscow.

Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley had a cameo in the US comedy film Why Him? in which they sing the song I Was Made for Lovin 'You in one scene .

Since 2019 Kiss have been on their three-year "End of the Road" farewell tour.

Classification of music history

McFarlane - action figure from Paul Stanley

In addition to bands like The Sweet , T. Rex and Slade , Kiss has often been associated with the term glam rock because of their costumes and masks . The music critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine writes: “The music of Kiss was a commercially functioning mixture of anthemic, guitar-influenced hard rock and ballads, in which the guitars then flowed away. That was the sound that made possible the 'stadium rock' and 'pop metal' that later dominated rock music in the 1980s. "

In the times of glam rock, Kiss dressed much darker - mainly leather - and also played harder and louder. The horror show also stood in contrast to the rather sweet image of glam rock. Kiss are regarded as a pioneer in inventing new merchandise items and as the band that invented and revolutionized merchandising on a grand scale. In 1980 alone, it turned over over 100 million US dollars. In 1997, the toy manufacturer McFarlane Toys published the first series of realistic miniature figures of the Kiss musicians. These turned out to be bestsellers among collectors, so that four more Kiss series followed and other rock stars were portrayed.

With their sound in the 1970s, Kiss influenced subsequent generations of musicians. The doctors , Lenny Kravitz , members of Metallica , Nirvana , Lordi (all members of the Kiss Army ), Pearl Jam , Green Day and the singer Doro Pesch name Kiss as their idols and the reason why they started making music back then. The Melvins paid homage to Kiss in 1992 with three simultaneously released solo albums by former members King Buzzo, Dale Crover and Joe Preston, the covers of which were based on those of the Kiss solo albums from 1978. In addition to Thrash Metal, Kiss also describes Peter Tägtgren as his most important musical influence. Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul from Pantera were big fans of the band. Both were buried in "Kiss Kaskets", coffins decorated with Kiss motifs.

Kiss are very successful commercially and the band that has received the most gold records worldwide after the Beatles and the Rolling Stones . In the USA alone, the band has received 24 gold records , ten platinum records and two multi- platinum awards. In total, the band has sold over 100 million albums worldwide.

Background of the albums

The musical history of the band has several clearly separated sections. In 1974 and 1975 Kiss recorded the three albums Kiss , Hotter Than Hell and Dressed to Kill within 18 months with "hair-raising, wild music". The three albums formed the basis of the live double LP Alive! which became a "milestone in rock history". The double album sold over four million times and suddenly made the band known to a large audience. Destroyer , stylistically a "quantum leap" to the previous albums , Rock and Roll Over and Love Gun followed in 1976 and 1977 and in turn formed the basis of the equally successful live double album Alive II . At the end of this first, "classic" phase, the four solo albums released by all four band members simultaneously in 1978 - Ace Frehley , Gene Simmons , Paul Stanley and Peter Criss - can be counted, each released under the name of the band and the respective musician.

With the album Dynasty in 1979, Kiss deviated from their original line for the first time, it was the band's first important musical change. Because this album was shaped by the strong disco wave at the end of the 1970s , which largely dominated the music sector. The follow-up album Unmasked , released in 1980, with its shallow, fresh pop sound went in an even more poppy direction than the previous album , the original "musical wildness" was no longer there.

Kiss in her traditional makeup in Boston 2004

Kiss in July 2016

In 1981 the group presented the concept album Music from the Elder , which was a kind of fantasy rock and played an essential role on the fanfares and symphony orchestra music ; some critics spoke of a Prog-Rock mix. The album received good reviews, but the musical development of the band was schizophrenic: The music had strayed so far from the original metallic Kiss sound that the album was considered a low point by large sections of the following and a commercial failure. The early 1980s were marked by the departure of two members of the original line-up, namely drummer Peter Criss in 1980 and lead guitarist Ace Frehley in 1982.

These two intermediate phases were followed in 1982 by a musically radical and radical change of direction towards the original hard rock. The mix of studio and compilation album Killers , released in 1982, already indicated this. The LP Creatures of the Night , released in the same year, was made for a comeback and captured the band's hard rock sound. The album turned out harder again; it consisted of loud, rhythmic, bass and guitar dominated hard rock and led the band back to their musical roots. The follow-up album Lick It Up was not inferior to the previous album and was characterized by its hard, metallic sound and its rock-rap style. The album was the first LP the band released without their classic make-up. The following albums Animalize , Asylum , Crazy Nights and Hot in the Shade in the years 1984 to 1989 were all made during the make-up free time. The albums are considered solid and rock, but also commercial. From 1987 the style of music developed again towards poppy and rather profile-less discs, which is at least true for Crazy Nights and Hot in the Shade .

The 1992 album Revenge was another musical course correction in Kiss history. The work should be clearly differentiated and highlighted from the previous albums. According to the reviews, Revenge was one of the most musically successful LPs of the band. The album didn't sound like its immediate predecessor, it was again significantly heavier and reminds of the change of direction of 1982, with which Revenge's change of direction is often compared. Almost all the pieces are classic hard rock with a “well-dosed amount of jagged heaviness” and a “full sound”, in which hard guitar riffs dominate. Revenge was the result of a new direction and was considered a kind of renaissance for the band. At Kiss, the "spirit of the founding years" prevailed again, with which they found their way back to "old aggressiveness and belligerence". For the first time with Revenge an album was created three years after the previous one, while the band had been much more productive the years before. In 1993 they released Kiss Alive III , which included old pieces (some of which were already featured on previous live albums) from the 1970s and early 1980s as well as a number of newer songs from Revenge .

Carnival of Souls was recorded in 1995/1996, but was not released until 1997 - five years after the previous album. Due to the reunion of the original band line-up, the record company did not think the timing for the release of the album was right. Because the bandcould not be heard in the reunited original line-upon Carnival of Souls . The reactions of the fans and buyers were correspondingly restrained. On this disc, Kiss experimented with grunge and a dark hard rock / heavy metal melange. The album sounds more modern and song-technically constructive and pursues a contemporary style concept in the semi-hard mid-tempo area. Both the singing and the instrumental music are comparatively slow, lengthy, deep and sometimes melancholy.

In 1998 Psycho Circus was released after the band had achieved considerable touring success with their reunion in 1996 and continues to do so to the present day. The CD was the first album since 1982 with classic make-up. The work is a rock solid, mainstream hard rock album, melodic, with hard guitars, poppy attitudes and rock catchy tunes, but also with clichéd songs. The second disc in the "new" make-up era was Sonic Boom . It was released in 2009 and therefore only eleven years after the last album, so that clearly definable phases are no longer evident due to the long time intervals. At Sonic Boom there is the classic hard rock sound with sing-along choruses. Bluesy hard rock dominates, stylistic experiments are missing as well as all too pop arrangements. In 2012, Monster , the third studio album of the “new” makeup era, was released three years after the last album.

The productivity of the band to record studio albums decreased significantly over the decades. In the 1970s they recorded two albums a year. The frequency slowed down in the 1980s to a fairly stable one or two year rhythm. From the 1990s on, studio albums were only released irregularly at large intervals.

Discography

→ Main article : Kiss (band) / discography

Studio albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1974	Kiss	-	-	-	-	US87 gold (23 weeks)US	First published: February 18, 1974
	Hotter Than Hell	-	-	-	-	US100 gold (15 weeks)US	First published: October 22, 1974
1975	Dressed to kill	-	-	-	-	US32 gold (29 weeks)US	First published: March 19, 1975
1976	Destroyer	DE36 (8 weeks) DE	-	-	UK22 (5 weeks) UK	US11 × 2 Double platinum (83 weeks)US	First published: March 15, 1976
	Rock and Roll Over	DE39 (8 weeks) DE	-	-	-	US11 platinum (45 weeks)US	First published: November 11, 1976
1977	Love gun	DE18 (2 weeks) DE	-	-	-	US4th platinum (26 weeks)US	First published: June 30, 1977
1979	Dynasty	DE8 (60 weeks) DE	AT13 (14 weeks) AT	-	UK50 (6 weeks) UK	US9 platinum (25 weeks)US	First published: May 23, 1979
1980	Unmasked	DE4 (30 weeks) DE	AT3 (16 weeks) AT	-	UK48 (3 weeks) UK	US35 gold (14 weeks)US	First published: May 20, 1980
1981	Music from "The Elder"	DE19 (17 weeks) DE	AT12 (6 weeks) AT	-	UK51 (3 weeks) UK	US75 (11 weeks) US	First published: November 10, 1981
1982	Creatures of the Night	DE28 (8 weeks) DE	AT14 (6 weeks) AT	-	UK22 (4 weeks) UK	US45 gold (19 weeks)US	First published: October 13, 1982
1983	Lick It Up	DE18 (10 weeks) DE	AT13 (2 weeks) AT	CH10 (7 weeks) CH	UK7 (7 weeks) UK	US24 platinum (30 weeks)US	First published: September 18, 1983
1984	Animalize	DE25 (8 weeks) DE	AT14 (2 weeks) AT	CH9 (4 weeks) CH	UK11 (4 weeks) UK	US19th platinum (38 weeks)US	First published: September 13, 1984
1985	Asylum	DE43 (4 weeks) DE	-	CH15 (1 week) CH	UK12 (3 weeks) UK	US20th gold (29 weeks)US	First published: September 16, 1985
1987	Crazy Nights	DE44 (4 weeks) DE	-	CH14 (7 weeks) CH	UK4 (14 weeks) UK	US18th platinum (34 weeks)US	First published: September 18, 1987
1989	Hot in the shade	DE46 (8 weeks) DE	-	CH23 (3 weeks) CH	UK35 (2 weeks) UK	US29 gold (36 weeks)US	First published: October 17, 1989
1992	Revenge	DE16 (16 weeks) DE	AT14 (15 weeks) AT	CH6 (11 weeks) CH	UK10 (3 weeks) UK	US6th gold (23 weeks)US	First published: May 19, 1992
1997	Carnival of Souls: The Final Sessions	DE36 (2 weeks) DE	AT27 (1 week) AT	-	-	US27 (4 weeks) US	First published: October 28, 1997
1998	Psycho Circus	DE5 (6 weeks) DE	AT25 (5 weeks) AT	CH30 (3 weeks) CH	UK47 (1 week) UK	US3 platinum (14 weeks)US	First published: September 22, 1998
2009	Sonic boom	DE4 (9 weeks) DE	AT6 (5 weeks) AT	CH12 (5 weeks) CH	UK24 (2 weeks) UK	US2 (12 weeks) US	First published: October 6, 2009
2012	monster	DE6 (6 weeks) DE	AT6 (5 weeks) AT	CH8 (5 weeks) CH	UK21 (2 weeks) UK	US3 (7 weeks) US	First published: October 9, 2012

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

Occupations

Tours

→ Main article : Kiss / concerts and tours

literature

• James Campion: Shout It Out Loud: The Story of Kiss's Destroyer and the Making of an American Icon ; Hal Leonard Corporation 2015, ISBN 978-1-61713-618-4 .
• Lydia Criss: Sealed with a Kiss ; Lydia Criss Publishing; ISBN 1-56849-739-3 .
• Julian Gill: The Kiss Album Focus - Kings of the Night Time World, 1972-1982 ; 3rd edition, KissFaq.com 2008, ISBN 978-0-9722253-7-3 .
• Julian Gill: The Kiss Album Focus - Hell or High Water, 1983-1996 ; 4th edition, KissFaq.com 2005; ISBN 978-0-9822537-0-0 .
• Julian Gill: The Kiss Album Focus - Roar of the Greasepaint, 1997-2006 ; 3rd edition, KissFaq.com 2006; ISBN 0-9722253-5-8 .
• Julian Gill: Gene, Ace, Peter & Paul: A Detailed Exploration of the 1978 KISS Solo Albums; KISSFAQ.COM Publishing 2015, ISBN 978-0-9822537-6-2 .
• Curt Gooch and Jeff Suhs: Kiss Alive Forever - The Complete Touring History ; Billboard Books NY; ISBN 0-8230-8322-5 .
• Kisstory Ltd .: KISStory , 1994, Library of Congress Catalog Card 94-73457.
• David Leaf and Ken Sharp: Kiss Unmasked: The Official Biography ; Iron Pages 2005; ISBN 3-931624-28-5 .
• CK Lendt: Kiss and Sell - The Making of a Supergroup ; Billboard Books NY; ISBN 0-8230-7604-0 .
• Karen and John Lesniewski: Kiss Collectibles - Identification and Price Guide ; Avon Books 1993; ISBN 0-380-77166-7 .
• Ken Sharp with Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons: The Story of KISS (Our Early Years) . Hannibal Verlag, Höfen 2014, ISBN 978-3-85445-443-4 (Original edition: Nothin 'to Lose: The Making of KISS (1972–1975) )
• Dale Sherman: Black Diamond - The Unauthorized Biography of Kiss ; Collector's Guide Publishing Inc., 1997; ISBN 1-896522-35-1 .
• Dale Sherman: Black Diamond 2 - The Illustrated Collectors Guide to Kiss ; Collector's Guide Publishing Inc., 1997; ISBN 1-896522-36-X .
• Gene Simmons: How to Become a Rock Star and Millionaire (My Recipe for Success) . Hannibal Verlag, Höfen 2015, ISBN 978-3-85445-473-1 (Original edition: Me, Inc .: Build an Army of One, Unleash Your Inner Rock God, Win at Business )
• Paul Stanley: Behind the Mask (The Autobiography) . Hannibal Verlag, Höfen 2014, ISBN 978-3-85445-455-7 (original edition: Face the Music )

Web links

Commons : Kiss  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Official Kiss website
• The Kiss FAQ
• Kiss at Discogs (English)
• Kiss in the Internet Movie Database (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ bbc.co.uk: Kiss: still rocking hard . Accessed July 11, 2011.
2. ^ Q Magazine , 11/1994.
3. ↑ ^{a b} star no. 2/2005.
4. ↑ Dr. Uwe Scheffler: Art and Criminal Law , pp. 29 and 31, from April 18, 2015, PDF, accessed on April 21, 2015
5. ^ And Party Every Day - The Inside Story of Casablanca Records. P. 93.
6. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Sieg Helau . In: Der Spiegel . No. 20 , 1980, pp. 74 f . ( Online - May 12, 1980 ).
7. ↑ Press release of the Phonogram management, August 1980 (see picture)
8. ↑ Decision of the Berlin Regional Court in the criminal case on file number 538Qs60 / 16, issued on June 6, 2016
9. ↑ ^{a b} Curt Gooch, Jeff Suh: Kiss Alive Forever - A Complete History Touring ; Billboard Books 2002, first edition; ISBN 0-8230-8322-5 .
10. ↑ David Leaf, Ken Sharp: Kiss: Behind the Mask ; Warner Books, New York, 2003. ISBN 0-446-53073-5 .
11. ^ Dale Sherman: Black Diamond - The Unauthorized Biography of Kiss ; Collectors Guide Publishing Inc., 1997, ISBN 1-896522-35-1 .
12. ↑ THE KISS TOURS - 1987 Crazy Nights. Retrieved July 30, 2014 . 
13. ↑ Walk of Fame Image ; Retrieved April 9, 2014
14. ↑ ^{a b} Julian Gill: The Kiss Album Focus, Volume 3 - The Roar of the Greasepaint 1997-2006, KissFaq.com, ISBN 0-9722253-5-8 , pages 49-67.
15. ↑ laut.de: Kiss: Ex-guitarist died
16. ↑ kissonline.com Kiss Europe Tour 2010
17. ↑ KISS announce album title
18. ↑ KISS: MONSTER — The Official Album and Tour Magazine is coming! ( Memento from August 25, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
19. ^ Hall Of Fame: Ceremony went peacefully despite Kiss. Retrieved July 30, 2014 . 
20. ↑ http://www.metal-hammer.de/kiss-momoiro-clover-z-video-zu-gemeinsamer-single-419101/
21. ↑ Trump wanted Kiss for his inauguration - this is how Gene Simmons reacted from: Rolling Stone from December 22, 2016 (accessed December 30, 2016)
22. ↑ Trump's Inauguration: These Musicians All Canceled From: Rolling Stone December 23, 2016 (accessed December 30, 2016)
23. ↑ Stephen Thomas Erlewine: Kiss . In: Erlewine, Michael (Ed.): All Music Guide To Rock . San Francisco, 1995. ISBN 0-87930-376-X .
24. ^ Robert Müller: Hypocrisy . End of the announcement? . In: Metal Hammer , April 2013, p. 63.
25. ↑ Artist tallies. RIAA, accessed May 16, 2010 . 
26. ↑ Metal Hammer, Article Madness with Method , October 1998, p. 24
27. ↑ Metal Hammer, Article Madness with Method , October 1998, p. 25
28. ↑ Rock Power, Article Kiss - The Story , June 1992, p. 20
29. ↑ Rockhard.de , Article Destroyer (1976) ( Memento from April 18, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
30. ↑ ultimateclassicrock.com, online article Kiss Kruise 2020 postponed from May 14, 2020
31. ^ Rolling Stone Magazine, Artists , 2004
32. ↑ David Leaf, Ken Sharp: Kiss unmasked: The official biography , IP Verlag, Berlin, 1st edition July 2005, ISBN 3-931624-28-5 , p. 81
33. ↑ Rock Power, Article Kiss - The Story , June 1992, pp. 20/21
34. ↑ David Leaf, Ken Sharp: Kiss unmasked: The official biography , IP Verlag, Berlin, 1st edition July 2005, ISBN 3-931624-28-5 , p. 84
35. ↑ David Leaf, Ken Sharp: Kiss unmasked: The official biography , IP Verlag, Berlin, 1st edition July 2005, ISBN 3-931624-28-5 , pp. 85/86
36. ↑ ^{a b} Rock Hard, article Old iron does not rust , July 1992, p. 40
37. ↑ SWR.de, SWR 1, biography
38. ↑ David Leaf, Ken Sharp: Kiss unmasked: The official biography , IP Verlag, Berlin, 1st edition July 2005, ISBN 3-931624-28-5 , p. 86
39. ^ Metal Star, Article Die absolute Kiss-History , 1991, p. 44
40. ^ Metal Star, Article Die absolute Kiss-History , 1991, p. 45
41. ↑ David Leaf, Ken Sharp: Kiss unmasked: The official biography , IP Verlag, Berlin, 1st edition July 2005, ISBN 3-931624-28-5 , p. 87
42. ↑ Rock Power, Article Kiss - The Story , June 1992, p. 21
43. ↑ Metal Hammer, Article Madness with Method , October 1998, p. 26
44. ↑ ^{a b} Rock Power, Article Obsessed by the Devil , February 1992, p. 62
45. ↑ Metal Hammer, Rache-Gold article , August 1992, p. 29
46. ↑ Metal Hammer, Article Rache-Gold , August 1992 issue, p. 29
47. ^ Rock Hard 1997
48. ↑ Rock Box 1997
49. ^ Metal Hammer 1997
50. ↑ EMP 1997/1998
51. ↑ Musik Express , edition 10/1998
52. ↑ EMP catalog 1998
53. ↑ Sonic Seducer , edition 10/1998
54. ↑ Rock Box , issue 10/1998
55. ↑ Mediabiz MusikWoche , October 2009
56. ↑ ( Page no longer available , search in web archives: Bavariaradio.de , October 2009 )
57. ↑ Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US