We've brought everything you need to know about Kiss together in this special collection of exclusive interviews and features taken from the pages of Classic Rock magazine and beyond. Inside, you’ll find the stories behind the landmark albums and the greatest songs, as well as thoughts of Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Tommy Thayer, Eric Singer, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss.
Classic Rock Special: Kiss
Editorial
“WE LOOKED LIKE FOUR GUYS IN DRAG. GENE LOOKED LIKE A TRANSVESTITE, PAUL LOOKED LIKE SOME WHORE AND ACE LOOKED LIKE SHIRLEY MACLAINE…”
You Wanted The Best… • …You got the best. That was the gospel according to Kiss as they broke out of the clubs of New York City in 1974. But it would be a long, hard slog before the rest of America paid attention.
SHOCK TREATMENT • With their fire-breathing and pyrotechnics, Kiss were the original Kings Of Shock Rock. In 2008, Metal Hammer charted the band’s explosive journey from the clubs of New York to the Download festival and beyond…
KISS THE SKY • Destroyer was where it all came together for Kiss. With Bob Ezrin pulling the strings, the band transformed themselves from rehearsal-room hopefuls into multi-platinum gods. In 2005, on the 30th anniversary of Destroyer’s release, Classic Rock talks to Paul Stanley about the record that put a swagger into his platform-booted steps.
DESTROYER TRACK-BY-TRACK
THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO THE GREATEST ALBUMS EVER MADE • Discover 146 pages of classic albums reappraised by rock’s greatest writers and ranked according to votes cast by Classic Rock magazine’s readers. Did your favourite make the cut?
Disco In Ferno • In hock to the Mob, fuelled by booze and cocaine, and with a roster that ran from Kiss to Donna Summer via Parliament, the Casablanca label was the embodiment of 70s excess.
FIVE CASABLANCA ALBUMS THAT AREN’T BY KISS
THE SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS • By 1977, Kiss were bigger than ever before – and so were their bank accounts. But as sales shot up and the cash rolled in, behind the scenes things were getting shakier…
HOLLYWOOD OR BUST • At the height of their powers, Kiss decided they wanted to be stars of the silver screen as well as the concert stage – so they made their own movie, Kiss Meets The Phantom Of The Park. Problem was, they couldn’t act and they had no budget…
Ace Frehley New York Groove • Russ Ballard might’ve written this foot-stomping anthem, but when the Space Ace recorded the song for his solo album in 1978 he had a surprise hit on his hands.
FACE OFF • A decade of identity crises witnessed the exits of Ace Frehley and Peter Criss, a disastrous concept album, rising tensions between Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, and – most shocking of all – the removal of their make-up. Would Kiss even survive the 1980s? Silly question. With the help of MTV and a new melodic-rock direction, of course they would…
GET IN THE RING • For Kiss, the 1990s was a rollercoaster decade that took them from the lows of a shelved ‘grunge’ album to a money-spinning reunion to a near-catastropic fall-out. Roll up and step into the Psycho Circus…
Sinner & Saint • During their early career, Kiss were despised by Americans who were fearful of the ‘Satanic’ antics of Gene and Co. As if answering the bible bashers' prayers, in 2001 Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley agreed it was time to leave the road forever. But was it really?
Sonically speaking • Great expectations surrounded the release of Kiss’s 2009 album Sonic Boom. “I wasn’t interested in making a half-assed record,” a defiant Paul Stanley told Classic Rock at the time…
THIS GOES UP TO 11 • Paul Stanley’s track-by-track run-down of Kiss’s Sonic Boom.
CELEBRATE THE GREATEST ROCK BAND OF ALL TIME • Uncover four decades of dirty deeds, riff raff and rock ’n’ roll...