Letters

There seems to be a rewriting of history. Some of the culprits are from the heavier-is-better crowd. They like to gloss over the impact KISS made to heavy metal to punish KISS for softening up during the DYNASTY-THE ELDER period. This is the truth. Well, I�m here to set the record straight. Early on KISS was a band considered to be �heavy metal�. They would often times be mentioned in the same breath as Deep Purple and Black Sabbath. KISS was heavier than �hard rock�. But, not as heavy as Black Sabbath. When KISS Alive! came out in 1975 KISS broke out. With the success of the next album, DESTROYER, KISS exploded. The kinds of people who liked Deep Purple and Black Sabbath also liked KISS. But, KISS brought a whole bunch of new people into the heavier sound. Not just Baby Boomers, but the next generation. Especially, the next generation. KISS�s heavier-than-hard-rock sound was all over the radio. KISS was on the covers of all of the rock magazines. KISS wore all kinds of cool leather and studs and were all over the covers of rock magazines all over the world. KISS blew away Deep Purple and Black Sabbath. So devastating was KISS, British bands had to go back to the drawing board and try to reinvent heavy metal. Creating a New Wave Of British Heavy Metal. Most of the successful bands in this reinvention, groups like Judas Priest and Iron Maiden, got their big break opening for KISS. Black Sabbath even died and reinvented themselves with a new lead singer, Ronnie James Dio. When KISS released DYNASTY many of KISS�s fans turned their backs on KISS for softening up with a �Disco� hit. Those fans and many who still supported KISS started getting into groups like Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and a newly resuscitated Black Sabbath. Those bands were filling a void KISS had left open. KISS fans kept hoping they would go back to their roots album after album until CREATURES OF THE NIGHT was released. But, from the mid to late seventies nobody did more for heavier-than-hard-rock (heavy metal) music than KISS did. They are responsible for making the look AND the attitude popular. Heavy Metal music has grown since then to the point of where early KISS could be looked upon now as �hard rock�. This is because heavy metal has gotten heavier-than-heavy-metal over the years. Just because KISS softened up for a couple of years doesn�t give anyone the right to try to diminish the huge impact they made on heavy metal music the rest of the time. Younger KISS fans need to know the truth. It�s up to us to tell them. We should not let people rewrite history. Next time someone tries to tell you Judas Priest created the metal look or Black Sabbath was the heavy metal behemoth in the 70�s you can now realize they are full of crap. And, while most KISS fans also like many other heavy metal bands, we should not allow KISS to get walked all over.