Letters

You wanted the best and you got the best. What can I say about the band that I have followed since 1977 that every die hard fan hasn't already said? I started listening to KISS when I was 6 (now I am 41) due to my older brother listening to them on vinyl and 8 track when we shared a bedroom. I remember being mesmerized by the back cover and gatefold picture on Alive II and from there I was hooked. (To this day Alive II is still one of my favorites). For an impressionable kid KISS was everything you wanted from superheros to rock gods. I loved the extras they gave you in their albums from the Love Gun to the solo posters to the Evolution of KISS to the Dynasty poster. All those things were treasured items to me and still are today. When it comes to the music how can you not appreciate all that they have done and all the different genres they outlasted (hard rock, disco, hair metal, grunge etc). How many bands can say that? They adapted their style and put out great music on every album. That just shows the genius of the band and most non KISS fans don't get that. (kinda like the R&R Hall of Fame doesn't get it either). With 40 years fo music and well over 200 released original songs KISS truly is an American icon and I am proud to be a card carrying member of the KISS Army. To this day I still get excited when they release something (album, book, magazine, merchandise) or will be on TV or obviously tour. I cannot get enough of the band and I don't think I ever will! A few of my favorite memories are the first time I saw them in concert in Philadelphia when I was 6 at the Spectrum for the Love Gun/Alive II tour, seeing Eric Carr's last show at Madison Square Garden in 1990, the Reunion tour also at MSG and the VH1 Rock Honors in 2006, but honestly all 30 times that I have seen them in concert is a favorite memory of mine. I can go on and on about KISS and everything they mean to me, but I will just say that no other band has ever touched me the way KISS has and I can't say thank you enough for all the great times that their music has given me and I cannot wait until the Monster tour hits the states so I can go lose my mind again! Long live KISS. Here is to 40 years!! Keep on rocking, Jeff Russo Chandler, AZ