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By Andrew Daly / GuitarWorld.com
(Image credit: Daniel Pockett/AFL Photos/Getty Images)

The stalwart rhythm guitarist gets back to the roots of his brand of hard-rock showmanship: why AC/DC and Kiss share a similar guitar mentality, how Mitch Mitchell elevated Jimi Hendrix, and what makes Jimmy Page the Beethoven of guitarists

For 50 years, Paul Stanley has stood beside some of the more idiosyncratic lead guitarists in the classic rock world. But it's Stanley's immense rhythm chops that laid the bedrock for Kiss's sound, and have powered everything they've done since.

“I always wanted the band to have a sound that I've often referred to as, 'One big guitar,'” Stanley tells Guitar World. “In other words, it would be two guitar players, who together would make a singular sound through different yet congruent voicings.

“I saw bands like The Who and Humble Pie, and they inspired me. Those were guitar-propelled bands and were forces to be reckoned with. But it was the rhythm guitar that, when done properly, wasn't a knock on somebody who wasn't a lead guitarist, but the work of a person comfortable with the idea of working to be proficient at that specific skill.”

Stanley's viewpoint on guitar isn't only logical but downright illuminating. It's no secret that guitar is a competitive space, which is often more about keeping up with the guitarist beside you, rather than doing what you're best at. But Stanley, ever workmanlike, never saw it that way. 

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By PETER LARSEN | Orange County Register

Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer

Fans turned out in face paint and costumes modeled after the Kiss characters as The End of the Road Tour plays Los Angeles for possibly, maybe the last time.

Two songs into the night the legendary hard rock band Kiss got booed by the sold-out crowd at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on Friday. Not, mind you, because the show wasn’t already the ridiculously over-the-top spectacle that Kiss has perfected in its 50 years on the road.

The curtain dropped for “Detroit Rock City” to reveal Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons and Tommy Thayer on hanging platforms 30 feet above the stage, fireworks flashing around them, and drummer Eric Singer at the back of the stage as flame cannons blasted around him.

Then “Shout It Loud,” with lasers bouncing inside the bandshell, bright blurs of fireworks shooting off its top, our face-painted, costumed heroes — Stanley the Starchild, Simmons the Demon, Thayer the Spaceman and Singer the Cat – like characters inside a colorful and very, very loud video game.

No complaints at all — and then Stanley started to speak.

“Man, so here we are,” he said as fans whooped and hollered. “And this is the last time we’ll be playing Los Angeles.”

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