Kiss News

These ukiyo-e prints will appeal to more than just fans of the band!

Preston Phro / Rocket New 24

Have you ever woken up in the morning, looked at your wall and thought, "You know, I bet that wall would look a whole heck of a lot better with an ukiyo-e style print from hard rock band KISS?" We imagine not, since most people don´t equate KISS with Japanese art, but once you see one of these prints, you may very well have an odd urge to buy one.

As for the contents of the print, the cursive script at the top is apparently a translation of KISS´s song "Rock and Roll All Nite," and the man gazing at himself in the mirror is bassist Paul Stanley. If you´re wondering where the other band members are, take a look at Paul´s jacket, where you can find Gene Simmons, Eric Singer, and Tommy Thayer.

This is actually the fourth ukiyo-e print to feature the band, but it probably won´t be an impulse purchase for most of us "the print pictured above is available on the KISS Army Japan Store for 108,000 yen (about US$965). And if you´d like a version signed by the band members, it´ll more than double the cost, setting you back 237,600 yen (around $2,123).

Now, to be fair, each print is hand-made individually, so you´re getting an authentic piece of ukiyo-e art made by real ukiyo-e artists using traditional techniques. And only 200 prints (100 signed, 100 unsigned) will be made, so these will be rare, unique items.

All of the prints were made in conjunction with Ukiyo-E Project, an organization that seeks to preserve and revive ukiyo-e while bringing it to the global stage. Their main method for achieving this goal seems to be setting up collaborations between "pop icons of today" and traditional artists, which is actually a pretty cool idea. We also wonder if that means we´ll get to see a version of The Dream of the Fisherman´s Wife featuring Lady Gaga some day

The Ukiyo-e Project has also shared a video of woodcarver Yusuke Sekioka crafting one of the woodblocks. Sekioka works with a sort of quiet beauty that seems totally at odds with the images eventually produced!

If you´re interested in ordering a print and you´re in Japan, you can head over to the KISS Army Store Japan and do just that! If you´re outside Japan, you´ll want to use the Ukiyo-e Project website to order, though it looks like it might cost you a bit more, when you consider the exchange rate.

We stand once again united with the victims of heinous acts of terrorism. Our hearts, thoughts and prayers go out to all in Belgium. There will be justice but nothing will undo the unspeakable damage done.

KISS is Everywhere!

Thanks to George Taylor for sharing the photo with us!

Here's Paul and Gene at today's LA KISS Football scrimmage game at the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA.

 April 2nd can't come soon enough!

www.LAKISSFootball.com

KISS is Everywhere!

Thanks to Timothy KIlkenny for sharing with us!

By Daniel Eriksson / Gibson.com

On March 15 it�s been forty years since Kiss released their fourth studio album, Destroyer. The album came on the heels of Kiss' breakthrough live album Alive, and it solidified the band's status as one of the biggest rock acts in the world. But that was not the case initially. Many fans were disappointed with the band's new polished sound, feeling they�d lost the raw spontaneity of their first three releases.

Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Peter Criss, and Ace Frehley enlisted the help of Canadian producer Bob Ezrin to help out in the writing and recording of Destroyer. Ezrin played an integral part in shaping their song ideas in to rock classics, as well as instilling a work ethic that Paul and Gene in particular has held on to for their entire career.

�The thing I always loved about Destroyer is it pushed the envelope and pushed the parameters of what we could do. It pushed us to the limit and yet everything stayed true to us because it was all comfortable, there was nothing forced or contrived,� Stanley said in Kiss' authorized biography Kiss: Behind The Mask (p. 114).

Ezrin share writing credits on eight of the album�s ten songs. Bringing Ezrin on board helped push the band members to new levels both as musicians and songwriters. �Every one of them were punching above their weight class on Destroyer. This was really a huge leap forward for all of them. Gene's bass playing was so impressive on Destroyer; it was really reaching beyond what he had ever played before. And he practiced and practiced. And Ace's guitar playing was so much more controlled and lyrical. And Paul's [guitar playing] too -- you know, I think Paul always had a lyrical style, he just didn't have as much of an outlet in some of the older stuff. Paul's vocals - I think he grew up as a singer at the moment we were doing Destroyer, said Ezrin during an interview with KissFAQ.

Destroyer contain some of Kiss� biggest songs and live favorites. The Stanley-penned but Simmons-sung �God of Thunder� is certainly the one song I wait for every time I go to a Kiss show! An anecdote about that song is that the kids you hear in the intro are actually Ezrin�s sons.

Ezrin was able to experiment quite a bit in the studio, helping the band create some of their most ambitious songs ever, like for example �Great Expectations.� The song, which Gene Simmons says was written on bass, uses orchestrations borrowed from Beethoven, and a children�s choir (the Brooklyn Boys Choir).

Looking back at Destroyer�s track list you automatically assume that songs like �Detroit Rock City,� and �Shout it Out Loud� were monster hits, but that was actually not the case. Destroyer did reach gold status just a month after its release, buoyed by the success of Alive, but it quickly lost ground after that. But as most of you already know, that would quickly change once radio stations picked up on the b-side to �Detroit Rock City� � �Beth.� The song, which was recorded with drummer Peter Criss on vocals, became the band�s first Top 10 hit in the US.

Bob Ezrin would use guitarist Dick Wagner as a backup during the recording sessions if Ace Frehley wasn�t around at the moment, and Wagner ultimately ended up playing the guitar solo on the song �Sweet Pain.� It was decisions like this that didn�t sit too well with the band�s hardcore fans. But when Ezrin remixed the album for the 35 year anniversary edition he actually came across Ace's solo and put it on the new release. Frehley talked about what he learned from the Destroyer sessions in Kiss: Behind The Mask (p. 69): �The production of the music called for me to play in a more restrained way, but I learned a lot from Ezrin. I didn�t feel restrained at all doing that record, and I think it was some of the best playing I�ve ever done.�

Destroyer ultimately helped Kiss break in to the main stream and broaden their fan base, allowing them to tour Europe for the first time. It�s a very ambitious recording that, even though it might not be solid all the way through, showed that Paul, Gene, Ace, and Peter weren�t afraid to try new things instead of just sticking to the basic formula of their first three studio albums. Besides, who can argue with classics like �Detroit Rock City,� �God of Thunder,� and �Shout it Out Loud?�

Do you remember?

As rock masterpiece turns 40, original lineup looks back with producer Bob Ezrin

By Kory Grow / Rolling Stone

When Paul Stanley thinks about Destroyer, Kiss' high-concept fourth album, turning 40, the only word he can summon at first is "unbelievable." "It's stunning," the singer-guitarist tells Rolling Stone. And then he regains his humor. "To think that it was 40 years ago is absolutely mindboggling. Because I'm only 40 now."

"It seems like yesterday," drummer Peter Criss says. "I do believe, personally, that album was Kiss's 'Stairway to Heaven.' Let me overstep my bounds [laughs]. But I do believe it was our 'wow' album."

From the opening scene-setting radio broadcast foretelling a Kiss fan's death before the anthemic "Detroit Rock City" to the album's big-beat closer, "Do You Love Me?", and impressionistic, avant-garde hidden track "Rock and Roll Party," Destroyer proved that Kiss were more than costumed headbangers. It presented a wide swath of emotions, from the moving mega-ballad "Beth," which won the People's Choice Award that year, to the boot-stomping, blood-spitting "God of Thunder" to the R&B rave-up "Shout It Out Loud," all of which became concert staples for the group. And even though the fantastical sleeve art presented the group, which also included vocalist-bassist Gene Simmons and guitarist Ace Frehley, as a jaunty foursome on a Wizard of Oz�styled journey of destruction, the songs proved they reveled in positivity. It was a turning point.

The group recorded the LP in a couple of sessions with producer Bob Ezrin, whose prior credits at that time included smash records by Alice Cooper, Lou Reed and Aerosmith. "We had done three albums, all that sold far less than what we expected," Stanley says. "Then our manager, Bill Aucoin, gave us the idea of creating a sonic souvenir, almost like something you would bring home from the circus, a memento that captured what you had experienced. That became [1975's] Alive! Finally, we'd had a hit. Bill said, 'You could easily go back to where you were if we don't come up with something that really ups the ante.' He suggested we work with Bob Ezrin."

The producer pushed the group to new heights, and helped them craft their commercial breakthrough. Although Alive! was the group's first gold record, Destroyer was its first to sell a million copies in less than a year. It's since been certified double-platinum.

To celebrate the legacy of the record, Rolling Stone spoke with Kiss' four original members, as well as Ezrin and cover illustrator Ken Kelly.

"It's a cinematic album," Stanley says. "It's an album that takes what was the norm and turns it into IMAX. The screen suddenly widened and what we were doing had such atmosphere."

CLICK HERE to read the rest of the story.