Kiss News

By G. Barton

KISS began 1976 with Destroyer, the most ambitious album of their career, with a lavish production from Bob Ezrin. How could they possibly follow it? Answer: they couldn�t.

Rock And Roll Over � released eight months later � was a no-frills hard rock album. This back-to-basics approach was born not only out of necessity, but also out of fear � as frontman Paul Stanley recalls in an interview in the next week�s new edition of Classic Rock.

The Starchild says: �Quite honestly, we were chickenshit. We were scared of where we had gone with Destroyer. We�d traded off the rawness of Kiss for something more cinematic. Bob Ezrin was a visionary. Without him, we were back to creating within our own boundaries. Rock And Roll Over was our 180-degree turn to get back to what the band sounded like live. It wasn�t rocket science.�By G. Barton

KISS began 1976 with Destroyer, the most ambitious album of their career, with a lavish production from Bob Ezrin. How could they possibly follow it? Answer: they couldn�t.

Rock And Roll Over � released eight months later � was a no-frills hard rock album. This back-to-basics approach was born not only out of necessity, but also out of fear � as frontman Paul Stanley recalls in an interview in the next week�s new edition of Classic Rock.

The Starchild says: �Quite honestly, we were chickenshit. We were scared of where we had gone with Destroyer. We�d traded off the rawness of Kiss for something more cinematic. Bob Ezrin was a visionary. Without him, we were back to creating within our own boundaries. Rock And Roll Over was our 180-degree turn to get back to what the band sounded like live. It wasn�t rocket science.�

The idea was to recreate that primitive quality of Kiss Alive! (the live album that gave Kiss their big breakthrough in 1975) so the band recorded in a disused theatre.

Stanley continues: �Eddie Kramer, the producer, found The Star Theatre in Nanuet, New York. It was a theatre in the round that fit around 2,000 people, but it had gone under as a business venture. Eddie thought this place would give us the sonic ambience of a gig. We would rehearse in the theatre proper, but when we recorded we were not in the same room. Peter�s drums were set up in a bathroom upstairs and we�d be coaching him through a video camera. The live vibe had more to do with sonics than being in the same room.

�But to me, the album fell short. I don�t think Eddie delivered what the band was all about. The songs were great, but the album didn�t sound competitive to other rock bands out there, and that ultimately falls on the engineer � which was Eddie, although he was credited as producer. Fans have this idea of us all in the studio with our arms around each other, enjoying our camaraderie and playing music. It�s nice, but it�s kind of a myth.�

Read the full interview � part of a major feature which celebrates Kiss� 40th anniversary � in the upcoming new issue of Classic Rock, on sale Wednesday, July 17.

By Mike Ross, Edmonton Sun

Photo by Amber Bracken / Edmonton Sun / QMI Agency

Just a little too early for K-Days, where all fun things begin with the letter K, KISS killed at the Koliseum.

They call it Rexall Place now, but the self-proclaimed hottest and possibly silliest rock �n� roll band in history sounded exactly like they did �back in the day.� KISS, which played its first Canadian dates in the �70s in school cafeterias in Edmonton and Calgary, was a formative experience for many an Albertan too young to be a hippie, too old to be a punk rocker, and too cool to be into disco. KISS was all there was.

They haven�t changed a bit. They�re just more excessive. Who needs evolution? To hell with creative development. KISS is KISS and that�s that. You might as well, I don�t know, transplant the Gretzky statue than mess with this particular corporate rock institution � whose twin goals remain rocking and making lots of money doing it. Nice to see someone stick to their guns.

Fans got everything they expected: Gene Simmons� tongue-wagging, blood-spitting, fire-breathing schtick never fails to enthrall observers � even at 63 years old.

Nor does Paul Stanley�s carnival barker spiel. He is still, at 61, one of the finest practitioners of Rock �n� Rollese ever seen. Amongst the proclamations of partying on in �Ed! Mon! Ton!� he collects bonus points for getting real in a shout-out to the people in Calgary �who aren�t as lucky as you are.� Later on he said in all sincerity, �Edmonton, you are family!�

That was nice.By Mike Ross, Edmonton Sun

Photo by Amber Bracken/Edmonton Sun/QMI Agency

Just a little too early for K-Days, where all fun things begin with the letter K, KISS killed at the Koliseum.

They call it Rexall Place now, but the self-proclaimed hottest and possibly silliest rock �n� roll band in history sounded exactly like they did �back in the day.� KISS, which played its first Canadian dates in the �70s in school cafeterias in Edmonton and Calgary, was a formative experience for many an Albertan too young to be a hippie, too old to be a punk rocker, and too cool to be into disco. KISS was all there was.

They haven�t changed a bit. They�re just more excessive. Who needs evolution? To hell with creative development. KISS is KISS and that�s that. You might as well, I don�t know, transplant the Gretzky statue than mess with this particular corporate rock institution � whose twin goals remain rocking and making lots of money doing it. Nice to see someone stick to their guns.

Fans got everything they expected: Gene Simmons� tongue-wagging, blood-spitting, fire-breathing schtick never fails to enthrall observers � even at 63 years old.

Nor does Paul Stanley�s carnival barker spiel. He is still, at 61, one of the finest practitioners of Rock �n� Rollese ever seen. Amongst the proclamations of partying on in �Ed! Mon! Ton!� he collects bonus points for getting real in a shout-out to the people in Calgary �who aren�t as lucky as you are.� Later on he said in all sincerity, �Edmonton, you are family!�

That was nice.

The original members Ace Frehley (lead guitar) and Peter Criss (drums) aren�t in the band anymore, and if anyone complained, no one heard. The �other two guys� � Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer � were capable replacements. In fact, they�re an improvement.

Then you add in all that eye candy to justify a pretty hefty ticket price, the flying band members, the enormous spider-like contraption that hovered over the stage, the fireworks. It wasn�t quite Cirque du KISS � don�t put it past them � but was as close as you can get and still have it feel like a �real� rock show.

For newer KISS Army recruits, the rules are simple. You must shout the name of the town you�re in at least once every song. There must be pyrotechnics or some other special effect in every song. And every song must be a rock song on the subject of rocking. Failing that, fire, hell or shouting it out loud, whatever �it� is, probably something to do with rocking.

And all these years later and no one has addressed the quandary in KISS�s signature song, Rock and Roll All Nite � the last song of the set proper accompanied by a continuous barrage of confetti that just kept spewing out.

But shouldn�t that be �rock and roll all nite and sleep every day so we can rock and roll the next nite?� Moreover, it is widely thought that rocking and/or rolling in any form is synonymous with partying, or should at least occur at the same time, day or night, and so the entire song that members of the KISS Army have had in their heads for nearly 40 years makes no sense. Way to blow our minds, man.

KISS fans gather outside Rexall Place prior to the concert in Edmonton, Alta. on Friday, July 12, 2013. Amber Bracken/Edmonton Sun/QMI Agency

By Dave Lazzarino / Edmonton Sun

When KISS played the Jubilee Auditorium to kick off their first ever North American tour in 1974, Jakob Losier, was decades away from being born. In fact, it�s doubtful that his mom Roxanne was alive either.

But that didn�t keep them from getting out the face-paint and costumes and heading to Rexall Place to see them play Friday.

�When I was his age I saw the KISS movie and I�ve wanted to see them ever since. He�s been waiting since he was four to come here,� said Roxanne through full Spaceman makeup as she and Jakob � a.k.a. seven-year-old KISS frontman Gene Simmons � waited for the doors to open. �They�re theatrical, they�re awesome.�KISS fans gather outside Rexall Place prior to the concert in Edmonton, Alta. on Friday, July 12, 2013. Amber Bracken/Edmonton Sun/QMI Agency

By Dave Lazzarino / Edmonton Sun

When KISS played the Jubilee Auditorium to kick off their first ever North American tour in 1974, Jakob Losier, was decades away from being born. In fact, it�s doubtful that his mom Roxanne was alive either.

But that didn�t keep them from getting out the face-paint and costumes and heading to Rexall Place to see them play Friday.

�When I was his age I saw the KISS movie and I�ve wanted to see them ever since. He�s been waiting since he was four to come here,� said Roxanne through full Spaceman makeup as she and Jakob � a.k.a. seven-year-old KISS frontman Gene Simmons � waited for the doors to open. �They�re theatrical, they�re awesome.�

He wasn�t the only youngster who came out to get a glimpse of the aging rockers. Chris Paquin, 12, came with his older brother Brett to see the band they had listened to since they were even younger but had never seen live.

Their goal, according to the young Chris, also decked out in full Simmons regalia: �Rock and roll all night and party every day.� He was looking forward to seeing Gene Simmons with his axe guitar and for the full onslaught of hits their dad said they had been singing since they were toddlers.

First-time KISS concert-goer Tyler Chorneyko found a Paul Stanley costume at an Edmonton Halloween store complete with chest hair and couldn�t pass up the opportunity to see them live with brother Michael and friend Brian MacDonald.

�We haven�t (been to a KISS show before) but our parents have been and they brag about it a lot,� said Tyler, trying his best to keep his jet black wig from sticking to his made-up face.

�It�s a classic rock tradition.�

The family tradition could not be more clear than the bond KISS has given Kyle Hancharuk and his dad Bruce.

Dad had been listening to the band since he was only 10 and Kyle was raised on it.

�I�m glad it�s gone to the next generation. It�s good for them,� Bruce said when asked what he thinks about his son donning the full Simmons mask.

For Kyle, whose tattoo that reads �Rock and Roll Saves Lives� in jagged KISS-esque lettering is a decade fresher than his dad�s KISS themed body art, the band�s resilience is what impresses most.

�They stand out. You don�t see people doing this stuff, wearing makeup at their age. But they�re doing it for the fans, not for the money,� said Kyle.

The band has 14 more Canadian stops to promote it�s latest album, Monster, before heading to Europe.