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The best Paul Stanley Kiss songs show just how important the talent and charisma of the man born Stanley Harvey Eisen are to one of hard rock�s most outrageous and enduring bands.

Think about it, this whole ridiculous circus doesn�t fly without a ringleader who truly believes in the power of rock and roll enough to don warpaint, platform boots, feathers and leather night after night while staring down decades of critical sniping and changing musical trends.

Which is exactly what Stanley has done without falter, even as his bandmates came, went or got caught up in film careers or other outside interests. So here they are, the 10 best songs featuring the true president of Kissnation, Paul Stanley:

10: 'Lick It Up'
From: 'Lick it Up' (1983)
We kick off this list with proof positive that Stanley's ability to write catchy anthems didn't leave him when the band's makeup came off in 1983. Throughout the band's "unmasked" era, it was mostly Stanley-fronted tracks like 'Heaven's on Fire,' 'Tears are Falling' and 'Crazy Nights' that kept the band on the charts. 'Lick It Up' -- a "seize the day" anthem for the bedroom -- has proven to be the most enduring song from this era, and remains a highlight of the group's live shows to this day.
The best Paul Stanley Kiss songs show just how important the talent and charisma of the man born Stanley Harvey Eisen are to one of hard rock�s most outrageous and enduring bands.

Think about it, this whole ridiculous circus doesn�t fly without a ringleader who truly believes in the power of rock and roll enough to don warpaint, platform boots, feathers and leather night after night while staring down decades of critical sniping and changing musical trends.

Which is exactly what Stanley has done without falter, even as his bandmates came, went or got caught up in film careers or other outside interests. So here they are, the 10 best songs featuring the true president of Kissnation, Paul Stanley:

10: 'Lick It Up'
From: 'Lick it Up' (1983)
We kick off this list with proof positive that Stanley's ability to write catchy anthems didn't leave him when the band's makeup came off in 1983. Throughout the band's "unmasked" era, it was mostly Stanley-fronted tracks like 'Heaven's on Fire,' 'Tears are Falling' and 'Crazy Nights' that kept the band on the charts. 'Lick It Up' -- a "seize the day" anthem for the bedroom -- has proven to be the most enduring song from this era, and remains a highlight of the group's live shows to this day.

9: 'Sure Know Something'
From: 'Dynasty' (1979)
OK, this might start trouble. But you can't have a list of the top Paul Stanley Kiss songs without acknowledging his ballads, ability to adapt to the times, or most importantly, skills with a pop hook. Here he takes a break from bragging about the rocket in his pocket to deliver a tender account of the first time he got his heart broken. The shift in dynamics between the dreamy, disco-tinged verses and the more traditionally rocking chorus make this one of his most sophisticated singles.

8: 'I Stole Your Love'
From: 'Love Gun' (1977)
The blistering opening track from the last undisputedly great album made by the original Kiss lineup finds Stanley in full, cocky strut. Lyrically, it's a rewrite of 'Under My Thumb' by the Rolling Stones, as a once cheating and domineering lover has apparently been tamed by the Starchild's lovemaking prowess. This song was used quite effectively as a concert-opening number on the following tour.

7: 'Do You Love Me?'
From: 'Destroyer' (1976)
One of Kiss's most universally appealing songs -- this was the one to play your folks if the album covers made them nervous -- 'Do You Love Me?' finds Stanley asking his girl if she loves him for him, and not the "backstage pass and black sunglasses," over an infectious drumbeat. Live, the song gets even better, as the group tacks on a beautifully melodic, vaguely psychedelic coda.

6:'Hotter Than Hell'
From: 'Hotter Than Hell' (1974)
This spare, propulsive song from the second Kiss album finds Stanley in a surprisingly humble mood. Granted, he promises to take his target for the night "All around the whole wide world / Before the evening is through," but he also takes defeat like a champ when she informs him that's she's married. Gotta wonder what she'd say a few years later, right?

5: 'I Want You'
From: 'Rock and Roll Over' (1976)
If subtlety is your thing, than the Top 10 Paul Stanley Songs list is not for you. Other than a pair of brief acoustic interludes, this one's all about buzzing, chugging and screaming guitars as our hero makes his intentions quite plain. Live, this song gave Stanley an extended platform to show off his pipes and tell everyone just how much he "Wa-yya-yaa-yyyanted" them.

4: 'Black Diamond'
From: 'Kiss' (1974)
Drummer Peter Criss (and then Eric Carr and now Eric Singer) typically handled the lead vocals, but it was Stanley who wrote the bombastic number that traditionally closes Kiss' main sets. A rare non-glamorized look at sex, 'Black Diamond' documents the "sorrow and madness" filling the nights of a prostitute in the band's New York City home.

3: 'Detroit Rock City'
From: 'Destroyer' (1976)
After the 1975 concert album 'Alive!' made them superstars, Stanley and his bandmates felt they had to deliver a studio album more sophisticated than its predecessors in order to reach even loftier heights. So they hired producer Bob Ezrin to take them to musical "boot camp," and the result was the improved production, songwriting and interlocking riffs of songs like longtime concert-opener 'Detroit Rock City.'

2: '100,000 Years'
From: 'Kiss' (1974)
The pop smarts take a back seat as Stanley gets serious and unleashes an extended parade of grooving, hard rock riffs. Lyrically, he seems to be apologizing to his date for what must have been (for her, naturally) an agonizingly long wait between make-out sessions. This song became the home of his famous "How many people believe in rock and roll?" crowd interaction segment, but it doesn't need that gimmick to rate as one of Stanley's top Kiss songs.

1: 'Love Gun'
From: 'Love Gun' (1977)
Someday, a vastly superior alien race is going to conquer or planet -- we can all agree on this, yes? Well, suppose they assign us a ranking in this new society based on how directly, purely and unashamedly we were able to deliver a message, a need, a desire to our fellow humans in the old one? Because by that measure, 'Love Gun' is an undeniable masterpiece, and its author, Paul Stanley, is walking right to the front of the line.

Excerpted from Binky Philips' story from the Huffington Post

Anyway, a few months later in the early Spring of 1969, I met Stan Eisen from Queens. He wore a slightly odd Prince Valiant hairdo and was a grade ahead of me. We became fast friends when we passed each other in the hallway carrying guitar cases and discovered that we were two of only three guys in Music & Art who owned a Gibson guitar. Murray Dabby, the third Gibson owner, who we befriended a few weeks later, was a ridiculously better guitarist than either me or Stan, and he's now a shrink in Atlanta! Also the smartest of us three as well, obviously. After we graduated, Stan and I stayed in touch.

A year or so after high school, in the Spring of 1972, I bumped into Stan, who introduced me to this imposing giant of a guy with a huge halo of hair outside a Jeff Beck show at the Academy of Music on East 14th St. --later, the world-famous disco, Palladium, and now, NYU dorms.

"Binky, this is Gene Simmons, the bassist in my band, Wicked Lester. Gene, this is the guy I was telling you about who owns the Hiwatt amp." Gene visibly flinched!

Hiwatts were The Who's amp of choice back then and were also completely and totally unavailable in the USA. I'd lucked into literally the ONLY ONE IN AMERICA when I bought it off of Blodwyn Pig, a British Blues band featuring the original and fabulous guitarist of Jethro Tull, Mick Abrahams. From that moment on, Gene, an extremely cocky guy even then, always treated me with respect simply because of that amp, and later, as we became actual friends, because he liked my guitar playing, too. In fact, I wound up his guitarist-of-choice for several of his demos when KISS had become gods (why Gene has never released "Rotten To The Core", I'll never know!). And I'm very proud to report that, years later, Gene's only directive to Ace, according to their engineer, Corky Stasiak, when Mr. Frehley was about to record the solo for "Doctor Love" was, "Do a Binky solo!" and Ace knew exactly what Gene meant and proceeded to cut one of his wildest and best solos ever.

Back to 1972, several months after I met Gene, I got a call from Stan. He announced that I needed to start calling him Paul, please, ("Oh... Okay, Stan") and asked me to come down to a rehearsal of his and Gene's new still-unnamed band. They'd just found a lead guitarist a month earlier and he wanted me to check the whole thing out. Stan, I mean, er, Paul respected my opinion and seemed to be seeking my lead-guitarist stamp of approval.Excerpted from Binky Philips' story from the Huffington Post

Anyway, a few months later in the early Spring of 1969, I met Stan Eisen from Queens. He wore a slightly odd Prince Valiant hairdo and was a grade ahead of me. We became fast friends when we passed each other in the hallway carrying guitar cases and discovered that we were two of only three guys in Music & Art who owned a Gibson guitar. Murray Dabby, the third Gibson owner, who we befriended a few weeks later, was a ridiculously better guitarist than either me or Stan, and he's now a shrink in Atlanta! Also the smartest of us three as well, obviously. After we graduated, Stan and I stayed in touch.

A year or so after high school, in the Spring of 1972, I bumped into Stan, who introduced me to this imposing giant of a guy with a huge halo of hair outside a Jeff Beck show at the Academy of Music on East 14th St. --later, the world-famous disco, Palladium, and now, NYU dorms.

"Binky, this is Gene Simmons, the bassist in my band, Wicked Lester. Gene, this is the guy I was telling you about who owns the Hiwatt amp." Gene visibly flinched!

Hiwatts were The Who's amp of choice back then and were also completely and totally unavailable in the USA. I'd lucked into literally the ONLY ONE IN AMERICA when I bought it off of Blodwyn Pig, a British Blues band featuring the original and fabulous guitarist of Jethro Tull, Mick Abrahams. From that moment on, Gene, an extremely cocky guy even then, always treated me with respect simply because of that amp, and later, as we became actual friends, because he liked my guitar playing, too. In fact, I wound up his guitarist-of-choice for several of his demos when KISS had become gods (why Gene has never released "Rotten To The Core", I'll never know!). And I'm very proud to report that, years later, Gene's only directive to Ace, according to their engineer, Corky Stasiak, when Mr. Frehley was about to record the solo for "Doctor Love" was, "Do a Binky solo!" and Ace knew exactly what Gene meant and proceeded to cut one of his wildest and best solos ever.

Back to 1972, several months after I met Gene, I got a call from Stan. He announced that I needed to start calling him Paul, please, ("Oh... Okay, Stan") and asked me to come down to a rehearsal of his and Gene's new still-unnamed band. They'd just found a lead guitarist a month earlier and he wanted me to check the whole thing out. Stan, I mean, er, Paul respected my opinion and seemed to be seeking my lead-guitarist stamp of approval.

So, one Saturday afternoon, I made it over to 10 East 23rd St., a narrow, grimy 6-floor building across from Madison Park, (long gone for a towering apartment building opposite the Flatiron Building), where Paul and Gene's band had a very dingy and very dirty loft/room, crudely soundproofed with blankets and quilts and egg cartons.

When I arrived that day, the new lead guitarist was already over an hour late. The mood in the room was bleak. Still, their pal Binky had shown up, so, after introducing me to Peter Criss, the drummer, Paul, Gene and Peter ran through three songs for my pleasure without the now very late new lead guitar guy. I listened to the trio play "Deuce," "Firehouse", and "Strutter," all three now classics from the debut KISS album. It was interesting and surprising. As a band, they weren't all that good, technically, better than the rock deities of the scene at the time, The New York Dolls, but really, all three players were plain old average. But, that opening riff of "Deuce" was just undeniably cool, and both the other two songs were, well, damn, they were pretty good. With a member missing, the three were in no mood to continue, and took a break.

While we sat around in the gloom, I complimented them on the tunes and arrangements. But, by now, all three of them were just fuming about how late this been-in-the-band-three-weeks new guy was and... Hey... We suddenly heard the elevator door open. We heard some cursing and banging and in came this disheveled and strangely lumpy-faced guy who looked like he'd been awake less than 3 minutes and seemed to be tilting about 20 degrees to the left as he walked.

And this odd guy, introduced to me as Ace, was wearing one red Converse and one orange Converse sneaker. In 1972, five years before Punk, this was actually weird! He barely said hello to me or anyone else in the room, pulled out a beat-up Les Paul Jr. (back then a guitar considered junk; of course, they now go for almost $10,000), plugged into his amp, turned to the other three, and crankily and somewhat groggily demanded "What're we doin'?" as if he'd been waiting on them for over an hour. Gene, very very not happy at all, growled "Let's run through the first three..." and so, I got to hear the same songs with lead guitar.

It was kinda remarkable how much better they sounded. As a lead guitarist, not to sound cocky, I could run circles around Ace. But his sparse, strangled, blues-inspired notes just kicked ass. The perfect complement to the songs.

As soon as the three songs were finished, Stan/Paul quickly took off his guitar and led me out of the dark, dank, 15x15 sweatbox of a room. While we stood in the dingy corridor he said that he was hoping I didn't mind, but he and Gene were gonna have to have a talk with this new guitarist.

"90 minutes late is totally unacceptable and we can't properly rip into him about this with you here, Binky." I said, "Uh, yes, Stan, I mean, Paul, I understand. That would be true. Well, good luck, man... The songs are great and if you can straighten the guy out, I do like your new lead guitarist's playing."

Paul, Gene, Peter, and Ace, soon decided to call themselves KISS and did their first-ever gig out on Long Island on my 20th birthday, January 30, 1973. About six months later, my band, The Planets, were invited by Paul and Gene to open for them and another New York band called The Brats at the Hotel Diplomat's ballroom, an absolute dump on West 43rd St. just off of Times Square (another long-torn-down Rock'n'Roll monument). This was July 13th, 1973. That night, a visionary guy named Bill Aucoin (who, sadly, passed away just last week) came to the show. If you know your KISStory, very soon after, Bill became their manager, got them their record deal as the very first signing with Neil Bogart's Casablanca label, Alice Cooper retired, KISS filled the void, and became wildly, insanely, inter-galactically, famous. Yes, I shared a stage with KISS, the night it all began!