"there is only one nation, and that's Kiss nation. There is only one national anthem, and it's..."
Paul Stanley is a strage rock and roll creature who I'm not sure if I like or hate. There are pretty much two things you should know about Paul: 1.) He's the "rock star" lead singer of Kiss and 2.) It's pretty obvious that Paul's vision for the band has more in common with an off-broadway production of "Cats" than it does with actual rock music. This is a guy who, when he's not playing in Kiss, plays the lead role in "Phantom of the Opera". I'm not kidding.
Oh, one other thing you should know: Paul is kinda fruity. The guy essentially stole his schtick from drag queens. Again, I'm not kidding. He's cited drag queens as one of his main influences. In addition to the afore-mentioned broadway show tunes.
I'm not saying Paul is gay, but...he's definately the one member of Kiss who it feels weird for a male to like.
I'm kidding, Paul Stanley isn't gay. But I have to admit, that whole screachy, high-pitched female impersonator voice really gets on my nerves sometimes. I think his voice is pretty much the main barrier that keeps me in the "I just like Kiss" camp as oppossed to the "I love Kiss!" camp. He sounds good on records, but I've seen live videos of this band at their peak where I seriously could not stand to hear another second of his feline howl. He has no technical problems with his voice; it just sounds really annoying sometimes. Thankfully, Gene sings 40% of their songs.
The other thing that sort of bothers me about Paul Stanley is his overly optimistic attitude. If you've ever seen live Kiss footage, you'll know his schtick: he's constantly telling the audience really weird self-help mantras like "Remember, people, reach for your dreams!". His spiel basically revolves around the idea that everyone thought Kiss would fail, but they became the biggest band in the world (at least for a few years during the late 1970's...more about how Kiss over-rate their own cultural status some other time). Ergo, if Kiss can make it, you, the stoned burn out who just paid $60 to see them play, can certainly achieve all of your dreams as well (if you still have any).
I always found the fact that the lead singer for a band who's core audience consisted of stoned high-school drop outs felt the need to always motivate his fans to persue their goals a bit odd. The average 1978-era Kiss fan's main goal was to save up enough money to buy a subscription to "High Times" magazine. These are not exactly goal-oriented people. Then again, I never saw the need for a band to have their own army, so what do I know?
Here's one last thing that annoys me about Paul: he's the guy who morphed the band from a great 70's hard rock act into a really, really shitty L.A. hair metal band during the 1980's. Kiss did what alot of other seventies dinosaur acts did during the Reagan era; they followed whatever trend was happening because they were too old and/or disconnected from reality to think of something new. Hence, the Kiss who wore make-up became the Kiss who looked like Bon Jovi.
Now, here's what's truely remarkable about this transition (as opposed to other old farts who began spandexing it up in an attempt to remain relevant): Kiss was THE MAIN INSPIRATION FOR ALL OF THE 80's HAIR METAL BANDS. Therefore, the band did the worst possible thing a band could do: they influenced a new generation of musicians and then COMPLETELY COPIED the people who had COPIED THEM IN THE FIRST PLACE! Wrap your brain around that one. I've tried for years.
Suffice to say, if you see a Kiss record that has a copyright starting with the digits 1, 9, and 8, avoid it.
I should also mention that Gene Simmons was the guy who discovered Van Halen and got them signed to a record contract. Van Halen, naturally, are the band who ushered in the era of spandex 80's hair metal. So, not only did Kiss originate and help spread this virus, they also mimmicked it and sucked at it.
Anyways, Paul and Gene are not my favorite members of Kiss.
And I don't really hate 80's hair metal as much as I'm pretending to. I just hate that Kiss did it.
Oh, one other thing you should know: Paul is kinda fruity. The guy essentially stole his schtick from drag queens. Again, I'm not kidding. He's cited drag queens as one of his main influences. In addition to the afore-mentioned broadway show tunes.
I'm not saying Paul is gay, but...he's definately the one member of Kiss who it feels weird for a male to like.
I'm kidding, Paul Stanley isn't gay. But I have to admit, that whole screachy, high-pitched female impersonator voice really gets on my nerves sometimes. I think his voice is pretty much the main barrier that keeps me in the "I just like Kiss" camp as oppossed to the "I love Kiss!" camp. He sounds good on records, but I've seen live videos of this band at their peak where I seriously could not stand to hear another second of his feline howl. He has no technical problems with his voice; it just sounds really annoying sometimes. Thankfully, Gene sings 40% of their songs.
The other thing that sort of bothers me about Paul Stanley is his overly optimistic attitude. If you've ever seen live Kiss footage, you'll know his schtick: he's constantly telling the audience really weird self-help mantras like "Remember, people, reach for your dreams!". His spiel basically revolves around the idea that everyone thought Kiss would fail, but they became the biggest band in the world (at least for a few years during the late 1970's...more about how Kiss over-rate their own cultural status some other time). Ergo, if Kiss can make it, you, the stoned burn out who just paid $60 to see them play, can certainly achieve all of your dreams as well (if you still have any).
I always found the fact that the lead singer for a band who's core audience consisted of stoned high-school drop outs felt the need to always motivate his fans to persue their goals a bit odd. The average 1978-era Kiss fan's main goal was to save up enough money to buy a subscription to "High Times" magazine. These are not exactly goal-oriented people. Then again, I never saw the need for a band to have their own army, so what do I know?
Here's one last thing that annoys me about Paul: he's the guy who morphed the band from a great 70's hard rock act into a really, really shitty L.A. hair metal band during the 1980's. Kiss did what alot of other seventies dinosaur acts did during the Reagan era; they followed whatever trend was happening because they were too old and/or disconnected from reality to think of something new. Hence, the Kiss who wore make-up became the Kiss who looked like Bon Jovi.
Now, here's what's truely remarkable about this transition (as opposed to other old farts who began spandexing it up in an attempt to remain relevant): Kiss was THE MAIN INSPIRATION FOR ALL OF THE 80's HAIR METAL BANDS. Therefore, the band did the worst possible thing a band could do: they influenced a new generation of musicians and then COMPLETELY COPIED the people who had COPIED THEM IN THE FIRST PLACE! Wrap your brain around that one. I've tried for years.
Suffice to say, if you see a Kiss record that has a copyright starting with the digits 1, 9, and 8, avoid it.
I should also mention that Gene Simmons was the guy who discovered Van Halen and got them signed to a record contract. Van Halen, naturally, are the band who ushered in the era of spandex 80's hair metal. So, not only did Kiss originate and help spread this virus, they also mimmicked it and sucked at it.
Anyways, Paul and Gene are not my favorite members of Kiss.
And I don't really hate 80's hair metal as much as I'm pretending to. I just hate that Kiss did it.