# wasn't all bad



## cheezyridr (Jun 8, 2009)

say what you want about them, but they did have SOME good music
















in the early days they were a cool band. anyone?


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

Damn right.

I prefer them with makeup.

I was made for loving you, Dr. Love, cold gin...


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## 4345567 (Jun 26, 2008)

__________


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## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

I got KISS originals when I was a punk for Xmas, I think that I wore those out.

Rock&Roll Over was a good one too, Love Gun I bought, but started waning in my fandom.
I didn't get into any of the solo albums and refused to buy that disco album and any after with other members.

There were some good early tunes though, imo.


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

The makeup turned me off from the get-go. I couldn't name one of their tunes, even though I listen to a fair amount of classic rock radio in the car.


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## vadsy (Dec 2, 2010)

Steadfastly said:


> The makeup turned me off from the get-go. I couldn't name one of their tunes, even though I listen to a fair amount of classic rock radio in the car.


I'm thinking you're a closet KISS fan...


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## LanceT (Mar 7, 2014)

vadsy said:


> I'm thinking you're a closet KISS fan...


I think most people are though they may not know it.

Kiss Alive from I think '75 or so played in our house extensively. I remember loving that album.
I consider them a bit of a precursor to Van Halen, among others.


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## dodgechargerfan (Mar 22, 2006)

There are a lot of songs I hear on the radio to which I say, "That's KISS??"

I wouldn't call myself a huge fan, but I don't hate them either. They did put out some pretty good stuff now and then.


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## Guest (Jan 9, 2016)

'76 Varsity Stadium. My first concert.
Blue Oyster Cult opened for them (never heard of them at that point). 
I was blown away by both bands.


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## Moosehead (Jan 6, 2011)

yup, like em. 

Mental note- look for some of those earlier albums next time im out record hunting

p.s. is it still a mental note if you write it down? or is it just mental? Dont answer that last one lol


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## Scotty (Jan 30, 2013)

I disagree. Everything was weak except the gimmick, which by todays standards is totally foolish


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## Accept2 (Jan 1, 2006)

1983 was the end of KISS. Lick It Up was a great album, but that was their last, the rest after that one have ranged from OK (Animalize) to down right shit (pretty much the rest). The only stinkers before 1984 were The Elder, and the Peter Criss solo album............


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

I was never a fan. I didn't flat-out HATE them, but for me they were like Trooper, Styx, the Bay City Rollers. That is, I could acknowledge their professionalism, but nothing about them moved me. I guess you just had to be there.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

In 2009 Kiss played in Halifax. 

We were site-seeing the Citadel as warm-up acts were cutting their teeth in the Commons. The juxtaposition of bagpipes at the Citadel and rock music from the Commons was a little weird...oh yeah, and it was raining. The next morning there were no shortage of people, drowned rats more like, wandering the area.

That's as close as I've ever come to Kiss, or ever want to. To me, they always seemed far removed from rock'n'roll or blues-rock; they were too corporate, too contrived, too cartoonish, too formula. 

ALL my friends loved them.

Peace, Mooh.


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

They were and still are one of the best live acts out there. Seen them 3-4 times and always a great show. Straight in your face rock and roll. I have never owned nor would I own an album of theirs. But if they are playing locally I would most likely be there


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## Guest (Jan 9, 2016)




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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

My first wife (who passed away years ago) put up a KISS poster in my 7 year old son's bedroom. The first night he woke up with a nightmare which he never had before. The poster came off the wall immediately. 

As Mooh said were too cartoonish, contrived and I would add gimmicky. They are just not my cup of tea nor would any similar band be.


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## djmarcelca (Aug 2, 2012)

Steadfastly said:


> As Mooh said were too cartoonish, contrived and I would add gimmicky. They are just not my cup of tea nor would any similar band be.


It's ironic that is a popular opinion of Kiss, where Motley Crüe wore just as big of costumes in the 80's but sans the make up. 
Twisted sister also got labeled with the cartoon label (Although that one may be more deserving)

Point is these bands made in the era of Live performance. 
Costumes and gimmicks aside all three are great live and have some great songs. (And all three have put out stinkers)


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

cheezyridr said:


> say what you want about them, but they did have SOME good music
> in the early days they were a cool band. anyone?


Did they have some good music? Were they a cool band? I still can't tell the difference between a kiss song and an acdc son or a sabbath song. Doesn't bother me at all. 




To me this is good music by a cool band.....
so's this


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## cheezyridr (Jun 8, 2009)

well that's fine, i mean, they make different flavors for a reason, right? my dad used to say the same thing about hendrix. hendrix wasn't shit, cause he wasn't benny goodman or glenn miller.
that's where i'm lucky. i can listen to _stompin at the savoy_, and i can dig it. but i can dig _are you experienced_ as well. i can dig _what my woman can't do_ or _rat salad_. or _toccata and fugue, _or_ cowboys from hell. _ i feel totally lucky to have been born at the time i was, as far as music is concerned. i got to enjoy all the cool stuff of generations before me, as well as stuff that came from my time, and some of what came after that.


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

cheezyridr said:


> well that's fine, i mean, they make different flavors for a reason, right? my dad used to say the same thing about hendrix. hendrix wasn't shit, cause he wasn't benny goodman or glenn miller.
> that's where i'm lucky. i can listen to _stompin at the savoy_, and i can dig it. but i can dig _are you experienced_ as well. i can dig _what my woman can't do_ or _rat salad_. or _toccata and fugue, _or_ cowboys from hell. _ i feel totally lucky to have been born at the time i was, as far as music is concerned. i got to enjoy all the cool stuff of generations before me, as well as stuff that came from my time, and some of what came after that.


When the beatles came on Sullivan for the first time Dad wouldn't stop laughing for a while and then put 'A Rare Batch of Satch' on the RCA. By the time the mid 70's came along I was starting on my second marrage and my first recognized kid. And for what it's worth I can't stand elvis either.


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## cheezyridr (Jun 8, 2009)

hey don't feel bad, my dad had 3 albums, cause that's all that he thought was worth buying. he couldn't stand elvis 'neither.
glenn miller
the clancy bros
the notre dame marching band.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

I enjoyed the first few albums, up to and including the Bob Ezrin produced Destroyer.

I kind of grew out of Kiss after that.


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## Guest (Jan 11, 2016)

Destroyer was good one.
R n' R Over was the last one for me (kinda prophetic. lol).
Still have the sticker insert from that one.


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## Diablo (Dec 20, 2007)

we can debate the fine points, but its hard to deny success.


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

Great showmen and performers, but the only song that resonates with me now is Detroit Rock City. 

But I have a buddy that worship everything they did, and I respect that friend's opinion a lot, so maybe I missed something. And Dimebag (another hero) liked them enough to put a sticker of them on his #1. Can't deny their impact or the inspiration they provided to many current players.


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## cheezyridr (Jun 8, 2009)

well, gene has never made it a secret that there came a time when he realized that you could write a hit song and not be wealthy. at that very point he and paul decided that kiss would be a money train first and foremost. there are some pretty early interviews where he isn't shy about discussing it. 
like many of the folks my age, i sorta followed them up to alive 2 and then moved on to other things.there seemed to be this period for me, when i was discovering so much cool music, that concentrating on any particular one was impossible. 
i like the debut album and _dressed to kill_ best. they were still their version of a rock band then. the stuff they wrote where gene and paul harmonized is kinda cool. once you get past destroyer, that's when you start to see more filler on the album, and that's about when the marketing train was really starting to move. you had the kiss army, the comic book, the movie, the action figures, etc. all of it came from that time, beginning about 76-77. prior to that is where their best stuff is, _in my opinion_. they brought glam and theatre to hard rock, and managed to stay masculine while doing it. i don't knock them for turning it into a money machine. they saw something and they went for it. lots of others get distracted by substance abuse and wreck their life or even die. if i could do that instead of sheetmetal, i sure would, and i wouldn't feel bad about it.


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

Just imagine if Runaway wasn't a complete and total pile of poo or if Gene wasn't horrible in it. Maybe Kiss would've died and he'd be Mark Wahlberg today. 

He still was in a lot of movies after that stinker. More than he rightfully shoulda been.


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## Xelebes (Mar 9, 2015)

I liked the Kiss Psycho Circus computer game that came in the late 90s. That was a fun game, actually.


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

I believe their pinball machine is extremely desirable (i.e. expensive!!!).


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## Accept2 (Jan 1, 2006)

I love when people diss KISS because they set out to make money and become successful. Who didnt dream of touring, recording albums, and playing with groupies as a job when you were a kid? Apparently some kids dreamt of becoming a well respected plumber instead. Yup, more legit than KISS is wading around in shit to make a living. Where the fuck do I sign up for that?............


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## cheezyridr (Jun 8, 2009)

Accept2 said:


> I love when people diss KISS because they set out to make money and become successful. Who didnt dream of touring, recording albums, and playing with groupies as a job when you were a kid? Apparently some kids dreamt of becoming a well respected plumber instead. Yup, more legit than KISS is wading around in shit to make a living. Where the fuck do I sign up for that?............


i signed up for something similar - sheetmental/ductwork. i can tell you from experience, it's not nearly as glamorous as they say in the brochure...


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

Flashdance wasn't a dio-pic? Damn!

I'm with Accept2. Show of hands, who here isn't trying to be financially successful? It isn't the only thing we strive for, but if we can squeeze it into our agenda somehow, I think we're all over that. I don't think Kiss deviated much from what they woulda been because of the money. They saw an opportunity and went for it. I see no reason to criticize them for that.


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

High/Deaf said:


> Flashdance wasn't a dio-pic? Damn!
> 
> I'm with Accept2. Show of hands, who here isn't trying to be financially successful? It isn't the only thing we strive for, but if we can squeeze it into our agenda somehow, I think we're all over that. I don't think Kiss deviated much from what they woulda been because of the money. They saw an opportunity and went for it. I see no reason to criticize them for that.


What's ''financially sucessfull''? I don't think I ever tried to be that.


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

If you pay all your bills - month after month after year after decade - and always stay afloat? Successful.

Governments (take your pick, they all do it) are not. They just keep going further into debt, like there's never any piper to pay. I've known bands that have done that. One that comes to mind was worth minus $1M (recording, videos, promo, etc) when they finally packed it in, and packed it in earlier than they should have (was success just around the corner?) 

And there are many people in the DTES that are like that. So I don't blame a band for having at least one eye on the bottom line. Live fast, Die young can be cool. Longevity has it's rewards too.


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

High/Deaf said:


> If you pay all your bills - month after month after year after decade - and always stay afloat? Successful.
> .


Well then I guess I'm not successful then. But then it never was an important thing. More than once the bills didn't get paid but my kid never went hungry. There was more than once the live fast and die young almost came true but I could never be accused of leaving a beautiful corpse. As far as longevity goes, ask me when I'm 90. As far as kiss setting out to make money, so what. Until this post I didn't know they did that.


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

Yep, financially self sustaining is successful in my books. I'm sure economists have a much more complicated definition.

And you didn't know Kiss made a shitpile of money? Have you seen who Gene Simmons had kids with and eventually married? You think he got that 'cause of his looks?


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

High/Deaf said:


> Yep, financially self sustaining is successful in my books. I'm sure economists have a much more complicated definition.
> 
> And you didn't know Kiss made a shitpile of money? Have you seen who Gene Simmons had kids with and eventually married? You think he got that 'cause of his looks?


Do I really care who gene simmons is married to. Nope. I don't really know who he's married to and until you mentioned it I didn't know he had kids. As far as kiss having a shitpile of money, doesn't really matter to me. I don't listen to kiss, never did unless they were on the radio as background noise. I might have 0ne or two kiss 45's but I'm not sure. I have about 200 45's. 
Financially self sustaining? Sounds like an oxymoron to me. And sounds boring as hell. But, to each his own.


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## Diablo (Dec 20, 2007)

High/Deaf said:


> Flashdance wasn't a dio-pic? Damn!
> 
> I'm with Accept2. Show of hands, who here isn't trying to be financially successful? It isn't the only thing we strive for, but if we can squeeze it into our agenda somehow, I think we're all over that. I don't think Kiss deviated much from what they woulda been because of the money. They saw an opportunity and went for it. I see no reason to criticize them for that.


apparently in popular culture its much cooler to be a junkie and die young from an overdose, nearly broke.


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

I may have dreamt of being in a successful band but never in anything close to KISS. If I have to act like that and dress like that, it ain't gonna happen.


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

I bet there's things you do that Gene wouldn't. And?



Electraglide said:


> Do I really care who gene simmons is married to. Nope. I don't really know who he's married to and until you mentioned it I didn't know he had kids. As far as kiss having a shitpile of money, doesn't really matter to me. I don't listen to kiss, never did unless they were on the radio as background noise. I might have 0ne or two kiss 45's but I'm not sure. I have about 200 45's.
> Financially self sustaining? Sounds like an oxymoron to me. And sounds boring as hell. But, to each his own.


Whether you care or not is irrelevant . You know of Gene far more than he knows of you. And I'd think you, of all people, would appreciate the playboy angle. But what you know about them doesn't say anything about them.


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## Accept2 (Jan 1, 2006)

I loved when critics called this album primitive. Fucking right, and thats what rock should be..............


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## Scottone (Feb 10, 2006)

They wrote a few catchy tunes and I liked Paul's singing and Ace's solos. Ace's book was pretty entertaining as well.


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

High/Deaf said:


> I bet there's things you do that Gene wouldn't. And?
> 
> 
> 
> Whether you care or not is irrelevant . You know of Gene far more than he knows of you. And I'd think you, of all people, would appreciate the playboy angle. But what you know about them doesn't say anything about them.


I now know that gene is married to an ex playboy bunny. Had to google who his wife is and take it from there. So I now know that gene is with kiss and is married to shannon tweed. Until you mentioned it and I looked it up a couple of minutes ago I didn't know there was a playboy angle.


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