Kiss Army Hopes for Album, Kiss Concerts in 2009
Glam Metal Band Returns to 1970s Music Roots Yet Again
Mar 23, 2009
Kiss, the crown princes of the 1970s glam metal music era, have not released a studio album since Psycho Circus in 1998. However, band members say they are ready to get back to the studio to work on a 2009 album release.
Kiss is one of rock and roll’s most enduring bands. Its Kiss Army and other fans flock to their elaborate and pyrotechnics-filled concerts worldwide, often snapping up tickets in minutes. For instance, the band’s recent stadium show in Stockholm, Sweden sold 32,000 tickets in 20 minutes.
However, Kiss has never been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, a sore point with some of its fans, 200 of whom staged a protest at the Ohio Hall of Fame in 2006.
The band traces its roots to the early 1970s when cofounders Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley broke from the New York band Wicked Lester.
The pair picked up drummer Peter Criss through Criss’ ad in Rolling Stone in 1972 and successfully auditioned lead guitarist Ace Frehley the following year. Stanley created the name Kiss and Frehley designed the enduring Kiss logo.
Kiss Defined 1970s Music as Glam Metal Band
The band would play its first show at a club called Popcorn on January 30, 1973. Since that debut, Kiss has recorded 36 albums, been awarded 24 gold albums and has sold over 75 million albums worldwide.
Today, the band is composed of Simmons, Stanley, guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer with their unchanged trademark face-painted characters. Their comic-styled personas are the Demon (Simmons), Starchild (Stanley), Spaceman (Thayer) and Catman (Singer).
The band abandoned its signature characters in 1983, when members appeared on an MTV prime-time TV special for the first time without their makeup. Since then, Kiss has often returned to their on-stage personalities, complete with makeup and costumes.
The 2009 studio album is expected to be a return to the band’s winning 1970s music formula and will be produced by Paul Stanley. In a February 2009 interview with Rolling Stone, Gene Simmons indicated that the song’s themes will remain light and simplistic with “no secret to life, no political messaging, nothing like that.”
Kiss Tour for Glam Metal Band's 35th Anniversary
The band’s plans to release a studio album complement its continuing 35th anniversary tour which began in South America in Santiago, Chili. In 2008, the Kiss Alive/35 World Tour hit Europe, U.K., Australia, New Zealand and a few U.S. cities.
Kiss traces its roots to 1970s music however, the glam metal band continues to recreate itself through its brand of larger-than-life stage personalities, hard-driving music and strong intergenerational popularity. Its 2009 album release will only contribute to the band’s incredible endurance.
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