KISS

Vinnie Vincent (+whoever else played guitar on that album) did a good job with it. Clearly Kiss in the 80s went for a different guitar style than what Ace offers, but I often tend to think Ace is a skilled guitarist who could probably adapt to what they were doing. He sounded fine on that material during the reunion tours, granted they didn’t play a lot of it.
 
Kalata said:
Curious story: Ace thinks Creatures Of The Night is a great album and he probably wouldn't have left if the album was recorded in 1981.

''I thought Creatures was a good record. It was really the record that I would have enjoyed recording instead of Elder. Because during the recording of Elder, I kept telling Paul and Gene that this is the wrong record at the wrong time. We should be doing a heavier hard rock record. That's what the fans want, that's what the fans expect. We all know what happened and how the Elder was received.''

I agree with him (he even made a cover of ''Rock And Roll Hell'' in one of his solo cover albums). Not that Elder was so bad (I think it's a nice album), but it was not suitable for Kiss. Creatures is a classic.
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I liked that comment because it is interesting if he would have stayed with another album.
I totally disagree with him and you though. The Elder is great, maybe because it is different, maybe not. I like it the way it is, very much.
The best drums they ever had on an album, haunting songs, great atmosphere, epic songs, a brilliant instrumental, catchy riffs. Nothing wrong about it. Not suitable my ass.
Mosh said:
Seems like a lot of revisionist history to me and typical KISS puffery (all four of them do it). He was still in the organization while the album was being made and even participated in some of the promotional touring. It seems pretty clear that musical direction wasn’t his reason for leaving.
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Hmm indeed.
 
Forostar said:
I totally disagree with him and you though. The Elder is great, maybe because it is different, maybe not. I like it the way it is, very much.
The best drums they ever had on an album, haunting songs, great atmosphere, epic songs, a brilliant instrumental, catchy riffs. Nothing wrong about it. Not suitable my ass.
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You think progressive rock is suitable for Kiss? The album indeed has some catchy songs/riffs/instrumentals/atmosphere (like Unmasked and Dynasty albums), but because of their different styles they were not received well from the fans (btw, I like Unmasked). Paul and Gene admit The Elder was not the right move for the band and they even did not embark on a supporting tour for it (like for their album from 1997).
 
I am not looking only at terms of success or money. I am looking at the artistic move. I think it is really good that if an artist wants to do something else, that they try it. Afterwards, people can always have regretted something, but I really happen to like what goes on on that record. I am not saying that Kiss should have continued making progressive rock. I do think that it was cool that they did not listen to possible expectations, that they deviated from the format and most important: I like it!

This is a fan's perspective, I'm not the band's manager. Nor the band's chronicler, a role you often seem to take Kalata. :) You tend to summarize and repeat what bands say, immediately after almost every interview that was given. It is interesting to a certain extent, but I prefer to have room for my own impression and opinion given as well, especially when it comes to impression of music.

There are more bands who regret that they did a certain album, but I'm talking about bands who had a very fine career (as a whole, or at least a good deal of it). So I do not see much harm in a deviation. The bands often seem hard on these "missteps", but I am a fan of the step. I really like how they did the step and that they did it.
 
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Forostar said:
I think it is really good that if an artist wants to do something else, that they try it. I do think that it was cool that they did not listen to possible expectations, that they deviated from the format and most important: I like it!

There are more bands who regret that they did a certain album, but I'm talking about bands who had a very fine career (as a whole, or at least a good deal of it). So I do not see much harm in a deviation.
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^ I agree with that. The most important thing is the album to be good. Every band can afford to release at least one different album (in terms of the sound) during their career. It seems Kiss didn't believe so much in this album, since there was no tour for it and this is sad - each album deserves its own tour, regardless of the success of it. I think The Elder would have been a better received album if there was a tour for it. It's not a strong album and the right move (especially at the time) for a traditional rock band like Kiss, but it's not a bad album by any means. This is my opinion.

My favorite songs are: ''The Oath'' (classic), ''Dark Light'', ''I'' and ''Under The Rose''.
 
The song ''Rock Bottom'' has probably the best intro of any Kiss song. It's also one of my favorite intros.

 
Kalata said:
^ I agree with that. The most important thing is the album to be good. Every band can afford to release at least one different album (in terms of the sound) during their career. It seems Kiss didn't believe so much in this album, since there was no tour for it and this is sad - each album deserves its own tour, regardless of the success of it. I think The Elder would have been a better received album if there was a tour for it. It's not a strong album and the right move (especially at the time) for a traditional rock band like Kiss, but it's not a bad album by any means. This is my opinion.

My favorite songs are: ''The Oath'' (classic), ''Dark Light'', ''I'' and ''Under The Rose''.
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I would add "Only You". Hauting and very nice guitar sound and playing!
Plus "Escape from the Island" was an immediate favourite as well. Later I appreciated more stuff, like "A World Without Heroes".
 
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blabbermouth.net

GENE SIMMONS Invites ACE FREHLEY To Take Part In KISS's 'End Of The Road' Tour: 'The Fans Would Love It'

Gene Simmons has invited Ace Frehley to take part in KISS's "End Of The Road" tour, saying "the fans would love" to see the band reunited with its original guitarist. Earlier today, Simmons took to his Twitter to wish Frehley a happy 71st birthday, and he added: "The invitations still stand...
blabbermouth.net blabbermouth.net

Gene to Ace: ''The invitations still stand. Jump up on stage with us for encores. The fans would love it''.

This should happen. It would be so cool. And this is their farewell tour, after all.
 
Kalata said:
blabbermouth.net

GENE SIMMONS Invites ACE FREHLEY To Take Part In KISS's 'End Of The Road' Tour: 'The Fans Would Love It'

Gene Simmons has invited Ace Frehley to take part in KISS's "End Of The Road" tour, saying "the fans would love" to see the band reunited with its original guitarist. Earlier today, Simmons took to his Twitter to wish Frehley a happy 71st birthday, and he added: "The invitations still stand...
blabbermouth.net blabbermouth.net

Gene to Ace: ''The invitations still stand. Jump up on stage with us for encores. The fans would love it''.

This should happen. It would be so cool. And this is their farewell tour, after all.
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Yeah I wonder if Ace will do it. Last year I saw KISS and Ace in the same week (KISS in Atlanta on that Saturday and then Ace on Thursday in Birmingham). Ace's solo show is pretty much a love letter to KISS fans. Ace still played well although his vocals weren't fantastic (still league better than Paul nowadays). If I had to guess, Paul doesn't want to be upstaged, so no Ace Frehley.

Speaking of the KISS show I saw, it was good but man is Paul Stanley not playing too hot now. His guitar was sloppy (when he was playing) and he absolutely BUTCHERED the intro to Black Diamond. It was like watching a farce for a little bit.
 
blabbermouth.net

GENE SIMMONS Says Both ACE FREHLEY And PETER CRISS Turned Down Invitations To Perform At KISS's Final Concerts

In a recent interview with Barbara Caserta of Linea Rock, Gene Simmons was asked about the possibility of original KISS members Ace Frehley (guitar) and Peter Criss (drums) making guest appearances at the band's last-ever concerts in early December at Madison Square Garden in New York City. He...
blabbermouth.net blabbermouth.net

It would have been great, but at least we saw that in 2000, at the peak of their powers.
 
Kalata said:
The song ''Rock Bottom'' has probably the best intro of any Kiss song. It's also one of my favorite intros.

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Just listened to this song. I agree with you. Intro is more than great. :scared: It's haunting and majestic. Goose bumps... At the same time, this song, imo, is example of unfulfilled song. Intro is 10, the rest of the song is 5. As entity song is disjointed and goes nowhere. Such potential wasted... but intro is glorious. Don't know why, but listening to intro, I thought about UFO band.
 
Kalata said:
blabbermouth.net

GENE SIMMONS Says Both ACE FREHLEY And PETER CRISS Turned Down Invitations To Perform At KISS's Final Concerts

In a recent interview with Barbara Caserta of Linea Rock, Gene Simmons was asked about the possibility of original KISS members Ace Frehley (guitar) and Peter Criss (drums) making guest appearances at the band's last-ever concerts in early December at Madison Square Garden in New York City. He...
blabbermouth.net blabbermouth.net

It would have been great, but at least we saw that in 2000, at the peak of their powers.
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Think Peter is virtually retired anyways. As for Ace? Ehhhhh, having seen him live last year, it's probably for the best.
 
Kalata said:
blabbermouth.net

GENE SIMMONS Says Both ACE FREHLEY And PETER CRISS Turned Down Invitations To Perform At KISS's Final Concerts

In a recent interview with Barbara Caserta of Linea Rock, Gene Simmons was asked about the possibility of original KISS members Ace Frehley (guitar) and Peter Criss (drums) making guest appearances at the band's last-ever concerts in early December at Madison Square Garden in New York City. He...
blabbermouth.net blabbermouth.net

It would have been great, but at least we saw that in 2000, at the peak of their powers.
Click to expand...
As usual, Gene Simmons is clearly only telling half the story.

1: I’m sure the terms are ridiculous for Ace and Peter. Probably low pay/no pay or maybe they even have to pay Kiss to license the makeup that Kiss now owns.

2: this young fan who saw Kiss on the first tour with Tommy Thayer would be interested in seeing the original lineup. It’s one of the few things that would motivate me to go see them again. What Gene meant to say is probably that they continue to sell tickets with the current lineup and having other members there won’t affect the bottom line so it’s not important.
 
Blabbermouth article

Dio's hologram says hello. Personally, if there's no real band on the stage, I am not interested.

"Per Sundin, CEO of Pophouse Entertainment, told the Associated Press this new technology allows KISS to continue their legacy for "eternity." He explained: "KISS could have a concert in three cities in the same night across three different continents. That's what you could do with this."

Oh, the good old cashgrab at it's finest.
 
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