KISS is an American rock band, formed in the 1970s in NYC. It is well known for the face paint and complex costumes worn by the bandmembers, and its theatrical concerts, which involve, among other things, fire breathing, blood spitting, smoking guitars, and pyrotechnics. The most well-known members are singers Paul Stanley (rhythm guitar; his stage persona is "Starchild", due to being a "starry-eyed lover" and "hopeless romantic") and Gene Simmons (bass; the "Demon", cynical and fan of dark elements, and also known for his enormous tongue). Other founding members include guitarist Ace Frehley ("Spaceman") and drummer Peter Criss ("Catman"), whose make-ups are still worn by their current replacements, Eric Singer ("Catman") and Tommy Thayer ("Spaceman").The band also made a full-length horror film, KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park (1978).Not to be confused with kissing, the book Kiss, or the KISS principle.Studio albums:
Apparently their breakthrough album ALIVE! had guitar overdubs, sound-check songs with the audience added in the studio, and other less-than-live shenanigans (over and above the normal studio mixing and whatnot).
Dynasty credits Peter Criss with drums and vocals. In reality, he only played drums on the song "Dirty Livin'", the rest of the songs being recorded by studio drummer Anton Fig.
Unmasked credits Criss, once again, with drums, percussion, and vocals, while also featuring him on the album's cover and appearing on the album's single "Shandi" video. In reality, he wasn't involved at all with the recording of the album, Fig (for a second, uncredited time) taking his place on the recording, while Eric Carr replaced Criss on the album's tour and eventually as a band member.
Creatures of the Night credits Ace Frehley with lead guitars while also featuring him on the album's cover and appearing on the album's single "Love It Loud" video. In reality, Bob Kulick, Steve Ferris and Vinnie Vincent played lead guitars on the recording, the latter taking his place on the album's tour and eventually as a band member.
Psycho Circus was widely announced as the first studio album in over a decade by the band's original lineup. In reality, only one of the album's songs, "Into the Void", was recorded with all 4 band members, this song being also the only one where Criss actually played drums. Ace Frehley only played lead guitars on three songs and vocals on three other songs. The rest of the songs were recorded with studio musicians, Kevin Valentine, and Tommy Thayer.
Black Sheep Hit: In the 70's, the radios played Power Ballad "Beth" instead of the A-side "Detroit Rock City" (which didn't stop the latter from becoming one of their anthems)
Cash Cow Franchise: One of the most Egregious examples in any medium. They have all kinds of licensed merchandise, including Kiss Kaskets (in one of which Dimebag Darrell was buried).
Chorus-Only Song: Hard to find someone who knows the verses for "Rock and Roll All Nite".
Concept Album: Music from "The Elder", a big and ambitious project that even involved a big-budget movie and a world-wide tour for a while, but...
Fanservice: Stanley's costumes are designed around this trope, showcasing his Carpet of Virility. Simmons' and Criss' also, to lesser extents. Frehley, not so much.
Back when the Knights in Satan's Service rumor was all the rage, seeing religious fanatics and the like shouting and screaming quotes from the Old Testament at the group wasn't unheard of. Neither was seeing Gene Simmons (a theology major) quoting them back.
Intercourse with You: Many songs, mostly those sung by Simmons. In fact, most of their songs are this, from "Christeen Sixteen" (which is a song about a guy lusting after a sixteen year old) to "Hotter Than Hell" (which is about a guy lusting after a married woman) to "Heaven's On Fire" (which is about a guy having sex, and may or may not have inspired a large amount of the sex dialog seen in all kinds of fandoms' fanfic sex scenes).
Lampshaded Double Entendre: Paul Stanley's stage banter until the reunion was mostly innuendo. He's toned it down somewhat since longtime fans began bringing their kids, but it's still there.
Large Ham: Paul and Gene, for the most part.... and most of that most part is Gene.
Last Note Nightmare: The album version of "Detroit Rock City" ends with a car skidding, crashing and exploding. Then the record segues into "King of the Night Time World".
Long Runner Line Up: The original formation played for 13 non-consecutive years: first from 1972-80, then a reunion from 1996 to 2001 (although as Blatant Lies shows, the reunion was more live than on studio).
Arguably Frehley, as he was electrocuted during a concert but recovered well enough to finish the show.
When KISS was starting and some of their (now famous) concert's antics hadn't been perfected yet, there was one occasion were Simmons accidentally swallowed the kerosene (highly toxic) of his fire breathing stunt. Gene ignored the excruciating abdominal pain and finished the show instead of stopping the concert there and rushing to the hospital.
The Merch: KISS is infamous for plastering their name and faces on anything they can get their hands on. They are probably the only rock band with their own line of caskets.
If you accuse Gene Simmons of being a sellout, he'll just laugh and agree with you wholeheartedly. He has stated several times over the years that the reason he became a rock musician was because he wanted to get rich and get girls.
New Sound Album: Dynasty added Disco; Music from "The Elder" was an attempt at a progressive-rock Concept Album (described by Simmons later as sounding like a bad Genesis record); Asylum was pure Glam Rock all the way and had the band wearing androgynous make-up and outfits; Revenge was more hard rock and featured darker lyrics than their mid-eighties Hair Metal / Glam Rock output; and Carnival of Souls was a Grunge-inspired, very heavy, metal album. With the exception of Asylum due to Broken Fanbase, and Revenge, which was fairly well received as a return to the Creatures of the Night era, these albums are not particularly popular with the fans.
No Swastikas: Due to German law, the band's usual logo (the band name with the two S characters depicted as lightning bolts) cannot be used in Germany (because the double-S resembles the Schutzstaffel logo). While the band has been accused of being Nazis, it seems unlikely that Simmons or Stanley (both being Jewish descendants of concentration camp survivors) intended the logo that way.
Old Shame: Their album when the band was still called "Wicked Lester".'
One of Us: As stated before, Gene Simmons is a lifelong comic book geek and amateur magician who loves Stuff Blowing Up.
One-Scene Wonder: Mark St. John, KISS' third lead guitarist. Only played on one album (Animalize), got reactive arthritis, and was replaced almost instantly with Bruce Kulick. Accounts vary on how many shows of the album's tour he played in, but most agree that St. John played very few, if any, and that Kulick ended up filling up for him in most of them.
Rock Trio: Paul suffered an irregular heartbeat shortly before a show in 2007. Rather than cancel, they performed as a trio for the only time in the band's existence.
Rummage Sale Reject: Most of their outfits in the no-makeup days. Purple gloves, a yellow coat with shoulders covered in gems of every color. Yellow gloves and a purple coat. Gene Simmons in a pink satin bathrobe.
Well, to be fair, in their unmasked phase they looked just like any other Hair Metal band...
Scary Musician, Harmless Music: They stomp around on stage in crazy costumes, their bass-player breathes fire, spits blood, and looks like a demon, the lead guitarist is fond of putting fireworks in his guitar, and some of their biggest hits are "Rock and Roll All Nite" and "Beth", which sounds like it belongs on an "easy-listening" station.
Sex, Drugs, & Rock and Roll: Somewhat subverted by Gene Simmons; he claims that he has never been drunk or done drugs. On the other hand, he is one of rock and roll's most notorious womanizers and has reportedly had sex with thousands of women.
Shout Out: They get one of the best-known in rock when Cheap Trick mentions them in Surrender. During live shows, Cheap Trick would toss KISS albums to their audiences.
Spinoff: All ex-KISS members released albums and formed bands at one point or another after leaving the band with varying degrees of success. Ace Frehley's Fehleys' Comet, Peter Criss' Criss, Mark St. John's White Tiger, and Vinnie Vincent Invasion, just to mention a few.
Stage Names: The only members to use their birth names are Tommy Thayer and Bruce Kulick (for starters, Simmons is Chaim Witz, and Paul Stanley is Stanley Harvey Eisen). Many members went ahead and used at least one of their birth names for their stage names, though (for example, Vinnie Vincent is Vincent Cusano, and Mark St. John is Mark Norton).
Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Tommy Thayer wears Ace Frehley's makeup, has a similar costume, sings his old songs (notably "Shock Me") in concert, and has a similar guitar solo setpiece, complete with fireworks. Although not as pronounced (due to his being behind a drumkit) Eric Singer wears Peter Criss's original makeup and sings his vocal parts (such as the lead on "Black Diamond") as well.
Temporary Substitute: Before a 1997 concert, Peter Criss refused to go out on stage unless he was paid more. The band's solution? Put Criss' makeup on drum tech Ed Canon, introduce him at the beginning of the show, and rock on! Nobody in the audience asked for a refund, and Criss never missed another concert during his tenure with the group.
The Voiceless: Vinnie Vincent and Mark St. John have the dubious honor of being the only two KISS ex-members to never sing lead vocals on at least one song; St. John being the only member to not even sing backing vocals.
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