I liked them pre-punk when I was an adolescent. I still think the Destroyer album really holds up. Back then albums were about 30 minutes long, not the 70 minutes with 40 minutes of filler monstrosities most artists put out now.
I think Tom Morello, in his lead up to inducting them into the Hall of Fame, perfectly captured the thrill of seeing the band live when you were in puberty in the early-mid-'70s. "They were a rock band who were monsters! The concerts were like a live Godzilla movie."
Of course they were just a joke, but even as a joke they could concoct good rocking pop songs. Even later songs like "Creatures of the Night" and "Lick it Up" have great hooks. But of course, with only 50% of the original members it's just like a tribute band now.
My friend and I went to the reunion tour in '96 with the four original guys and laughed our asses off at how big and dumb the show was. It was a lot of fun. It was similar to the Destroyer tour I saw in high school. Only bigger and explosionier and with flying. We also saw The Sex Pistols reunion tour that year and my friend and I laughed our asses off (Johnny Rotten: "We're fat, 40 and back!") at that show. It too was a lot of fun. The Pistols, notoriously and perfectly told the Rock Hall to stick their award up its ass. THAT'S rock and roll.
KISS should've been put in the Hall years ago, but that whole thing is a joke. Madonna? Rock and roll? Linda Ronstadt? Rock and roll? Cat Stevens? Rock and roll? James Taylor? Rock and roll? Puh-lease. After the '96 reunion tour, Kiss shoulda called it quits. But that Gene Simmons is a businessman, and as long as there's money to grab from the band's fans, he will. In the future, there will be an official KISS touring band with no original members.
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Updated On: 4/12/14 at 12:48 AM
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