| |
Kiss
In 1971 lead singer and bass guitarist Gene Simmons and backup singer and rhythm guitarist Paul Stanley were struggling to succeed with their group Wicked Lester. The group had a record deal, but repeated failures to sell albums led to the creation of one of the signature rock bands of the 1970s and 1980s that would become known for tickets to insanely entertaining live shows, KISS.
He group started out by finding drummer Peter Criss in an ad placed in Rolling Stone. Inspired by theatrical rock acts like Slade and the New York Dolls, the group adopted the practice of wearing makeup and adding pyrotechnics to their stage show. KISS became whole when they found lead guitarist Ace Frehley through an audition process. The groups demonic persona helped sell concert tickets, land them manager Bill Aucion, and a record contract by 1973.
The group's first three album, Kiss, Hotter Than Hell, and Dressed to Kill, barely broke the Gold standard and did little to help its struggling music label. While the group struggled on vinyl, they ruled live. The label took the live show KISS fans paid good money for and made it into a live album that would start the group's domination of the late 1970s.
Destroyer was followed by Rock and Roll Over, Love Gun, and Dynasty. Each attained platinum status and each moved the closer to rock-god status. Simmons, a.k.a. the Demon, Stanley, a.k.a. Starchild, Frehley, a.k.a. Spaceman, and Criss, a.k.a. Catman had become a huge act whose tickets could sell out in seconds. However, the band management kept pushing for bigger and bigger promotion. Four solo albums were disastrously released on the same day, an amusement park was rumored but never built, and a movie flopped.
|
|
| |
Artist Biography - Kiss
|
 Tensions also tore at the success. Criss became upset and his drumming skills declined. In 1979 he left the group. Frehley was similarly fed up with a musical direction (concept albums) that he abhorred and soon after he would leave as well. The group tried to keep the departures quiet, but the unrest and altering lineups could not be denied for very long as the group's album sales fell sharply. KISS concert tickets also sold less and less, especially after they stopped wearing make up and Simmons became more interested in a movie career than a singing career.
KISS managed to rebound a little in album sales despite the misgivings fans had with the direction of the group. Lick It Up, Animalize, and Crazy Nights brought the band back to prominence in the late 1980s. Eventually, after the lineup seemed to change every few months, the group came back with its original lineup. The reunion sold tickets from 1996 to 2000, but eventually old battles tore at the group again and Criss and Frehley left again.
The latest developments from the KISS front have the group, with Simmons, Stanley, drummer Eric Singer, and lead guitarist Tommy Thayer has the legendary rock group returning with an album to be released in the summer of 2009 that beckons back to a sound like that of previous work from the 1970s. KISS will tour and sell concert tickets for shows scheduled in South America, Europe, and North America. OnlineSeats will have seats to those shows in great supply with views from all over the seating chart for remarkably affordable prices.
|
| |
|
For more information , enjoy the official homepage of Kiss
|
|
|
