Nui Te Koha | Herald Sun

Getty Images

Simmons, who boasts he has slept with 4800 women, said: “I do not sleep with other women anymore. It won’t happen. It’s not a good idea.”

His change of heart came when he married Shannon Tweed, a former model and mother their children Nick and Sophie, last year.

Simmons and Tweed have been a couple for 29 years.

Simmons said: “Imagine a scenario where you get to be an a–hole for 28 years, and there’s a magical woman, an angel, who’s been there with you every year and waited that long.

“At some point, every guy has got to get over his selfishness and arrogance and lying.

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Chris Harris | Gun Shy Assassin

Peter Arquette

Sometimes, I share my troubles and tribulations in life, hoping it will not only make me feel better for venting but also, that it might make you feel better, in the event you’re going through something similar.

Sometimes, it’s nice to know you’re not the only person on Earth going through shit. Me? My main problem right now is cash or the lack thereof…which is a problem the members of Kiss haven’t faced for fucking decades.

I work my ass off, both at the day job and trying to keep this site mildly humorous and relevant, but…I don’t know how I am going to make it to my next paycheck.

I’m broke. No, this site doesn’t make me much money. It’s mostly a labor of love. But the love is dying, man. Maybe I need to focus my efforts on finding a better-paying job or freelance work? Sometimes, I wonder why I even bother.

It sucks, man. But Gene Simmons’ life doesn’t.

He’s in Kiss, who just released a new album called Monster. Gene spoke with that hacky rag Revolver recently, and said the band’s current lineup is his favorite.

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Tim McPhate | KissFAQ

Decorated producer/engineer offers a fascinating account of KISS’ pre-“Elder” sessions at Ace in the Hole Studio in early 1981, meeting Bob Ezrin and how the project ultimately relocated to Canada

In conjunction with KissFAQ’s month-long NovElder retrospective, award-winning producer/engineer Rob Freeman discussed KISS’ pre-“Elder” sessions at Ace in the Hole Studio in early 1981, his recollections of the recording of the underground KISS classic “Nowhere To Run,” meeting Bob Ezrin, and how KISS’ 1981 project ultimately moved on to Canada. Freeman also shared his thoughts on the “Music From The Elder” album.

The following are excerpts from Freeman’s interview with KissFAQ’s Tim McPhate:

How he came to work with KISS in 1981:

KissFAQ: How is it that you got to work on the project with KISS?

Rob Freeman: The first project I worked on for KISS was Ace’s solo album for Casablanca Records, Ace Frehley, which I recorded and mixed with producer Eddie Kramer in 1978. The album achieved a good degree of commercial success, with multi-platinum sales and a hit single, “New York Groove.” It also garnered critical acclaim. But I believe it was the distinctive sonic character of the album that drew the attention of Ace’s band mates and others in the KISS organization to my work (I’m in no way meaning to understate Eddie’s unique contributions). Over the ensuing couple of years, I worked on a variety of smaller projects for the KISS organization such as radio spots and demos. Also during that time, I was fortunate to be given the opportunity to design and install a 4-track home studio and a state-of-the-art home theater system in Paul Stanley’s uptown NYC condo.

Then in December 1980, someone from the KISS office rang me up and asked if I would work with the band on a new recording project. I heard it might be for a new album, and naturally I was thrilled at the prospect of working with KISS again. In early January 1981, I
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Thanks to Frank Hagen of KISS Mask for digging up all this great footage of KISS in Argentina this week.

Tim McPhate | KissFAQ

Veteran prop maker discusses building the door used for the album cover for KISS’ 1981 concept album “Music From The Elder”

In conjunction with KissFAQ’s month-long NovElder retrospective, Manhattan Model Shop’s Bill Finneran discussed the creative process and construction of the door prop used for the album cover for KISS’ 1981 “Music From The Elder.” This marks the first time in KISStory Finneran has commented on his role on the project.

The following are excerpts from Finneran’s interview with KissFAQ’s Tim McPhate:

Getting involved with the project:

KF: I spoke with Dennis Woloch, who was the art director for “Music From The Elder.” Dennis mentioned he got in touch with you to work on the project. Do you remember anything about your initial conversation?

BF: Yeah, he was a big tall guy. We talked on the phone first and then he came down to the studio and we talked about what he wanted to do. From our point of view, [the job] was very straightforward, in terms of the technical aspects of it. It was like a lot of props we had made. We were not technically involved in doing album covers. It was rare that anyone wanted to make a prop for an album cover. You know, they were almost always location shots with talent. So it was an unusual thing, but we were quite interested in doing it. The techniques we used we had used in other similar projects. The nice thing about our business for all the hundreds of years we’ve been doing it is it’s rare that the same thing comes up twice. The projects are always quite unique. They share certain technical categories with other similar projects but they’re all very different. And this one was the same, it was very different. We never did anything like it again. I don’t think we ever did another album cover, to be honest with you. I can’t think of one.

About “The Elder” door’s construction:

KF: But the actual door is wood, correct?

BF: Yes, it’s wood. It’s white pine wood. It’s soft. Typically a door like that would be made out of a hard wood, like oak or ash. But this was easier for us to manipulate. And we’re not looking for durability, we’re just looking for “a look.”

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David Marchese | Spin

You wanted the best, you got — well, we don’t know if Makeup to Breakup: My Life In and Out of KISS (Scribner), drummer Peter Criss’ memoir, is the best at anything other than being what it is, but the book does deliver some primo rock sleaze. Here are our picks for the Catman’s gnarliest anecdotes:

(The easily offended should probably stop reading now.)

Sweet Pain: Williamsburg, Brooklyn, was a rough place in ’60s, when Criss was growing up there. He fit right in, and not in some charming bygone outer borough way. Early in the book, Criss describes a gang encounter that quickly escalates into a blood bath. “This Puerto Rican kid was right behind me and he grabbed a garbage can lid and started beating my head in with it . . . I popped my switchblade out, turned around, and boom, the blade went right up his armpit and out through his shoulder.” Don’t worry though. “He was the first and only guy I’ve ever stabbed.”

Rip It Out: As Criss tells it, lethargic KISS lead guitarist Ace Frehley’s Spaceman persona wasn’t much of an act. At the latter’s first audition with the band, “He told us his name was Ace and he was from the Bronx but he really was an alien from a planet named Jandel.” Perhaps even more disconcerting was the fact that Frehley “wasn’t lazy, however, when it came to beating his meat. Every chance he got, he’d jerk off.”

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Melissa Ruggieri | Access Atlanta

Brian Lowe

Ask Gene Simmons how he’s doing and the response is, “deliriously happy.”

Why?

“Because I get to be Gene Simmons for another day,” he replies.

What better opening from one of the proud lions of rock ‘n’ roll?

He’s a showman, a shrewd businessman, a wily TV star. Of course he’s delirious.

Simmons and the rest of KISS –singer Paul Stanley, guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer – just wrapped a 40-plus-date summer tour with Motley Crue (it played Aaron’s Amphitheatre at Lakewood in July), but don’t even hint at KISS taking a break.

The band released “Monster” on Tuesday, its 24th studio album. And it’s a firecracker. KISS hasn’t sounded this pumped or tight since “Rock and Roll Over,” and songs such as “Freak,” “All for the Love of Rock and Roll” and the Simmons-sung “The Devil is Me” should rattle the roofs of the arenas on the 60 shows they’re planning for South America and Europe (expect a U.S. return in about a year) to promote the release.

The always-entertaining Simmons, 63, checked in recently from Boston to talk “Monster,” life beyond the now-ended A&E reality show, “Gene Simmons Family Jewels” and what items in the world can still be KISS-ified.

Q. You’ve said in the past that it drove you crazy that bands weren’t interested in putting on a show, and how they’d stand up there and stare at their shoes. Do you still think that’s the case?

A. It baffles me. I just don’t understand it. You’re a woman and if you’re going out, why wouldn’t you put on your makeup and do your hair? Same thing. Why would you go on stage looking like a bum? There is only one personality [currently] who totally has the goods and that’s Lady Gaga. She’s not classically a rock act, but she’s the real deal. She cares about the shows and the appearance. That’s what you want a star to be. Maroon 5 has great songs, but I don’t want to look at them.

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Patrick McDonald | Adelaide Now

And the Clipsal action will start the V8 Supercar Championships for years to come.

Premier Jay Weatherill today  announced that Adelaide had secured the opening round of the championships for an extra six years, up to and including 2021.

“No matter what happens with the Melbourne Grand Prix, fans will be able to continue to enjoy the V8 Supercars in Adelaide for the long-term,” Mr Weatherill said.

KISS and Motley Crue, who have just completed a US tour together, will perform on the Sunday, March 3, and join a lineup of Australian acts, which includes Adelaide’s Hilltop Hoods on the Friday night, and The Angels and Cold Chisel guitarist Ian Moss on the Saturday.

Ryan Drever | Drowned in Sound

There’s not much left to say about KISS that hasn’t already been screamed, picketed or printed by generations of militant fans, close-minded religious fanatics or gore-hungry press over the course of about four decades. But that’s not to say there’s no new ground left to cover for this larger-than-life hard rock juggernaut.

The next-level pioneers of shock rock, the wholesale manufacturers of early American Heavy Metal and the single greatest thing to happen to the face-paint industry since the death of mime; KISS are as relevant today as you let them. Ignoring that painful Costa Coffee ad for a moment – or as long as humanly possible – their music still holds up pretty well, even for those averse to KISS’s occult gimmickry of pyro, blood-spitting and trapeze-aided guitar solos – which makes the quality of their latest record, Monster, unsurprising for the most part.

But if ever there was a case to let the artist explain themselves it would be our recent conversation with Gene Simmons. So, here’s the God of Thunder himself in a hasty phone interview conducted in a Glasgow back-alley as he talks Monster, Mount Olympus and Meat and Two Veg. Enjoy.

Hi Gene, how are you?

I’m deliriously happy.

That’s quite possibly the best response to that question in the history of speech.

Write that one down.

Don’t worry, I’m taping it. Actually, you’re going to have to excuse me, I’m a little out of breath, I’m doing a show tonight and have had to rush around dropping off gear and am now interviewing you in an alley behind the venue.

Oh, I thought you were out of breath because you’re talking to me.

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KissFAQ

Peter Criss’ “Makeup To Breakup: My Life In And Out Of KISS” has landed at No. 7 on The New York Times bestseller list. Criss’ book is the second top-selling music-related book in thehardcover nonfiction category this week, behind Rod Stewart’s memoir “Rod.”

The book was released Oct. 23, and Criss has been in the midst of a book signing tour/promotional campaign. His promo tour was recently hindered by Hurricane Sandy, which forced Criss to cancel his Tempe, Az., date.

wireimage.com

Criss has scored the highest New York Times bestselling list position of the three original KISS members to make the list, besting previous books by Ace Frehley and Gene Simmons. Frehley landed at No. 10 with “No Regrets” on the list dated Nov. 20, 2011. Simmons’ “KISS & Make-Up” peaked at No. 14 on the New York Times bestseller list dated Dec. 30, 2001.

As for Paul Stanley? He is reportedly at work on a book tentatively due in 2013, despite previous comments in 2007 saying that an “autobiography is the most outrageous form of fiction.”

KissFAQ congratulates Peter Criss on becoming a New York Times bestselling author!

Tim McPhate | KissFAQ

For a rock band that once proclaimed themselves “the loudest band in the world,” KISS sure have an interesting history with orchestras. Of course, there is the 1976 classic ballad “Beth,” a song offering the first taste of an orchestrally sweetened KISS. The mixture of lush symphonic touches, a perfect Bob Ezrin arrangement and Peter Criss’ street-wise crooning yielded a monumental hit.

In 2003 KISS married black tie with black leather for “KISS Symphony: Alive IV,” a concert that coated nuggets such as “Forever,” “Sure Know Something” and “Shandi” and electrified classics such as “Black Diamond” and “Love Gun” with a powerful orchestral makeover, courtesy of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

Sandwiched in between these orchestral bookends is 1981’s “Music From The Elder.” For this grandiose concept album, Ezrin and KISS contracted the services of the New York-based American Symphony Orchestra. Ezrin collaborated with late award-winning composer Michael Kamen for a set of dynamic arrangements that were meticulously

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Cassius | COTN

Here it is everybody. We have hit our 50th episode! I want to thank everybody for listening and enjoying the show! This one is a few shuffled KISS songs and talk about the KISS Kruise II, KISS’ upcoming South American tour and acting like a radio broadcaster!

KISSmuseum.com

The long awaited KISS First Album Figures are finally here! Twelve different figures to choose from, including rare Gene Tongue and Paul Bandit Makeup variants!

Visit KISSmuseum.com for all photos and details of this exciting new release! Postage is only $6.00 for any size order!

Tim McPhate | KISSfaq

Art director reveals the creative process behind the mysterious artwork for KISS’ 1981 concept album “Music From The Elder”

In conjunction with KissFAQ’s month-long NovElder retrospective, longtime KISS art director Dennis Woloch revealed the creative process behind the album artwork for KISS’ 1981 “Music From The Elder.” Among many other topics, Woloch detailed the challenges and design nuances inherent to working on this particular KISS album. Additionally, Woloch revealed that Manhattan Model Shop‘s Bill Finneran created The Elder” door, which is a never-before-revealed piece of KISStory. Finally, Woloch discussed the challenges of working with KISS and the band’s lack of acknowledgement of his work in recent years.

The following are excerpts from Woloch’s interview.

About the art concept:

KF: Once you learned about the album’s details, what was the process for developing the creative direction for “The Elder” album art?

DW: Well, I got as much information of what the album was about as I could stand. A lot of it seemed to me to be (pauses)… you know, it was ground that was gone over before by others. I mean to me, it would be like somebody coming out and saying, “I’m thinking of writing a book series or a movie about a little boy and a sorcerer that becomes his mentor.” And I say, “Well, wait a minute. Didn’t we just see that some place?” That’s kind of how “The Elder” felt to me, even though it was ’81. They weren’t breaking any new

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Dave Lifton | Ultimate Classic Rock

Keith Leroux; KISSonline

Yesterday (Oct. 31), Kiss Kruise II set sail from Miami. As the ship left its port, fans were treated to an unmasked, acoustic show by the guests of honor on the pool deck of the Norwegian Pearl, which, for the next few days, can probably be renamed the “Dr. Love Boat.”

Early this morning, the band posted the above image and the following message to its Facebook page: “Here’s more than 2200 KISS fans standing on the pool deck of the Norwegian Pearl waiting for KISS to take the stage for yesterday’s acoustic set!”

During the show, Kiss played such favorites as ‘Comin’ Home,’ ‘A Million to One’ and ‘All Hell’s Breakin’ Loose.’ The band also took requests from fans, and Paul Stanley told the crowd that there will be a Kiss Kruise III.

The ship’s launch was delayed to accommodate those whose travel times to Miami were affected by Hurricane Sandy, but that didn’t delay the festivities. Fittingly, Halloween was celebrated with a costume contest, which was judged by guitarist Tommy Thayer.

Kiss Kruise II continues through Nov. 4, making a one-day stop at Great Stirrup Cay in the Bahamas tomorrow. In addition to Kiss, Skid Row, Adler and several cover bands and lesser known acts are on the bill.

Paul Lester | The Jewish Chronicle

Gene Simmons, bass guitarist with the US hard-rock group, Kiss, may be one of the most successful Jewish musicians of the past 40 years.

But he is also an arch proponent of what he calls “Kisstianity” — the religion followed by the band’s thousands of devoted believers.

“It is a religion of sorts,” affirms the performer born Chaim Weitz in Haifa, Israel, in 1949, chatting in a London hotel without the garish make-up that helped make him famous.

He finishes the joke: “Only, without anybody having to die for anybody’s sins.”

Then he gets a bit more serious. “It’s a celebration of life and a real mind-set.

“Being in Kiss is a privilege, not a birthright. On the one hand, we are humbled by our fans and truly grateful to them for allowing us to be here.

“On the other, we are arrogantly self-confident about who we are and what we mean. We subscribe fully to the idea that we are legendary — we are legends who walk the face of Continue reading →