They have stated in multiple occasions how worried they had become after watching complete families at their shows. I wonder, though, how many of those kids became so impressed with what they saw that ended up engrossing the ranks of Kiss fans years later, and many of them became rockstars. David Grohl, Marilyn Manson, are examples of that.
Probably those little kids grew up and kept them popular into and through the '80's because as an older teen...19 I was starting to get tired of them and the disco themed hit was the sealer...I still went to see the Dynasty tour in Los Angeles Nov 7th but I was losing interest...I hadn't even bought the album...the last Kiss related album I bought was Ace's solo...the year before...the concert wasn't the same for me as it was like Anaheim stadium in '76 which was incredible for me...
"Soon, the wood panels and high rafters of my basement bedroom were covered with pictures from Hit parader, Circus and Cream. Every morning I woke up staring at KISS, Judas Priest..." Quote from his book, page 26. And right on page 27 there's a picture of him wearing a Peter Criss make up. We're talking about influence here, not the comments of a cocky rockstar that "borrowed" all he could from the previous monsters.@@dwightJones98I
I really respect Paul's honesty on kiss's ups and downs. He doesn't sugarcoat his or the bands mistakes. He's brutally honest about the mistakes. I just really respect that!
Listen to the whole audio book instead of a few minute clip . i thought the same shit just by what I've heard. He's actually a decent guy. Gene is 100% an asshole though.
This happens to people who get obsessed with the pseudo-philosophy of positive thinking ("Live to Win," "Hell or Hallelujah," etc.). They're always talking about being the best and climbing the next mountain and blah blah blah, because that's the obnoxious attitude at the heart of PT: "I'm so wonderful that nobody can keep up with me," and you constantly have to reaffirm it to yourself to make it seem like it's true. (This is precisely why so many celebrities embraced Scientology: it stroked their egos and told them they had every right to be horrible people.) I'm sure Ace and Peter could be a big pain in the ass sometimes, but I've grown weary of Paul's self-aggrandizement. On the last two KISS albums he was doing Z-grade imitations of the crap he wrote in the '80s--that's how far out of touch he is with what made the band's early material so good.
It would have been good of Paul to acknowledge Ace's brilliant idea to do a rocking cover of the Stones' "2000 Man" on Dynasty, thereby keeping a lifeline with the fans of the rocking KISS.
The very first album that I listened to from start to finish on my own was Destroyer, I was probably 6 or 7 years old. By the time lick it up came out in 1984 me and my friends had already started a band when Kiss took their makeup off we were just putting ours on. We were playing at a Halloween party and my girlfriend dared me to dress like Kiss so me and my friends played that whole party dressed like Kiss. I have to admit that it had already been something that I wanted to do since I was a little kid and it didn't take too much persuading on my girlfriend's part before we were in full makeup. I never had as much fun playing music with my friends as I did on that particular Halloween of 1984 as it turned out to also be the first time me and my wife of 28 years now went all the way.
Totally agree; it's one of the rare instances (possibly only) where I disagreed with how Paul felt about something. I thought this era of costume was absolutely spectacular; didn't think it was possible to one-up the Destroyer costumes...and yet they did.
I bought ALIVE through a mail order record company and loved it. I always also liked "I was made for loving you" even though it was different. Thought it had a lot of Passion
Well I saw Kiss in Nashville in the summer of 1979, my first concert ever. New England opened the show and the experience of Kiss was one of the best highlights in my life and I'm now 53. I was 14 then. They really shaped the course of be my life and Paul, I really don't think you know how much joy and impact you guys had on people's lives. I've seen the stones, Pink Floyd, and hundreds of others but I still remember that night in 1979 like it happened yesterday. Thanks guys, it was one hell of a show!
Kevin Mingis Was my first concert also haha I was 11, my uncle took my cousin and myself to see them. I was blown away. Also thanks to that concert a few years later I started playing bass. My how time flies!
My favourite! Every song is simply phenomena! Beautiful, man! I was a child when I first heard Dynasty!!!!! I saw them live in my home country without make up and now they're touring with! Can't wait to see them! KISS has the magic touch!
They only sucked to people who didn't have the balls to admit they rocked. But by 79 they had sold out and there were too many little kids at the shows. Simmons ruined them for money.
cleo rivas You are correct mate, and I would like to add that Kiss owes their Raw Rock'nRoll sound to Ace Freely, and Ace was the most down to earth, approachable member of the band IMO.
@@cleorivas6098 I don't know about that, Some great albums in the 80's. Revenge was a great album. The Elder while many are not a fan is a pretty great album. I think there has been highs and lows but musically they have had gems throughout their career.
Hey, Ace is my favorite, as a guitarist; but Paul Stanley is my favorite, as a person, and he makes the most sense. But Ace did get sober and is surely improving personally.
I love Dynasty! I discovered the cassette at my uncle's bedroom! That was the only good thing he did in my life. Since I was 10/11 years old I was in love with this band and now I can enjoy listening to Dynasty all over again in Kiss channel! Thank you!
Paul and Gene can diss Ace all they want, but Ace saved those 3 albums...Dynasty, Unmasked and The Elder, and kept Kiss from imploding. In 1979, Kiss, as usual, were bowing to trends...at that point, it was disco; in the 80's, it was being a hair band; in the 90's, it was grunge; in the 00's, it was doing a "symphony" album like Metallica and Scorpions; hell, their whole image and music at the start was a trend...glam! Kiss has spent nearly their entire career following trends...
I disagree to an extent. I thought Paul did some good work on Unmasked and I really LOVED the Elder album when it came out. Perfect timing for a kid into movies like Excalibur and such. I still listen to Elder today and I enjoy it. Ace was only there for one song if I recall, but I did like it. I liked Ace's solo as well, but Paul's was my favorite as far as a fully rounded album. Ace did rock though, I agree. Gene seemed hit and miss. I liked "Charisma" and "World Without Heroes" ... a few songs here and there, but it really was an odd time for the band. After reading Ace's book, I think he was doing all he could to HELP them implode though.... give it a read. It is pretty fascinating.
@@83marceloa Not one of Ace's better songs, I'll grant you that. But no worse than "She's So European" and the ultra-lame "What Makes The World Go Round"...truth is, KISS just didn't have many songs available at that point. Peter contributed several songs for inclusion on Dynasty that were mostly rejected, except for "Dirty Livin'"; after his departure, those songs ended up on his first true solo album "Out Of Control".
@@louisdimov8956 Well just listen to their solo albums. Paul and Ace was the musical back bone Gene's freak show was cool but a over achiever in the bass area no . Just like saying Peter Criss was the best drummer lol no but I still like them . Really it was always Paul and Gene band after the 1st removal of Ace and Peter .
I saw KISS first on the Dynasty tour. That was the beginning of the end of my early love for KISS. Paul's guitar strap slipped; his guitar fell, but made no sound. Fuck those guys. When I discovered Judas Priest and Black Sabbath a few months later, it was pretty much over for KISS. I regained some of my fondness for the group about a decade later, and I still enjoy their early stuff a bit; once I heard REAL heavy metal, though... and shortly later, punk... KISS became a nostalgic novelty for me. For the record, their reunion show around 1996 was a thousand times better than what I remember of that Dynasty concert.
Man...that part about people being told not what to say to the band members. I've heard that a lot. Session players and sidemen told not to make eye contact with "the star." Credit to Paul for realizing (if a bit too late) what was happening.
1970borntorun do you have anything better to do? You literally comment on heaps of KISS videos bagging them. If I don’t like a band the last thing I’m going to do is look them up and watch their videos haha, I think you are a closet KISS fan...
Seems that Ace somehow managed to make his three tunes rock pretty well. The Stones cover, Hard Times, and Save Your Love were great KISS songs. Out of all members Ace was probably the most productive during '78 -' 80. Equal best solo album with Paul and then easily the best songs on Dynasty and Unmasked. He also had the foresight to know the Elder was a piece of crap. Funny how Gene and Paul always forget this period when they bag out Ace.
Ace had some shit on dynasty. He was the only one who was true rock n roll. Those three songs kicked ass. Im glad someone said it. Much of his stuff on unmasked and the elder was good too!
I never understood why they made themselves into super heroes, did comic books, had action figures and then actually wondered why they were suddenly appealing to children instead of teens and young adults?
Oh, I know what it is called and why they did, FOOL, what I do not understand, as I said, was WHY they seemed surprised when they wound up appealing to children in 1979 instead of teens and young adults in the mid seventies. I was 8 years old in 1979 and LOVED KISS because of their visual appeal, super hero personas, trading cards, my lunchbox, posters, action figures, and comic books. My point was, when you choose to market this way, you must accept the inevitable demographic that follows. They were marketing DIRECTLY to children, don't be shocked when they talk mom and dad into taking them to a show!
The early 70's was the beginning of the glam rock era: NY Dolls, Queen, Sweet, Alice Copper, Lou Reed, etc. Kiss leveraged a movement that was already making the rounds.
Paul, I really liked the Dynasty tour.....it fit in during the time of Disco.....I thought the colorful outfits were cool and never thought it was Disney like. Great times, great memories.....when Kiss came to Seattle during the Dynasty tour all 4 of you kicked ass.
I remember when I was a kid, my uncle had a k-tel disco's greatest hits 8-track that had "I was made for loving you". It blew my mind, the song sounded badass compared to the other stuff on it. I actually thought it was funny but cool af that KISS was everywhere. lol
Not many fans like "I Was Made for Lovin' You" but I love it and Paul is SO right about that... That song is universal and grabs in the first time listening to it! Not many song did that to me.
Paul and Gene need to finally admit that Ace had way more talent, stage presence and followers. Kiss would've never been as successful with and without Ace! Kiss fans held on to Kiss hoping someday Ace would come back!
It seems as if he considered that those outfits actually represented KISS, wherein the Dynasty stuff was something that felt like a costume because he was uncomfortable with it. The costumes would have looked so much better if you took the color they added and changed it to black. Paul and Ace would have looked so much cooler.
I saw KISS the first time in 79 and Priest opened, although I was 12 and didn't know JP. Anyway, the Dynasty outfits were awesome, I thought. I never knew the problems internally by that show. Boring stage setup though but ironically they say it was the biggest and most complicated to produce.
I've always been an Ace fan first, and I can easily admit that his Dynasty outfit and makeup has always been my favorite. Hotter than Hell is a really close second, though.
The original Love Gun costumes were the coolest KISS look. The one's they used on stage during the tour were rattier looking. Destroyer's costumes were cool also.
@@djgaryowens It's kind of sad knowing how many studio musicians and songwriters needed to work with KISS to make them successful. Not even because they were bad, they were just lazy and always chasing trends.
@@qty1315 Well today there are no singing, no playing "artistes" like Beyonce and Cardi B. etc. probably need 10 different producers and a rack full of studio voice processors and computerised backing before they can even come up with useable material its a sad business when there are people who have real talent but don't make it and people with not an iota of talent whatsoever do.
@@djgaryowens That's mostly the nature of the business now, unfortunately. Too many producers, session musicians, and failed musicians desperately looking for money and trying to attach themselves to pretty much anyone even remotely successful. I mean, look at how relatively minor TH-cam singers will have a full band accompanying them, a couple producers mixing their songs, and a recording engineer or two working the mics, then imagine how many people asked for one of those jobs and were declined or ignored. Then imagine what it must be like for Cardi B or Beyonce. Their inboxes must be full of emails like "OMG, I wrote this song just for you. Please sing on it." I think that's why Rihanna is on so many songs, and why Drake releases so much music.
My first concert was Dynasty in 1979 when I was 12 and it was amazing (to me)!! I love their prior/post rock albums, but I also liked the Dynasty look & sound, too!
Paul is a very astute and well educated man. You can tell by the way he talks. Ace and Peter have trouble stringing two words together. There you go !!!!
I was like 11 years old or 12 when music from the Elder came out and I listen to it on my Walkman every night before I went to bed and I loved it. It was like listening to The Beastmaster soundtrack or something. As a kid it was awesome
The band was burned out from nonstop touring for seven years. They should have taken a break after the Love Gun tour. If Aucoin had not been taking so much of the band's profit from the merchandise and touring revenue, they could have done this. The band really got played badly through their peak years. When Paul says they were a bunch of "rich guys" they really were not. They were blowing all of their income on tour while Aucoin was building bigger and bigger office spaces.
What the hell are you on about? Of course they were rich! It's well documented that all four of them were multi-millionaires by 1979. Gene built (and I do mean *built* ) a penthouse apartment as a shrine for Cher on 5th Avenue in NYC. Do you think he paid for it in Monopoly money? Peter stated several times in his autobiography that he had 10 million dollars in the bank by 1979 (and that's in 1979 dollars). I'm sure they were all spending heavily by that time but the fact still remains that they were "a bunch of rich guys".
Well according to their business manager by the turn of the early 80's they had blown everything they had made in the 70's. So if they were a bunch of rich guys in 1979, it was a pile of cash they were burning at a high rate. So if you're blowing money and nothing is coming in, well... you find the bottom pretty fast.
If they realized Peter wasn't capable of playing the songs on the record, how the hell did they expect him to pull them off in a live setting after the fact? I was only 10 years old when Dynasty was released, but as a drummer from a young age, I realized straight away after hearing "Hard Times"that there was no way that was Peter on the drums.
It blows my mind that such an Iconic band with so much success all hated each other and none stop drama even tho it is a big black eye on the band it makes their story more interesting kiss still rules
A great example of just because you can, doesn’t mean you should...And it’s interesting to me how Paul still doesn’t recognize I Was Made For Loving You as the first shot across the bow. He admits here it was a calculated effort to get a disco hit. (Though he’s careful not to actually say “disco. ) He seems to think that as long as it was a hit, or “undeniable,” it was ok...when in fact it was a huge slap in the face to their early supporters...whom they arguably lost almost entirely following this album.
I always read on the internet that the Dynasty album is disliked by fans, but it was the making of Kiss-mania in Australia. That' thing really went nuts. IWMFLY is still widely remembered. Unmasked,was well received but the Kiss-mania cooled off. Radio here continued to play Shandi for 30 more years.
Of course he was paid to do it, he wrote it, and everyone knows its an audiobook narration of his autobiography. Is everyone really this stupid? (Comment not directed at the OP)
ben ashworth what would be great, would be another member reading the book, and commenting on everyth8ng along the way. Now THAT would be amazing to hear, especially as Ace’s new music absolutely runs circles around anyth8ng Gene or Paul have written in decades. I feel as though Ace was, and IS the only TRUE hard-rocker to have worn the paint.
Give Paul credit for being humble enough to acknowledge they were fucking up and losing their audience. It's got to feel pretty embarrassing to admit they were making so many mistakes and losing popularity. He could've made a lot of excuses, but he sounds pretty straightforward about it all. KISS lost me and most of my friends during the solo album period. Our consensus on the solo albums? Gene: A few good songs. Ace: A couple good songs (NY Groove and Wiped Out) Paul: Boring and forgettable. Peter: Even more boring and forgettable.
Ace has stated in several interviews that they should've done a Creatures of the Night type album following Rock n Roll over and Love Gun instead of Dynasty, which was followed by Unmasked and the horrible The Elder album. He said by the time they got to recording The Elder, Ace was asking himself, "WTF are we doing here?!" He said that's when he began to have thoughts of leaving the band. Peter Criss has stated that he HATED the "going Vegas" look and vibe that Kiss was doing and that's supposedly why he had no desire to play on the album. He said that, "if his heart isn't in it then he ain't doing it!" That's why he had no problem not playing on it bc he said that he is more straight ahead rock n roll and not the flashy Vegas style that Dynasty became.
Most is Ace’s tunes weren’t that great. Let’s be honest. Parasite, Rocket Ride, and Into the Void are strong songs. But man, so many people act like Ace is some ace songwriter; he’s not.
Here's some news: Kiss was always most popular with grade school kids. I was in high school when they hit the scene and we'd always considered them to be kiddie rock. Every sixth grader in my town had a Kiss belt buckle... LOL!
My first time seeing KISS live was the Dynasty Tour. My girlfriend at the time was big on Disco and Soul, but didn't care for Rock. She was blown away, as was I. Perhaps KISS was better on earlier tours, but we LOVED Dynasty. I went on to see KISS at least 4 more times: Creatures, Animalize, Hot in the Shade, Reunion, and loved every show. Paul and Gene are extremely intelligent and serious people who knew how to not only make money, but KEEP IT by constantly re-inventing the band and not blowing their minds on drugs. People who dislike their approach to the BUSINESS that is rock and roll at their level, are simply ignorant.
Agree Pete. When you pull back the bullshit curtain that Paul and Gene erected after the 70s, that's exactly what you get. A lot of tough talk, platitudes, excuses, etc. from them over the last 3.5 decades, but, in the end, they would be nothing without the 70s. They'd be lucky to sell out clubs (now) if they had started out in the 80s, and would have quickly gone away when Nirvana came out if that had been the case.
Agreed. KISS now is a mere parody of what is once was. After Love Gun, they haven't released more than an album's worth of great songs in all their following albums. And most of those songs were written by Ace. Rocket Ride, Hard Times, and basically all the good songs on Unmasked.
stan broniszewski That's funny. I was 21 and in the Air Force at Barksdale AFB. One thing that stands out is Paul was playing a Gibson Firebird as I recall. Something he normally did not play.
DMSProduktions Now that you mention it I think you are correct. On the cover of Alive, the first one, he is holding a Firebird. I have just always associated him with the Ibanez Iceman, now known as PS 120.
Right! Paul made his 1st guitar endorsement with Ibanez in about '77, when he started playing the Iceman, so he would have a distinct guitar like Ace had his Les Pauls! The Cracked mirror version he played a bit later was made as an homage to Noddy Holders mirror covered coachmans hat! (MEGA Slade fanatics Paul & Gene!)
I remember hearing I was made for loving you for the very first time in a skating rink in Austin,Texas in 1979.Just as soon as I heard I liked it and I recognized Paul's voice immediately when I heard him.Sometimes I wonder was I dreaming?No I don't think so.Life is dreamy though and so is Kiss 's music.Ive seen Kiss through the course of my dreams it's never been a nightmare.The elder takes me to that place in my mind when I was just a boy.very cherish able memories for me. Michael McVay
I was 19 when 'Music From the Elder' was released, but it also takes me back to simpler times and great memories. That album and 'Carnival of Souls' have become my mainstays these days. I also *love* 'Sonic Boom' and 'Monster'!
As someone _without_ an encyclopedic knowledge of all things Kiss, I'm in no position to be making claims regarding the veracity of Paul's (or anyone else's) opinions. That said, I know that many people have accused Paul of being flexible with the truth, to put it mildly. I can't accept or reject those accusations fairly. However, there are a couple of bits in Paul's book that scan as both wishy-washy and contradictory.
thanks for posting these excerpts. i appreciate that. um, the Dynasty tour was so horrible. you had individuals, not a band. you had enablers and that machine had to keep running. just sad to think that Peter could not play drums by '79. what a waste with drugs and booze and car crashes. Peter had a good 3 year run w/Kiss and is being kind. even so, the album was ok. the best songs on Dynasty are, "magic touch", "save your love" and "sure know something"
79'...I was 7 years old. My family would go out to dinner on weekends and afterwards we would go to the record store so. Had I behaved during the night I would get to pick an album for myself. Was walking through the aisles when that Dynasty cover popped out at me. I was in the 8track section of all places. "That's it. That's the one. Look at those faces". I still have it.
When little kids want to see your show, the teens and early 20 somethings that were the majority of your audience suddenly don’t want to be associated with something the little kids like. You lost your cool factor. Worse, you became a parody of yourselves. You hit the nail on the head when you said it was like H.R. Puffinstuff on ice. The costumes didn’t have that edgy look anymore, Ace’s wasn’t horrible, but the cape was a bit much. Gene’s on the other hand.. I don’t know what that was supposed to be, it looked like balled up tinfoil over football gear. Just terrible. Dynasty wasn’t a bad album, but it didn’t sound like a KISS album. It all went off the rails, really starting with the Solo albums. The solos probably would have worked better if released 1 at a time between Kiss albums. But who’s to say at this point. I bought Dynasty, and tried to like it, same with Unmasked, and Music from the Elder. I tried hard to like it, but I just couldn’t, it didn’t sound anything like the hard rocking band I had grown up with. It sounded like bubblegum fluff.. but then, just when all hope was lost. Creatures of the Night came out, and I played the grooves right off the record.. we were all hoping.. then... Lick it up.... oh yea, there’s our band! Good to have you back fellas!! And you built on what you had done
Some people liked disco, obviously Paul did, he was not alone. DLR put a disco version of Dancing in the Street on VH....it happened in the 70’s. But any band who is supported by fans, faces the drop when they react negative to the artistic choices. AC/DC embraced the hammer-on guitar riff that was dominating guitar based rock in the mid to late 80’s on Who Made Who. That bummed me out too, wasn’t necessary. Poison tried to get ‘serious’ & Crue continually lost everything great about Too Fast. To this day, as much as I dont like his attitude in interviews & reality tv, if Paul & the guys had followed Genes lead they would have sustained a longer edge during the disco years & glam 80’s days. His songs & vocal approach always remained consistent: raw & almost punk. I dont think the Japanese demon battle ax wielding bass player was going to veer too far from the dark edgy look & show fans loved. But thats art: choices, action & reaction 🤘🏻
KISS was the first band that was " mine " , not something my older brother listened to. But one day my brother-in-law brought me his copy of "Let there be Rock" and from that day on, AC/DC was the band that would stay with me forever. No ballads, no acoustic guitars, no dance music, just rock and roll turned up loud. I can still listen to the first few KISS albums, but that's about it for me.
It kind of makes sense that KISS ditched their hard rock sound and drifted toward the Dynasty pop sound because their early hard rock pre-Alive! sound failed to sell records but they miscalculated.
I was a Huge KISS fan from the beginning, and was about 12 when their first album came out. I was actually afraid of Gene's Vampire make-up on the debut record! LOL! By 1975 when KISS Alive came out, they were Gods to my friends and I. My first Concert EVER was KISS, Varsity Stadium, Toronto, Canada, Sept.6th, 1976 for the Destroyer Tour. In 1977-78, things just kept getting bigger and better for KISS, as you all know! For me tho, AND for a LOT of other True KISS fans, their biggest downfall came with The Elder album. I saw them on the Dynasty Tour, August 4th, 1979, and they were great that night, especially Ace Frehley. I thought Dynasty and Unmasked both had great songs on them. IF those songs were produced to be Rock songs, they would have kept KISS's Rock fanbase satisfied. instead, they were produced with a Disco/ Pop influence, and they suffered for it. Ace's songs were the only one's that Rocked, and Ace's solo album was the best. In 1980-81, Ace was completely correct when he told Gene and Paul that doing The Elder was a mistake. They didn't listen. Believe me when I say, that it takes a LOT to lose me as a KISS fan, and with The Elder, I almost gave up on them for good. A lot of fans DID bail on them then.Thank God they got back to being a Rock Band, but they lost Ace in the process. I always wonder how much better their career could have been IF they just put out a Hard Rock Album like Creatures Of The NIght instead? They should have sold "Music From The Elder" to some Broadway Production, where it belongs!!!
My first favorite band, you gotta give em props for longevity and continuing to grind it out on the road. Kiss was my first major rock concert (Creatures Tour, '83) and to this day it stands as one of the best shows I've ever seen and I've been to thousands in no small part because of the fire Kiss lit in me about community and live music and just keeping shit real to yourself. But...jesus christ I Was Made For Loving You is a bad song. It wrecked me when it came out but I've made my peace with it since (I never was subjected to it live). Long Live Kiss! Cheers!
KISS started off with nothing. Through determination, a belief in what they were doing, and giving a damn about the music they were putting out they clawed their way to the top. Plus a good management team that helped them perfect their stage show. They defied the odds and made it. There is a life lesson in their journey. And it doesn’t stop after they made it. No band ever stays at the top of the pack. Or sticks to doing what they did when they first started, there’s always an evolution of sorts. Fame and fortune can change a person. If you can remain humble even when you reach rockstar caliber, and don’t rest on what you’ve done in the past but build off of that(which I’m sure is not easy to do) then you move into the league of Dave Grohl. Who seems to be a rare breed. KISS were heroes to me growing up. In some ways they still are because I’ve learned from them.
I was a major Kiss fan for years as a teenager. I bought, loved and played to death every album up until Dynasty. Kiss were my band! But I started to wane when I heard Dynasty. One day the mother of a little 5yo my mum used to babysit before school handed me a cassette and asked me if I could record some Kiss for her daughter. That was the day I gave up on Kiss. They were no longer the hard rock band that shocked and disgusted my parents on tv a few years before.
I was done with them after the solos albums. Aces was clearly the best. People were burned out on them. Van Halen was exploding at that time. How ironic Gene did have good taste when he did there demo.
The album was commercially successful. The massive amount of money generated by a hit song began rolling in. The tour had some empty seats, but the band was still enjoying a peak merchandising year, in April of 1980 they signed one of the most lucrative recording contracts in the record industry. Aucoin's empire was crashing and Kiss began realizing they were footing the bill for all of these upstarts - bands that went nowhere. The merchandising was owned by Aucoin, when they realized he had burned through most of the money they were angry. They put him on a tighter leash and finally sacked him a few years later. In 1980, the band was rolling in money. Gene and Cher split up. Gene and Diana Ross hooked up. They replaced Peter with a new drummer that the fans accepted. What could go wrong? The 80's had a lot of twists and turns in store for their career, but, they survived and by 1990 they were once again riding the popularity of a hit song, 'Forever'.
Its clear paul is heartless instead of criticizing he should realize ace was the talent and tried to listen to his point of view.peter and gene are hopeless but thay doesn't mean he should bash them.paul your not perfect no matter what u believe
This downfall started before the "Dynasty" album/tour. In 78 KISS gave us a pre mature best-of set with several unwelcome remixes. Then the ill-advised solo LPs which, not many years later, ended up in cut-out bins across the country. Then came the made-for-TV movie "KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park"... the "Plan 9 From Outer Space" of Rock n Roll movies!
I never get tired of listening to Paul talk about how everyone sucks accept for him 😂 It never gets old and I love when he pretends that he isn’t gay priceless
I know it was a dated departure for KISS. But DYNASTY was a badd ass resord. I went to the 1980 show in The Summit in Houston, Tx. I was 10. The smell of weed. The lights. The lasers. The MUSIC! It is a treasured memory I cherish. I Was Made For Loving You will always be my dedication for my ex wife, who i'll love forever. Thanks Paul. Thanks Gene. Thanks Ace. Thanks Anton.❤☺👍
My God does this man enjoy the sound of his own voice? ME, ME and more ME, if anyone ever felt sorry for Ace and Peter not being in KISS, just thank God they don't have to suffer this mind- numbing bullshit anymore.
The Dynasty costumes were ok with me. But then I was 7 years old in '79 and the kind of fan KISS hated. My first record was Destroyer and loved the dark atmospheric Ezrin production. I thought at 4 years old that this is what a band should sound like. My parents being so young is what got me into music at such an early age. After hearing Chicago, ELO, Moody Blues, bands should sound epic. So KISS, with their Destroyer album and stage show, hooked me in and I thought that's how it's supposed to be done.
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Anton Fig's drum tracks on Ace's solo record were as important as Michael Anthony's background vocals in VH.
"Sure Know Something" is my favourite track on DYNASTY.
Mines I Was Made For Loving You but I like that one too
Charisma and Dirty Livin!
Yesssss
Awesome video as well....
Yep, one of the best KISS songs period.
They have stated in multiple occasions how worried they had become after watching complete families at their shows. I wonder, though, how many of those kids became so impressed with what they saw that ended up engrossing the ranks of Kiss fans years later, and many of them became rockstars. David Grohl, Marilyn Manson, are examples of that.
Manson once called KISS '4 gay dudes in Halloween costumes' so he was hardly inspired by them.
@@dwightJones98I I see You haven't read his book, "Long hard road out of hell".
Probably those little kids grew up and kept them popular into and through the '80's because as an older teen...19 I was starting to get tired of them and the disco themed hit was the sealer...I still went to see the Dynasty tour in Los Angeles Nov 7th but I was losing interest...I hadn't even bought the album...the last Kiss related album I bought was Ace's solo...the year before...the concert wasn't the same for me as it was like Anaheim stadium in '76 which was incredible for me...
@@edguitarstanleyeisen6179 I have and he calls KISS '4 gay dudes in Halloween costumes'.
"Soon, the wood panels and high rafters of my basement bedroom were covered with pictures from Hit parader, Circus and Cream. Every morning I woke up staring at KISS, Judas Priest..." Quote from his book, page 26. And right on page 27 there's a picture of him wearing a Peter Criss make up. We're talking about influence here, not the comments of a cocky rockstar that "borrowed" all he could from the previous monsters.@@dwightJones98I
I really respect Paul's honesty on kiss's ups and downs. He doesn't sugarcoat his or the bands mistakes. He's brutally honest about the mistakes. I just really respect that!
Did you actually read the book? Most of his stories make no sense because they are full of holes.
Yeah, but he also doesn't take responsibility for any of the problems or shit that happened. It's always someone else's problem.
He's brutally honest about everyone else's mistakes, it's never his fault.
@@maxxxmodelz4061 He took blame for mishandling Eric Carr.
@@mawxgunderson743 Exactly. It was very enjoyable, but almost laughable how Paul ALWAYS made himself an innocent victim in every situation
Magic Touch was Paul stanley's best song on that record.
Yes! Killer track
He only had 3 songs on the album, and Magic Touch is the only one that sounds like rock n roll
Apparently Paul has never done anything wrong and every other human being let's him down
His real name is Stanley Eisen Trump.
Byron MacDowell I didn’t know you were a KISS fan Obama
Listen to the whole audio book instead of a few minute clip . i thought the same shit just by what I've heard. He's actually a decent guy. Gene is 100% an asshole though.
Yeah, he's a tragic bastard. Money doesn't buy you happiness and Stanley proves it.
This happens to people who get obsessed with the pseudo-philosophy of positive thinking ("Live to Win," "Hell or Hallelujah," etc.). They're always talking about being the best and climbing the next mountain and blah blah blah, because that's the obnoxious attitude at the heart of PT: "I'm so wonderful that nobody can keep up with me," and you constantly have to reaffirm it to yourself to make it seem like it's true. (This is precisely why so many celebrities embraced Scientology: it stroked their egos and told them they had every right to be horrible people.) I'm sure Ace and Peter could be a big pain in the ass sometimes, but I've grown weary of Paul's self-aggrandizement. On the last two KISS albums he was doing Z-grade imitations of the crap he wrote in the '80s--that's how far out of touch he is with what made the band's early material so good.
I have no shame...I love Ace's Dynasty costume.
Me too!
The costumes are fine...it's those capes that ruin it for me...
"Nobody wanted the gravy train to stop". Apparently that holds true today.
Jorge Rodriguez Would you?
WOW 🥰 GRAVY AND HOT CHIPS!!!!! MMMM YUMO!!!!!
@@louisdimov8956yeah...I love gravy over french fries !!! 😋
Because you would turn down wealth and success? lol so self righteous and hypocritical
It would have been good of Paul to acknowledge Ace's brilliant idea to do a rocking cover of the Stones' "2000 Man" on Dynasty, thereby keeping a lifeline with the fans of the rocking KISS.
Paul would never give Ace any credit. Top much of an egotist.
@@johnmassoud930 , verdade.
I think that is the weakest song on the album
WHY
The very first album that I listened to from start to finish on my own was Destroyer, I was probably 6 or 7 years old. By the time lick it up came out in 1984 me and my friends had already started a band when Kiss took their makeup off we were just putting ours on. We were playing at a Halloween party and my girlfriend dared me to dress like Kiss so me and my friends played that whole party dressed like Kiss. I have to admit that it had already been something that I wanted to do since I was a little kid and it didn't take too much persuading on my girlfriend's part before we were in full makeup. I never had as much fun playing music with my friends as I did on that particular Halloween of 1984 as it turned out to also be the first time me and my wife of 28 years now went all the way.
So wait, did you cheat on the gf with her?
freewilliam93 I think he’s saying his girlfriend then is his wife now
God gave rock and roll to you my friend...
With or without the makeup
@@lemmymotorhead4429 The god of this world
Watching Dynasty after Kiss Alive II was depressing as hell
I was at alive 2....GOOD SHOW
Yep...I saw them in '76 at Anaheim stadium...then the Nov 7th show at the Los Angeles forum...it wasn't the same for me...losing interest big time...
I personally love the dynasty/unmasked outfits they were larger than life just like Kiss themselves.
They looked cool to me too!
Totally agree; it's one of the rare instances (possibly only) where I disagreed with how Paul felt about something. I thought this era of costume was absolutely spectacular; didn't think it was possible to one-up the Destroyer costumes...and yet they did.
me to, they always looked freaky, Ace looks the coolest
than
Kenyon Vincent thank you fixed
I bought ALIVE through a mail order record company and loved it. I always also liked "I was made for loving you" even though it was different. Thought it had a lot of Passion
Well I saw Kiss in Nashville in the summer of 1979, my first concert ever. New England opened the show and the experience of Kiss was one of the best highlights in my life and I'm now 53. I was 14 then. They really shaped the course of be my life and Paul, I really don't think you know how much joy and impact you guys had on people's lives. I've seen the stones, Pink Floyd, and hundreds of others but I still remember that night in 1979 like it happened yesterday. Thanks guys, it was one hell of a show!
Kevin Mingis Was my first concert also haha I was 11, my uncle took my cousin and myself to see them. I was blown away. Also thanks to that concert a few years later I started playing bass. My how time flies!
I think dynasty is a cool record
My favourite! Every song is simply phenomena! Beautiful, man! I was a child when I first heard Dynasty!!!!! I saw them live in my home country without make up and now they're touring with! Can't wait to see them! KISS has the magic touch!
My Favourite record by KISS
Producer should had been Kramer. Produced like aces 78 album. Dynasty had a weak sound. Flat.
Kiss was from ‘74 “Kiss” to ‘78 “Double Platinum”...CASE CLOSED!!!
Mr. Bevalaqua 😄 Their relevance as a musical power is what I meant. After “DP”, they were popular, but their musical well had dried up.
Spot on
They only sucked to people who didn't have the balls to admit they rocked. But by 79 they had sold out and there were too many little kids at the shows. Simmons ruined them for money.
cleo rivas You are correct mate, and I would like to add that Kiss owes their Raw Rock'nRoll sound to Ace Freely, and Ace was the most down to earth, approachable member of the band IMO.
@@cleorivas6098 I don't know about that, Some great albums in the 80's. Revenge was a great album. The Elder while many are not a fan is a pretty great album. I think there has been highs and lows but musically they have had gems throughout their career.
Hey, Ace is my favorite, as a guitarist; but Paul Stanley is my favorite, as a person, and he makes the most sense.
But Ace did get sober and is surely improving personally.
I love Dynasty! I discovered the cassette at my uncle's bedroom! That was the only good thing he did in my life. Since I was 10/11 years old I was in love with this band and now I can enjoy listening to Dynasty all over again in Kiss channel! Thank you!
Vini Poncia, Producer of Peter's solo lp, Dynasty, n Unmasked- not Vinnie Vincent
Hard Times, X-Ray Eyes, Save Your Love, Charisma , My fav tunes off that record....
I was made for loving you was GREAT!!!!
Paul and Gene can diss Ace all they want, but Ace saved those 3 albums...Dynasty, Unmasked and The Elder, and kept Kiss from imploding. In 1979, Kiss, as usual, were bowing to trends...at that point, it was disco; in the 80's, it was being a hair band; in the 90's, it was grunge; in the 00's, it was doing a "symphony" album like Metallica and Scorpions; hell, their whole image and music at the start was a trend...glam! Kiss has spent nearly their entire career following trends...
I disagree to an extent. I thought Paul did some good work on Unmasked and I really LOVED the Elder album when it came out. Perfect timing for a kid into movies like Excalibur and such. I still listen to Elder today and I enjoy it. Ace was only there for one song if I recall, but I did like it. I liked Ace's solo as well, but Paul's was my favorite as far as a fully rounded album. Ace did rock though, I agree. Gene seemed hit and miss. I liked "Charisma" and "World Without Heroes" ... a few songs here and there, but it really was an odd time for the band. After reading Ace's book, I think he was doing all he could to HELP them implode though.... give it a read. It is pretty fascinating.
Chuck Potocki two super-jews ripping people off to get rich?!?! Yah don't say
"Saved" with Torpedo Girl ? 🤣🤣🤣🤣
@@83marceloa Not one of Ace's better songs, I'll grant you that. But no worse than "She's So European" and the ultra-lame "What Makes The World Go Round"...truth is, KISS just didn't have many songs available at that point. Peter contributed several songs for inclusion on Dynasty that were mostly rejected, except for "Dirty Livin'"; after his departure, those songs ended up on his first true solo album "Out Of Control".
@@83marceloa - LOL yeah, a total filler track. It had some ok ideas which didn't quite work.
Ace had the best solo album by far, Gene's solo record is unlistenable.
Paul and Ace was the back bone of the band. But Gene is just Gene
Gene is a fucking scumbag w zero musical talent. He can’t play, can’t sing, nothing. He’s useless in the band.
Gene had a few good songs though. Radioactive was great!! Peter's was unlistenable
@@brianrahuba6919 SAYS WHO!!!!! WAS
@@louisdimov8956 Well just listen to their solo albums. Paul and Ace was the musical back bone Gene's freak show was cool but a over achiever in the bass area no . Just like saying Peter Criss was the best drummer lol no but I still like them . Really it was always Paul and Gene band after the 1st removal of Ace and Peter .
I saw KISS first on the Dynasty tour. That was the beginning of the end of my early love for KISS. Paul's guitar strap slipped; his guitar fell, but made no sound. Fuck those guys. When I discovered Judas Priest and Black Sabbath a few months later, it was pretty much over for KISS. I regained some of my fondness for the group about a decade later, and I still enjoy their early stuff a bit; once I heard REAL heavy metal, though... and shortly later, punk... KISS became a nostalgic novelty for me.
For the record, their reunion show around 1996 was a thousand times better than what I remember of that Dynasty concert.
The original KISS crowd shattered as Rush, Judas Priest, and Van Halen came along.
Man...that part about people being told not what to say to the band members. I've heard that a lot. Session players and sidemen told not to make eye contact with "the star." Credit to Paul for realizing (if a bit too late) what was happening.
Gordon Mills Yeah fuck that noise.. Ain't no star in my eyes. Either you want to make a fucking record or don't ya?
"We spent years in court trying to get our money back for that laser curtain" pretty much encapsulates KISS.
The funny part is that they ended up using it 11 years later during the Hot In The Shade Tour.
antonio ortiz Yes, you DO mean all flash and ZERO music substance, right? LOL
1970borntorun Yep
1970borntorun do you have anything better to do? You literally comment on heaps of KISS videos bagging them. If I don’t like a band the last thing I’m going to do is look them up and watch their videos haha, I think you are a closet KISS fan...
Closet kiss fan
Seems that Ace somehow managed to make his three tunes rock pretty well. The Stones cover, Hard Times, and Save Your Love were great KISS songs.
Out of all members Ace was probably the most productive during '78 -' 80. Equal best solo album with Paul and then easily the best songs on Dynasty and Unmasked. He also had the foresight to know the Elder was a piece of crap.
Funny how Gene and Paul always forget this period when they bag out Ace.
To each his own. I loved Ace's solo album, but thought the Ace songs on Dynasty sucked. The vocals, at least.
Aces dynasty songs sucked? WHAT? Save your love sucked? Really? Thats just wrong, sorry
GENE SIMMONS EXPOSED - th-cam.com/video/VLYnqCdX_iw/w-d-xo.html
In the early days Ace looked like a boy onstage. By Dynasty tour he was a full rockstar, shining as much as Paul and Gene. He was up and growing.
Ace had some shit on dynasty. He was the only one who was true rock n roll. Those three songs kicked ass. Im glad someone said it.
Much of his stuff on unmasked and the elder was good too!
I never understood why they made themselves into super heroes, did comic books, had action figures and then actually wondered why they were suddenly appealing to children instead of teens and young adults?
Oh, I know what it is called and why they did, FOOL, what I do not understand, as I said, was WHY they seemed surprised when they wound up appealing to children in 1979 instead of teens and young adults in the mid seventies. I was 8 years old in 1979 and LOVED KISS because of their visual appeal, super hero personas, trading cards, my lunchbox, posters, action figures, and comic books. My point was, when you choose to market this way, you must accept the inevitable demographic that follows. They were marketing DIRECTLY to children, don't be shocked when they talk mom and dad into taking them to a show!
Money ? Smh
Garegh62. Destroyer and Love Gun had its moments? What a laugh fucking TROLL ALLERT
The early 70's was the beginning of the glam rock era: NY Dolls, Queen, Sweet, Alice Copper, Lou Reed, etc. Kiss leveraged a movement that was already making the rounds.
@Imperium Europa exactly right.
Paul, I really liked the Dynasty tour.....it fit in during the time of Disco.....I thought the colorful outfits were cool and never thought it was Disney like. Great times, great memories.....when Kiss came to Seattle during the Dynasty tour all 4 of you kicked ass.
I remember when I was a kid, my uncle had a k-tel disco's greatest hits 8-track that had "I was made for loving you". It blew my mind, the song sounded badass compared to the other stuff on it. I actually thought it was funny but cool af that KISS was everywhere. lol
Part of why so many got burnt out on them so quickly.
Not many fans like "I Was Made for Lovin' You" but I love it and Paul is SO right about that... That song is universal and grabs in the first time listening to it! Not many song did that to me.
Paul and Gene need to finally admit that Ace had way more talent, stage presence and followers. Kiss would've never been as successful with and without Ace! Kiss fans held on to Kiss hoping someday Ace would come back!
Ace is back and I told you so !!!
Peter as well, had amazing talent and this dickbag is jealous of him and Ace!!!!
Peter and Ace were amazing and fantastic and the real talent
@@kevinchandler179ace yes
Peter no
@RandomKissFan0815 Try again, Peter Criss was actually vocals and drums 🥁 wise as influential as any of them!!!!!!!!
.....I loved the costumes of the dynasty tour.
I had a life
So Peter played on all the best Albums..Cool
He didn't consider the outfits they wore before Dynasty to be "costumes"? Did they ever wear their pre-Dynasty outfits to dinner or out on the street?
It seems as if he considered that those outfits actually represented KISS, wherein the Dynasty stuff was something that felt like a costume because he was uncomfortable with it. The costumes would have looked so much better if you took the color they added and changed it to black. Paul and Ace would have looked so much cooler.
I think he means that before Dynasty the outfits had a purpose but the dynasty ones were just about flash and not really rock n roll
I saw KISS the first time in 79 and Priest opened, although I was 12 and didn't know JP. Anyway, the Dynasty outfits were awesome, I thought. I never knew the problems internally by that show. Boring stage setup though but ironically they say it was the biggest and most complicated to produce.
I've always been an Ace fan first, and I can easily admit that his Dynasty outfit and makeup has always been my favorite. Hotter than Hell is a really close second, though.
The original Love Gun costumes were the coolest KISS look. The one's they used on stage during the tour were rattier looking. Destroyer's costumes were cool also.
Kiss never improved as musicians. Easy to see when they had to bring in studio musicians. Pretty sad.
Look at CHEAP TRICK they are a better band by far. Kiss I guess they always did need lots of outside help to make their records.
@@djgaryowens It's kind of sad knowing how many studio musicians and songwriters needed to work with KISS to make them successful.
Not even because they were bad, they were just lazy and always chasing trends.
@@qty1315 Well today there are no singing, no playing "artistes" like Beyonce and Cardi B. etc. probably need 10 different producers and a rack full of studio voice processors and computerised backing before they can even come up with useable material its a sad business when there are people who have real talent but don't make it and people with not an iota of talent whatsoever do.
@@djgaryowens That's mostly the nature of the business now, unfortunately. Too many producers, session musicians, and failed musicians desperately looking for money and trying to attach themselves to pretty much anyone even remotely successful.
I mean, look at how relatively minor TH-cam singers will have a full band accompanying them, a couple producers mixing their songs, and a recording engineer or two working the mics, then imagine how many people asked for one of those jobs and were declined or ignored.
Then imagine what it must be like for Cardi B or Beyonce. Their inboxes must be full of emails like "OMG, I wrote this song just for you. Please sing on it."
I think that's why Rihanna is on so many songs, and why Drake releases so much music.
Loved you on LAUGH-IN, Gary…
With the exception of "I was made for lovin you" Dynasty was a damn GOOD Rock album, and one of my favs.
Or visa versa.
Just saw THE CONCERT OF ALL CONCERTS last night... End of the Road tour 😭😢
My first concert was Dynasty in 1979 when I was 12 and it was amazing (to me)!! I love their prior/post rock albums, but I also liked the Dynasty look & sound, too!
man, same here but i was 11. definitely something you never forget. i thought it was good too. saw them again once after that but that's it
Paul is a very astute and well educated man. You can tell by the way he talks. Ace and Peter have trouble stringing two words together. There you go !!!!
You can say "disco" Paul. There's absolutely nothing wrong with it.
Charisma is a badass song
It was. First heard it at 14. And today, I still hear it.
Yep. Love them flams on the drumset.
I was like 11 years old or 12 when music from the Elder came out and I listen to it on my Walkman every night before I went to bed and I loved it. It was like listening to The Beastmaster soundtrack or something. As a kid it was awesome
The band was burned out from nonstop touring for seven years. They should have taken a break after the Love Gun tour. If Aucoin had not been taking so much of the band's profit from the merchandise and touring revenue, they could have done this. The band really got played badly through their peak years. When Paul says they were a bunch of "rich guys" they really were not. They were blowing all of their income on tour while Aucoin was building bigger and bigger office spaces.
What the hell are you on about? Of course they were rich! It's well documented that all four of them were multi-millionaires by 1979. Gene built (and I do mean *built* ) a penthouse apartment as a shrine for Cher on 5th Avenue in NYC. Do you think he paid for it in Monopoly money? Peter stated several times in his autobiography that he had 10 million dollars in the bank by 1979 (and that's in 1979 dollars). I'm sure they were all spending heavily by that time but the fact still remains that they were "a bunch of rich guys".
Well according to their business manager by the turn of the early 80's they had blown everything they had made in the 70's. So if they were a bunch of rich guys in 1979, it was a pile of cash they were burning at a high rate. So if you're blowing money and nothing is coming in, well... you find the bottom pretty fast.
Bill Aucoin was a man boy lover.
If they realized Peter wasn't capable of playing the songs on the record, how the hell did they expect him to pull them off in a live setting after the fact? I was only 10 years old when Dynasty was released, but as a drummer from a young age, I realized straight away after hearing "Hard Times"that there was no way that was Peter on the drums.
I believe Aton fig played on that one! 😮
@Marvin-wv7hb yes, Anton Fig played drums on the entire record except for Dirty Livin'.
It blows my mind that such an Iconic band with so much success all hated each other and none stop drama even tho it is a big black eye on the band it makes their story more interesting kiss still rules
A great example of just because you can, doesn’t mean you should...And it’s interesting to me how Paul still doesn’t recognize I Was Made For Loving You as the first shot across the bow. He admits here it was a calculated effort to get a disco hit. (Though he’s careful not to actually say “disco. ) He seems to think that as long as it was a hit, or “undeniable,” it was ok...when in fact it was a huge slap in the face to their early supporters...whom they arguably lost almost entirely following this album.
I always read on the internet that the Dynasty album is disliked by fans, but it was the making of Kiss-mania in Australia. That' thing really went nuts. IWMFLY is still widely remembered.
Unmasked,was well received but the Kiss-mania cooled off. Radio here continued to play Shandi for 30 more years.
Thank you Paul for taking the time to narrate this.
u don't think he would let anybody else read his book do ya?....although "Face the Music" read by Ace would be great
394pjo He was paid to do it. Do people thank him for wiping out his anus???
Of course he was paid to do it, he wrote it, and everyone knows its an audiobook narration of his autobiography. Is everyone really this stupid? (Comment not directed at the OP)
ben ashworth what would be great, would be another member reading the book, and commenting on everyth8ng along the way. Now THAT would be amazing to hear, especially as Ace’s new music absolutely runs circles around anyth8ng Gene or Paul have written in decades. I feel as though Ace was, and IS the only TRUE hard-rocker to have worn the paint.
It’s amazing that Stanley was able to find the time to step away from the mirror to actually do this narration!
Give Paul credit for being humble enough to acknowledge they were fucking up and losing their audience. It's got to feel pretty embarrassing to admit they were making so many mistakes and losing popularity. He could've made a lot of excuses, but he sounds pretty straightforward about it all.
KISS lost me and most of my friends during the solo album period. Our consensus on the solo albums? Gene: A few good songs. Ace: A couple good songs (NY Groove and Wiped Out) Paul: Boring and forgettable. Peter: Even more boring and forgettable.
Paul never seems to stop moaning. I liked Dynasty at the time, it holds up well compared to Unmasked.
Ace has stated in several interviews that they should've done a Creatures of the Night type album following Rock n Roll over and Love Gun instead of Dynasty, which was followed by Unmasked and the horrible The Elder album.
He said by the time they got to recording The Elder, Ace was asking himself, "WTF are we doing here?!" He said that's when he began to have thoughts of leaving the band.
Peter Criss has stated that he HATED the "going Vegas" look and vibe that Kiss was doing and that's supposedly why he had no desire to play on the album. He said that, "if his heart isn't in it then he ain't doing it!" That's why he had no problem not playing on it bc he said that he is more straight ahead rock n roll and not the flashy Vegas style that Dynasty became.
AND WHAT IS YOUR POINT!! ITS ABOUT KISS NOT PETER CRISSCOULA!!!!
Funny how he still bags Ace during this period when Ace was more productive than ever and made some of their best music.
Breando Ace was never that technical guitar player and he was never that great of a songwriter. Have you actually looked at the song writing credits?
They hired him.
Most is Ace’s tunes weren’t that great. Let’s be honest. Parasite, Rocket Ride, and Into the Void are strong songs. But man, so many people act like Ace is some ace songwriter; he’s not.
@@MarcusAlexander19 he never was, which probably means Gene and Paul's songwriting talents are even worse !
@@buddyonthewebJeff Beck isn't technically perfect and doesn't write much either 😐
I really liked that lavender jacket though. It's the main thing you remember from the Shandi video.
I became a true fan of kiss when Dynasty was released - I was 9yo (a new generation)
Here's some news: Kiss was always most popular with grade school kids. I was in high school when they hit the scene and we'd always considered them to be kiddie rock. Every sixth grader in my town had a Kiss belt buckle... LOL!
My first time seeing KISS live was the Dynasty Tour. My girlfriend at the time was big on Disco and Soul, but didn't care for Rock. She was blown away, as was I. Perhaps KISS was better on earlier tours, but we LOVED Dynasty. I went on to see KISS at least 4 more times: Creatures, Animalize, Hot in the Shade, Reunion, and loved every show. Paul and Gene are extremely intelligent and serious people who knew how to not only make money, but KEEP IT by constantly re-inventing the band and not blowing their minds on drugs. People who dislike their approach to the BUSINESS that is rock and roll at their level, are simply ignorant.
Well said.
nah greed is greed
@ Robert Bermudez There’s a big difference between KISS greed and Purdue Pharma greed.
Let's be honest.....I love Kiss....but they have been leaning on the 70s for over 30 years. They are now playing "dress up"....sad.
Pete Senior ...very true.
Agree Pete. When you pull back the bullshit curtain that Paul and Gene erected after the 70s, that's exactly what you get. A lot of tough talk, platitudes, excuses, etc. from them over the last 3.5 decades, but, in the end, they would be nothing without the 70s.
They'd be lucky to sell out clubs (now) if they had started out in the 80s, and would have quickly gone away when Nirvana came out if that had been the case.
Agreed. KISS now is a mere parody of what is once was. After Love Gun, they haven't released more than an album's worth of great songs in all their following albums. And most of those songs were written by Ace. Rocket Ride, Hard Times, and basically all the good songs on Unmasked.
michael dique he did all the good songs on dynasty too, and probably the only good song on the Elder.
Totally agree. The solo on Dark Light is almost as awesome as the one on Rocket Ride.
The Dynasty costumes were ridiculous, but Gene's red cape looked fucking beast!
I saw this tour December 1979 in Shreveport. It was a good show, no complaints.
stan broniszewski That's funny. I was 21 and in the Air Force at Barksdale AFB. One thing that stands out is Paul was playing a Gibson Firebird as I recall. Something he normally did not play.
Yes he did! Paul mostly played a Gibson FB V in the early days!
1 of his fave axes.
DMSProduktions Now that you mention it I think you are correct. On the cover of Alive, the first one, he is holding a Firebird. I have just always associated him with the Ibanez Iceman, now known as PS 120.
Right! Paul made his 1st guitar endorsement with Ibanez in about '77, when he started playing the Iceman, so he would have a distinct guitar like Ace had his Les Pauls!
The Cracked mirror version he played a bit later was made as an homage to Noddy Holders mirror covered coachmans hat!
(MEGA Slade fanatics Paul & Gene!)
DMSProduktions Man, bringing up Slade takes me back. I bought the LP Sladest in fall of '74 I think. Wore that album out. Great band.
I remember hearing I was made for loving you for the very first time in a skating rink in Austin,Texas in 1979.Just as soon as I heard I liked it and I recognized Paul's voice immediately when I heard him.Sometimes I wonder was I dreaming?No I don't think so.Life is dreamy though and so is Kiss 's music.Ive seen Kiss through the course of my dreams it's never been a nightmare.The elder takes me to that place in my mind when I was just a boy.very cherish able memories for me.
Michael McVay
Mike McVay you don't have to sign your fucking youtube comments, your name is already there, douchebag
@@gsxerwhite Pretty harsh, dude.
I was 19 when 'Music From the Elder' was released, but it also takes me back to simpler times and great memories. That album and 'Carnival of Souls' have become my mainstays these days. I also *love* 'Sonic Boom' and 'Monster'!
“I was made for lovin you” is soooo good!!! Love that disco shit
Love Paul Stanley's book. But to hear him defend "I Was Made for Loving You" is funny.
Like it or hate it, that song made them a LOT of $$$$$. Not caring that they became disco sell outs.
Defend it? It's not something wrong, lol.
As someone _without_ an encyclopedic knowledge of all things Kiss, I'm in no position to be making claims regarding the veracity of Paul's (or anyone else's) opinions.
That said, I know that many people have accused Paul of being flexible with the truth, to put it mildly. I can't accept or reject those accusations fairly. However, there are a couple of bits in Paul's book that scan as both wishy-washy and contradictory.
Paul seems like he’s always upset…dude owns the world and isn’t happy
nnkllppp😅
thanks for posting these excerpts. i appreciate that. um, the Dynasty tour was so horrible. you had individuals, not a band. you had enablers and that machine had to keep running. just sad to think that Peter could not play drums by '79. what a waste with drugs and booze and car crashes. Peter had a good 3 year run w/Kiss and is being kind.
even so, the album was ok. the best songs on Dynasty are, "magic touch", "save your love" and "sure know something"
2:50 Was the other band the Bee Gees?
Nice...lol.
This is a perfect 6 and 3/4 minute summary of 'This is Spinal Tap.' What a great interview!
Imagine Spinal Tap with lasers - somebody would have gotten killed.
Where can I find the complete reading by Paul, not chopped up in small pieces like this?
And once again Paul Stanley blames someone else for the crap that happens...
79'...I was 7 years old. My family would go out to dinner on weekends and afterwards we would go to the record store so. Had I behaved during the night I would get to pick an album for myself. Was walking through the aisles when that Dynasty
cover popped out at me. I was in the 8track section of all places. "That's it. That's the one. Look at those faces". I still have it.
Picture Paul and Gene in the Billy Squier video LOL. But seriously, I like the Dynasty costumes. The whole stage looked cool.
KISS= Drama Queens
Drama KINGS
When little kids want to see your show, the teens and early 20 somethings that were the majority of your audience suddenly don’t want to be associated with something the little kids like. You lost your cool factor. Worse, you became a parody of yourselves. You hit the nail on the head when you said it was like H.R. Puffinstuff on ice. The costumes didn’t have that edgy look anymore, Ace’s wasn’t horrible, but the cape was a bit much. Gene’s on the other hand.. I don’t know what that was supposed to be, it looked like balled up tinfoil over football gear. Just terrible. Dynasty wasn’t a bad album, but it didn’t sound like a KISS album. It all went off the rails, really starting with the Solo albums. The solos probably would have worked better if released 1 at a time between Kiss albums. But who’s to say at this point. I bought Dynasty, and tried to like it, same with Unmasked, and Music from the Elder. I tried hard to like it, but I just couldn’t, it didn’t sound anything like the hard rocking band I had grown up with. It sounded like bubblegum fluff.. but then, just when all hope was lost. Creatures of the Night came out, and I played the grooves right off the record.. we were all hoping.. then... Lick it up.... oh yea, there’s our band! Good to have you back fellas!! And you built on what you had done
Some people liked disco, obviously Paul did, he was not alone. DLR put a disco version of Dancing in the Street on VH....it happened in the 70’s. But any band who is supported by fans, faces the drop when they react negative to the artistic choices.
AC/DC embraced the hammer-on guitar riff that was dominating guitar based rock in the mid to late 80’s on Who Made Who. That bummed me out too, wasn’t necessary. Poison tried to get ‘serious’ & Crue continually lost everything great about Too Fast.
To this day, as much as I dont like his attitude in interviews & reality tv, if Paul & the guys had followed Genes lead they would have sustained a longer edge during the disco years & glam 80’s days. His songs & vocal approach always remained consistent: raw & almost punk. I dont think the Japanese demon battle ax wielding bass player was going to veer too far from the dark edgy look & show fans loved. But thats art: choices, action & reaction 🤘🏻
Dancin' In The Streets was on Diver Down, in 1982.
I loved Dynasty and Unmasked! Different yes, but the songs were good in my opinion.
KISS was the first band that was " mine " , not something my older brother listened to.
But one day my brother-in-law brought me his copy of "Let there be Rock" and from that day on, AC/DC was the band that would stay with me forever.
No ballads, no acoustic guitars, no dance music, just rock and roll turned up loud.
I can still listen to the first few KISS albums, but that's about it for me.
Is this an audiobook's ? if so whats its called??
Corey Ballantine "Fatal Fissures: My Years in KISS" by Stan Eisen
Say what you want about Paul Stanley but he is a great fucken narrator
It kind of makes sense that KISS ditched their hard rock sound and drifted toward the Dynasty pop sound because their early hard rock pre-Alive! sound failed to sell records but they miscalculated.
I was a Huge KISS fan from the beginning, and was about 12 when their first album came out. I was actually afraid of Gene's Vampire make-up on the debut record! LOL! By 1975 when KISS Alive came out, they were Gods to my friends and I. My first Concert EVER was KISS, Varsity Stadium, Toronto, Canada, Sept.6th, 1976 for the Destroyer Tour. In 1977-78, things just kept getting bigger and better for KISS, as you all know! For me tho, AND for a LOT of other True KISS fans, their biggest downfall came with The Elder album. I saw them on the Dynasty Tour, August 4th, 1979, and they were great that night, especially Ace Frehley. I thought Dynasty and Unmasked both had great songs on them. IF those songs were produced to be Rock songs, they would have kept KISS's Rock fanbase satisfied. instead, they were produced with a Disco/ Pop influence, and they suffered for it. Ace's songs were the only one's that Rocked, and Ace's solo album was the best. In 1980-81, Ace was completely correct when he told Gene and Paul that doing The Elder was a mistake. They didn't listen. Believe me when I say, that it takes a LOT to lose me as a KISS fan, and with The Elder, I almost gave up on them for good. A lot of fans DID bail on them then.Thank God they got back to being a Rock Band, but they lost Ace in the process. I always wonder how much better their career could have been IF they just put out a Hard Rock Album like Creatures Of The NIght instead? They should have sold "Music From The Elder" to some Broadway Production, where it belongs!!!
Ridiculous? I'm guessing during that time it was, but I think the dynasty outfits are great!
My first favorite band, you gotta give em props for longevity and continuing to grind it out on the road. Kiss was my first major rock concert (Creatures Tour, '83) and to this day it stands as one of the best shows I've ever seen and I've been to thousands in no small part because of the fire Kiss lit in me about community and live music and just keeping shit real to yourself. But...jesus christ I Was Made For Loving You is a bad song. It wrecked me when it came out but I've made my peace with it since (I never was subjected to it live). Long Live Kiss! Cheers!
KISS started off with nothing. Through determination, a belief in what they were doing, and giving a damn about the music they were putting out they clawed their way to the top. Plus a good management team that helped them perfect their stage show.
They defied the odds and made it. There is a life lesson in their journey. And it doesn’t stop after they made it.
No band ever stays at the top of the pack. Or sticks to doing what they did when they first started, there’s always an evolution of sorts. Fame and fortune can change a person.
If you can remain humble even when you reach rockstar caliber, and don’t rest on what you’ve done in the past but build off of that(which I’m sure is not easy to do) then you move into the league of Dave Grohl. Who seems to be a rare breed.
KISS were heroes to me growing up. In some ways they still are because I’ve learned from them.
I love the honesty :-)
My 1st kiss show was Dynasty Tour! The reunion tour was Great! The Fire was back but evidently short lived!!
I was a major Kiss fan for years as a teenager. I bought, loved and played to death every album up until Dynasty. Kiss were my band! But I started to wane when I heard Dynasty. One day the mother of a little 5yo my mum used to babysit before school handed me a cassette and asked me if I could record some Kiss for her daughter.
That was the day I gave up on Kiss. They were no longer the hard rock band that shocked and disgusted my parents on tv a few years before.
I was done with them after the solos albums. Aces was clearly the best. People were burned out on them. Van Halen was exploding at that time. How ironic Gene did have good taste when he did there demo.
The album was commercially successful. The massive amount of money generated by a hit song began rolling in. The tour had some empty seats, but the band was still enjoying a peak merchandising year, in April of 1980 they signed one of the most lucrative recording contracts in the record industry. Aucoin's empire was crashing and Kiss began realizing they were footing the bill for all of these upstarts - bands that went nowhere. The merchandising was owned by Aucoin, when they realized he had burned through most of the money they were angry. They put him on a tighter leash and finally sacked him a few years later. In 1980, the band was rolling in money. Gene and Cher split up. Gene and Diana Ross hooked up. They replaced Peter with a new drummer that the fans accepted. What could go wrong? The 80's had a lot of twists and turns in store for their career, but, they survived and by 1990 they were once again riding the popularity of a hit song, 'Forever'.
You should read KISS and Sell by Chris Lendt.
The new drummer that replaced Peter Criss was named "Eric Carr" by the way! 😃😃
Its clear paul is heartless instead of criticizing he should realize ace was the talent and tried to listen to his point of view.peter and gene are hopeless but thay doesn't mean he should bash them.paul your not perfect no matter what u believe
This downfall started before the "Dynasty" album/tour. In 78 KISS gave us a pre mature best-of set with several unwelcome remixes. Then the ill-advised solo LPs which, not many years later, ended up in cut-out bins across the country. Then came the made-for-TV movie "KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park"... the "Plan 9 From Outer Space" of Rock n Roll movies!
I never get tired of listening to Paul talk about how everyone sucks accept for him 😂 It never gets old and I love when he pretends that he isn’t gay priceless
Pretends !! HOW WOULD YOU KNOW!!!!!! PRETENDS!!!!
@@louisdimov8956 OBVIOUS 🥂
I hate when Paul shits on KISS related things I love, such as the Dynasty costumes & The Elder album.
Well he was there and in it - not you pal !!!!
@@georgiehollander2199
Oh yeah we were all there my man...without us it wouldnta been crap
I know it was a dated departure for KISS. But DYNASTY was a badd ass resord. I went to the 1980 show in The Summit in Houston, Tx. I was 10. The smell of weed. The lights. The lasers. The MUSIC! It is a treasured memory I cherish. I Was Made For Loving You will always be my dedication for my ex wife, who i'll love forever. Thanks Paul. Thanks Gene. Thanks Ace. Thanks Anton.❤☺👍
I might be the only person who likes Gene’s costume from Dynasty!!!
KISS had some great albums. And they had some that weren't so great. All great bands go through dry spells
My God does this man enjoy the sound of his own voice?
ME, ME and more ME, if anyone ever felt sorry for Ace and Peter not being in KISS, just thank God they don't have to suffer this mind- numbing bullshit anymore.
The Dynasty costumes were ok with me. But then I was 7 years old in '79 and the kind of fan KISS hated. My first record was Destroyer and loved the dark atmospheric Ezrin production. I thought at 4 years old that this is what a band should sound like. My parents being so young is what got me into music at such an early age. After hearing Chicago, ELO, Moody Blues, bands should sound epic. So KISS, with their Destroyer album and stage show, hooked me in and I thought that's how it's supposed to be done.
What was Paul and genes part in all, can't blame it all
On Peter and Ace.
I didn't mind the disco as long as they came back to their roots, rock and roll , they made their disco mark and that was smart .
We? Ace had the best Kiss outfit of any period. Only the others looked ridiculous, Paul especially. Whose fault is that?
Love Kiss no matter who played with them past or Present.Althou Gene and Peter are my fav