Paul Stanley will hate this blog! And debunking false KISS myths

I like to defend Peter Criss.

It's thankless work but like the snaking of a drain pipe pr bleeding of a septic tank, someone has to get this s^%t unclogged.

In opposition is no less of a voice than the one belonging to Paul Stanley (Insert Paul's voice is shot joke here) at the end of the day I have no illusions as to who's side of the story will get more pages sticky, but I've never been one to pass up on the opportunity to give it a pull, so I'll keep trying to balance the scales, should future generations wish to know the other side of the story. The fact is, there is a lot more to the history of the band KISS, then either Paul Stanley or Gene Simmons (or perhaps even Ace, who is doing his darnedest to get his old job back) are willing to spill in 2017, that's alright though, It gives me something to do between septic jobs, funny thing is, both tend to leave you covered in poo.

The feces were certainly airborne and primed for a soft n' stinky drone strike when last I suggested Peter was the best singer in the band and had brought the signle most IMPORTANT song in thier catalouge to the table. This was in reaction to Paul's claims that Peter was tone-deaf and couldn't write a song if his indoor plumbing depended on it. At this point, it's well known that Stan Penridge had a LOT to do with the material Peter brought to KISS and people have tried to use this revelation to disprove my claim that if it weren't for Peter Paul would still be driving a cab. Here's my response, taken from another publication:


I did NOT say Peter was a songwriter, it's well known that Stan wrote Peter's contributions, and as a songwriter, Peter isn't even on the same planet as Paul (Or Stan for that matter) but Peter's presence still saved KISS's career.

Destroyer was TANKING when Beth brought it back from the dead and exposed KISS to a wider audience than they had ever reached, that's how they went from what was essentially an alternative rock freak-show (They were NOT a mainstream band, ALIVE broke through to the masses but Destroyer, prior to Beth showed that they were headed right back where they started) Beth exposed KISS to all the kids who bought the lunchboxes and let their parents know it was OK to let them keep it.

I am not discrediting Pauls talent, only his attempts to make it seem as if he were the ONLY talent that band had to offer, or that the band would have been better off with a different mix of talent. Peter's contributions were essential, as were Gene's Ace's, Stan's and Sean Delaney's (Who, to this day has not received the credit he deserves, most of the KISS visual presentation we have all come to know and love, and that changed music forever was his baby, and the songs he received credit for ALWAYS sound like pure unfiltered shots of what made this band musically great, rumors that he was denied credit on many others have some credence as when he stopped working with the band, the group had trouble sounding like it's self, a VERY odd thing if you think about it, an honest attempt was made during Sonic Boom, and to me the highlights of "Dangerous" and "Nobody's Perfect" sound like Paul and Gene trying to write like Sean Delaney)

It took everyone to make KISS what it was. Aucoin, Bogart and Ezrin too of course....(yes Ezrin, as KISS fans we like all or most of the records, but to the rest of the world, many of whom hate KISS with a bizarre amount of passion, Destroyer is the one record that legitimises the group musically, even the haters admit it to be one of the best Rock n' Roll records of all-time...and in typical KISS "foot shooting" they decided it was horrible and blamed Ezrin for killing their career...until "Beth" happened) So I am not writing this to take anything away from anyone, simply to contradict the myth Paul has been trying to spread that he was the only member of KISS who mattered.

His envy for Gene is pathological, his anger at Peter for not being a Bonham clone is myopic (Though there was a time in the early 90's where he did admit, that Peter's style made the band stand out, that it made KISS bop and swing instead of plod and lumber, so he is aware of it, he just won't admit it anymore) EVERYONE on board back then played an essential part in creating one the most controversial, fascinating and fun bands that ever existed, KISS was a success, a big one, at this stage in the game they should all be having lunch once a month swapping old stories, laughing about their fights and slapping each other on the back for a job well done, not trying to tear each other down (Gene and Ace have been great about this, and interestingly enough, those two ARE having lunch and writing songs for Ace's new record)

Peter's bitterness is a shame and mostly unfounded, sure he has been disrespected by Paul in particular (Financially and otherwise) but at this point he should be "Whatever guys...put another zero on Ace's check if you want, mine's still big enough to buy a private island after every show. Paul's expose' of his real feelings towards his co/workers and the world at large should have been kept between him and his therapist, as they are truly horrifying in their implications.

Paul is a great songwriter, not as good as Sean Delany, and not as good alone as when he is collaborating with Gene. He is a great singer ( I saw the Vegas residency and thought he sounded fine, so I don't buy the "he can't sing any more stuff") Not as good as Peter, whose voice had something special about it, that made it one of the best in Rock ' Roll, but still great. A great guitar player, not as good as Ace, but few guitar players in history play with the charisma Ace does (I watched an area of 20,000 in 1997 sing along with every note in every solo, never seen an audience do that for ANY other lead guitarist) A great performer, though not as good as Gene who will go down in history as one of the top-performing musician's of all time (Along with Elvis, James Brown, Mick Jagger, Iggy Pop, Tina Turner, Jonny Thunders, Frank Sinatra, Micheal Jackson and Prince...add Gene Simmons and you have the top 10 greatest performers, personally I would put Gene in a tie for #4 with Iggy) The fact that Paul wasn't the best at any of these things but worked harder than any other member at them, did them more consistently and often, reveals the fact he wants everyone to know: That he was the day to day substance of KISS, his work was the bedrock on which everyone else could showcase their talents. Remove the foundation and the building crumbles.

The funny thing is, no one has ever tried to deny Paul the credit he deserves for being the lynchpin member of the band, not even Gene, who when asked, has always said "Paul's a better writer, better looking, more prolific, kept the band together" ect. Paul has been fighting a war in which he has no enemies, and the only one he hurts is himself. It's really too bad that someone with that much can be that unhappy, it's my hope that before it's all said and done, Paul can accept the great life he has and know it doesn't need to come at the expense of another,