1973 – 1975: Coming Alive
Over the course of just three years, the KISS phenomenon was established: Gene and Paul met Peter, they met Ace, three studio albums were released, and multi-platinum breakthrough was achieved with KISS Alive!. Here is the story of how KISS came to be in the early years of the 1970s. Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley had…
Welcome to STRANGE WAYS: The Unauthorized History of KISS
As the American rock band KISS celebrate their 50th anniversary, and in the years ahead, this website will be dedicated to a critical in-depth look at the entire history of the band and the brand. The website is a work in progress. In the menu on top of the site you will find three items:…
KISS Alive! (1975)
“You wanted the best, and you got it!” The ultimate KISS battle cry opens their first live album, a double record that would come to define KISS more than anything else they have done. Almost fifty years later, KISS Alive! stands tall as a masterpiece. KISS ALIVE! Produced by Eddie Kramer Released 10 September 1975…
Dressed To Kill (1975)
There was even less of a gap between the second and third KISS albums. In about a year, they had released three records that are the foundation of everything the band would achieve. Dressed To Kill is a KISS classic, despite not being widely acclaimed at the time. DRESSED TO KILL Produced by Neil Bogart…
Hotter Than Hell (1974)
KISS began their 1970s cycles of intense productivity by releasing their second album just a few months after the first. Hotter Than Hell contains some all-time KISS classics, but would struggle to match its predecessor. HOTTER THAN HELLProduced by Kenny Kerner and Richie WiseReleased 22 October 1974 Side 1Got To Choose (Stanley)Parasite (Frehley)Goin’ Blind (Simmons/Coronel)Hotter…
Kiss (1974)
It started over 50 years ago. And decades later, it is obvious that the beginning of KISS was built on great music. Their debut album Kiss stands up to this day. KISS Produced by Kenny Kerner and Richie Wise Released 18 February 1974 Side 1 Strutter (Stanley/Simmons) Nothin’ To Lose (Simmons) Firehouse (Stanley) Cold Gin…
Ace Frehley
Ace Frehley is The Spaceman: co-founder, lead guitarist and singer in KISS. He joined the band in early 1973 and left in 1982. Later he rejoined KISS in the 1990s and left again in 2001. Frehley was born Paul Daniel Frehley on 27 April 1951 and raised in The Bronx, New York City. He was…
Peter Criss
Peter Criss is The Catman: co-founder, drummer and singer in KISS. He was in the band from 1972 until 1980, and later returned for two more spells in the 1990s and 2000s. Criss was born George Peter John Criscuola in Brooklyn, New York City on 20 December 1945. He grew up the oldest of five…
1970 – 1972: Pre-KISStory
Before KISS there was Wicked Lester. In the murky depths of time, a strange musical journey began, and the fates of four ambitious individuals from New York City started to intertwine. From the very beginning, until the very end, KISS is most of all the life’s work of two people: Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley.…
Paul Stanley
Paul Stanley is The Starchild: co-founder, singer and rhythm guitarist in KISS. He has been with the band from its inception until the present day. Stanley was born Stanley Bert Eisen in New York City on 20 January 1952. He grew up in Manhattan and spent his childhood and adolescence hiding the fact that he…
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