You know, chance encounters with band members are sometimes better than an actual sitdown interview. This is so for a number of reasons: First it’s totally casual and all pressure is off. I’m not worried about asking the right questions and the interviewee isn’t worried about giving the right answers. Another reason is because nobody has an agenda to promote anything. It’s just a conversation.

This is precisely the case with my encounter with Scott Shiflett of Face to Face, Vava Death, Jackson United, and Me First and the Gimme Gimmes. Ok, so pinch me, because now I’m twice removed from Dave Grohl since Scott’s brother, Chris Shiflett, is the Foo Fighters’ lead guitarist. I’m also now once removed from Gene Simmons of KISS.

So now we’re onto the purpose of this piece, which is simply to share the story that Scott shared with me, and it involves Gene Simmons.

So, let me set this up. We, myself and King Hazard, were in the media center at Amnesia Rockfest and in dire need of electricity for our portable devices. Unfortunately everyone else was in the same situation and all outlets were occupied in the lounge. So we made our way down the hall, turned the corner, and found some outlets along the wall, and along the opposite wall were the hotel rooms being used as dressing rooms.

So, in and out goes Joey Cape of Me First and the Gimme Gimmes and Lagwagon. He actually stopped to talk to us a few times and he’s a super nice guy. I wanted to sit down with him to get his top 5 horror movie picks, but I ended up swamped in Day 2 show reviews. I swear, I’m going to catch up with him on the phone. So, Scott, as he’s been known to do, was filling in with Me First (in addition to performing with Face to Face the day before), and one of the times that the dressing room door swung open he caught sight of my KISS shirt, which has the cover of the debut album on the front.

Honestly, I wear this shirt pretty damn often, so much so that King Hazard is tired of looking at it.

Anyway, Scott starts things off by saying, “cool shirt,” and then he jumps right into talking to me about Peter Criss’ make-up for that album cover’s photoshoot and how it took three hours to apply by an actual make-up artist, going on to mention how Gene Simmons was annoyed by that fact.

It turns out that his knowledge about KISS isn’t his only connection to the band. Apparently Scott’s uncle was the vice president of Casablanca Records, KISS’ first label. Well, via that connection, when Scott was 11 years old, he attended Gene Simmons’ birthday party in 1977, when Love Gun was out. This is when the true identities of the members of KISS was still a very guarded and clandestine secret, and while Scott admitted he doesn’t really remember much from the party, he does remember “the adults” joking around and saying such things as, “you better watch out, so-and-so has a camera,” which was followed by laughter.

That’s the shit. That’s what dreams are made of. That’s what happens “When You Wish Upon a Star.” That doesn’t happen to normal people.

Scott also shared with me the fact that Love Gun was the first album he ever purchased with his own money, which he earned by collecting aluminum cans. When I told him that my first KISS records were actually a part of a set called The Originals, he told me that he had had the same thing. He traded some kid down the street his copy of some Rolling Stones album for it. Laughing, Scott says that after hearing Love Gun he just knew that he had to have more of the same.

The conversation pretty much concluded with Scott telling me that he had heard “Love Gun” on the radio before ever seeing KISS, indicating that his love of the band started with the music and not the image. Oddly, though, he never saw KISS live until 1996 for the reunion tour, which was also my first time seeing them.

Well, I hope you enjoyed the little anecdotal story.

Rock Hard \m/

I’m really surprised that he made that statement that I’ve been imitated but not completely copied, or something to that effect, with Tommy sitting right there. I think Tommy was crouching down in his seat, I was told. But that was a nice thing for Gene to say. I wonder if he’s buttering me up for something in the future.

– Ace Frehley on Gene Simmons’ Rock HOF speech

In an interview with Team Rock Radio, Gene Simmons talked about a number of things. Besides the newly purchased LA KISS arena football team, an upcoming KISS movie, his new book, and subtly insulting Ace and Peter, the Demon talked extensively about rock iconography.

Essentially, Simmons disregards Kurt Cobain as an icon because Nirvana doesn’t have an extensive enough catalog and dying prematurely doesn’t necessarily equate to icon status. And I agree with him. Yes, Cobain helped usher in a musical revolution, if you will, but he certainly didn’t do it alone — and as I’ve said before, Cobain was in the right place at the right time.

The bigger issue I have with Simmons’ comments have to do with his assertion that there haven’t been any icons since the years prior to 1984. By his definition, a musical icon is someone who exceeds the music and has a deep catalog. The first part of his statement dealt with the years between 1958 and 1983, and he challenged the interviewer to name 100 icons from those years. He answered for her, citing bands/artists like Elvis Presley, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Aerosmith, KISS, and Led Zeppelin. But like a good sheep, the interviewer was mum when Simmons asked her to name icons from the last 30 years, emphasizing his point by saying that there haven’t been any. That’s a problem.

Gene’s bold assertion negates the work of many bands/artists within rock and metal, and big ones too. Now, I’m going to name a few bands as icons from the last 30 years, though I’m sure that’s not what Simmons meant, because he opened that can by naming his band, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, etc.

So, Mr. Simmons, although I love you and KISS to death, do you mean to tell me that the following bands/artists are not icons?
-Metallica
-Megadeth
-Anthrax
-Slayer
-Dave Grohl
-Iron Maiden (I’m extending into the years prior to 1984 a little here, but I think it’s warranted)
-Guns ‘n’ Roses
-Mike Patton
-Rob Zombie
-Pantera
-Bon Jovi
-Henry Rollins
-Red Hot Chili Peppers
-Dio
-Pearl Jam
-Motley Crue

So, those are the main ones I can come up with on the spot, and I think it proves the point that there have been plenty of icons since 1984. Simmons is right on another point though; record labels don’t back bands like they used to.

But I encourage you to check out the short interview. Then Yell about it in the comments section below.

Rock Hard \m/

Evil Argento here to interrupt this review, because Destroyer (Resurrected) was released today. You can head on over to the iTunes store if you’re interested in hearing 2012 remixes of the songs and “Sweet Pain” with the original guitar solo. While my colleague here gave Destroyer 3.5 skulls, I’m not sure I would give it more than 2.5. I’m a huge KISS fan, and this is not one of my favorite albums. Maybe it’s too experimental, but I’d rather listen to The Elder, except for a few songs here. Obviously there are classic tracks here, but the rest I could do without. I also interviewed Paul Stanley shortly before Sonic Boom came out (I’d direct you to the interview, but that would lead you to my former employer’s website, and I don’t want to send you there), and when I asked him what his favorite KISS album was, without hesitation he stated, “Destroyer.” So, if you love this album, at least you’re in good company.

Rock Hard \m/

After their breakthrough live album Kiss Alive which made them superstars, Kiss released their best studio album which garnered them equal accolades. Destroyer is Kiss’s most successful studio release and contains many of their greatest songs. Bob Ezrin produced and you see his influence on this album as the band moves from harder rock to more of a pop rock feel that was the genesis of all those hair bands from the ’80s.

Kiss is the epitome of style and flash over substance, but they do it so extremely well that you forget that they put out some good music. The biggest attraction to them for me, as I was only 8 when they achieved their fame, wasn’t all the make-up and platform shoes, but was the simple, catchy, and repetitive lyrics and music lines that grabbed your attention.

The great songs are all here. “King of the Night Time World”, and “Shout It Out Loud” were easy to sing as the chorus was repeated so often. “Beth,” the ultimate rock ballad, was the most popular song off the album and describes what a rock musician goes through when he has to choose between his girl and his band. “Detroit Rock City,” my favourite Kiss song, sings about a fan leaving their concert speeding away in his car high on the buzz who kills himself in an accident. The song relays all the sound effects of the crash for added effect.

Overall, this is their best studio album and should be the one you try out when deciding to listen to the first “over-the-top” make-up and flash pop/rock band from the ’70s that foreshadowed the hair band generation of ’80s.

Similar Artists:

Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Judas Priest, Dio, Ac/dc, Motley Crue, Poison, Alice Cooper, Wasp, Twisted Sister

Yell! Rating (x/5 Skulls):

[rating:3.5]

Artist

Kiss

Album:

Destroyer

Year Released:

1976

Label:

Casablanca

Genre

Hard Rock

Official URL:

Kiss