The Kiss group, the photos of which are presented on the page, is one of the most noticeable in American rock culture of the second half of the twentieth century. The style of performances is extremely shocking, all concerts are held using fiery paraphernalia and fantastic makeup. The amount of pyrotechnics used by the rock band Kiss during one three-hour performance can be compared with fireworks at a festive show in a large Russian city. Sometimes a concert continues until the last flashfire dies on stage.
Start
The Kiss group, whose history goes back to the distant 1973, began its activity by imitating already known performers. Initially, there were only two musicians - Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, both knew how to play the guitar and sang pretty well. But without accompaniment of percussion instruments, things did not go well. Then Paul sought out his friend drummer Peter Criss, who agreed to participate in the project. Now the trio could already play more complex compositions in the style of hard rock, although it was not hard rock yet.
External attributes
At the same time, the musicians began to search for their own image, they wanted to radically differ from other rock bands. And soon the only true option was found: a theatrically-terrifying style in clothes and face painting.
Title
The Kiss band began to take on a real shape, and after another guitarist, Ace Failey, joined it, it was already possible to talk about a concert program. Then the musicians decided to give a name to their brainchild. At first they wanted to call the group "Lips". But since the image was already working, and the word Kiss could be framed in a “terrible” style, turning the letters S into fiery lightning, the choice was made in favor of a “kiss”.
Makeup as the basis of image
The musicians found their “masks” in comics and horror films. From there they borrowed them. Gene Simmons took on the image of a demon, Paul Stanley settled on the mask of a "star child", guitarist Ace Freilly turned into an "alien", and Peter Criss became a "cat." Later appeared "Ankh warrior", his image was tried on by lead guitarist Vinnie Vincent. And finally, the fox began to put on a mask during performances drummer Eric Carr. Six different images on the stage organically complemented each other, thereby creating an overall picture of the fantastic action.
Kiss Group: biography of participants
Currently, it consists of both creators, Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons. They, as before, are vocalists, Paul plays the rhythm, and Simmons plays the bass. Behind the drum is Eric Singer, who also acts as a backing vocalist. Tommy Tyler - solo guitar and backing vocals.
At different times, six more musicians took part in the activities of the group:
- Bruce Kulik - vocals and guitar (1984-1996);
- Mark St. John - solo guitar (1984, died in 2007);
- Vinnie Vincent - solo guitar (1982-1984);
- Eric Carr - percussion instruments (1980-1991, died in 1991);
- Peter Criss - vocals and drums (1973-1980, 1996-2001, 2002-2004);
- Ace Freilly - vocals and solo guitar (1973-1982, 1996-2002).
Paul Stanley
Born in 1952 in Queens, New York. One of the founders of the group, guitarist and vocalist. Composer, author of the hits Forever, Crazy, Crazy Night, I Want You and many others.
Gene Simmons
The group "Kiss" owes its existence to this musician. Gene Simmons was born in Israel's Tirat Carmel in 1949 on August 25th. Bass player, vocalist and actor. The stage image is a "demon", a bloody, fire-breathing monster.
Eric Singer
Born May 12, 1958 in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. Drummer and backing vocalist. In addition to the Kiss group, he worked with Alice Cooper. For two decades, managed to take part in the recording of more than 50 albums.
Tommy Thayer
Born November 7, 1960 in the city of Portland, Oregon, USA. He is currently a solo guitarist and backing vocalist in the band "Kiss". A passionate fan of Alice Cooper, Deep Perple and Rory Gallagher.
Ace freili
Born April 27, 1951 in the Bronx, New York. Solo guitarist and vocalist. He left the group twice and returned twice. He came up with the image of an alien, in which he had considerable success at concerts.
Peter Criss
Birthday December 20, 1945, place of birth - New York, Brooklyn. The oldest musician in the group "Kiss". Drummer and vocalist. He left three times and returned again. He acted in the image of a cat, which he himself came up with.
Eric Carr
Born July 12, 1950 in New York. He played drums and was a backing vocalist. He gained world fame when he worked in the Kiss group. He performed on stage in the image of a red fox. He died in 1991 from heart disease.
Winnie vincent
Solo guitarist and backing vocalist. Born August 6, 1952 in Bridgeport, Connecticut. In 1982, he replaced Ace Freili, who left the band. However, two years later he was fired due to a conflict with the producers.
Mark St. John
Group "Kiss" after the dismissal of Vincent has changed its composition. Mark St. John came as a lead guitarist and backing vocalist. He worked until his death from a stroke on April 5, 2007. In place of St. John was invited to Bruce Kulik.
Bruce Kulik
Born December 12, 1953 in the Brooklyn area, New York, he was accepted into the group as a lead guitarist and vocalist. The only participant who did not make up. At the time of his enrollment, the makeup was already canceled.
Change
The Kiss group, the biography of its members, current and former, evolution for a long time, formation, repertoire formation - all this is being studied by music critics today. The image of the musicians changed radically, makeup disappeared, and there was less shocking. The team has been noticeably updated.
The main criterion in the work was music. The Kiss group still does not let the public get bored at their concerts, fireworks still fly up to the ceiling, and musicians burn in the fire. But this is all theatrical action, it is intended to serve as a visual accompaniment for music in the style of hard rock. The Kiss group, whose photo against the backdrop of fire still excites the imagination, is already perceived somewhat differently. Depth has appeared in the compositions, as it happens in the work of Deep Deep, and there are already really interesting passages. The arrangement has become more understandable, elegant and constructive. The rock group "Kiss" is growing professionally, despite the fact that the musicians have more than forty years of experience. It's just that the time is different now, the tastes of the public have changed.
Album Release
The musicians have six concert discs and twenty studio ones. The first, under the name Kiss, was recorded on February 18, 1974 and, despite being a debut, became gold in the number of copies sold. The release of studio albums was as follows:
- Kiss, 1974 (gold).
- Hotter Hell, 1974 (gold).
- Dressed To Kill, 1975 (Gold).
- Destroyer, 1976 (gold).
- Rock Over, 1976 (platinum).
- Love Gun, 1977 (platinum).
- Dynasty, 1979 (gold).
- Unmasked, 1980 (gold).
- Music From The Elder, 1981 (gold).
- Creatures, 1982 (platinum).
- Lick It Up, 1983 (platinum).
- Animalize, 1984 (platinum).
- Asylum, 1985 (gold).
- Crazy Nights, 1987 (gold).
- Hot In The Shade, 1989 (Platinum).
- Revenge, 1992 (gold).
- Carnival Of Souls, 1997 (gold).
- Psycho Circus, 1998 (gold).
- Sonic Boom, 2009 (Gold).
- Monster, 2012 (platinum).
The Kiss group, whose discography was regularly updated with studio albums, also recorded a series of their concert performances:
- September 10, 1975, Alive!
- October 14, 1977, Alive II.
- May 18, 1993, Alive III.
- March 12, 1996, Kiss Unplugged.
- July 22, 2003, Kiss Symphony: Alive IV.
- July 22, 2008, Kiss Alive 35.
The Kiss group, whose albums became gold and platinum, did not leave the first positions of the American charts. Concerts have already taken place in the open air in country parks and stadiums. Closed halls did not accommodate comers.
Fall in popularity
The Kiss band has long been the most spectacular in the entire United States. Various circus acts performed by musicians attracted the public. Fans have long known who is hiding behind the mask of an “alien” and who is really a “cat”. People did not come to Kiss concerts to listen to music, because by and large, not everyone understands hard rock, but to look at an unusual theatrical performance.
The concert usually began with the onset of darkness. As soon as the sun went down, musicians stepped onto an unlit stage. Quiet guitar chords were calming. Then the intensity of the sound grew, the tinkling strings increased the tone, the chords sounded continuously, higher and higher, and suddenly broke into an irrepressible crescendo. Fire covered the scene, whirlwinds of flame darted in all directions. The concert of the Kiss band began.
The audience was provided with two and a half hours of a grandiose show, boiling hard rock, a metallic taste of the heavy metal style and the spontaneous riot of yellow, thick fire. Between the three-meter flames, four musicians and one composition merged into a single whole.
Concerts were held with constant success, and nevertheless, the popularity of the group began to decline. The concert tour, held in the fall of 1979, was almost a failure. And the next studio album no longer caused a stir. Gradually, the Kiss group left hard rock for the sake of market conditions and lost some of its fans from among lovers of this style. Although she acquired new ones, from those who prefer more calm, graceful music in the style of glam rock.
The streak of failures ended in the fall of 1991, the Revenge album was accepted favorably enough by the public, and the Kiss reputation was restored.
Reunion
In the spring of 1996, Kiss musicians announced a return to the original line-up. The Alive / Worldwide Tour was organized with success. The program of the concert, in which four members of the first composition took to the stage, was composed of hits from the group of the seventies. Classical masks were again painted on the faces of the musicians, the whole scene was blazing, engulfed in fire, as during the Love Gun period. The tour lasted about a year, 192 performances were held, which raised nearly 47 million dollars.
Farewell tour
At the beginning of 2000, Kiss musicians announced the end of their creative activity. The farewell tour was scheduled for March 2000 and was scheduled to go all over North America. During the tour, there was a hitch, Peter Criss left the group . Left without a drummer, the Kiss musicians were forced to suspend the tour. Fortunately, it was possible to quickly compensate for the loss, Eric Singer came to the group. The new composition of the group "Kiss" ended performances in the United States and moved to Japan, and then - to Australia.
Collaboration with a symphony orchestra
In early 2003, the group was invited to perform with the Melbourne Orchestra conducted by David Campbell. The unusual format of the performance was decorated by a children's choir. The concert was a resounding success. His record was later included on the Kiss Symphony / Alive IV album.
Recent projects
In the spring of 2001, the Kiss musicians began work on their next studio album, and in July the single Hell and Hallelujah, later included in the Monster CD, was released.
In January 2015, the Yume No Ukiyo Ni Saetimina project was created in conjunction with the Japanese girl group Motoiro Clover Z.