Group "Kiss": history, discography, photos

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The "Kiss" band, whose photos are presented on the page, is one of the most prominent in American rock culture of the second half of the twentieth century. The style of performances is extremely outrageous, all concerts are held with the use of fiery paraphernalia and fantastic make-up. 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 major Russian city. Sometimes the concert continues until the last flashfire on the stage burns out.

Start

The group "Kiss", whose history goes back to the distant 1973, began its activity by imitating already known performers. Initially, there were only two musicians in the line-up - Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, both of whom knew the technique of playing the guitar and sang well. But without the accompaniment of percussion instruments, things did not work out. Then Paul found 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 yet hard rock.

Externalparaphernalia

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: theatrical-terrifying style in clothes and face painting.

Name

The band "Kiss" began to take on a real shape, and after another guitarist, Ace Faile, joined it, it was already possible to talk about the concert program. Then the musicians decided to give a name to their offspring. At first they wanted to call the group Lips. But since the image was already working, and the word Kiss could be made 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 the image

The musicians found their "masks" in comics and horror films. That's where they got them from. Gene Simmons took on the image of a demon, Paul Stanley settled on a "starchild" mask, guitarist Ace Frehley turned into an "alien", and Peter Criss became a "cat". Later, the "warrior Ankh" appeared, his image was tried on by solo guitarist Vinnie Vincent. And finally, drummer Eric Carr began to put on a fox mask during performances. Six different images on stage organically complemented each other, thus creating an overall picture of a fantastic action.

Group "Kiss": biography of participants

It currently consists of both creators, Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons. They, as before, are vocalists, Paul plays the rhythm, and Simmons - the bass guitar. Behind the drums is Eric Singer, who also serves as backing vocalist. Tommy Tyler - lead guitar and backing vocals.

At different times, six more musicians took part in the group's activities:

• Bruce Kulik - vocals and guitar (1984-1996);
• Mark St. John - lead guitar (1984, deceased 2007);
• Vinnie Vincent - lead guitar (1982-1984);
• Eric Carr - percussion instruments (1980-1991, died 1991);
• Peter Criss - vocals & drums (1973-1980, 1996-2001, 2002-2004);
• Ace Frehley - vocals and lead guitar (1973-1982, 1996-2002).

Paul Stanley

Born in 1952 in Queens, New York. One of the founding members of the band, guitarist and vocalist. Composer, author of 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 Tirat Carmel, Israel on August 25, 1949. Bass player, vocalist and actor. The stage persona 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, he managed to take part in the recording of more than 50 albums.

Tommy Thayer

Born November 7, 1960 in Portland, Oregon, USA. He is currently the lead guitarist and backingvocalist in the group "Kiss". Passionate fan of Alice Cooper, "Deep Purple" and Rory Gallagher.

Ace Frehley

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 of the Kiss group. Drummer and vocalist. He left three times and returned again. He performed in the form of a cat, which he himself invented.

Eric Carr

Born July 12, 1950 in New York. He played drums and was a backing vocalist. He gained worldwide fame when he worked in the Kiss group. He performed on stage in the form of a red fox. Died in 1991 from heart disease.

Vinnie Vincent

Solo guitarist and backing vocalist. Born August 6, 1952 in Bridgeport, Connecticut. In 1982, he replaced Ace Frehley, who left the group. However, two years later he was fired due to a conflict with the producers.

Mark St. John

The group "Kiss" after the dismissal of Vincent changed its composition. Mark St. John joined as lead guitarist and backing vocalist. He worked until his death from a stroke on April 5, 2007. Bruce Kulik was invited to replace Saint John.

Bruce Kulik

Born on December 12, 1953 in Brooklyn, New York, he was accepted into the band as lead guitarist and vocalist. The only member whodid not wear makeup. At the time of his enrollment, the make-up had already been cancelled.

Change

The group "Kiss", the biography of its members, current and former, evolution over a long period of time, formation, formation of the repertoire - all this is being studied by music critics today. The image of the musicians has changed radically, makeup has disappeared, there is less outrageousness. The team has noticeably updated.

Music has become the main criterion in creativity. The group "Kiss" and today does not let the audience get bored at their concerts, fireworks still fly up to the ceiling, and the musicians are on fire. But this is all theatrical action, it is intended to serve as a visual accompaniment to heavy rock music. The Kiss group, whose photo against the background 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 Purple", 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 behind them. It's just that the time is different now, the tastes of the public have changed.

Album release

The musicians have six live discs and twenty studio ones. The first, called Kiss, was recorded on February 18, 1974 and, despite being the debut, went gold in terms of the number of copies sold. The release of studio albums was as follows:

1. Kiss, 1974(gold).
2. Hotter Hell, 1974 (Gold).
3. Dressed To Kill, 1975 (Gold).
4. Destroyer, 1976 (Gold).
5. Rock Over 1976 (Platinum).
6. Love Gun 1977 (Platinum).
7. Dynasty, 1979 (Gold).
8. Unmasked, 1980 (Gold).
9. Music From The Elder, 1981 (Gold).
10. Creatures 1982 (Platinum).
11. Lick It Up 1983 (Platinum).
12. Animalize 1984 (Platinum).
13. Asylum, 1985 (Gold).
14. Crazy Nights 1987 (Gold).
15. Hot In The Shade 1989 (Platinum).
16. Revenge, 1992 (Gold).
17. Carnival Of Souls 1997 (Gold).
18. Psycho Circus 1998 (Gold).
19. Sonic Boom 2009 (Gold).
20. Monster 2012 (Platinum).

The group "Kiss", whose discography was regularly updated with studio albums, also recorded a series of their live performances:

1. September 10, 1975, Alive!
2. October 14, 1977, Alive II.
3. May 18, 1993, Alive III.
4. March 12, 1996 Kiss Unplugged.
5. July 22, 2003, Kiss Symphony: Alive IV.
6. July 22, 2008, Kiss Alive 35.

The group "Kiss", whose albums became gold and platinum, did not leave the first positions of the American charts. Concerts have already been held in the open air, in country parks and stadiums. The closed halls could not accommodate those who wished.

Declining popularity

Kiss group for a long timewas the most spectacular in the entire United States. All kinds of circus numbers performed by musicians attracted the public. Fans have long known who is behind the "alien" mask and who the "cat" really is. People came to the Kiss concerts not to listen to music, because by and large not everyone understands hard rock, but to look at an unusual theatrical performance.

The concert usually started after dark. As soon as the sun was setting, musicians appeared on the unlit stage. Quiet guitar chords had a calming effect. Then the intensity of the sound grew, the ringing strings raised the tone, the chords sounded continuously, higher and higher, and suddenly broke into an unstoppable crescendo. The stage was engulfed in flames, whirlwinds of flame rushing in all directions. The concert of the group "Kiss" began.

The audience was provided with two and a half hours of a grandiose show, boiling hard rock, a metallic taste of heavy metal style and a 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 yet the popularity of the group began to decline. The concert tour, which took place in the fall of 1979, was almost a failure. And the next studio album has not caused a stir. Gradually, the group "Kiss" left hard rock for the sake of market conditions and lost some of their fans from among the lovers of this style. Although I bought new ones, of those who prefer more calm, elegant music in the style of glam rock.

The losing streak ended in the fall of 1991, the Revenge album was received quite favorably by the public, and the reputation of "Kiss" was restored.

Reunion

In the spring of 1996, the musicians of "Kiss" announced a return to the original composition. The Alive/Worldwide Tour was organized and was a success. The concert program, in which four members of the first line-up took the stage, was made up of hits from the group of the seventies. Classical masks were again drawn on the faces of the musicians, the whole stage was on fire, engulfed in flames, as during the Love Gun period. The tour lasted for about a year, with 192 performances taking in nearly $47 million.

Farewell tour

In early 2000, the musicians of the group "Kiss" announced the end of their creative activities. The farewell tour was scheduled for the month of March 2000 and was supposed to take place throughout 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, we managed to quickly compensate for the loss, Eric Singer joined the group. With the new line-up, the Kiss group finished performing in the USA and moved to Japan, and then to Australia.

Collaboration with a symphony orchestra

In early 2003 the band was invited to perform with the Melbourne Orchestra conducted by David Campbell. And without thatThe children's choir graced the unusual format of the performance. The concert was a resounding success. His recording was later included on the album Kiss Symphony/Alive IV.

Latest projects

In the spring of 2001, the Kiss musicians began work on their next studio album, and in July the single "Hell and Hallelujah" was released, later included in the Monster disc.

Yume No Ukiyo Ni Saetimina was formed in January 2015 with Japanese girl group Motoiro Clover Z.