Paul Stanley: "Kiss Alive! Was Live"By John Soeder, The Plain Dealer
On their latest tour, the makeup-sporting rockers of Kiss (nominated earlier this week for a spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame) are saluting their 1975 "Kiss Alive!" album. Singer-guitarist Paul Stanley, singer-bassist Gene Simmons, guitarist Tommy Thayer and Cleveland-bred drummer Eric Singer also are gearing up for the release of "Sonic Boom," the band's first new studio album in 11 years. It arrives Tuesday, Oct. 6, sold exclusively at Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores. Stanley, 57, gave us a call last week from his home in Los Angeles.Q: Can fans expect business as usual on "Sonic Boom"?
A: Everybody is saying it's the best thing we've done in decades.
We weren't trying to make a retro album. . . . What we wanted -- and what I wanted, in particular -- was to capture the spirit and the force and the vibe that the band had. Without a doubt, it's classic Kiss.
It was just a matter of going in the studio with great songs, and that was just a matter of us writing them. I didn't want any outside writers involved in the album. It had to come from us.
We sat in our hotel rooms or at each other's houses, with guitars, and just let it come out.
Q: Why are you going the Wal-Mart route?
A: Wal-Mart is virtually everywhere. Also, making this partnership with them gave us the ability to put together a package that really goes back to that classic Kiss vibe, which was that an album should be more than an album. It should be an event. It should be like getting a Cracker Jack box. You get the music, but then you get extras.
By working with Wal-Mart, we also were able to include 15 re-recordings of classic songs and a DVD of excerpts from one of our stadium shows in Buenos Aires a few months ago -- and at an incredible price [$12], which would be absolutely impossible any other way for one CD, let alone a whole package.
Q: Set the record straight: How "live" was "Kiss Alive!"?
A: "Kiss Alive!" was live.
People ask, "Was it worked on?" Absolutely. If you think you want to hear a guitar string break or a wrong chord, you're crazy. That's not pleasant, and it's distracting to hear time and time again.
When you scrutinize something so carefully in your home, you're listening in a critical way. That isn't to your advantage or to ours, honestly.
So what we wanted you to have is a memento of what you experienced.
Was it augmented? Was it beefed up? You bet. I don't think that anybody other than a couple of scrooges could give a damn.
Q: Where do things stand with ex-bandmates Ace Frehley and Peter Criss? Going forward, is this Kiss -- you, Gene, Tommy and Eric?
A: Honestly, there's no way we could've done this album with anyone else. Anybody who thinks we could've made this album with any other lineup is out of their minds.
Where do things stand with Ace and Peter? They were there at the formation of the band, the band couldn't have happened without them in the beginning . . . and the band couldn't continue with them there now.
