Get ready to rock and roll all night -- KISS is back.
The veteran rockers' "Alive 35" world tour is an homage to KISS Alive, the double album that rocketed the guys to global fame in the mid-'70s.
At Thursday night's BankAtlantic Center concert, the always kinetic foursome -- with founding members Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons still at the helm -- will play fan favorites, plus a song or two from Sonic Boom, their first studio album since 1998's Psycho Circus. We spoke to Stanley, 57, about how they keep it going after 35 years:
How many songs from the new album are you doing?
"We didn't want to do songs people didn't know, but here you are the No. 2 album in the country and obviously people are getting to know these songs. They had to sound great live because we recorded them live. Music isn't supposed to be made under a microscope. Everything we did was on the first or second take. If it's perfect, it's not rock 'n' roll."
How has your songwriting changed?
"To write great music you almost have to debrief yourself. Technical ability can sometimes get in the way. All the great early songs were written really quickly, without overanalyzing every verb and adverb."
Were you pleased with the outcome?
"What I wanted to get on this album was that same vitality and that same energy that I think had been lacking. From the get-go, the first rule was no outside writers. The idea of bringing someone in to do the work for you, to interpret who you are, is a problem."
What sets 'Sonic Boom' apart?
"This time it was more important to make a great album. You can't make a great album with people in the band saying, How can the band make me more famous? Instead of: How can I make the band more famous? This album is about people who believe in the band."
How different would it be today to accomplish what you did in the '70s?
"MTV and the Web made the world a much smaller place. Now a band in Boise can see what a band in Prague is doing and copy it."
What is different about this show?
"It's huge: bigger, better, more. We have incredible video screens built into speaker cabinets, bombs, flash pots, smoke. What you've come to expect. It is, by far, the best show we've ever done."
-- HART BAUR
The show starts at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the BankAtlantic Center, Sunrise. Tickets atstubhub.com and other outlets.
