4/28: PAUL STANLEY BOOK REVIEW
Had a chance to read Paul Stanley’s book on my many flights lately. I was looking forward to seeing how much Paul would open up in a book like this. In my limited dealings with him over the decades I have found him to be fairly private and very sensitive to anything not in line with the current plan, so his approach to an auto biography would no doubt be interesting. Contrary to what many think, and despite whatever feelings he has about me, Paul was actually always my favorite member of the band. For a long time he was one of my favorite singers and his songs were always what I liked best in Kiss. I agree with his own feelings throughout the book that he has always been the prime driving force in the band. In much of the press he has done leading up to this book he has painted doing this for some greater more legitimate reason than most other rock books. I don’t see any great difference with this than any of the other MANY rock books out there. It is very well written, entertaining, inspiring, and told from his perspective and how he saw it, like ALL of these books are. But I don’t see a great distinction over many other good ones that are out there as Paul has said is the case with his. The one down side is that his is the last of the Kiss members books. The good; that he answers some of the others books, the bad is that many of these stories we have heard already. Especially if you consider we just had the very in depth Nothin’ To Lose as far as Kiss books for history which he was a writer on. But still for any Kiss fan this is a more than worthwhile read. But like ANY book it is his spin and take on the story as he wants to tell it. That is the case with all the books, it’s up to the reader to find the balance from four peoples perspectives when it comes to Kiss. Not surprisingly Paul’s book paints him as the guiding force in the band throughout and rarely does he ever take responsibility for anything that was bad for Kiss. For example he describes the demise of Kiss in the late 70’s to be more about the costumes and stage show than writing a disco song. I can tell you even though it was a hit, I Was Made For Loving You was DEATH to the Kiss fan base at the time and some still haven’t recovered from it. The shots at Ace and even more so Peter are expected, but more surprising are the shots at Gene and how bad their relationship was at some stages. Almost every bad decision was because of someone else it seems at times. Some other interesting things:
*No acknowledgment of what a big song “Shock Me” was for Ace and the Love Gun LP, or the success of Ace’s solo album over the others with “NY Groove”.
*Not much made of the impact “Beth” had crossing the band to an entire new audience. A huge moment in the bands history to get on the radio.
*Glosses over some of the later 80’s albums. Almost no mention of Crazy Nights and recording with noted producer Ron Nevison. Would have loved more back story on the making of the 80’s and 90’s albums.
*Talks about the many bad songs Gene mailed in during the 80’s but outside of the two on Smashes Thrashes (which were bad and he does say so!) never mentions his role in some duds as well. Bang Bang You? Read My Body? Although his material was mostly better he had some clunkers for sure along the way.
*Good to see how he admits not handling the passing of Eric Carr within the band the right way. How the band didn’t stop while Eric attempted to recover is hard to believe. It did bother Eric Carr greatly that while he was fighting cancer his band was already recording with Eric Singer, who he predicted would replace him. Def Leppard stood by their drummer when he lost an arm, Kiss could have waited to see how Carr would do. He does take this on and take responsibility and it was good to see finally.
*Didn’t acknowledge that fans at the MTV unplugged in ’95 actually booed when current band was re introduced and chanted for a reunion at the end of the taping. I was in the audience. It was an avalanche that resulted in the reunion in ’96.
*Psycho Circus very glossed over. Who plays on it? Why were they not able to make a deal with Peter and Ace? Also no mention of performing with the symphony in Australia. Not my favorite thing in KISStory by any stretch but should have had a mention.
All that said I truly enjoyed the book and would suggest it to any Kiss fan. But like ALL Kiss books it is HIS version of how he saw things. I’m not about to go tit for tat with all four books and who’s told the story best and most accurate. They ALL are coming from that persons point of view and get that persons story out as they saw it. And something tells me there will be no shortage of more Kiss related books to come…
Eddie, at the MTV Unplugged, Bruce and Eric Singer got booed? That’s awful! I love Ace and Peter too, but that is disrespectful. I don’t have anything against Tommy either, but i don’t care for him ripping off the whole “Spaceman” thing. And his live playing on some songs, IMO, is attrocious. I hope I would never boo him, even if I want Bruce back in the band.
After listening to a lot of people talking about kiss. People that worked with them. eg guitar and drum technicians,Managers, stage hands etc. The common theme was that Peter was always a misery to be around and had lost it musically. Always wanting people telling him how good she was. He even made a big deal of it in the book to tell everyone that he had the biggest dick. Ace although cool was a strange creature that never cared for the band by putting it first. Just spaced out in his head
Hi Eddie. Thank you for what you said about Paul’s book. I have not read it yet. I wanted to see him at his book event at the Jewish Community Center in San Francisco but the price of admission told me I could be there in spirit and not body, haha. I read some other reviews people said about Paul’s book and the general consensus of what they said was that Paul’s book was their favorite. However, I really appreciate your bringing things into perspective by mentioning that Paul’s book is HIS version of the story. If I was to say what book of a Kiss member I felt was the best (and I have not looked at Paul’s book yet so my comment might be premature), I really connected the most with Peter’s book. There were way too many details of things for me to think he doesn’t have his thing together. It seems Peter is VERY clearheaded when it comes to how things happened from his perspective. I know that Paul has a lot of intelligence and can say things quite articulately so I have some confidence that he probably approaches his book at least from having a good memory. But, for Paul to say that he questions Peter’s perspective because of Peter’s drug use during his years in the band… well… I have trouble with that. If I were to want to sit down with a Kiss member and talk to him both as a fan and a guy who wants to be friends with someone in the group, that person is Peter.
I have a question… a “what the hell I might as well ask” sort of thing: In your opinion, would you say that on the surface Gene barks the loudest and comes on as the “tough guy” when in reality he backs down more than Paul who appears very mannered and polite on the surface but is very intense and demanding when it comes to issues with Kiss and what he will and will not accept within the group?
Kudos to you,
Lee Gerstmann
It always kills me when Eddie Trunk, the biggest KISS fan on the planet, never gets his DUE respect from Paul and Gene. I mean come on already, Paul and Gene, are you really that stupid? I am a huge KISS fan, my first concert ever was the Love Gun tour; it’s time KISS supports Eddie and not the reverse.
Eddie Trunk doesn’t need Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons. He already has the 2 members of Kiss that matter in his corner, Ace and Peter. I am going to compare it to the ’96 Kiss reunion tour, when they had asked Cheap Trick to open for them on one leg. Cheap Trick refused. My guess is they weren’t going to get paid, but nonetheless, Cheap Trick doesn’t need Kiss. They are beyond excellent showmen and musicians and songwriters. And nice guys. Eddie is a real down to Earth guy, Gene and Paul are not. Oil and water, friends, oil and water…
This is the first Kiss book i have read. I met Paul at the book signing. He seems like a guy that has his act together, he’s very polite and respectful and listens to others and isn’t a wise guy ? Whether whats in the book is all true, we will never know. I have no desire to see them now. but in the 70’s they were awsome.