The bitterness between the current and former members who founded Kiss will not be quelled anytime soon. It’s been a little over a week since the group announced that it would not perform “in any lineup” at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, following Ace Frehley’s comment that he would not perform with current guitarist Tommy Thayer wearing Frehley’s sometime makeup. Now, in a new interview with Guitar World, vocalist-guitarist Paul Stanley has questioned Frehley’s talent.
“What we had at the beginning was magical. . . Ace and I played great together,” Stanley said. “But in my mind it’s a crime what Ace did: He threw away incredible potential and talent. The Ace I played with when the band first started out was a comet – and not [Frehley’s late-Eighties band] ‘Frehley’s Comet!’ But he was burning bright and really had the ability – and this would rub him the wrong way – to be a real contender. But he stopped practicing. He got involved with a whole lot of things that really diluted and diminished his craft. I saw that comet grow dim.”
Stanley added that after KISS fired drummer Peter Criss in 1980, he decided the band needed to reinvent itself, and that’s why they removed their makeup in 1983. It’s a decision he now feels hurt the band. “Rather than saying, ‘We’ve built these iconic figures together and we’re going to continue on with what we built,’ we bought into the idea of, ‘We have to have a new character,'” he said. “That watered it down. Some people may argue with me, but I feel that Batman is Batman whether he’s played by George Clooney, Christian Bale, Val Kilmer and on and on.”
additional source: Rolling Stone
238 Responses
Ace and Pete. The 2 guys had dream jobs but couldn’t make it to work every day. I’m sure it was tough. Ace and Pete are mere shadows of what they were 40 years ago. Eric and Tommy go to work everyday. They get it.
But for Ace and Peter being playing music shouldn’t feel like a job that you have to show up for.
That’s called having a shitty work ethic.
When a band gets to that level, it’s hard work and it pays well. The bands that think it’s a party, well it’s rare if they last beyond a decade, if that much.
Ace is a better Gitarist than Tommy on his WORST, Most hung over Day!
Read the book. Tommy had to teach both Peter and Ace their parts for the Reunion Tour and they only learned 17 songs that’s why the set list did not change for 3 tours. There is nothing that Paul says in his book about Ace and Peter, that both Ace and Peter admit about themselves, but both leave out details because they don’t remember them, Paul does because he was sober the whole time. Paul has the rehearsal tapes of Tommy teaching both of them so Peter and Ace should not push the issue or they might just end up on youtube.com
Just the fact that Paul and Gene constantly feel the need to put down two people, in order to make themselves “look good”, actually makes them the losers, not the one ones they’re putting down. (In my opinion). Ace and Peter paid the price.
Funny, when Vinnie left or got kicked out of Kiss, he became Paul and Genes favorite hate subject, so they trashed him for years, and basically ruined his career. They kept trash talking Vinnie completely, all through the years up till the reunion. Peter and Ace was back in. The they got kicked out again, and became Paul and Genes favorite hate subjects – which gave Vinnie a 10+ year long break from the eternal trashing.
Eric Carrs death they handled very very badly, firing him while he was on his deathbed (according to Gene and Paul). hell even Mark St. John got a lousy treatment from Paul and Gene.
My point is, that the pattern is, that Paul and Gene must be extremely insecure about their own abilities as musicians, so they have to have people to blame for all the non successes etc etc. Or they’re just in general lousy human beings. I know what I think…
Yes Paul and Gene stuck through all of it, all the craziness and all the BS with Peter and Ace. But there’s a saying that goes something like this “Don’t look down on people, unless you’re helping them up” — Paul and Gene ain’t helping anyone up, they’re putting everyone down, who helped them get up.
Imagine being Ace, Peter or even Vinnie, constantly trash talked and put down in the media, constantly being reminded about your mistakes, day in and day out for years.. just imagine that, every website, magazine and newspaper etc etc, every time your name is being mentioned, it’s all about your past mistakes. Talk about being bound to repeat them.
Now I truely wish, they would’ve retired after the reunion. Just left there.
I thought that Vinnie’s 2 V V I albums were good for what was coming out during that time period.
If you don’t mind the toxic-glam hair metal. Hell, I still jam to both on the i-pod when I’m out hitting the bike trails for some exercise.
S.Falls, Back then I liked his first album too. But as I listen to it today, it’s just too much of everything. “All systems go” was/is a great album. Whatever he put out after that was, well .. honestly just crap I think… Vinnie was and still is a talented guitar player and songwriter though.
Paul looks like a female impersonator in the photo.
A female impersonator that’s worth 100 million. Probably a tad more than you’re worth.
True story: Crazy Nights tour Knoxville TN, it was New Years Eve 1987-88 at the Hyatt. After the show I went in and got something to eat, and Paul was in the lounge checking out their lounge singer. He comes out and he has this stunning tall, young, blonde woman wearing a red dress by his side. He gets in the elevator with her, I saw this with my own eyes. …has anybody on here ever had a model looking girl go up to their hotel room after just meeting her? I’m just sayin’..
It’s called an escort or in layman’s terms…prostitute.
Just read the Guitar World interview where these Paul Stanley quotes came from. The issue features separate interviews with Gene and Paul. Gene was asked if he’d play with the original members at the ceremony. “Absolutely,” he said. Okay, what changed his mind?
There were very different views expressed when this was first announced by Gene and Paul in interviews. I have been told by many Paul is very much making the band decisions these days.