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
I think there’s some pretty solid material on most every Kiss album for each of us to love, except for Crazy Nights, that’s a real pos. lol
There’s no reunion in sight and Kiss is what they are gonna be today, bottom line.
Just sad that they(Seems more Gene/Paul) just can’t do it for ONE NIGHT ONLY…..for WE THE KISS ARMY.
No matter how pathetic the actual RNRHOF board members views/ideas/tastes are….it’s still the only RNRHOF and this should be a night for KISS the band and the ENTIRE KISS ARMY. Bit of blame to go in every direction here, only ones who can fix that………………seems to be Gene & Paul? Seems Ace & Peter’s only hitch is they don’t want to share the stage with Eric & Tommy in THEIR make-up. That doesn’t seem to be too much to ask for one night. As for the RNRHOF, I bet if Gene and Paul came out asking for the fans to barrage the HOF to let KISS THE BAND in, we(the Kiss Army) could get it done. Hell, we the fans are the ONLY reason they’re even going in.
I just don’t the war of words is getting OLD. Stop being petty, BE HAPPY. lol
Last word on RRHOF. They made a huge mistake in my mind of just inducting the original KISS. Who are they to decide the line up of a band. They didn’t tell the Eagles or Metallica which band members get inducted. As Eddie said on TMS, they should have inducted KISS in 1999 or 2000 and we wouldn’t be having this conversation. Eric Carr is not being inducted, He put his heart and soul into KISS. As far as Paul’s comment on Ace’s guitar skills, I noticed by 1979, that Ace rarely played the solo’s the same. Was it because he was bored or lazy, Who knows. I’ll buy Ace’s new album as well as any new KISS albums.
Earth to Paul : yeah , you and Gene’s playing has progressed so much over the years!
Hey Paul, try looking away from your guitar for once for a simple 3 chord song. LOL
Boy are they gonna look dumb with Ace & Peter not there.
If the spaceman and the cat are just characters , then why didn’t eric carr and vinnie wear ace and peterd makeup. Gene and Paul want to downplay ace and peters roles so they can sell tickets to john q public who have no idea that this is not the original band. Ace and peter should get vinnie and bruce to dress as paul and gene and show up. Maybe tommy or eric can pretend to be kurt cobain for the night.
“Gene and Paul want to downplay ace and peters roles so they can sell tickets to john q public who have no idea that this is not the original band”
There are idiots… and YOU!
Alright. Enough is enough!!!!! I say we give Dana airfare (first class), expenses, rooms and per diem so she can track Gene and Paul down and kick their asses. Enough of this Mickey Mouse BS. I have seen what Dana can do with all of us knuckle heads…..it’s time to release hell !!! 🙂 $20 a piece should be a nice start…
Scott,
Thank you, as always, for the endless smiles!
Dana 🙂