Metal Sludge The Power and the Glory
KISS’ Paul Stanley & Ace Frehley slam Gene Simmons.
KISS without Paul Stanley? Say it isn’t so!
KISS frontman Paul Stanley recently talked about ending his time in KISS, and even slapped Gene a bit. The following was found HERE on Blabbermouth.
PAUL STANLEY: KISS Can Continue Without Me – Mar. 12, 2008
KISS guitarist/vocalist Paul Stanley has told Australia’s The Daily Telegraph that his touring days with the band may soon be numbered.
"I really, firmly believe there will come a time when the band will continue without me," Stanley said.
"Some people can’t imagine it without me, but I’m here to tell you, I can. There is somebody out there with the same amount of passion and the same amount of drive," he said. "Which is not to say I wouldn’t want to have creative control."
In Stanley’s eyes, KISS is bigger than any one member of the band. Bigger than just a band, KISS is a philosophy.
"I think KISS is more about a point of view, about a respect for fans and about a loyalty and a direction much more than it is the people in the band," he explained.
"We don’t follow the same rules as other bands. I can’t live within the boundaries people set for me. I believe KISS is founded on something so solid that it will continue to live on, the way a football team continues.
"There have been great players, but there will always be other players."
Regarding his relationship with KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons, Stanley said, "I think we think of ourselves as brothers. Brothers means you can never get rid of each other, even when you want to. We go about ourselves very differently. What we choose to put at the forefront or publicize is very different.
"Certainly, one of us spends quite a bit of time telling the world that he’s the genius behind the band. This didn’t happen because of a single person. It is the combustibility and the chemistry of people who don’t necessarily view things from the same perspective which makes KISS.
"We tend to put our egos aside when it comes to making decisions for the band."
KISS press conference in Melbourne, Australia – March 12, 2008
Former KISS guitarist Ace Frehley recently had a few things to say about Family Jewels reality TV star and KISS basssist Gene Simmons.
"I got crazy once I rejoined Kiss, ’cause those guys know how to push my buttons," Frehley says. "I can only take them in small doses."
But Ace acknowledges that it’s wrong to make Simmons and Stanley scapegoats for his problems. "I can’t blame it all on them," he says. "I have to take responsibility for my actions. . . . I have to let all the negative stuff roll off my back and move forward."
That’s what Frehley is determined to do now. Eighteen months sober and fronting a new band, with his first solo album in nearly two decades due for release later this year, Frehley says he’s happy and that he’s found some semblance of peace with his former bandmates, whom he stays in touch with sporadically. "We’re all on good terms," Frehley stresses.
But it doesn’t take much to find that many of the old wounds still sting.
Especially given the way Frehley’s portrayed by both Simmons and Stanley, as a colossal screwup whose self abuse and bad attitude led him to blow the opportunity of a lifetime not once, but twice. They’ve also taken to downplaying Frehley’s musical contributions to the band. Simmons has gone so far as to say that certain classic Kiss songs attributed to Frehley needed significant work before they were fit for public consumption.
"I think if you listen to all the classic songs I’ve written, it’s hard for that statement to hold water," Frehley says, sounding hurt. "They try to come off as being responsible for all the success and all the great songs and it just isn’t so."
He also takes a jab of his own. "Gene is a hypocrite. He’ll say he doesn’t want to be around people who use drugs and alcohol but he’ll tolerate it if there’s money to be made. Money rules over everything else."
To that end, how does Frehley feel about Kiss continuing without Criss and himself, using surrogate band members who essentially masquerade as the two of them, wearing their old costumes and makeup in concert?
There’s a long pause at this question and when Frehley finally responds it’s with that hyena cackle of his. "I don’t think it’s really Kiss. It’s more of a Kiss cover band," he says.
These days, he adds, given Simmons’s public adventures and misadventures, Frehley says he’s glad he’s no longer a member of Kiss.
"Gene can be embarrassing," he says. "Luckily, today it doesn’t effect me, because I’m not working with him."
The Calgary Herald has a post at Canada . Com dated Thursday MArch 13th. To read all of the Ace interview go HERE. He has plenty of opinion on his former KISS bandmates.
And just for shits n’ giggles HERE is KISS (lip syncing) on YouTube on the Mexican TV show CHARISMA in 1981.
Metal Sludge
Un-Sludged
