KISS - Your favorite Era or Line-up
 

KISS is one of those bands (like Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, and Iron Maiden) that has had several different line ups around a core of the band, and each line-up has it's strengths.

For me, though, there is one Era or Line-Up that really hits the mark and was consistently great:

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During this period (1991-1995) KISS was a monster. Playing kick ass Hard Rock/Heavy Metal in an updated version of what they played on the first 3 albums they were taken to a new level of musicianship by Bruce Kulick and Eric Singer. Eric Singer is my all time favorite drummer, and if I had to pick a guitar player to work with it would definitely be Bruce. Bruce is so versatile, from the Van Halen/Rhoads style of the 80's to the bluesier, dirtier style of the 90's, to Power Pop, Bruce can do it all.

Revenge and Carnival of Souls are two of my all time favorite albums, and 2 of my 3 favorite KISS studio albums (the first KISS album is the other one).

So what is your favorite era in KISS' long history?

I'm going to go for the original line-up. Even though I think Peter Criss was annoying as hell as a singer/songwriter, he wasn't a bad drummer, and in my mind no one can touch Ace Frehley's guitar work. And pretty much every album from Kiss to Love Gun (and honestly, Dynasty was pretty good, too) was either a classic or near-classic, so the proof is in the pudding.

I have to say the original line-up during it's first go-round is my favorite, followed by a tie: the "Revenge"-era KISS, and the Eric Carr/Vinnie Vincent era.

the original line-up gets all the credit, but I would've loved the Gene/Paul/Eric/Vinnie lineup to have lasted a few more albums. I wonder if Vinnie would've kept them from releasing albums like Asylum and Crazy Nights

First few albums... after that I have ZERO interest.

the original or the Gene/Paul/Ace/Eric lineup.

74-77.

The first cd i reach for when i want to hear some Kiss is "Lick It Up" absolutely love that album i'm a fan of all Kiss but this line-up of Gene,Paul, Eric and Vinnie IMO was the best. Would also like to give props to "Animalize" i thought Mark St. John :rip: did a wonderful job on that album.

I'll have to go with the early years. I like all of their stuff, but the 70s were huge, those albums still hold up, and those tours were amazing at the time.

The only former member I didn't like was Vinnie Vincent. They made some good tunes with him, but he didn't really seem to fit in.

Some examples of the Revenge line-up ripping it up...

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One camera shot of Eric Singer/"Unholy" Detroit 1992
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Just the stuff from when I was in high school: Kiss, Hotter Than Hell, Dressed To Kill, Alive, Destroyer. After that I lost all interest. Don't think I ever played them again. I did replace them when cds came along, for old times sake, and listened to them maybe once.

Revenge is my favorite Kiss cd so I guess I'd choose that line-up.

I would vote for the one and only original line-up as well. Funny, I would take a completely different stance from you. Okay singer - AWFUL drummer. :)

The first couple of non-makeup albums are incredible. They finally realized that they were at their best when they made really heavy music, and they were able to concentrate solely on the music for the first time, instead of the image. Once they hired Bruce they settled down a little, but their output was more solid anything they did in the 70's. Revenge was a great return to what they did on LIU. it's a shame that all people wanted to see was four guys in makeup playing Rock and Roll All Nite.

I think it's interesting that the three best non-makeup albums (Lick It Up, Animalize, and Revenge) all took place when there was internal turmoil in the band. With the shakeup in guitar players during the first two, and the death of Eric Carr before Revenge (not to mention the reunion rumblings). It's the complete opposite of the makeup era, when the wheels came off when Ace and Peter started having their problems.

KISS was usually at their best when they were struggling.

In the early days they were struggling to make a name for themselves, and they wrote some of their strongest material (on the first three albums, which paid off on Alive).

After the relative failure of Unmasked and the complete commercial disaster that was The Elder they came back strong with Creatures of the Night and Lick It Up (and, for some people - like me - Animalize and Asylum).

When Crazy Nights hurt their credibility with their fanbase, and Hot in the Shade failed to live up to the success of the hit single, "Forever," they came back with arguably their best album ever in Revenge.

Once the Reunion tour got them fat and happy again they put out a mediocre album in Psycho Circus.

Personally, I'd like to see them do one final studio album, and only use guys who have been in the band (no outside musicians). Try to keep the songwriting in-house and use as few as possible outside writers (which would be VERY possible since they could co-write with Bruce and Tommy, both of whom are very good songwriters).

I'd just hate to think that Psycho Circus would be their final studio album.

After the magic that was Revenge (and, for many fans, Carnival of Souls) that would just be really disappointing.

One tour that I don't think gets enough respect is the Animalize tour.

The stage set up was SWEEEEET! (And the band played with a TON of energy!)

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And while I do think that Gene looked like a drag queen on much of the Asylum tour, for the last leg of the tour he wore a really cool outfit that looked like a mid 80's non-makeup follow up to Gene's look circa 1977-78:
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Original and "Carnival of Souls" line up for me. :up:

oh please. There's only ONE answer to this question, and one answer only:

ACE, Peter, Gene, & Paul

Close the thread.

You might change your mind if you really paid attention to the Tiger Stadium gig from KISSOLOGY 3. Let's just say it wasn't Peter's (or Ace's) finest moment. Granted, the Brooklyn Bridge mini-concert WAS one of their finest moments, and they did play better later on the tour.

Don't get me wrong, I love the original line up - but I love them for the 1974-1977 period. Ace and Peter both worked hard to get back in shape both physically and musically, but they still had significant limitations to what they could play in the Reunion era.

Bruce, Eric, and Tommy can play ANYTHING in their catalog, and play it extremely well.

Plus Revenge and Carnival of Souls are just killer albums!

Here's Bruce doing a Revenge medley during a solo gig in Australia...
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Too bad KISS didn't play more of those songs live - they sound great live!

Like this one (my favorite off of Revenge - a musical KILLER! Studio version.)
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Goofing around with it LIVE Unplugged...(turn it up, this vid's a little quiet)
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The thread remains open.... ;)

I'm a huge KISS fan and got into them somewhere between Crazy Nights and Hot in the Shade, I love all the eras and own every album, but I'll have to put another vote in for the Revenge line-up. I was really sad when they got back with Ace and Peter... love the old 70's Ace and Peter stuff, that's what the band was built on. But in the 90's they became their own tribute band with the reunion. I wish they would have stuck with Singer and Kulick and gone forward being a real band releasing new songs and new albums. Like Aerosmith and Bon Jovi, they were one of the few "hair" bands that could have survived in the grunge era. What I've always liked about KISS is their ability to change their style to be current with what is going on... Dynasty/Unmasked - Disco, Asylum/Crazy Nights - Glam Metal, Carnival of Souls - Alice in Chains, ect yet still remain "KISS" in their basic sound, if you know what I mean.

Great videos, by the way!

It seems there are a lot of KISS fans on this board, can we start an all purpose KISS thread?

My favorite KISS album is... Asylum. That's right! Bruce is my favorite KISS member and he tears it up on that, love the Tears are Falling and Who Wants To Be Lonely guitar solos! The fact that KISS never did Who Wants To be Lonely live is a crime.

anyone get the new Peter Criss solo album? ouch. I think it's the first KISS album I have not enjoyed.... and Peter's first solo is my favorite out of the original four solos. "You Matter To Me" rules!

I can't believe it's been almost 10 years since the last KISS studio album! I miss the days when they would come out with a new album almost every year or two. I'd like to see a KISS All Star studio album with Gene/Paul/Eric/Tommy as the basic band and invite Bruce, Ace, Peter, even Vinnie to guest star on various tracks.

By the way, I don't want to short change the late, GREAT, Eric Carr. He was one hell of a drummer and a really, really nice guy. A great human being.

And he blew off his girlfriend to spend 15 minutes talking to me at tha NAMM show in 1990...
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(By the way, I LOVE Asylum - One of my favorite KISS albums. Eric and Bruce were already locked in and worked incredibly well as a team.)

YAY! - Glad to see the love for Asylum, could be KISS most underrated album

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My favorite line-up will always be the original with Gene, Paul, Ace and Peter. Ace is an amazing axe-man and his licks and riffs are timeless in addition to the classic sound they gave KISS. Second to that, my favorite line-up would have to be the Revenge era. Eric Singer is an amazing drummer (Alice Cooper is another of my favorite acts) and Bruce Kulick had the best chops of any guitarist in KISS. They played loud and mean on that album, better than they had on anything in years.

One bad gig is not going to change my opinion. A thousand bad gigs would, but I'll take style over technical proficiency any day. Tommy & Bruce are just trying to copy Ace, in my opinion.

I do have to admit that I skimmed through the bonus disk from Sao Paulo and was pretty impressed. Will give it a real chance sometime in the future.

people are way too harsh on non-original line up Kiss. I still believe the Creatures/Lick and Revenge lineups were stronger than the original group ever was. People just have the fondest memories over Ace and Peter to give Vinnie, Bruce or either Eric their fair shake