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#Music mania: Kiss and make-upby Mark JohnsonOn New Year'* Eve, 1974, rock group Kiss played its first major concert, opening for headliners Blue Oyster Cult. One year later to the day, Kiss headlined and Blue Oyster Cult was second billed. This is just one example of a new musical wave which is sweeping the United States. Aptly titled “Kissmania,” it is inspired by four New York City musicians who play heavy metal, wear white, silver and black make-up and dress in silk, leather and feathers.Kiss was formed three years ago and began to attract national attention a year later— not because of their music, but because of their live performances. Indeed, Kiss’s shows depend almost entirely on show, with the music (a combination of Blue Oyster Cult played slow and Black Sabbath played fast) providing a backdrop for the effects. The group takes up .where Alice Cooper leaves off; their special effects include smoke bombs, pseudo-napalm, powder charges, fire pods which shoot 15-foot flames into theair, a hydraulically levitateddrum stand and a guitar thatbelches skyrockets.Their new-found popularity thrust them to the forefront of “whiteface rock/' the unusual breed of performers who use make-up to create characters or present an image on-stage. Each of the Kiss members is a separate entity: there is Gene Simmons, a fire-breathing, blood-spitting bass player whose flashy top-knot and malevolent looks menace the enthralled crowd; Ace Frehley, the lead guitarist who dresses like a space being; Paul Stanley, the rhythm guitarist who wears a large black star over his right eye and serves as the resident sex symbol; and Peter Criss, a grindingly energetic drummer with black cat whiskers and a gold nose.As the group’s popularity has increased, so has the intensity of Kissmania. There has been a “Kiss-In” in an Illinois shopping center; the group was awarded with keys to the city in Cadillac, Michigan; and in Terre Haute, Indiana, a 4090-member Kiss army farced the local DJ to give Kiss airtime.Unfortunately the band’s first four records failed to live up to their stage show. “Kiss.” “Dressed to Kill,“Hotter than Hell” and “Alive” were all financially successful, but often proved exercises in simplicity and repetition. As “Rolling Stone” magazine puts it, “Kiss does not play music-it makes very high-volume noise.”With the recent release of Kiss’s fifth album, however, all that might be changed. “Destroyer” is a radical departure from its predecessors, as it manages to convey the group’s energetic urgency by emarking in some new directions. “Beth,” for instance, is a lyrical ballad which wanders dangerously close to middle-of-the-road. Gene Siemens plays some remarkabley inventive bass lines that far surpass his previous efforts, while the record’s producer manages * to blend drummer Crist’s cacophonic poundings into the songs instead of making them stand-out like an out-ofcontrol jackhammer.“Destroyer” thus marks a giant step forward for Kiss, as the ensemble begins to move its music to the forefront. If the group can turn out another album like their latest, Kissmania will undoubtably continue to spread for soma time.
Newspaper Details
Sidney Telegraph
Sidney, Nebraska, US
Fri, Apr 16, 1976
Page 6
Full Page
Clipped by
Olav S.
NO 03 Jul 2021
Other Publications Near Sidney, Nebraska
The Plaindealer Telegraph
Peoples Poniard
Cheyenne County Record
The Sidney Telegraph And The Peoples Poniard
The Telegraph News
