I keep trying to hate KISS but it's not working.

[Ian Jane]

The in-betweeners. People like me who love mainly the classic era but can find stuff to enjoy in all periods up to, but not necessarily including Psycho Circus and beyond. Hate the current line-up yet spend way too much time paying attention to it because they still have a deep connection to whatever goodness they got out of being fans at any point. Toy with the idea of seeing them on the End of the Road tour.

This is more or less where I fit in as well, though I'm definitely keeping Psycho Circus out of it for me, I don't like anything on that album and they only got worse from there. Destroyer is the last one that does anything for me (and I like that one a lot).

[Toyboy]

This is how KI77 fandom breaks down, for me:

- Casual non-fan. They like rock in general and know the stuff like Rock & Roll All Nite and Detroit Rock City and are just happy to see any classic band perform live regardless of the number of original members. Likely to not even know Tommy and Eric are hired guns. Probably make up 75% of any given night's audience.

- The "KI77 IS STANLEY AND $IMMON$" die-hards. This faction will take anything and everything KI77 offers them. These are the people that will see the band even if it devolves to having a fake Demon and phony Starchild.

- The KI77 was only cool from 73-77 purists. Hated Dynasty and Unmasked and were likely seniors in high school when that stuff came out. Burned Peter's solo album in disgust. Despised the 80's era. Reluctantly saw the reunion in 96 but then called it quits and went back to ignoring them.

- The in-betweeners. People like me who love mainly the classic era but can find stuff to enjoy in all periods up to, but not necessarily including Psycho Circus and beyond. Hate the current line-up yet spend way too much time paying attention to it because they still have a deep connection to whatever goodness they got out of being fans at any point. Toy with the idea of seeing them on the End of the Road tour.

[agent999]

What d'ya'all think of Thayer aka The Spaceman ?

The Spaceman part's the problem. If they'd have created a new make-up like Vinnie Vincent I don't think that too many people would be bothered. I got into the band when Bruce Kulick was the guitarist, so it's not like I think there's no Kiss without Ace. Band personnel change all the time, but most bands don't insist on a carbon copy. It's not his fault, he's just a salaried employee. As to his playing, I've only listened to the two albums he's on a couple of times so I don't really have much of an opinion. Good luck to him, most people would take the job if in his position and he's certainly paid his dues over the years.

[Marshall Crist]

If he shows up sober every night and plays the solos like they sound on the records, good for him. Shoulda had his own makeup though. Maybe an ankh or something.

[triptych]

What d'ya'all think of Thayer aka The Spaceman ?

[agent999]

The man claims to have an IQ of 163. Just say no. Fuck no...

[Ian Jane]

The thing that cracked me up in that new discussion with Trunk is that Ace said that he has Paul in his phone as "Paul S" in an effort to provide anonymity to Mr. Stanley in case anyone snagged his phone. As though that would fool anyone.

He should set it as Star Child instead. No one would ever figure that out.

[Toyboy]

So I guess Stanley called his bluff.

Seems to be the case. In the earlier interview Ace did say that he continues to make revenue off of KISS merch so it would be unwise for him to kill his cash cow. Trunk even said he told Ace it was a bad idea.

The thing that cracked me up in that new discussion with Trunk is that Ace said that he has Paul in his phone as "Paul S" in an effort to provide anonymity to Mr. Stanley in case anyone snagged his phone. As though that would fool anyone.

[Ian Jane]

Glad to see that they're into their seventies and still haven't grown up.

That was more or less my thoughts exactly when I heard about this. It's pretty funny.

[agent999]

I listened to the interview. Either there was no dirt or his lawyers told him not to shit where he eats, as he decided not to spill anything. Instead he just repeated things that were old news years ago, like anyone gave a shit who created the logo or who wrote what. He may not be the sharpest tool in the box, but he knows that he still makes money from the band and admitted that he was in it for the money too (he said he'd do a few numbers with them for $250000, then later said they'd have to make him an offer. So now they know what they can get him for, which isn't much considering the ticket prices).

So I guess Stanley called his bluff.

[agent999]

Glad to see that they're into their seventies and still haven't grown up. Whatever dirt he has, I don't think you can cancel a band that has songs like Christine Sixteen and Dance All Over Your Face.

[Toyboy]

7 days ago Ace issued an ultimatum to Paul Stanley: apologize for saying that a reunion with the original 4 members would be called PISS or Ace will release 120 excised pages from his autobiography that contain damning information about Paul & Gene that will RUIN their careers.

Ace gave Paul a full week to comply and on Eddie Trunk's show today he let the world know that he did indeed get a response from Paul: "Fuck you, Ace."

[agent999]

I was debating whether to see them on the UK tour this summer, but the videos I've seen of Stanley's voice make me think I'll stick to my memories of the perfect gig I saw them do in '92. I don't get the Stanley vocal thing, they're clearly using tapes to some extent (and their manager admitted to this), but why not for the higher notes that he consistently misses? I absolutely sympathise with him losing his ability to sing, but they should have stopped years ago rather than drag it out so long that it's embarrassing.

A co-headlining tour of Stanley and Vince Neil would be comedy gold, especially if they did a duet of a Dio song.

[Ian Jane]

Ha, the cheap seats are $325.00 each. Fuck that.

[Ian Jane]

I just wanted to see how much the nose bleeds would cost. I don't think this is worth my time.