Nobody had ever seen anything like Kiss when it arrived in 1973. A few other bands, like Aerosmith and Lynyrd Skynyrd, were showcasing their abilities with breakthrough albums that would solidify their hold on the industry for many years, but bands like Led Zeppelin, The Who, and Pink Floyd were still at the top of the game. Conversely, Kiss appeared to be a completely different person.
When exploring how the band created an image that was distinct from anything that was happening in the industry at the time, the cover of their debut album is a good place to start. While the black background and stark figures reminded me a little bit of the With The Beatles album cover, the glam-rock band logo and the corpse paint created a completely different impression.
Even more intriguing is the way that everyone seemed to be doing whatever they pleased during entire cover photo session. This was especially true when it came to the makeup. For example, Peter Criss completed his painting professionally, but the others painted with homemade paints. The result was what Paul Stanley referred to as a “tribal lion mask.”
The band’s first-ever appearance on national television didn’t seem to go as planned either. This was especially true after Gene Simmons declared that the band was a reincarnation of evil. This made the audience and guests feel a little uneasy. Even though it was obvious that the band was just musicians wearing makeup trying to make people feel afraid.
For all of these and other reasons, Kiss’s early detractors made it seem nearly impossible for the band to succeed. “It was like somebody pushing you into the deep end of the pool whether you can swim or not”. Simmons wrote in the End of the Road tour programme. Simmons and the band traveled long distances in a station wagon, living off of “beans and franks because we couldn’t afford better food.” They did this in between their odd talk show appearances and live performances.
Naturally, things improved, and they have since sold more than 100 million records globally. But some people, like Steven Tyler, who once claimed he found their overt “otherness” so disassociative that he couldn’t feel anything but offended when asked about his opinion, still maintain that they don’t understand their craft. The musician admitted, “I get offended by their music sometimes.”
“I go, ‘What’s this all about?'” Tyler continued. Are they sincere about it? That explains why Aerosmith has endured for so long. Since we are serious about ourselves. Criticising their image and their alleged incapacity to produce consistently good music, he declared that they were merely a “comic book rock band [with] spackled faces and a couple of hits.”
Unfortunately, a lot of celebrities have similar views. Carlos Santana, for example, once expressed Tyler’s sentiments when he criticised Simmons’ image, saying it served as a diversion from the reality that he was motivated by the desire to conceal his talent beneath the costume. “He’s an entertainer, not a musician,” he said. He wouldn’t understand music anyhow, since Kiss is a Las Vegas show. He wears all that stuff for that reason.
