[Bleeding Purist]

KISS is rock icon for a reason, and it's not just the marketing. As a band..the music really is worth your while. They have a rich history with a broad range in sound. Whether you like it all or not, you are bound to like something. But the problem is, they have an overwhelming catalog.

I am going to suggest you NOT go with a studio album at this point simply because if it's the wrong one, it might put you off. Your best bet is to go with one of the best of compliations. Double Platinum is your best bet for the 70's era KISS. It draws from the first 6 studio albums. Most of the tracks have been remixed, and not neccessarily for the better..but just different. This just means that if you DO like what you are hearing and want more..when you go for the respective studio albums you'll be able to enjoy hearing the differences in the songs you already had via DP.

By no means is Double Platinum all of their best. It is simply a primer. There is plenty of great material to explore post-Double Platinum and from the studio albums that DP draws from. For Example, King of the Nighttime World is a huge classic from Destroyer, but is not on Double Platinum.

Unfortunately there is no real best of compiliation that handles the late 70s, 80's and 90's material very well. You'll have to take your chances on the individual studio albums. Smashes, Thrashes and Hits is the 80s era best of that was released, however it is considered a poor compiliation and only covers some of the 80s material in a limited fashion and skips over many of the best. Creatures of the Night is the last "make up" era album released in 1982. It's one of their heaviest and contains many classics. Lick It Up is the first non-make up album, leaning towards early 80s metal with emphasis on the guitar. It's one of my favorites no doubt and stands on it's own. Revenge, as suggested by Stone, is somewhat of a comeback album in that Gene Simmons finally put his focus into the band. It's a strong album with a heavy edge, came out in 1992. It is also the last studio album in the cycle of "album, tour, album tour" After this album came live albums, compiliations, the make up reunion, the token "reunion" album and album that was to be the follow up to Revenge but shelved, released and ignored. One could say Unplugged is the capper for the band cuz after that it's all about a trip down nostalgia lane. The "reunion" album Psycho Circus actually is enjoyable in my opinion. But it comes off as an odd one out and less as a continuation of the cycle, if all of that makes sense.

Avoid the Alive albums (the series of live KISS albums, 4 in all as of this date) until you are familiar with the material. Double Platinum will prime you for a good portion of the classic Alive! album, missing only 5 of the 16 tracks. You'll need to look at the individual studio albums for Alive II and Alive III. Alive IV relies more on songs that appear on the other Alive albums, just different approach, time period and a couple of songs that never made it to the other Alive albums. The whole deal here is about the fact that KISS is a live band and an experience like no other. The songs truly do come alive on Alive! but are best appreciated when you are already familiar with the studio versions. You can still get into the live albums without knowing the studio versions, but you miss out on the aspect of hearing the difference.

The Unplugged album is a high point in KISStory, containing incredible performances that prove the caliber of the band goes beyond just visuals and pyrotechnics. However Unplugged is definately a fans set. The songs are not "the hits"..they are the obscure, the hits, the songs you'd never expect them to play, ever. But they do, and they out do the studio versions on every single one. The reunion at the end is only icing, it is not what makes this performance.