Kiss?

Are they any good? Can anyone recommend any songs?

Crazy Crazy Nights... the ultimate feelgood song!

Keep On Rockin'

Rock and Roll All Nite and Beth....great songs IMO.

Stephanie

Their 70 stuff is great! Try to listen such classic calbums like Destroyer, Rocknroll Over, Love Gun or Alive!. I really love songs like Detroit Rock City, God of Thunder or Strutter. Their records from the 80 are also very good, there are great songs there. Songs like Hide Your Heart or Reason To Live were big hits. I really love Kiss! Ace please come back!

Ace please be gone more like it....damn dopehead who keeps on f**king things up for them!

btw...KISS does rock big time, go get albums like "destroyer" "alive II" or "revenge", those should give u a good look at them...


stoney

I thin Rock & Roll Over is a masterpiece, not to diss other KISS albums, but for a Bon Jovi - fan I'd start with the easier stuff first... Check out songs like God Gave Rock & Roll To You II, Forever, Raise Your Glasses...

I don't really know, keep an open mind and listen. KISS is not for everybody, you either love it or hate it.

Ice

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.

Well put. Unplugged could be the starting point, it's easy on the ears of a Bon Jovi fan but it still rocks.

Ice

I would still say one not start with Unplugged. It can be enjoyed on it's own. But take for example, Rock Bottom. I never dreamed Paul Stanely would DESTROY both the original studio version vocal AND the Alive! performance. He sings it in a way that takes the best aspects of both the original and live version and launches them into the stratosphere. This can only be fully appreciated if you know those versions of the songs prior. Of course you can listen to the performance on its own not ever hearing any other version and still go "damn, that was good!" It's about working towards being able to appreciate these high points by uncovering the basics first. Starting with Unplugged would be kinda like starting at the top and working your way back. It might make the rest seem relatively anticlimatic.

My reference point is I first heard the Alive version of Rock Bottom before the Studio version. The live version captured me immediately on it's own. Later I heard the studio version on Dressed To Kill....it was interesting enough..but I also realized I would have liked that version too...and had I heard that first and then heard the Alive version I would have been even more blown away on the initial listening.

I don't know about an album that translates into a bridge for a Bon Jovi fan. KISS is just an altogether different type of band (unless you truly believe Bon Jovi is about big anthems..which I don't....they have big anthems just as most bands do...but anthems are hardly their hallmark as some will attempt to have you believe.) There are 80s songs where KISS did that attempt to xerox the Bon Jovi formula, unfortunately. But I wouldn't suggest them as possible bridges.

I do have this to offer as far as a Bon Jovi and KISS connection. Aside from the fact that Bon Jovi supported KISS on the European Animalize tour (for the debut album).... while in school, Jon sang the KISS song Strutter (from KISS' debut album, KISS) with a band in a Talent show (I cannot remember if it was Junior High or High School.) So that's one avenue to chase down, and it's a classic to boot with a great guitar riffs.