I'm a big fan but I am far beyond the age and desire to evangelise and insist to you that they're great. I'd be more than happy to recommend some tracks if you're interested but I'm certainly not gonna tell you why you should (or shouldn't) like 'em if you don't like the tunes.
However, as to why they seem to be one of the most disive bands on this board, well I'll throw some thoughts into the arena.
1) They're Fake. They're Novelty. Like they're alone in rock n roll for that! Most people who have a perception of KISS have heard fuck all of the tunes and only then when the weight of preconception is so jaundiced and heavy, what's the point frankly. They sell out. They make product. Johnny Rotten & Iggy sell butter and Insurance having been anti-The Man, anti-everything and it's funny, it's ironic, and we love 'em don't we? Shouldn't we?!
KISS have never, from day one, pretended to be anything other than a rock n roll entertainment behemoth. That's what they wanted, that's what they did.
2) Embarrassment, shyness & Mistrust. Some people get confused by spectacle and gesture. Especially in the UK. It's ok if you take it so far. Slade* and Sweet - Imagewise It has that slightly end of pier tack to it that makes it on the right side of acceptable. Fancy dress but not too big for their boots. KISS were just too big, too slick, too 'manufactured', too Vegas and showy (the irony being they are the most self manufactured band in rock. Few bands have controlled their own destiny like they have). Rock, for some, is ok if it's presented in jeans and a tee-shirt. It's safer it's more 'real'. Hey, Bruce Springsteen is like....one of us. He has a £100 million dollars and plays arenas but he is a blue collar guy. KISS are cartoon. Therefore they lack 'value'.
*I love Slade BTW, and so did KISS.
There's a lot of people out there that will hate them regardless of the music, it's what they apparently represent.
The Beatles sold beatles wigs and plastic guitars
You can buy a Sid Vicious Doll
I bet you a million bucks right now that at least two people on this site would buy a Marc Bolan doll if it was available. They absolutely would. But that would be different, that's ok.
KISS divide because they are the sheer, audacious vulgarity of rock n roll and the selling of it turned up to 11 with great riffs and that makes people, who somehow think that buying a Neil Young Reissued Box set with booklet and dvd is somehow a less of an all consuming consumer choice than buying a KISS comic, feel grubby. And it gives them something to say "That's a sell out" when they buy Raw Power for the 3rd time.
So there it is..
But, and this is the truth, I've been into them since I was 11 cos they were in a Marvel Comic and then I heard the album Rock n Roll Over and that made me colossally happy and I like to plug into that now and then.
Liking KISS for some, is like saying you have studied German Expressionist cinema all your life but you saw Avatar the other day and really enjoyed it. It fucks you up.
Luvs to all \m/
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