Kiss

小简介
成立时间：1973 美国
    风格划分：竞技摇滚、华丽摇滚、重金属、硬摇滚
    乐队简介：疯狂的70年代的的确确不是老帮子的天下，这个阶段几乎诞生了日后的所有摇滚风格。从这个意义上，Kiss的出现有其必然性——源于一种全新的摇滚审美观和城市青年的普遍心声。源于搔首弄姿的Alice Cooper和粗俗市井的硬摇滚、朋克先锋the New York Dolls的Kiss在70、80年代成为了这个时代的年青人最为推崇的乐队。
    　　“爱与和平”远不是七十年代年青人的福音。在他们看来Kiss噱头的扮相才是当时的青年典范。甚至，无论你是否喜欢他们的音乐，你都注定无法拒绝他们的魅力。干冰、烟雾、照明、焰火、鲜血、脸谱……所有的一切都会成为当时年青人津津乐道的谈资，酷！一切其实就是这么简单。
    　　没人敢对Kiss产生丝毫疑问，日后几乎所有的成功摇滚团体都或多或少继承了他们的衣钵，商业化、娱乐性、专业水准……无一不是今天致胜的黄金法宝。除了“天才”这个显得有点多余的评价，一切言语都不足以形容他们。
    　　Kiss的前身是由Gene Simmons(贝司、主唱)和Paul Stanley(节奏吉他、主唱)组建的硬摇滚乐队Wicked Lester。在鼓手Peter Criss、吉他Ace Frehley加入后，Kiss正式成立。1973年乐队首次登台演出后两周即和fledgling公司签约，次年2月推出了首张同名专辑《Kiss》，并且取得了排行榜第87名的名次。1975年专辑《Alive!》使他们一举成名，专辑不仅打入了排行榜前十位，而且“Rock 'N' Roll All Nite”也取得了单曲排行榜第12名的好成绩。随后的《Destroyer》一鼓作气，成为了乐队的首张白金唱片，单曲“Beth”最终入围十大。
    　　1977年Gallup民意测验结果表明，Kiss是当时最受欢迎的流行摇滚乐队。关于他们的商品充斥着大量的市场——幽默书籍、签名圆珠笔、脸谱、面具、游戏甚至电视动作片(事实上这种情况一直延续到了今天)_。Kiss的成员在公开场合一直保持着舞台形象，星星、蝙蝠、闪电、猫全副武装。 那一年，Kiss的歌迷很快达就到了六位数。1978年，乐队成员分别出了个人专辑，而且均打入了前五十位， Kiss当年风光可见一斑。
    　　1980年《Kiss Unmasked》从某种意义上宣告了乐队黄金时期的暂时结束，它甚至都没有成为金唱片。不久，Peter Criss、Ace Frehley先后摘下脸谱离队，新鼓手Eric Carr、吉他手Vinnie Vincent接替进来。新阵容最初的作品平平，使乐队不得不重新带上面具，希望能够由此获得一次转机。《Lick It Up》由此成为Kiss八十年代的首张白金唱片。此后，Kiss在八十年代的剩余时间里继续制作了很多优秀专辑。
    乐队进入九十年代后，影响力开始下降。1996年，Kiss重组成为了当年的一个大事，1998年乐队发行了重组后的首张专辑《Psycho Circus》。

Rooted in the campy theatrics of Alice Cooper and the sleazy hard rock of glam rockers the New York Dolls, Kiss became a favorite of American teenagers in the '70s. Most kids were infatuated with the look of Kiss, not their music. Decked out in outrageously flamboyant costumes and makeup, the band fashioned a captivating stage show featuring dry ice, smoke bombs, elaborate lighting, blood spitting, and fire breathing that captured the imaginations of thousands of kids. But Kiss' music shouldn't be dismissed — it was a commercially potent mix of anthemic, fist-pounding hard rock driven by sleek hooks and ballads powered by loud guitars, cloying melodies, and sweeping strings. It was a sound that laid the groundwork for both arena rock and the pop-metal that dominated rock in the late '80s. Kiss was the brainchild of Gene Simmons (bass, vocals) and Paul Stanley (rhythm guitar, vocals), former members of the New York-based hard rock band Wicked Lester; the duo brought in drummer Peter Criss through his ad in Rolling Stone and guitarist Ace Frehley responded to an advertisement in The Village Voice. Even at their first Manhattan concert in 1973, the group's approach was quite theatrical; Flipside producer Bill Aucoin offered the band a management deal after the show. Two weeks later, the band was signed to Neil Bogart's fledgling record label, Casablanca. Kiss released their self-titled debut in February of 1974; it peaked at number 87 on the U.S. charts. By April of 1975, the group had released three albums and had toured America constantly, building up a sizable fan base. Culled from those numerous concerts, Alive! (released in the fall of 1975) made the band rock & roll superstars; it climbed into the Top Ten and its accompanying single, "Rock 'N' Roll All Nite," made it to number 12. Their follow-up, Destroyer, was released in March of 1976 and became the group's first platinum album; it also featured their first Top Ten single, Peter Criss' power ballad "Beth." A 1977 Gallup poll named Kiss the most popular band in America. Kiss mania was in full swing and thousands of pieces of merchandise hit the marketplace. The group had two comic books released by Marvel, pinball machines, makeup and masks, board games, and a live-action TV movie, Kiss Meet the Phantom of the Park. The group was never seen in public without wearing their makeup and their popularity was growing by leaps and bounds; the membership of the Kiss Army, the band's fan club, was now in the six figures. Even such enormous popularity had its limits, and the band reached them in 1978, when all four members released solo albums on the same day in October. Simmons' record was the most successful, reaching number 22 on the charts, yet all of them made it into the Top 50. Dynasty, released in 1979, continued their streak of platinum albums, yet it was their last recorded with the original lineup — Criss left in 1980. Kiss Unmasked, released in the summer of 1980, was recorded with session drummer Anton Fig; Criss' permanent replacement, Eric Carr, joined the band in time for their 1980 world tour. Kiss Unmasked was their first record since Destroyer to fail to go platinum, and 1981's Music From the Elder, their first album recorded with Carr, didn't even go gold — it couldn't even climb past number 75 on the charts. Ace Frehley left the band after its release; he was replaced by Vinnie Vincent in 1982. Vincent's first album with the group, 1982's Creatures of the Night, fared better than Music From the Elder, yet it couldn't make it past number 45 on the charts. Sensing it was time for a change, Kiss dispensed with their makeup for 1983's Lick It Up. The publicity worked, as the album became their first platinum record in four years. Animalize, released the following year, was just as successful, and the group had recaptured their niche. Vincent left after Animalize and was replaced by Mark St. John; St. John was soon taken ill with Reiter's Syndrome and left the band. Bruce Kulick became Kiss' new lead guitarist in 1984. For the rest of the decade, Kiss turned out a series of best-selling albums, culminating in the early 1990 hit ballad "Forever," which was their biggest single since "Beth." Kiss was scheduled to record a new album with their old producer, Bob Ezrin, in 1990 when Eric Carr became severely ill with cancer; he died in November of 1991 at the age of 41. Kiss replaced him with Eric Singer and recorded Revenge (1992), their first album since 1989; it was a Top Ten hit and went gold. Kiss followed it with the release of Alive III the following year; it performed respectably, but not up to the standards of their two previous live records. In 1996, the original lineup of Kiss — featuring Simmons, Stanley, Frehley, and Criss — reunited to perform an international tour, complete with their notorious makeup and special effects. The tour was one of the most successful of 1996, and in 1998 the reunited group issued Psycho Circus. While the ensuing tour in support of Psycho Circus was a success, sales of Kiss' reunion album weren't as stellar as anticipated. Reminiscent of the band's late-'70s unfocused period, few tracks on Psycho Circus featured all four members playing together (most tracks were supplemented with session musicians), as the band seemed more interested in flooding the marketplace with merchandise yet again instead of making the music their top priority. With rumors running rampant that the Psycho Circus Tour would be their last, the quartet announced in the spring of 2000 that they would be launching a U.S. farewell tour in the summer, which became one of the year's top concert draws. But on the eve of a Japanese and Australian tour in early 2001, Peter Criss suddenly left the band once again, supposedly discontent with his salary. Taking his place was previous Kiss drummer Eric Singer, who in a controversial move among some longtime fans, donned Criss' cat-man makeup (since Simmons and Stanley own both Frehley and Criss' makeup designs, there was no threat of a lawsuit) as the farewell tour continued. With the band scheduled to call it a day supposedly by late 2001, a mammoth career-encompassing box set was set for later in the year, while the summer saw perhaps the most over-the-top piece of Kiss merchandise yet — the "Kiss Kasket." The group was relatively quiet through the rest of the year, but 2002 started with a bang as Gene Simmons turned in an entertaining and controversial interview on NPR where he criticized the organization and berated host Terry Gross with sexual comments and condescending answers. He was promoting his autobiography at the time, which also caused dissent in the Kiss camp because of the inflammatory remarks made towards Ace Frehley. Frehley was quite angry at the situation, leading to his no-showing of an American Bandstand anniversary show. His place was taken by a wig-wearing Tommy Thayer, but no one was fooled and the band looked especially awful while pretending to play their instruments during the pre-recorded track. The appearance was an embarrassment for the group and for their fans, but Simmons was quick to dismiss the performance as another in a long series of money-oriented decisions.