KISS: Paul Stanley on bass?

[Tom Vu]

Let me beginning by saying that I'm is a KISS fan. My favorite records from KISS are Unmasked, The Elder, and Creatures of the Night. I just have some questions about KISS in their videos. Maybe someone will have a good way to answering the questions.

The first question is why is Paul Stanley play the bass guitar in "Unholy?" Did he play bass guitar on that song. Does he even play bass guitar. I thought that he was the rhythm guitarer.

Second question is, why is Paul acting like he was play the lead solo in "I Love it Loud?" He did play the style to match the solo but when the solo came on, the camera focus on Paul while he did his tumble and things like that. Was this done to give the imprress that Ace was no longer the lead guitarer and they try to phase him out? I know Vinnie Vincent play on most of that record but Ace was still considering in the KISS group.

:confused:

[RuzDNailz]

Remember this Tom, in most bands people normally switch up
instruments. I've seen it happen before. Many guitar players TRY to
pick up the Bass thinking that it's relatively the same thing and vice versa. I myself am learning Bass, but I was told I can't just jump to guitar. Doesn't work that way. As far KISS is concerned, Ace Frehley
is a very good guitarist, but Paul Stanley is more of a frontman and
rhythm guitar player. Hope this helps.

[SoldMySoul4RnR]

What? No Hagar ass licking? That's a first!

Okay, the world of Kiss is a very muddled mixed up one. The subject of 'who played on what?' is probably one of the most debated issues in rock music. As early as Destroyer, the band were using session musicians due to tension in the group (that's Dick Wagner from Alice Cooper's band playing the solo on 'Sweet Pain').

By the time the band had released the four solo albums, all of the four members hated each other. So on Dynasty, Ace Frehley and Paul Stanley opted to play their own bass parts on their songs so they would have more control (and they would have to spend less time with the rest of the band). It is possible for a person to know how to play more than one musical instrument, ya know.

I don't think Paul played bass on 'Unholy', but he played bass on a heap of Kiss songs. He also played a bunch of solos, thats him soloing on 'A World Without Heroes' and 'Sure Know Something' so maybe he did play the 'I Love it Loud' solo part (it's ridiculously simple part).

Geez, there's heaps to know about the whole soap opera that is Kiss. Did you know that Peter Criss played drums on only ONE song on both Psycho Circus and Dynasty? Plus he took no part in Unmasked what-so-ever. And Ace was officially out of Kiss by Creatures of the Night, they only put his face on the cover because Gene Simmons was too spineless to admit that he had left, because he knew it would be the final nail in the Kiss coffin.

Shit, that's only just the beginning. Read "Kiss: Behind the Mask"...get a load of the bitchiness.

[Hoongood]

Paul played the lead on I Love It Loud. When Creatures was being recorded, Ace was MIA. This is about the time he had his near fatal DUI car wreck. The leads you hear on Creatures of the Night are Paul and Vinnie Vincent.
As before mentioned, Ace was only on the cover. He did not play on the album.
There is even a video to the song "I" from The Elder where the band is performing as a 3 piece on some European "Solid Gold" type show.
Ace was MIA for that one too.

[SoldMySoul4RnR]

Yeah there's plenty of little stories like that. Kiss behind the scenes is real quality entertainment. Have you read 'Kiss: behind the mask'? There's a whole section at the back where the band and people involved with them give their thoughts on every song on every album.

Man, the whole band sounds really bitter when talking about each other.

[Nickdfresh]

Originally posted by Hoongood
Paul played the lead on I Love It Loud. When Creatures was being recorded, Ace was MIA. This is about the time he had his near fatal DUI car wreck. The leads you hear on Creatures of the Night are Paul and Vinnie Vincent.
As before mentioned, Ace was only on the cover. He did not play on the album.
There is even a video to the song "I" from The Elder where the band is performing as a 3 piece on some European "Solid Gold" type show.
Ace was MIA for that one too.

Interesting...Wow! TOM VU started a good thread for once.

[Mr Badguy]

The Kiss boxset book also gives a lot of details about who played what.

Gene played hardly any bass on "Animalize" and "Asylum", with Paul Stanley and Jean Beauvior (of Crown of thorns) handling the bass work.

Even Eric Carr played bass.

His bass parts appear on the songs "Creatures of the night", "I still love you" and "Little Caeser".

Kiss have the wierdest history when it comes to that kind of shit.

It seems as though it doesn`t matter who plays what, as long as it sounds like Kiss.

[krcampbell]

Where's Gene during this whole mess? Out marketing Kiss brand soda and garden hoses?

[Mr Badguy]

Originally posted by krcampbell
Where's Gene during this whole mess? Out marketing Kiss brand soda and garden hoses?

No, he was making the classic movies "Runaway", "Trick or treat" and....um...

No Oscar nominations for either best picture or best supporting actor.

I remember when he announced he was giving up acting to concentrate full time on Kiss again.

He made out like it was big loss to the movie industry.

I geniunely think he thought he was Lawrence Olivier or something.

[Terry]

Apparently Peter Criss didn't even play on Dynasty or Unmasked.

Ace said he also played bass on several tunes, and Simmons did some guitar work on Almost Human.

Agreed it really doesn't matter much that they swapped instruments. Or that both Alive and Alive 2 had extensive studio retouching. KISS is KISS, you know?

[Terry]

Originally posted by Mr Badguy
No, he was making the classic movies "Runaway", "Trick or treat" and....um...

No Oscar nominations for either best picture or best supporting actor.

I remember when he announced he was giving up acting to concentrate full time on Kiss again.

He made out like it was big loss to the movie industry.

I geniunely think he thought he was Lawrence Olivier or something.

Well, nobody could ever accuse Gene of an overblown sense of humility.

[Warham]

Actually, some high-profile bands from the 60's have the notorious distinction of not really having played on a majority of their singles or most of their album cuts, relying on session musicians to do the work.

KISS seems to have at least kept it 'in house' so to speak, similar to Van Halen, when Ed was rumored for doing the Bass Player's® parts after 1984.

[SoldMySoul4RnR]

If you think Simmons has an ego, you should check out the quotes from Bob Kulick in 'Behind the mask', he's Bruce Kulick's brother and was first choice for the lead guitar spot in the band before Ace walked in. Man, this guy is fuckin' bitter! Every single time he opens his mouth it's to put someone down (mainly Ace) and praise himself. He talks about himself as if he's the worlds greatest guitarist.

He played on Stanley's solo album, I was listening to it the other day and seriously, I don't see what makes him so much better than Ace.

[Mr Badguy]

Originally posted by SoldMySoul4RnR
He played on Stanley's solo album, I was listening to it the other day and seriously, I don't see what makes him so much better than Ace.

I think he did his best work on the W.A.S.P. albums he did.

His tone on the "Paul Stanley" album really sucked but he is/was nowhere near as good as Ace.

I don`t think Ace gets enough respect as a guitarist.

His solos really sing.

[Terry]

Originally posted by SoldMySoul4RnR
If you think Simmons has an ego, you should check out the quotes from Bob Kulick in 'Behind the mask', he's Bruce Kulick's brother and was first choice for the lead guitar spot in the band before Ace walked in. Man, this guy is fuckin' bitter! Every single time he opens his mouth it's to put someone down (mainly Ace) and praise himself. He talks about himself as if he's the worlds greatest guitarist.

He played on Stanley's solo album, I was listening to it the other day and seriously, I don't see what makes him so much better than Ace.

Neither of the Kulick's do much of anything for me. Paul and Gene seem to think both of them are great......whatever.

Ace was a pretty decent player. Maybe a bit limited considering all the shredders who came down the pipe after him, but Frehley's solos fuckin' sing, agreed.

[Nickdfresh]

Originally posted by SoldMySoul4RnR
If you think Simmons has an ego, you should check out the quotes from Bob Kulick in 'Behind the mask', he's Bruce Kulick's brother and was first choice for the lead guitar spot in the band before Ace walked in. Man, this guy is fuckin' bitter! Every single time he opens his mouth it's to put someone down (mainly Ace) and praise himself. He talks about himself as if he's the worlds greatest guitarist.

He played on Stanley's solo album, I was listening to it the other day and seriously, I don't see what makes him so much better than Ace.

BOB KULICK is just a really solid session (mercenary) guitarist, nothing more, nothing less.

[SNIPER]

Stanley is a pole puffer. Kiss's x manager Bill used to manage my band a few years ago and is also a puffer. Infact Bill was doing Randy Rhodes(also was a puffer) up until his death. No shit, This is the truth.

[sammysucks65]

gene plays bass..paulo is the frontman who plays rythm while ace is on lead..peter criss is the drummer

paul is more frontman than guitarist i dislike him out of all of them...hes a little gay but kiss still kicks major ass one of my favs

gene is a good singer i think good backup vocals

[Vinnie Velvet]

Originally posted by Terry
Apparently Peter Criss didn't even play on Dynasty or Unmasked.

Ace said he also played bass on several tunes, and Simmons did some guitar work on Almost Human.

Agreed it really doesn't matter much that they swapped instruments. Or that both Alive and Alive 2 had extensive studio retouching. KISS is KISS, you know?

You are right.

Peter didn't play on Dynasty, with the exception of his own song "Dirty Livin'".

And of course, Peter didn't play on Unmasked either. Anton Fig played the skins.

[Vinnie Velvet]

Originally posted by Mr Badguy
I think he did his best work on the W.A.S.P. albums he did.

His tone on the "Paul Stanley" album really sucked but he is/was nowhere near as good as Ace.

I don`t think Ace gets enough respect as a guitarist.

His solos really sing.

Ace FUCKING RULES!!

He may not have been technically proficient, but the style in his soloing and playing certainly had a cool and original groove to them.

To add to this conversation, the five studio tracks from Alive II don't feature Ace at all, with the exception of his own track "Rocket Ride". Bob Kulick handles the leads on the other four songs.

For The Elder, Ace, having been disgruntled over the idea of KISS doing a concept album is only on a few of the tunes.

He is on:

"Dark Light"
"Escape from the Island"

There is speculation that Ace also played on "Under the Rose", though I'm not sure.

[DrMaddVibe]

I really don't see what the problem is. Live they have to play their own instruments. I like to think everyone in a band can play in instrument. Christ, even Jagger can play guitar and a lil' piano.

Kiss is one band that either you get or you won't. There's no middle ground.

I just finished up Gene's book "Kiss & Make-Up" and he comes clean in it saying he was playing "Hollywood". He was dating Cher at the time and was dragged from party to party. The roles he did, I didn't think they were that bad. "Runaway" for its time...pre-Terminator. "Wanted-Dead Or Alive"...Rutger taking his head off with a grenade...classic. He WAS the bad ass terrorist. The look he has when he's in the rabbi costume...evil! He wasn't going to win an Academy Awards. He knew it. It was something he wanted to persue and he did. Just like with Paul Stanley performing in "Phantom". He wanted to do it, and after seeing the show at The Pantages Theatre...he did it well.

The fact that they can play almost anything doesn't cast a dark shadow over them for me. I think it rises them up. Its a shame more bands don't have that in their arsenal.

[Vinnie Velvet]

The problem is that KISS often tried to pass as if Ace, Peter or even Gene and Paul played all the instruments on the albums.

When Psycho Circus came out, it was so obvious Peter didn't play the majority of the drum tracks and Ace wasn't in on all of the guitar leads.

So, then why even say in the liner notes that 'Peter Criss - drums'??

Its things like that which may tick off some fans.

I know it did piss me off sometimes (as a longtime KISS fan).

[Mr Badguy]

Pink Floyd have also done a bunch of this shit.

David Gilmour played most of the bass parts on all of their albums.

They also weren`t shy about getting session men in when they needed to.

Jeff Porcaro played drums on "Mother" from "The Wall" and Nick Mason didn`t play any drums at all on "A momentary lapse of reason".

I`m sure there`s plenty of it going on elsewhere.

It depends on your own point of view whether you think it`s as bad as Milli Vanilli or not.

[monkeythe]

Originally posted by SNIPER
Stanley is a pole puffer. Kiss's x manager Bill used to manage my band a few years ago and is also a puffer. Infact Bill was doing Randy Rhodes(also was a puffer) up until his death. No shit, This is the truth.

I thought Randy was with Saron Osbourne. WHo was hotter, Bill or Sharon?

[SoldMySoul4RnR]

Sharon Osbourne in the 80's was one plain looking bitch!