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While it looks similar, this is a different Kiss. With lead guitarist Ace Frehley fully replaced by long-time Kiss associate Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer back behind the drum kit now that Peter Criss has again been shown the door, Stanley and bassist/vocalist/businessman Gene Simmons are leading the 30-year-old outfit into another new era.
Out there in cyberspace, there are diehard fans - known in Kiss circles as "The Few" - who are crying foul.
"Things do change and if there are some diehard fans who cry foul, then they need to realise that there is no tooth fairy," Stanley says firmly. "There's no Superman. As much as we might like to believe in fantasy and fable, a band is four people and . . . it seems odd that when faced with Kiss or no Kiss, well, I would think they'd opt for Kiss.
"Not to put those people down, because everybody is entitled to their opinion, but if that opinion becomes too vehement, then to me it's not that different to a child who wants vanilla ice-cream and when he gets chocolate decides he's not going to have any ice-cream at all.
"Again, if a member goes home or if a member can't do it or chooses not to or isn't up to it, the game's not over. I'll be damned if anybody tells me how I should treat the band that I started 30 years ago. They can tell me what they prefer but it's sure as hell not gonna stop me if a handful of people don't like it. It's insane.
"The proof of that is that whatever tour we've done, whatever the changes, the truth is it's Kiss. Quite honestly, there's been times when the line-up has been different to the original line-up and it's been better. This isn't about perpetuating fantasies, it's about delivering reality. And Kiss is a reality."
Out there in cyberspace, there are diehard fans - known in Kiss circles as "The Few" - who are crying foul.
"Things do change and if there are some diehard fans who cry foul, then they need to realise that there is no tooth fairy," Stanley says firmly. "There's no Superman. As much as we might like to believe in fantasy and fable, a band is four people and . . . it seems odd that when faced with Kiss or no Kiss, well, I would think they'd opt for Kiss.
"Not to put those people down, because everybody is entitled to their opinion, but if that opinion becomes too vehement, then to me it's not that different to a child who wants vanilla ice-cream and when he gets chocolate decides he's not going to have any ice-cream at all.
"Again, if a member goes home or if a member can't do it or chooses not to or isn't up to it, the game's not over. I'll be damned if anybody tells me how I should treat the band that I started 30 years ago. They can tell me what they prefer but it's sure as hell not gonna stop me if a handful of people don't like it. It's insane.
"The proof of that is that whatever tour we've done, whatever the changes, the truth is it's Kiss. Quite honestly, there's been times when the line-up has been different to the original line-up and it's been better. This isn't about perpetuating fantasies, it's about delivering reality. And Kiss is a reality."
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