45 YEARS AGO TODAY!

On this day in KISSTORY - May 23rd, 1979 -  DYNASTY hit stores everywhere. The album featured KISS' first international top 5 smash hit, "I Was Made For Lovin' You". DYNASTY spent 25 weeks on the charts peaking at #9 and was certified Platinum by July!

Except for Peter Criss' sole appearance on "Dirty Livin", which featured his lead vocals and drumming, it was Anton Fig who handled the drums on all other songs on DYNASTY.

KISS released two promotional videos for DYNASTY, "I Was Made For Lovin' You" and the great Paul Stanley pop rocker "Sure Know Something".

DYNASTY Track Listing:

I Was Made For Lovin' You / 2,000 Man / Sure Know Something / Dirty Livin' / Charisma / Magic Touch / Hard Times / X-Ray Eyes / Save Your Love

VIDEOS: KISS DYNASTY MUSIC VIDEOS

Celebrate 45 years of DYNASTY with an all-new Exclusive KISS Collection! 

https://kiss.lnk.to/KISSDynasty45

JUST ADDED! New DYNASTY band member face apparel: THE DEMON, THE STARCHILD, THE SPACEMAN, THE CATMAN. Order any 2 apparel items and receive $5 off your order! Enter DYNASTY at checkout for offer to apply. 

https://kiss.lnk.to/DYNASTYFACES

JUST ADDED! New DYNASTY band member face apparel: THE DEMON, THE STARCHILD, THE SPACEMAN, THE CATMAN. Order any 2 apparel items and receive $5 off your order! Enter DYNASTY at checkout for offer to apply. 

https://kiss.lnk.to/DYNASTYFACES

On this day in KISSTORY - May 21, 1974 - Our performance on The Mike Douglas Show aired in the US.

On this day in KISSTORY - May 20, 1980 - KISS Unmasked was released. The artwork featured Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss, although Criss actually had no involvement with the recording of the album. Anton Fig (uncredited) played all drums on the album. 

The album was certified Gold by the RIAA on July 30, 1980.

UNMASKED Track Listing:

Is That You? / Shandi / Talk To Me / Naked City / What Makes The World Go Round / Tomorrow / Two Sides Of The Coin / She's So European/ Easy As It Seems /Torpedo Girl / You're All That I Want

Check out this UK KISS promo ad for the Unmasked album.

On this day in KISSTORY - May 19, 1992, KISS released their critically acclaimed REVENGE album. With producer Bob Ezrin at the helm, a ferocious KISS delivered one of their heaviest and best albums ever! All the band members shined on this release! Ever reliable Paul Stanley was on top of his game here, delivering impassioned vocals through out the album. Even the Demon returned and proved what a committed and focused Gene Simmons is capable of! New drummer Eric Singer' power and intensity added to the KISS assault and Bruce Kulick recorded what many consider his finest KISS guitar work. REVENGE debuted at #6 on Billboard and remained on the charts for twenty three weeks. The album was certified Gold on 07/20/92.

REVENGE, which was dedicated to Eric Carr, also featured 'Carr Jam 1981,' an instrumental track written by Carr that Ezrin discovered from The Elder recordings. The song featured a thunderous Carr drum solo as the centerpiece and was a fitting tribute to the beloved drummer.

KISS released four music videos for REVENGE, 'Unholy', 'I Just Wanna', 'Domino' and 'Everytime I Look At You'. A video for 'God Gave Rock And Roll to You' was released in November 1991 to support the Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey movie soundtrack.

REVENGE Track Listing:

Unholy / Take It Off / Tough Love / Spit / God Gave Rock & Roll to You II / Domino / Heart of Chrome / Thou Shalt Not / Every Time I Look At You / Paralyzed / I Just Wanna / Carr Jam 1981

VIDEOS: KISS REVENGE MUSIC VIDEOS

On this day in KISSTORY - May 18, 1987 - KISS Exposed is released on VHS.

KISS Army!

Introducing our latest masterpiece and tribute to KISS: The Demon - Destroyer Era, a Limited Edition 1:4 scale statue capturing the electrifying essence of this iconic rock legend.

Channeling the electrifying essence from their iconic Destroyer Era, this Limited-Edition statue immortalizes The Demon's larger-than-life stage presence.

Hold on tight, because the show's just revving up, and more sonic superstars are on their way. Unite the band and rock out with The Catman, The Starchild, and The Spaceman, coming soon.

Thanks KISS ARMY for sharing your 1970's KISS Memories. These photos are AMAZING!

Keep them coming!

www.KISSONLINE.com/letters

By Matthew Wilkening / Ultimateclassicrock.com

KISS' first live album not only saved the struggling band's career, it made them superstars. So it makes sense that the group has released many more live albums since that time.

By early 1975 the facepaint-wearing foursome had built a reputation as a must-see live act, with a bombastic stage show featuring pyrotechnics, levitating drums and bassist Gene Simmons' fire breathing, blood-spitting stunts.

The only problem was that not nearly enough people were buying the group's early studio albums, which didn't convey the power and energy KISS was capable of unleashing onstage. With the band and their label in danger of bankruptcy, the double-live, expensive and very risky Alive! was released in September of 1975.

The gamble paid off big time, with the album hitting the Top 10 and staying on the charts for over two years. The band became stars and headliners, and were able to expand on their fame with more polished studio albums such as Destroyer and Love Gun.

But no matter what other changes KISS made - and over the years there were many, from lineups to musical styles to revealing their real faces and then later putting the facepaint back on - the live show was always the group's calling card.

If you count the two collections that came packaged in the recent box sets for Destroyer and 1982's Creatures of the Night, KISS has now released 14 live albums - not counting the dozens of "instant live" sets they sold to fans attending nearly every show on their 2004, 2008 and 2010 tours, or the multiple longform concert home videos they have released over the years. By comparison, the now-retired group has to date released just 20 studio albums and told fans not to hold their breath for any more over a decade ago.

Read the rest of the story HERE

Happy Cinco De Mayo!

Thanks to the KISS ARMY for sharing these on Star Wars Day!

On this day in KISSTORY - May 1, 2010 - We opened the Sonic Boom Over Europe Tour in Sheffield, England.

By Andrew Daly / www.classicrockhistory.com

Photo by Keith Leroux

Though KISS is officially off the road, that doesn’t mean its longest-tenured guitarist, Tommy Thayer, is giving up the ghost. Quite the contrary, as Thayer has been active for various charity gigs and digging in on a myriad of side projects he’s got more time for now with KISS meeting its end as a live act.

To that end, while fans often give Thayer a hell of a hard time, make no mistake—he was integral to KISS’s latter career success. Sure, Ace Frehley will always be the original Spaceman, but there’s no denying that Thayer handled the gig with grace, bravado, skill, and showmanship. Moreover, the two records he was a part of, 2009’s Sonic Boom and 2012’s Monster, have aged wonderfully and are slowly but surely becoming KISS classics.

Elsewhere, as per KISS tradition, Thayer’s rig was ever-evolving. Much like those before him (and who he shared space in the band with), Thayer was known for brandishing a myriad of gorgeous guitars, all of which were plugged into a tidy stack of big-ass amps. But, of course, that’s KISS tradition, meaning Thayer was merely holding up his end of the bargain with an endgame goal of world domination. Mission accomplished, yeah?

When we look back on Tommy Thayer, sure, he’ll be remembered for his over 20-year tenure as the lead guitarist of KISS. But beyond the hyper lightest stage of the KISS machine, his exploits as founder and lead guitarist of Black N’ Blue—an underrated ‘80s institution—and his session work with Doro, and KISS, and with his post-Black N’ Blue band, Harlow, are all worthy entries into a career filled with more highs than you can shake a stick at.

Tommy Thayer of Kiss: The ClassicRockHistory.com Interview - ClassicRockHistory.com

A REALLY terrific new version and take on our classic. Yungblud NAILS it!! - Paul Stanley