John, Bruce Kulick, Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer have all been important in extending and expanding Kiss’ impressive legacy and they deserve a round of applause. What would you say if you saw THAT? You’d say, “That band’s fucking AWESOME and deserves to be in the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame!!” That’s what you’d say.Įric Carr, Vinnie Vincent, Mark St. The place blowing up with explosions, screeching with sirens, raining confetti, all to the pounding soundtrack of bareknuckle badass heavy duty liberating rock and roll. All of them in black and silver warrior bondage gear and 7 inch platform heels. All of them in frightening horror movie/comic book superstar, sexifying kabuki make up. A frontman flying back and forth across the joint like a superhero Tarzan. A guitar player so incredible his axe billowed smoke and shot rockets. What if you had never seen or heard Kiss before? What if you had never heard a note of their music, never viewed a YouTube clip, never seen a reality show featuring any of the members? And what if you wandered into a divey club in your hometown and saw Kiss in all their glory thrashing the place to the ground? One guy belching fire and spraying blood past his gargantuan tongue. They’ve been a formative influence on members of Tool, Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains, Slipknot, Garth Brooks, Pantera, Foo Fighters, Motley Crue, Lenny Kravitz, White Zombie, Soundgarden, Nine Inch Nails…and Rage Against The Machine, to name just a few. From Metallica to Lady Gaga, Kiss have inspired thousands of artists of diverse genres, some of whom may be on a Hall of Fame trajectory themselves. They propelled millions of young people to pick up instruments. What Elvis and the Beatles were to previous generations, Kiss were to us. Influence? Simply put, Kiss is the band that made me and millions of others love rock and roll. They practically invented the live album with Kiss Alive!. Then came Destroyer, Rock and Roll Over, Love Gun, Alive II, Dynasty, all exploding with killer riffs, anthemic choruses and screaming solos that for 40 years have been filling arenas and stadiums around the world. Their theatrics were indisputably groundbreaking, but it was Kiss’ MUSIC that had an impact on ME. That’s more than any other American rock band in history. They have 28 gold albums in the United States alone. Impact? Kiss have sold over 100 million albums worldwide. While there is a often debate about who should and shouldn’t be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, I think the criteria are actually quite simple: IMPACT, INFLUENCE and AWESOMENESS. Still, that concert was the most exciting, cathartic, loudest and most thrilling two hours of live music I’ve seen to this day. In reality it meant that my seat was behind a pole. The ticket said “A partial view of Kiss.” I was certain this meant the band were going to reveal some new secret corner of their artistic souls. I was especially thrilled because imprinted on the ticket were words that hinted that it was going to be a special event. And so I waited in a long line on a bitter cold Chicago morning to buy a ticket for my first concert, a Kiss concert. I recall as a 15-year-old telling one bully, “You can kiss my Kiss-loving ass!” because Kiss was never a critics’ band, Kiss was a PEOPLE’s band. Arguments and even fistfights were not uncommon. Just as Kiss were relentlessly persecuted by critics, their fans were relentlessly persecuted by the self appointed arbiters of taste in middle schools and high schools across America. Growing up, Kiss was my favorite band-and it was not easy being a Kiss fan. They are four of the most recognizable faces on the planet, and one of the most iconic and badass bands of all time-tonight is the night that Kiss enters the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Tom Morello: Good evening, I’m Tom Morello. Below, read Morello’s induction speech, or go straight to speeches from the band members themselves. Kiss entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Thursday night, inducted by former Rage Against the Machine guitarist and obsessive Kiss fan Tom Morello.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |