Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in 1973 by Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley, and Peter Criss. Known for its members' face paint and stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid-1970s with shock rock-style live performances, which featured fire-breathing, blood-spitting, smoking guitars, shooting rockets, levitating drum kits, and pyrotechnics. The band has gone through several lineup changes, with Stanley and Simmons the only consistent members. The original and best-known lineup consisted of Stanley, Simmons, Frehley, and Criss.
Gene Simmons is an Israeli-born American musician. Also known by his stage persona The Demon, he is the bassist and co-lead singer of Kiss, the hard rock band he co-founded with Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss in the early 1970s. Simmons was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014 as a member of Kiss.
Paul Daniel "Ace" Frehley is an American musician, best known as the original lead guitarist and co-founding member of the hard rock band Kiss. He invented the persona of The Spaceman and played with the group from its inception in 1973 until his departure in 1982. After leaving Kiss, Frehley formed his own band named Frehley's Comet and released two albums with this group. He subsequently embarked on a solo career, which was put on hold when he rejoined Kiss in 1996 for a highly successful reunion tour.
The Plasmatics were an American punk rock, hardcore punk and heavy metal band formed by Rod Swenson and Wendy O. Williams in New York City in 1977. They were a controversial group known for chaotic, destructive live shows and outrageous theatrics. These included chainsawing guitars, destroying speaker cabinets, sledgehammering television sets and blowing up automobiles live on stage. Williams was arrested in Milwaukee by the Milwaukee Police before being charged with public indecency.
Frehley's Comet was an American rock band formed and led by ex-Kiss lead guitarist Ace Frehley. The group released two studio albums and one live EP before Frehley left the band to release his 1989 solo album, Trouble Walkin'.
Wendy Orlean Williams was an American singer, best known as the lead singer of the punk rock band Plasmatics. She was noted for her onstage theatrics, which included partial nudity, exploding equipment, firing a shotgun, and chainsawing guitars. Performing her own stunts in videos, she often sported a mohawk hairstyle. In 1985, during the height of her popularity as a solo artist, she was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance.
Killers is the second compilation album by American hard rock group Kiss. It was released only outside the US, but quickly became available as an import. Of the album's twelve songs, four were new compositions recorded specifically for it: "I'm a Legend Tonight," "Down on Your Knees," "Nowhere to Run" and "Partners in Crime." These new songs were recorded at the behest of Phonogram, in response to the commercial failure of 1981's Music from "The Elder".
Kiss is the debut studio album by American rock band Kiss, released on February 18, 1974. Much of the material on the album was written by Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, as members of their pre-Kiss band Wicked Lester. Simmons estimated that the entire process of recording and mixing took three weeks, while co-producer Richie Wise has stated it took just 13 days.
"Deuce" is a song by the American hard rock band Kiss, written by bassist and vocalist Gene Simmons. The song appeared on Kiss' eponymous 1974 debut album. In addition to being one of the band's most popular and most-covered songs, "Deuce" is a traditional concert opener. The song has appeared on many Kiss live and compilation albums.
"Christine Sixteen" is a song by American hard rock band Kiss. It originally appeared on their 1977 album Love Gun. Released as a single in the US in 1977, the song peaked at number 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart that year, and did well in Canada, peaking at number 22.
Coup d'Etat is the third studio album released by punk rock band The Plasmatics in 1982.
Maggots: The Record is the fourth studio album by American rock singer Wendy O. Williams and her band Plasmatics. It was released on February 18, 1987 by Profile Records. Labeled as a special "9th Anniversary Album", it was the last album released by the band. Despite being labeled a "Plasmatics" album, it is often regarded as another Wendy O. Williams's solo album, largely in part because her name is over that of the band, the merchandise for the tour has the WOW logo from her solo career, Michael Ray is playing lead guitars on the album, and the only original member is Wes Beech on rhythm guitar. all music compositions for this album were written and arranged by Michael Ray, except the "Propagators" song. Maggots: The Record was recorded in 1987 and is a concept album set 25 years in the future, where environmental abuse and the burning of fossil fuels have created a greenhouse effect, leading to an end of the world scenario. The album features various scenes of the White Family over the course of three days. The family is devoured while watching a TV game show. Valerie, the girlfriend of a hot-shot television reporter Bruce is devoured by three massive maggots while lying in her boyfriend's bed. The final scene of the record shows the entire human population is headed for imminent annihilation. The album was released through Profile Records under the WOW label in the United States and overseas by GWR Records, which had been started by Motörhead's longtime manager Doug Smith.
Put Your Love in Me: Love Songs for the Apocalypse is the first greatest hits album released by punk/metal band The Plasmatics in 2002.
The Creatures of the Night Tour/10th Anniversary Tour was a concert tour by the hard rock group Kiss in support of their album of the same title. It was the second tour with drummer Eric Carr, his first in the United States, and the first tour with guitarist Vinnie Vincent, who replaced Ace Frehley.
"Parasite" is a song by American hard rock band Kiss, released in 1974 on their second studio album, Hotter Than Hell. The song is one of three songs featured on the album written by lead guitarist Ace Frehley. As one of the album's heaviest songs, "Parasite" was performed on the following tour, but Kiss dropped it from the setlist for the Destroyer Tour and did not play it again until the Revenge Tour in 1992. "Parasite" was performed most recently during the End of the Road World Tour. As Frehley was insecure about his singing ability, he passed that duty to Gene Simmons. In 2016, Frehley re-recorded the track with John 5 for Frehley's solo album Origins Vol. 1.
Jigoku-Retsuden, also known as Kissology and Kiss Klassics, is a limited-edition CD/DVD set released in 2008 by the band Kiss, exclusively in Japan. The CD portion of the bundle includes 15 re-recorded classic Kiss tracks by the 2008 band line-up.
Kommander of Kaos is the second solo studio album released by Wendy O. Williams after her group, the Plasmatics, went on hiatus. The album was recorded in 1984 but not released until 1986. A live version of the Gene Simmons-penned "Ain't None of Your Business" appears on this album . Lead guitarist Michael Ray (guitarist),or M. ray, was previously invited by Gene Simmons to record tracks on the Creatures of the Night Kiss album, and was later hired by Simmons to play guitar solos on the WOW album. Michael Ray (guitarist) composed and arranged music tracks on the Kommander of Kaos album. "Hoy hey ", "Pedal to the Metal", "Goin Wild", "Fight for the Right" and "(Work that Muscle) F**k that Booty". The Kommander of Kaos album has been re-released by several independent labels in recent years.
"Cold Gin" is a song by the American hard rock group Kiss. The song was written by the band's lead guitarist Ace Frehley and was released in 1974 on the band's eponymous debut album. The song is featured on many compilations released by the band. Live versions of the song were often extended for about two minutes due to Frehley's soloing.
"You Wanted the Best" is a song by the American hard rock band Kiss, released on their eighteenth studio album Psycho Circus in 1998. The song was written by the band's bassist Gene Simmons, and was released as the fourth single off the album on November 23, 1998. The song only charted on Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks, reaching number 22. The band never performed the song live. It was the final recording to feature the original lineup and the only one to feature shared lead vocals among them.
Michael Rea better known by his stage name Michael Ray or M. Ray, is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He was the lead guitarist for the punk rock band Plasmatics and for Wendy O. Williams solo projects. He also worked with hard rock band Kiss and toured with the English rock band Motörhead.
