Et pour tout ceux et celles ne connaissant pas le groupe, c'est le meilleur moyen que je connaisse pour apprendre à les connaître. Celles de Simmons sont mes préférés et celles de Peter sont toujours percutantes et semblent plus simple et honnête que celles de Frehley et Stanley. Aussi, y sont inclus celle de différentes critiques que j'ai aimés.
Avis: Ils se peut que certaines citations soit tirés des années troubles de Frehley/Criss. Pas besoin de vous dire que je n'endosse rien.
- Gene Simmons, Metal Edge, August 2000, p.27
« We won't be back. I'm sorry I didn't get to see Elvis but I did get to see Frank Sinatra. I never got to see The Beatles but I regret it. Whoever's out there, don't be sorry ! ».
- Peter Criss, au sujet de leur tournée d'adieu. Metal Edge special 2000
« KISS, which Stanley calls a marriage of "rock band, superhero and athlete", defied the critics. For years it flouted the hacks who never stopped chiding the band for their over-the-top performances, their musical simplicity, their simple pleas to party and rock 'n' roll -- chiding them, in fact, for embodying exactly what rock 'n' roll types are supposed to embody ».
- Rachel Louise Snyder, october 11, 2000
« There would be makeup and costumes. Not the smack-chic tranvestitism of the New York Dolls, the Big Apple's darling-of-the-hour. No, they would become genuine icons, horrorshow cartoon character as instantly recognizable as Mickey Mouse or Ronald McDonald, and every bit as crassly commercial. The global teenager was a cow to be milked and, with the spirits of Elvis, Frankestein and P.T Barnum guiding their busy little paws, they would milk the bitch for every cent the bucket would hold ».
- Rupert Buttenberg, Mirror Montréal, 26 novembre 1998
« And I'll grant you a band like R.E.M. has more credibility then we do... In your sleep it does, of course. But I don't want to buy an R.E.M. lunch box. I like fun things. I like life to be interesting [...] the idea of being in a rock 'n' roll band is to be free [...] ».
- Gene Simmons, Metal Edge august 2000, p.84
« To me, his music is what sex would sound like if you could hear it »
- Star Stowe, Playmate of the month february 77, a propos de Gene Simmons
« I fuck my brains out. I fuck everything that moves. If it doesn't move, we work something out »
- Gene Simmons, PlayBoy 1999
« C'est aussi par pur curiosité que j'ai accepté de parler a Paul Stanley, [...] histoire de lui poser la grande question : Comment peut-on aimer KISS en 1998, si l'on n'a pas été fan durant son adolescence ? « Tu sais, les gens passent souvent a coté de l'essentiel et ils boudent leur plaisir. Peut etre fais-tu partie de ces gens qui ont passé leur vie a vouloir manger du steak et qui ont fini par oublier qu'un bon hamburger est souvent plus satisfaisant ». Est-ce a dire, Mister Stanley, que vous etes à la musique ce que le junk food est à la gastronomie ? « Tout ce que je dis, c'est que nous faisons de l'entertainment pour les masses; nos chansons s'adressent a l'homme de la rue et, pour nous, seule son opinion compte ».
- Avec Nicolas Tittley, Magazine Voir 1998, Montréal
« Question: "Kiss has never been a critical favorite, and probably never will be. After all you've accomplished, does that bother you ?"
"I don't want credibility. I never have. All I want is to be left alone and to have a good time. Losing your credibility is like losing your virginity. Some people may try and protect it for a long time, but once it's gone you're free to really have fun ».
- Gene Simmons, Hit Parader, november 1998, p.42
« We were very anti-hippie. And I still am. It was the same thing (as grunge) really: privileged white kids deciding that Mom and Dad's money is no good and the whole thing. Which is fine. Wear anything you want, but you gotta get a fucking job. Hippies didn't have jobs, so I hated them ».
- Gene Simmons, Guitar World, october 1998 p.72
«I use everything made in America. I'm into that, the fuckin' Japs have had enough (laughter). What are they gonna do, blow me up ? Fuck 'em, they own seventy five percent of Los Angeles. I hate the Japs. Fuck 'em»
- Peter Criss, au sujet des équipements de batteries, Firehouse Magazine, nov/dec 1992. Issue #55
« It's almost like Hitler-rock, because that audience - because of their beat, they're mesmerized by the music. I mean they have that audience hypnotized. They could say "We're going out there and lifting up this building", and they'd just go lift it up. That's the kind of control they have. That's why their following is so strong and indestructible.»
- Promoter Steve Glantz. Circus Magazine, April 8, 1976
« Although I think the Beatles and the Stones are Gods, I think KISS is the American fucking shit. We're the biggest band in America. I don't know any other band who's bigger than us, really, in America who did what we did. I'm proud of that.»
- Peter Criss, Golmine article, July 22, 1996
« Well, I'm in it to make money. I'd like to make that perfectly clear »
- Gene Simmons, Melody Maker, October 25, 1975
Et quoi de mieux pour finir qu'une citation d'un fan. Elle semblera kitsch pour plusieurs, mais c'est une des rares seules où l'on peut vraiment ressentir ce qui fait la beauté d'être fan de KISS au quotidien... Pour vous mettre dans le contexte, c'est une lettre qui fut posté sur le site de Gene, été 2002;
Dear Gene
You commented recently on how you feel looking out over your audience of fans at a Kiss show.
You said....
"Honestly, and from the bottom of my heart, the sight of thousands of fans in the audience has always awed me. Sometimes, when the feeling is overwhelming, I turn my back to the audience so they won't see me tear up. I'm not supposed to. You see, I'm the Demon."
Gene, I have loved Kiss since 78. I have seen the band live in concert almost 100 times over the last 20 years and I can tell you that I get misty too at some shows.
Tiger Stadium in Detroit, first night of the Reunion Tour. I have never been in a Kiss crowd so large. I choked up several times during the show because I saw fans who were strangers hugging each other. I saw strangers kids playing together before the show, I heard the crowd singing almost every single word to every song so loudly that I could barely hear you guys singing, I even saw a fight almost break out between two large men...but one guy looked at the other one and said " Hey, what the hell, your a Kiss fan, you can't be that bad" ...they shook hands... (I am not kidding you!). It was an awesome experience of "unity" and I had a defenite feeling of "family".
I have always been the black sheep of my family and not close to my blood relatives but being a Kiss fan has allowed me to be accepted and loved in a "family" of people who are closer to me than my relatives. Kiss is about being an individual who is special and unique. It is also about standing up as that individual for "something that you believe in" ...and that Motto comes with a damn good soundtrack and a stage show... It's a great celebration of life on top of that.
Thank you and the rest of KISS (especially Paul) for having the dream, the guts and the endurance to see it through......from the bottom of my heart....
Love Lori from Toronto.......XO
