KISSFAQ'S

By Julian Gill
AN UNAUTHORIZED CHRONOLOGICAL LOOK AT THE "HOTTEST BAND IN THE LAND"!
VOLUME I: KINGS OF THE NIGHT TIME WORLD (1972-82)
&
VOLUME II: HELL OR HIGH WATER (1983-96) AVAILABLE NOW!&
VOLUME III: ROAR OF GREASEPAINT (1996-2006) COMING SOON!

THE BIGGEST, BADDEST, MOST IN-DEPTH, PRIVATE KISS FAN PUBLICATION EVER!!
(SO BIG IT HAD TO BE SPLIT INTO THREE VOLUMES)

BY A FAN FOR THE FANS...


Cover art & design by renowned KISS art designer Christopher Franchi

What's been said about the first two editions:
"The KISS album focus is the best KISS book ever written".
"It is everything you promised. Thanks for the wonderful job".
"This book does a fantastic job of covering all those years that I was so dedicated to all things KISS!".
"You have done great job in covering the history of this unique, fascinating and outstanding group".
"Kiss Album Focus is so informative even to a huge KISS fan like me who thought he knew everything".

ISBN 0-9722253-3-1
480+ pages, 5.5 x 8.5" Format!
Privately published by KISSFAQ.COM.

Book shipping now.

Take A Peek At The Massivily Revised, Enhanced, & Rewritten (some sections) First Volume of the "KISS Album Focus"

These chapter samples are not necessarily in final format. They provide a taste of the print version and some of the differences between earlier versions. The changes to the rest of the book are in many cases substantial...

Chapter II : KISS -
To write a debut album is, according to Blackie Lawless of WASP, one of the easiest things in the world for a musician to accomplish: Essentially, you have your whole life to come up with the material that will appear on the album, and the opportunity to chose only the best of that material. Perhaps using Blackie as the example is not the most credible source for some! Regardless of the source, the point is clear. The pressure that exists on an artist for that debut album can be, and usually is, tremendous. In fact, it has become make-or-break time for bands, since few record labels will now stick with a band whose debut performs horrendously or simply fades into obscurity...

Chapter VI : Destroyer -
With the unexpected success of "Alive!," the band, management, and label knew that they had to capitalize on the exposure with their next studio release. By late 1975 the band had become stars, but their position was tenuous - they still hadn't had a successful studio album - and they needed to build on their then rising popularity, and the associated exposure, in order to transform into superstars. If they didn't, and record sales returned to pre-"Alive!" levels, then the future was clear...

Chapter XVII : Dynasty -
By 1979, the solo albums and ever-growing merchandising machine were drawing attention away from the band, as a unit, and causing a near total fragmentation between the members. The opposite had been hoped for with an artistic break from one another, allowing each member to develop individually and keeping the band from breaking up in 1978. The solo albums would not be the panacea to the problems being caused by all of the members, notably Ace and Peter with their growing personal abuse issues...

Chapter XXVII : Lick It Up -
"Creatures Of The Night" did not return KISS to the Platinum selling status as they had intended. Nor did the album's supporting tour measure up to what had been anticipated by the band's master plan. It didn't matter that national economics played a role, to whatever degree, in the tour's failure. It was very obvious that Ace Frehley was not going to return to the band...

Chapter XXXII : Out Of The "Asylum" -
When KISS concluded the "Animalize" Tour in the spring of 1985 there must have been something of a feeling that they had been let out of the insane asylum they’d been in for the previous 5 years...

Chapter XLVIII : Island Carnival of Lost Souls -
"Carnival Of Souls" would be the first KISS album to end up being called what the fans had decided to call it, rather than the band deciding the title in advance of the album's release. There would be a long period where the album simply had no title, though once the album started circulating on the bootleg circuit it would be assigned an unofficial title that eventually stuck. The album would end up becoming the most divisive piece of work the band had released since the Music From "The Elder" fiasco of 1981. Fans either loved it, or hated it with such vengeance that internet news groups exploded into violent arguments which would at times make a neo-Nazi rally seem like a picnic...

Chapter L : Detroit Rock City OST -
As KISS finished up work on their studio album in July 1998, Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley were already embarking on the next project that would have a KISS tie-in - A movie... While the new project had been underway for quite some time it only started getting active press from June onwards when Adam Rifkin was named as director. This gave the front-line of the production some substance...

Chapter LV : From Cover Band To The Hottest Band In The Land: Tommy Thayer -
Tommy C. Thayer was born on November 7, 1960 in Portland, Oregon. Picking up the guitar in the early 1970s Tommy was a fan of bands such as KISS, Deep Purple and Alice Cooper. Tommy soon started teaching himself guitar figuring out how to play songs on albums from artists he liked, though he would also take a few guitar lessons early on. Tommy, like Eric Singer before him, became a fan of KISS during the band's early days...

Chapter LVIX : Gene Simmons' Asshole -
A solo album each, from Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, had formed part of KISS' 1989 contract renegotiation with PolyGram records. However, with the band's activity during the period that followed this arrangement solo albums would never materialize from either of the core members of the band. Paul Stanley, at least, found time to take a brief solo tour in 1989, though it was hardly major in scale. Once KISS left their long-time record label in 2002 word started to seep into the public domain that these projects were once again possibilities...