28th June 2003 Alive
IV available to pre-orderAli
ve
IV - KISS Symphony is now available to pre-order from
Amazon UK. They have the following versions available:-
New UK Tribute Band!
[From:
Hotter Than Hell]I'm pleased to say that Hotter than Hell is now up and running, we had our first rehearsal last weekend and got through 43 songs! (if I say so myself it sounded very tight as well)
We are having our first dress rehearsal next month and adding another 20 songs to our list (including "I" and "She's so European"). We are planning warm up gigs in August prior to looking for club dates Sept. onwards.
Our line up consists of;
Ace Frehley; Trevor Lynn (me)
Paul Stanley; Marty McStravick (formerly of KIZZ)
Gene Simmons; Andrea Saolini (also of Dressed to KISS)
Peter Criss; Ian Danter (numerous bands)
In the mean time you may be interested to see our first photos, I'm working this into a flyer based on the "You wanted the best" cover but it gives you an idea of how we look.
New compilation track list
"The Best Of KISS: The Millennium Collection" will apparently feature the following tracks:
1- Strutter
2 - Deuce
3 - Hotter Than Hell
4 - C'mon And Love Me
5 - Rock And Roll All Nite (live)
6 - Detroit Rock City
7 - Beth
8 - Hard Luck Woman
9 - Calling Dr. Love
10 - Love Gun
11 - Christine Sixteen
12 - I Was Made For Lovin' You
23rd June 2003 Eric
Singer in Hungary with KISS Forever Band
[From:
KISS Forever Band]At last Mr. Eric Singer will come to Budapest on the 9th of July after his concert in Salzburg/Austria with Alice Cooper!
It was a long story, we tried to catch him many times to make a big event in Budapest and our dream will come true on that day! The event is called "A special night with Eric Singer", not a really KISS Expo because Hungary isn't in the EU yet and there are many problems at the border all the time so there will not be any KISS dealers, but Eric will do a QA, photo and sign session for the fans and then we will play about an hour and Eric will join us to play 4 songs with the band!
If somebody needs more info please click to the following link:
http://www.wigwamrockclub.hu
See you there! Thanx,take care
Starchild/KISS Forever Band, http://www.kissforeverband.hu
UK Expo photos
Russ
Peake has kindly provided some cool pictures of Dressed To Kill
at Saturday's UK KISS Expo. Sadly due to work commitments I
couldn't make it but thanks to everyone who has sent me all the
goss on what I missed!Click here to view the pictures!
Beth
on VH1Kiss were on VH1's top power ballads on Friday with Beth. Ace was shown
without makeup laughing about it's wide appeal.
22nd June 2003 Paul
Stanley Solo Album!
[From:
Billboard via Mike Coles](From: Billboard.com -- Wes Orshoski, N.Y.) Kiss co-frontman Paul Stanley is working on his first solo album in 25 years, the artist reveals to Billboard.com. As previously reported, Kiss vocalist/bassist Gene Simmons is also working on a solo project. Stanley says he's working with a crop of songwriters that includes Andreas Carlsson, who has written songs with or for the likes of Celine Dion, Bon Jovi, Backstreet Boys, LeAnn Rimes, Britney Spears and 'N Sync. "He's a great writer, and, actually, a big Kiss fan," Stanley says, adding that he'll start really focusing on the project after Kiss' upcoming co-headlining tour with Aerosmith. "It's in the process of being shaped."
Fans shouldn't expect any unused Kiss relics to surface on the project, which should be issued next year. "I'm a big believer that, if a song doesn't make it on an album, there's a reason," Stanley says, "and to dig up something that's been sitting around for 10 or 15 years doesn't seem worth it, because at some point, sure, it can see the light of day, just by default. And that's not enough reason. "I believe if something
gets rejected time and time again, it probably doesn't belong on an album," he continues. "I also like to think that a song is like a fresh issue of a magazine or a newspaper. Ya know, the ink is still wet because it's current. Recycling old stuff, to me, is not of any interest, because as life goes on, there are new experiences to draw
from."
Stanley and Simmons haven't issued solo sets since each original member of Kiss simultaneously released such a project in 1978. Simmons recently told Billboard.com his album will feature songs co-written by Bob Dylan and Frank Zappa. He's also courting the likes of Axl Rose, Phish's Trey Anastasio, and John Mellencamp for guest turns.
Stanley also offered new details about the Kiss/Aerosmith tour, which is expanding. It will start in amphitheaters and then move into arenas and will likely visit some major markets more than once. "It looks like it's gonna keep extending, and rightfully so," Stanley says. "It's an exciting bill, and people, not only in America, but in Australia, Japan, and other countries, are very interested in it. It's a fun, exciting package that the people really didn't expect. It's going to be a great night of music, of arguably the two premier American rock bands of the last 25 years."
He says there's not much of a competition factor between the two acts. "We realize we could never be Aerosmith, and they realize they could never be Kiss," Stanley says. "The beauty is that both bands have thrived and survived for 30 years. So, with this revolving stage, and with both of us going out to give 110%, the fans win and we win. I can't think of a better way to spend an evening. Hopefully, [the tour] won't end until everybody says, 'Enough!'"
Undressed review
Ace falls down stairs!
Ace Frehley had to cancel his Thursday (June 19) appearance at Rock And Roll Fantasy Camp, the event which brings together non-professionals with well-known musicians for a few days of training. The once (and future?) lead guitarist for Kiss fell down the stairs at his home outside New York City on Wednesday (June 18) and suffered a concussion. Frehley and his wife recently moved into the house, and he was carrying some equipment from the music room down to the basement when he slipped. Frehley wound up at a hospital, where he was diagnosed with a concussion and told to take it easy. Frehley's history is well known, but a spokesperson says it was simply a household accident--neither drugs nor alcohol played a role.
Frehley was disappointed, but he still hopes to attend one of the remaining sessions for Rock And Roll Fantasy Camp, which run through Sunday (June 22).
17th June 2003 UK
KISS Expo!If anyone wants details of how to get to the venue and copies of Crewe town maps Dan bach has very kindly offered to help, please E-mail Dan for more info.
11th June 2003 Simmons
Solo Album!
[From:
Yahoo News via Steve Knight]NEW YORK (Billboard) - Kiss singer Gene Simmons' first solo record in 25 years will feature songs co-written by Bob Dylan and the late Frank Zappa, Billboard.com has learned.
The as-yet-untitled disc will be among the first albums released through his recently revived Simmons Records' new deal with Sanctuary Records.
The Dylan co-write, "Waiting for the Morning Light", was born out of a one-day writing session at Simmons' home in Los Angeles six or seven years ago, the Kiss bassist/vocalist says.
"Bob came up with the chords, most of them, and then I took it and wrote lyrics, melody, the rest of it," he says, adding that he kept urging Dylan through the years to put lyrics to the song. "I'd see him on tour, and I'd say, 'Bob, you wanna write the song? And he would say, 'No, man, you write it, Mr. Kiss.'"
Of the one-day session, Simmons says, "We understood each other right away. He picked up an acoustic guitar, and we just tossed it back and forth, 'How 'bout this, how 'bout that?' And he started to strum, because he -- at least with me -- tended to talk and strum guitar at the same time. And as soon as I heard the first three or four chords, I went, 'Wait, wait, what's that? Do that again.' So I went and started to write a lyric around that."
Simmons says he also plans to build a song around an unused Zappa riff titled, appropriately, "Black Tongue".
"The plan is for Dweezil, Ahmet, and everybody to play on it, and to take Frank's voice and create a brand new song. It's very dark, very sort of King Crimson, 'In the Court of the Crimson King'-kind of sound, with 7/8 time."
The bassist, whose previous solo album was a 1978 self-titled set released the same day as solo sets from his three Kiss bandmates -- singer/guitarist Paul Stanley, singer Ace Frehley, and drummer Peter Criss -- is also courting the likes of John Mellencamp, Axl Rose, and Trey Anastasio for guest vocals.
The album, previewed to Billboard.com, will surely surprise many. The funky, acoustic guitar-laced "Dog" recalls Warren Zevon's "Werewolves of London," and the soulful, midtempo "Waiting for the Morning Light," a relationship song, is reminiscent of Daryl Hall.
"Looking Out the Window" is a sentimental, Beatles-inspired number that features lap steel. Another cut, "A**hole," is more of a straightforward, rock guitar-driven track.
The solo set, for which no release date has yet been set, is just one of many projects Simmons is working on.
Kiss is nearing the July 22 release of The Kiss Symphony: Alive IV," which captures the band's February 28 performance with the Melbourne Orchestra, the first release from Kiss Records via Sanctuary. A summer co-headlining jaunt with Aerosmith begins August 2 in Hartford, Connecticut.
"Sex, Money, Kiss," Simmons' second book, following the autobiography "Kiss and Make-Up," is due next week via his own Simmons Books (through New Millennium).
Three more books are in the pipeline, "Groupies: Sex, Drugs, and Rock 'n' roll," "Gene Simmons Mysteries," and "How to Raise a Rock Star," written by his long-time girlfriend, actress Shannon Tweed.
Simmons says he's also closing in on signing the first artists to Simmons Records in more than a decade. The label was last active in the late 1980s and was previously distributed through RCA/BMG.
It released records by hard rock acts such as House Of Lords, Silent Rage, and Gypsy Rose with moderate success.
With the revived label, he says he's out to prove that "Van Halen wasn't a fluke." Simmons is credited with discovering the band.
KISS
Vegas Shazam KISS
mention on Rise
