Paul Stanley Names The Best and Worst KISS Albums

Michael Angulia | 12-31-2023

Classic Rock caught up with KISS frontman Paul Stanley to look back at the soundtrack of his life in the wake of the band's final show from their End Of The Road farewell tour.

Stanley covered many topics from the music he remembered hearing to his favorite signer, guitarist, songwriters, to his pick for the greatest album of all time. He also looked back at his own output, selecting "Rock and Roll All Nite" for anthem, which they created at the behest of their label president, and named what he considered the best and worst albums he has made.

Here are some excerpts (read the here). Anthem: Obviously the monolith is Rock And Roll All Nite. And I have to credit Neil Bogart, the president of Casablanca Records. One day in LA, he took us into his office and said: "You need a rock anthem, a rallying cry for the band that your audience can sing and identify with." He cited two songs by Sly & The Family Stone - Dance To The Music and I Want To Take You Higher. And I got it, because I saw Sly & The Family Stone open for Jimi Hendrix, and they were incredibly powerful, with songs that you could really grab on to lyrically.

So I went straight from Neil's office to our hotel and wrote the chords and melody for that chorus: 'I wanna rock and roll all nite, and party every day...' That song summed up the band's philosophy, and it became the template for rock anthems - not only for us, for everybody.

The best record I've made: We constructed the ultimate Kiss album and the ultimate live album in Kiss Alive! We wanted to immerse you in the audience at a Kiss show - to hear the noise of people around you, for the explosions to be as loud as if you were there. And as soon as that album came out it flew out of the stores.

The worst record I've made: There are two: Unmasked and Music From The Elder. Unmasked was tepid and had no balls to it. Actually, the band at that point probably had no balls to it either. The Elder was a misguided attempt at impressing people who we shouldn't have been trying to impress - the critics - while forgetting the people we should impress - the fans.