So this past week the news that many KISS fans, including myself, have been waiting for…FIFTEEN YEARS LATE! After being ignored by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and being passed over for ABBA a few years ago it’s finally time to get the real rock back into the Hall of Fame as KISS is getting inducted in its 2014 class. And, to quote a KISS song, all hell’s breaking loose with everyone’s thoughts on the matter. So it wouldn’t be right if I didn’t add my thoughts on it since I’ve been a proud KISS fan since I first watched them perform on TV from under the Brooklyn Bridge to close the 1996 MTV Music Video Awards.
Now I’ll save the whole topic of the other inductees and how they are questionable for another time. I, like Eddie Trunk and several other KISS fans, have said for years that why KISS wasn’t inducted the first year they were eligible is absolutely absurd. In 1999 they became eligie and was perfect as they were riding the success of the 1998 studio album Psycho Circus (that tour in 98 was the first time I saw KISS live). The ORIGINAL members were getting along and the time was right. But of course that’s only in the mind of KISS fans. And now here we are 15 years later after the line changed yet again and years on bad PR between original members. But the truth is it’s better late than never.
As a KISS fan I’m beyond thrilled to see that they’re finally being recognized despite my overall thoughts of the Hall if Fame. For years I’ve defended their music by friends who say I’m nuts for liking their music. But KISS also took the stage show to a level no one thought of and lead to so many of the bands we have come to know and love over the years to be concerned with a stage show instead of just standing their playing music. So the fact that the Hall is finally recognizing them shows that KISS isn’t a gimmick band but the rock band that many of us know them to be and that almost 40 years of album sales proves on top of that.
Now at the time I write this all the original members are on board and willing to play together again on stage. There’s still plenty of time for things to change between now and April 2014 but I’m confident that we’ll see the original four members on stage together at the Barclays Center to perform as they’re finally inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Congratulations KISS, your FINALLY Hall of Famers.
