KISS singer Paul Stanley recently spoke with Matt Bahan of the Peoria, Illinois radio station 105.7 The X Rocks.
On Gene Simmons:
Paul: “Relationships aren’t always easy. Part of a good relationship and part of a good partnership is knowing its limitations — knowing what is impossible, what not to expect, what the other person can’t bring to the party. That will make you less, I guess, disappointed, but there’s no substitute for years and time where you see how somebody reacts to disappointment, to struggle and if they’re there for you. I have to say, Gene‘s always been there.
Sure, we’ve had our fights, and I would be the first to say, ‘Are we different? Sure. Do we agree on certain things? No. Do I agree with some of the things he says? No.’ But he’s had my back and I’ve had for his for 40-plus years, and you can’t deny that.”
On KISS‘s “End Of The Road” tour:
Paul: “You have to love what you’re doing. Here we are, 45-plus years into it, and this is by far and away from the biggest, most complex and amazing show, we’ve ever done… We’re playing over two hours and we’re covering all the periods of the band.
We really wanted to make this the ultimate and raise the bar, not only for the fans who’ve been with us through different periods of the band but people who have never seen us before who come to the shows and go, ‘Why didn’t I get into this earlier?’ It’s serious to us.”
On whether he has a favorite KISS album:
Paul: “It’s an impossible question to answer. KISS ‘Alive!’ was a pivotal album that took us from obscurity to front-page news and sold-out shows, so that’s really indicative of the foundation of this band. There were a lot of great albums after that. I have to say that the last two albums we did, ‘Sonic Boom’ and ‘Monster’, are great albums, and it will take some time before those become classics. It’s always interesting — when a song comes out, it’s competing with songs that have memories for people and histories. It’s just interesting how it takes years for songs to get that patina, so to speak. ‘Lick It Up’, now, is a classic song. ‘Psycho Circus’ is a classic song. Those were new songs at one point, but they’re not new anymore.”