WEBVTT - Paul Stanley 0:00:11.076 --> 0:00:14.156 Today I'm broken Record. I'm joined by a true rock icon, 0:00:14.396 --> 0:00:18.476 the star child himself, Kiss co founder in frontman Paul Stanley. 0:00:19.556 --> 0:00:21.276 Paul grew up in New York City, where he fell 0:00:21.276 --> 0:00:24.036 in love with the music, attending shows at Manhattan venues 0:00:24.116 --> 0:00:27.476 like the legendary Fillmore East. Of course, he himself, as 0:00:27.516 --> 0:00:29.676 part of Kiss, over fifty years, built one of the 0:00:29.676 --> 0:00:33.516 most fervently devoted fan bases in music history by turning 0:00:33.556 --> 0:00:37.796 spectacle into art. Now that Kiss is officially retired from 0:00:37.836 --> 0:00:40.956 the road, Paul reflects on life after the makeup, what 0:00:41.076 --> 0:00:43.756 fuels his creativity these days, and what it means to 0:00:43.756 --> 0:00:47.476 have reached the fiftieth anniversary of the Kiss Army. He 0:00:47.516 --> 0:00:50.836 also shares his personal top five Kiss albums and gives 0:00:50.916 --> 0:00:54.356 us a preview of Kiss Storm Vegas, the upcoming event 0:00:54.476 --> 0:00:57.556 that proves the end of touring doesn't mean the end 0:00:57.756 --> 0:01:06.916 of the show. This is Broken record, real musicians, real conversations. 0:01:09.756 --> 0:01:15.396 Here's my conversation with Paul Stanley. Oh wow, how are you? 0:01:16.196 --> 0:01:16.676 The man? 0:01:16.916 --> 0:01:20.396 The myth, the legend is somebody else here? 0:01:22.196 --> 0:01:24.516 The guy behind you, I'll talk about the guy behind 0:01:24.716 --> 0:01:27.876 couldn't be you, No you of course? Wow. Great to 0:01:27.916 --> 0:01:31.316 meet you likewise, great to meet you. Where are you 0:01:31.436 --> 0:01:33.156 at in the thing? 0:01:33.236 --> 0:01:36.316 Actually in the Kiss warehouse. 0:01:38.036 --> 0:01:42.756 That has to be that has to be an incredible place. 0:01:43.196 --> 0:01:43.516 It is. 0:01:43.556 --> 0:01:45.916 It's like Superman's Portress of Solitude. 0:01:46.396 --> 0:01:50.276 Oh man, how long have you guys had like a warehouse. 0:01:51.196 --> 0:01:54.516 Since pretty much the beginning of the band, although that's 0:01:54.596 --> 0:01:57.836 changed over the Year's location has changed over the years, 0:01:57.836 --> 0:02:02.396 but we've always needed a place not only for musical instruments, 0:02:02.396 --> 0:02:06.556 but for stage pieces and all the miscellaneous stuff that 0:02:06.596 --> 0:02:07.636 goes along with a tour. 0:02:08.276 --> 0:02:12.876 Wow, do you ever? I mean, you know, talking to 0:02:12.956 --> 0:02:15.956 you or anyone else from Kiss, it's in a weird way, 0:02:16.036 --> 0:02:20.076 like talking to anyone from you know, like Paula Ringo 0:02:20.316 --> 0:02:24.076 or Mike or Keith or even Ronnie. It's like you 0:02:24.116 --> 0:02:27.356 guys have had such long and storied careers and been 0:02:27.396 --> 0:02:30.156 asked everything. But I have to imagine every once in 0:02:30.156 --> 0:02:32.716 a while going through the whitouse, there's something you see 0:02:32.716 --> 0:02:36.916 that you're shocked by or just didn't remember, or you're 0:02:36.916 --> 0:02:38.236 surprised to see or find. 0:02:39.756 --> 0:02:44.276 Manyly, it's just I think I have a really good memory, 0:02:44.316 --> 0:02:47.676 and yet sometimes friends of mine will say, you remember 0:02:48.716 --> 0:02:50.836 in New York when we had dinner with so and 0:02:50.876 --> 0:02:53.516 so and so and so, and I'm like, for the 0:02:53.556 --> 0:02:57.716 life of me, I can't remember. So in terms of 0:02:57.916 --> 0:03:02.036 the band, my memory is really really pretty pretty strong. 0:03:02.236 --> 0:03:04.716 You know, we can talk about, you know, the show 0:03:04.756 --> 0:03:07.436 that we did at the Capitol Center in Largo, Maryland 0:03:07.476 --> 0:03:11.796 outside DCOR. Could talk about, you know, playing the Stanley 0:03:11.836 --> 0:03:15.636 Warner Theater in Pittsburgh or the Tower Theater. You know, 0:03:16.356 --> 0:03:20.716 my memory is at least with the band, very very 0:03:20.876 --> 0:03:23.596 very I'm quite lucid. 0:03:23.276 --> 0:03:26.156 Why why do you think the band is the is 0:03:26.196 --> 0:03:29.316 the one part that you're able to compartmentalize and remember 0:03:29.356 --> 0:03:31.236 every little bit of it? 0:03:32.676 --> 0:03:35.396 I guess, you know, I would think that if you 0:03:35.556 --> 0:03:39.196 visit Disneyland, you'll remember everything you did. And I've been 0:03:39.236 --> 0:03:40.356 living in Disneyland. 0:03:43.316 --> 0:03:45.916 That's That's a great way to a great way to 0:03:45.916 --> 0:03:50.636 put it. It's even even the early days of the band, 0:03:50.956 --> 0:03:54.916 pre pre alive, when you guys, you know, alive. Obviously, 0:03:55.276 --> 0:03:57.236 most people who are at least are fans will know 0:03:57.276 --> 0:03:59.716 that live is really when the band hits and you 0:03:59.716 --> 0:04:02.116 guys break. But it seems like even before that, like 0:04:02.156 --> 0:04:07.876 you guys were really i mean somehow living, you know, 0:04:08.396 --> 0:04:11.476 the rock star lifestyle like you guys were. In a sense, 0:04:11.516 --> 0:04:13.236 it almost appears if you guys had made it the 0:04:13.276 --> 0:04:16.196 way you know the stories. 0:04:15.676 --> 0:04:22.236 And I think certainly there was a all for one 0:04:22.276 --> 0:04:26.036 and one for all attitude, and we felt like we 0:04:26.036 --> 0:04:29.156 were on a crusade. We were we were going to 0:04:29.236 --> 0:04:32.556 make converts of everybody. And it had nothing to do 0:04:32.636 --> 0:04:38.196 with our musical prowess, certainly at that point, but it 0:04:38.276 --> 0:04:41.356 had to do with a commitment to the band, to 0:04:41.516 --> 0:04:46.076 what we were doing, and to the fans. I have 0:04:46.156 --> 0:04:50.276 to say that initially a lot of the earliest songs 0:04:50.716 --> 0:04:57.476 were almost almost us writing about things that we really 0:04:57.596 --> 0:05:02.356 had an experience. It was almost wishful thinking. By the 0:05:02.476 --> 0:05:07.076 third album, we were really living it, you know. Strutter 0:05:07.316 --> 0:05:11.956 was about the women that I would see in the 0:05:11.996 --> 0:05:18.996 streets in Greenwich Village. There was this huge musical band 0:05:19.116 --> 0:05:23.956 renaissance of what became known as glitter the glitter bands 0:05:24.036 --> 0:05:29.356 or kind of like that androgynous look, and the women, 0:05:29.476 --> 0:05:35.116 the girlfriends were you know, wearing silks and satins and 0:05:35.156 --> 0:05:38.756 fishnets stockings, and they didn't want anything to do with me. 0:05:39.356 --> 0:05:43.396 But I wrote about that. I wrote about Black Diamond. 0:05:44.476 --> 0:05:48.436 Literally by the time we were doing songs like room Service. 0:05:49.716 --> 0:05:51.676 That's what I was living. You know, all of a sudden, 0:05:52.076 --> 0:05:56.556 you know, you go from wishing for something to actually 0:05:56.596 --> 0:05:59.196 being immersed in it. 0:05:59.316 --> 0:06:02.676 Was it? At what point do you start to realize, like, God, 0:06:02.716 --> 0:06:05.636 this isn't this isn't everything. You know, this actually isn't 0:06:06.396 --> 0:06:08.076 all that you can want out of life. There's more 0:06:08.116 --> 0:06:08.476 to it. 0:06:09.516 --> 0:06:14.636 Well, you know, that's a tough question because when you're 0:06:14.676 --> 0:06:19.476 first exposed to something, how much cake can you eat? 0:06:19.636 --> 0:06:21.636 You know, you won't know untill you eat it all, 0:06:23.636 --> 0:06:28.716 you know. I I think, at least in my case, 0:06:28.756 --> 0:06:31.716 it took a bit of time before I went you know, 0:06:33.036 --> 0:06:37.356 although this is what I was on a quest to achieve, 0:06:37.516 --> 0:06:41.236 once you achieve it, I found myself going, is this everything? 0:06:41.956 --> 0:06:47.316 You know? Some some people aspire to something and think 0:06:47.356 --> 0:06:51.876 it's going to be a cure all and or disappointed 0:06:52.036 --> 0:06:55.036 in a way when that's not the case, and neither 0:06:55.076 --> 0:06:57.436 wind up with a needle in their arm or a 0:06:57.476 --> 0:07:03.436 gun in their mouth. You know, I made it a challenge. Okay, 0:07:04.356 --> 0:07:06.716 let's see what else is out there? You know, what else? 0:07:07.036 --> 0:07:09.996 What else do I need to complet who I am? 0:07:10.676 --> 0:07:15.356 But it certainly it gave me the ability to do that, 0:07:15.756 --> 0:07:19.356 and along the way I was having a great time. 0:07:20.076 --> 0:07:25.996 You know, no, I have no complaints about any aspect 0:07:26.116 --> 0:07:28.876 or time period in my life. 0:07:29.156 --> 0:07:33.236 There's nothing you look back and wish you'd handle the different. 0:07:32.996 --> 0:07:37.196 Or I'd like to say that I always did the 0:07:37.236 --> 0:07:44.236 best I could. And nonetheless, I'd say when our second drummer, 0:07:44.476 --> 0:07:48.716 Eric Carr, when he had heart cancer, I wish that. 0:07:49.556 --> 0:07:55.116 I wish that I had realized that I couldn't fathom 0:07:55.196 --> 0:07:59.596 the idea of him dying, so I didn't deal with 0:07:59.636 --> 0:08:05.116 it the way I would today. I think, you know, 0:08:05.196 --> 0:08:11.196 there were certainly mistakes I think made in that period. 0:08:11.836 --> 0:08:17.516 And again I was you're limited by what by your limitations. 0:08:17.756 --> 0:08:21.356 You're limited by by what you know and and how 0:08:21.396 --> 0:08:23.676 you perceive things and where you are in your life. 0:08:23.716 --> 0:08:27.716 So everything that you do in life gets through to 0:08:27.756 --> 0:08:31.836 where you are today. That's right, good and bad. And 0:08:33.556 --> 0:08:39.076 you change one thing, you change everything. So even even 0:08:39.836 --> 0:08:46.076 whatever missteps or things that may have happened, they they're 0:08:46.156 --> 0:08:49.476 responsible for where I am today. 0:08:49.716 --> 0:08:52.276 When I when I'm thinking about the fact that for 0:08:52.476 --> 0:08:55.236 so many years you you you both view energy and 0:08:55.276 --> 0:08:59.436 really had dealt with aces, indulgences and Peter's indulgences and 0:08:59.756 --> 0:09:02.076 you know, I mean, thankfully there's they're still with us. 0:09:02.116 --> 0:09:05.236 But I mean, I could I can understand how you 0:09:05.716 --> 0:09:09.316 might feel like you guys were insulated from that kind 0:09:09.356 --> 0:09:10.636 of you know, there were a lot of tragedies in 0:09:10.676 --> 0:09:14.436 other bands. You guys really managed to avoid that for 0:09:14.476 --> 0:09:16.996 so long. And I guess until Eric and it, I 0:09:16.996 --> 0:09:19.876 guess this unusual thing. You know, it's a. 0:09:19.876 --> 0:09:26.036 Very different level when you're dealing with facing somebody's mortality. Yeah, 0:09:26.236 --> 0:09:32.756 when you're facing a diagnosis and a prognosis, and somehow 0:09:33.116 --> 0:09:37.156 maybe your defensive mechanism is to, oh, well, you know, 0:09:38.076 --> 0:09:42.076 it'll be the odds or he'll always be like this. 0:09:43.036 --> 0:09:43.236 You know. 0:09:44.716 --> 0:09:48.156 But that was the only thing that I really can 0:09:48.436 --> 0:09:55.676 think of. I wish, I wish I knew better how 0:09:55.756 --> 0:10:00.036 that was going to end and really understood it that, 0:10:00.516 --> 0:10:04.756 you know, the finality of death. That's uh, we don't 0:10:04.996 --> 0:10:07.956 get to deal with that that often at that age. 0:10:09.236 --> 0:10:12.236 Yeah. Yeah, And like I said, you guys were real 0:10:12.316 --> 0:10:14.556 fortunate for a rock and roll group. You guys really 0:10:14.596 --> 0:10:19.156 managed to avoid a lot of the usual pitfalls more 0:10:19.236 --> 0:10:20.836 or less, you know, you guys. 0:10:20.836 --> 0:10:24.116 I really I think that part of what has gotten 0:10:24.196 --> 0:10:27.676 us to where we are at this point. I mean, Gina, 0:10:27.716 --> 0:10:35.436 I've been together fifty six years. Is the idea that 0:10:36.116 --> 0:10:39.756 we can we can, we can succeed, we can make 0:10:39.836 --> 0:10:43.356 things okay. I think that's really what it is. It's 0:10:43.396 --> 0:10:48.436 more more than we'll make it okay, we'll fix it. 0:10:49.956 --> 0:10:52.356 You know, at some point in life you start to 0:10:52.396 --> 0:10:57.076 realize you can't fix everything. It's kind of humbling. You know, 0:10:58.236 --> 0:11:03.316 the only person you can fix is you. So I 0:11:03.316 --> 0:11:07.956 think there's there's a sense of being more powerful than. 0:11:07.876 --> 0:11:13.476 Your Yeah, did that feeling of you and Jeans sort 0:11:13.476 --> 0:11:16.356 of being able to weather anything? Was there a defining 0:11:16.436 --> 0:11:19.196 moment of that where you realize, oh, when we got 0:11:19.196 --> 0:11:21.276 past this now it feels like or did it just 0:11:21.316 --> 0:11:24.356 sort of at some point occur like yeah, of course. 0:11:25.556 --> 0:11:30.956 I think that maybe maybe it's because we're both survivors. 0:11:31.796 --> 0:11:36.636 Innately it it's born into us. You know, our parents 0:11:36.716 --> 0:11:43.836 were impacted by the Holocaust. Jean's mom was in a 0:11:43.876 --> 0:11:48.596 concentration camp. My mom had to flee on hours notice 0:11:49.436 --> 0:11:52.636 as a child with her family and get on a 0:11:52.676 --> 0:11:55.796 train and leave everything behind and go to Amsterdam and 0:11:55.836 --> 0:11:59.876 then flee there. So I think that they're there. I 0:11:59.916 --> 0:12:06.476 don't know that it's the children of Holocaust survivors or 0:12:07.236 --> 0:12:12.836 I do think that that into it, that there's a 0:12:12.956 --> 0:12:18.996 sense of survival, a sense of not being victimized. You're 0:12:19.036 --> 0:12:25.636 the master of your own destiny, and when that is challenged, 0:12:26.116 --> 0:12:29.796 that usually gets my back up that further. If somebody 0:12:29.796 --> 0:12:31.796 tells me something's impossible, then I have. 0:12:31.836 --> 0:12:32.276 To do it. 0:12:32.916 --> 0:12:36.756 That's you know, that's not always a good quality. But 0:12:38.156 --> 0:12:42.116 I like to think that both Jane and I want 0:12:42.196 --> 0:12:44.876 to make our own decisions and live our own lives, 0:12:45.476 --> 0:12:50.436 and kiss has always been the same. Nobody decides for 0:12:50.596 --> 0:12:54.436 us who we are or what we are, and that's 0:12:54.556 --> 0:12:58.156 probably what's kept us around as long is we will 0:12:58.396 --> 0:13:02.836 stand by our victories and we'll brush ourselves off when 0:13:02.876 --> 0:13:06.196 we fall. And you know, there are times we fallen 0:13:07.036 --> 0:13:11.356 and we're not prone, either one of us, to stay 0:13:11.396 --> 0:13:11.716 it down. 0:13:12.876 --> 0:13:19.236 Yeah, your final full stage show is a year and 0:13:19.236 --> 0:13:23.276 a half, like behind you guys now, although there's this 0:13:23.356 --> 0:13:27.316 Vegas event coming up and we'll talk about that storm. 0:13:28.556 --> 0:13:31.956 Does it feel weird to have the touring part of 0:13:32.036 --> 0:13:34.876 your life wrapped up? To have that done after all 0:13:34.876 --> 0:13:36.116 this time totally? 0:13:36.156 --> 0:13:40.516 Of course you can fill I can fill that time. 0:13:41.036 --> 0:13:47.676 But I can never replace what's lost. In a sense, 0:13:47.756 --> 0:13:51.916 it's a death. You miss something, you can't get it back, 0:13:52.476 --> 0:13:58.316 and you can fill that time, but there's absolutely a loss. 0:13:58.516 --> 0:14:02.636 Nothing can take the place of twenty fifty one hundred, 0:14:02.636 --> 0:14:05.956 one hundred and fifty thousand people in front of you, 0:14:06.036 --> 0:14:10.116 and the energy and the love that they are giving, 0:14:10.636 --> 0:14:14.316 and the appreciation of what I'm doing. I think, ask 0:14:14.396 --> 0:14:20.076 Michael Jordan, ask any athlete. When you give up something 0:14:20.196 --> 0:14:24.636 like that, there's no replacing it. You find things to 0:14:24.676 --> 0:14:30.996 fill the time and fill the time. Well. But if 0:14:31.236 --> 0:14:36.596 to say I don't miss it, I can miss it, 0:14:36.996 --> 0:14:44.036 don't I don't. I don't live my life today thinking 0:14:44.076 --> 0:14:49.676 about yesterday. It's pointless and it doesn't take advantage of today. 0:14:51.556 --> 0:14:54.756 But is there any part of you that reflexively just 0:14:54.796 --> 0:14:57.036 feels like a tour must be right on the other 0:14:57.076 --> 0:14:59.716 side of next year? I mean, Becau's been doing. It's 0:14:59.756 --> 0:15:01.716 just like periods at home and then it's just almost 0:15:01.956 --> 0:15:04.956 at some point, must feel reflexive to just be like, oh, 0:15:04.956 --> 0:15:07.516 I'm going to go somewhere soon to you know. 0:15:09.316 --> 0:15:12.116 I say to people, Look, I've been home before for 0:15:12.196 --> 0:15:15.716 stretches of time. The difference this time is I'm not 0:15:15.796 --> 0:15:21.116 leaving well, so yeah, I can do other things, and 0:15:21.396 --> 0:15:25.076 I can play, and I can do things with Gene 0:15:25.236 --> 0:15:28.956 or There's lots of things for Kiss to be doing 0:15:29.516 --> 0:15:35.396 and to move Kiss into the future. But the touring aspect, 0:15:35.436 --> 0:15:40.116 which has been a major part of my life is gone. 0:15:40.436 --> 0:15:42.076 Do you still play at home? 0:15:42.556 --> 0:15:47.396 Oh yeah, nowhere near up to this point, nowhere near 0:15:47.476 --> 0:15:52.596 what I once did. But I was touring. I was 0:15:52.636 --> 0:15:57.516 playing five nights a week. There was a recording. So 0:15:58.636 --> 0:16:02.276 I think that, without even planning to, I just took 0:16:02.316 --> 0:16:05.956 a break. I just I just put down the guitar, 0:16:06.716 --> 0:16:10.996 and thank fully, when I pick it up, sounds like 0:16:11.036 --> 0:16:15.756 me playing, you know, muscle muscle memory. Although you know 0:16:15.796 --> 0:16:19.116 I could, I could sharpen the blade a little bit 0:16:19.196 --> 0:16:24.036 and I will. But yes, I still play, and music 0:16:24.076 --> 0:16:26.076 is so much a part of my life, and music. 0:16:26.676 --> 0:16:30.876 Music has been salvation for me, oxygen for me since 0:16:30.916 --> 0:16:34.396 I was a kid, since I was five six years 0:16:34.396 --> 0:16:38.236 old and I discovered music or was exposed to it. 0:16:38.236 --> 0:16:41.236 It's always been my sanctuary. 0:16:42.076 --> 0:16:44.876 What inspires you these days when you're around the house 0:16:44.916 --> 0:16:48.356 to pick up the guitars or something you'll hear, or 0:16:48.476 --> 0:16:49.716 feeling you'll get. 0:16:49.796 --> 0:16:57.036 Or Oh, it's more curiosity. Gee, can I still do it? 0:16:57.036 --> 0:17:01.716 It's different, It's really different because throughout my life there 0:17:01.836 --> 0:17:05.596 was always a reason I was playing. I was playing 0:17:07.436 --> 0:17:11.276 with different bands, or to get better, or to learn 0:17:11.756 --> 0:17:15.396 certain things. And right now it could change tomorrow. But 0:17:15.556 --> 0:17:18.676 right now, if I don't feel like it, I don't 0:17:19.116 --> 0:17:23.796 do it. But I'm fully aware that I will. I'm 0:17:23.836 --> 0:17:27.596 fully aware that like other things you take, you take breaks. 0:17:28.236 --> 0:17:31.556 I think it's important in a lot of senses to 0:17:31.596 --> 0:17:33.356 get away from things. 0:17:34.036 --> 0:17:40.716 We'll be back with more from Paul Stanley. It's been 0:17:41.116 --> 0:17:42.556 as I mean, it's been a un a has since 0:17:42.636 --> 0:17:45.636 the last tour. It's been even much longer since the 0:17:45.716 --> 0:17:49.676 last original album. In all that time, or even since 0:17:49.676 --> 0:17:52.556 you've stopped touring, do melodies ever still come to you 0:17:52.676 --> 0:17:53.436 or a riff? 0:17:53.636 --> 0:18:01.476 Or yeah they do, And I don't feel the need 0:18:01.716 --> 0:18:07.476 right now to do anything with it. Now you'll hear 0:18:07.476 --> 0:18:11.356 from so many people in music business has changed enormously 0:18:12.116 --> 0:18:21.796 and what we once sold, or other major bands acts 0:18:22.196 --> 0:18:26.476 once sold, for the most part, that that doesn't exist anymore. 0:18:27.276 --> 0:18:30.396 So you have to be creating for a different reason. 0:18:31.876 --> 0:18:34.876 And I've known some people recently who put out some 0:18:35.316 --> 0:18:39.836 fantastic music, and you know, after a week or so 0:18:41.276 --> 0:18:48.356 it's off the charts because there just isn't that sustainability anymore. 0:18:48.436 --> 0:18:53.996 So there definitely is is a sense of do I 0:18:54.036 --> 0:18:57.916 really want to put that much work into something, and 0:18:58.196 --> 0:19:01.836 even though I know what the outcome probably is going 0:19:01.876 --> 0:19:04.756 to be, do I want to build up for that 0:19:04.876 --> 0:19:11.596 kind of disappointment? And that's not I may say that 0:19:11.636 --> 0:19:14.916 and be honest about it, but I've known a lot 0:19:14.956 --> 0:19:17.796 of people who who feel that. And you know the 0:19:17.876 --> 0:19:20.356 other people who go, oh, you know, I just I 0:19:20.436 --> 0:19:25.796 create for me and this and that. That's true to 0:19:25.836 --> 0:19:33.596 a point. But you you did it to become successful, 0:19:34.876 --> 0:19:37.636 or you wouldn't never have played it for anybody. You 0:19:37.636 --> 0:19:44.556 wouldn't have left your room. So by design, you wanted acceptance, 0:19:44.636 --> 0:19:49.036 you wanted a mass appeal, whatever it was. Otherwise, if 0:19:49.076 --> 0:19:51.996 you really did it for yourself, you keep it to yourself. 0:19:52.996 --> 0:19:55.596 But once you start putting it out there, you know, 0:19:55.636 --> 0:19:59.796 if things don't go the way they once did, or 0:19:59.836 --> 0:20:06.076 you anticipate, I see a point where people just go, 0:20:06.516 --> 0:20:10.836 I'll tour, you know, and there are other you know, 0:20:10.956 --> 0:20:13.556 acts and people who have done that. Look, you know, 0:20:16.556 --> 0:20:19.796 when it comes down to it. If I wrote let 0:20:19.836 --> 0:20:25.156 It Be Tomorrow and we put it out as kiss, 0:20:25.196 --> 0:20:29.076 people will say that's great play love Gun. It's just 0:20:29.316 --> 0:20:33.516 it's it's just the nature of things. You go to 0:20:33.556 --> 0:20:36.756 see the Stones, you tolerate whatever they want to play 0:20:37.076 --> 0:20:41.956 until you hear Brown Sugar or Honky Tom Woman. So 0:20:43.076 --> 0:20:46.356 if McCartney does a show, if I see it on TV, 0:20:46.796 --> 0:20:49.676 if I turn off the volume, I'll let you know 0:20:49.916 --> 0:20:52.276 every time he's playing a new song because the audience 0:20:52.276 --> 0:20:57.316 sits down. So you know, if you want to keep writing, 0:20:57.836 --> 0:21:01.596 you know, God bless you. I am at a point 0:21:01.636 --> 0:21:03.796 now where I'm not sure. 0:21:05.676 --> 0:21:07.716 You know. I mean, this is one thing I'll say, 0:21:07.716 --> 0:21:09.876 this one thing I'll I I mean, there's many things 0:21:09.876 --> 0:21:11.196 to like about Case, but one of the things I 0:21:11.236 --> 0:21:14.116 especially love about you and Gene is you guys have 0:21:14.276 --> 0:21:17.716 never never shied away from the fact that you wanted 0:21:18.036 --> 0:21:21.436 to be successful. There's no pretense around it. And to 0:21:21.436 --> 0:21:22.636 the point that I mean, and I guess, let me 0:21:22.636 --> 0:21:25.596 ask you this, even you know it's amazing, But the 0:21:25.676 --> 0:21:31.276 self titled album Hotter than Hell addressed to Kill Like 0:21:31.516 --> 0:21:34.836 You're to this day, still remain disappointed in those albums, 0:21:34.876 --> 0:21:37.116 even as incredible as they are and beloved as. 0:21:37.036 --> 0:21:42.596 They are well because they don't sound the way I 0:21:42.796 --> 0:21:45.836 envisioned or hoped, and they don't sound the way we 0:21:45.916 --> 0:21:51.676 sounded live, and we didn't have the know how or 0:21:51.756 --> 0:21:56.356 wherewithal at that point to make albums that reflected what 0:21:56.436 --> 0:22:02.356 we sounded like. That's why it took Kiss Alive to 0:22:02.396 --> 0:22:06.276 break through, because people loved us and came to see us, 0:22:06.676 --> 0:22:11.276 but the albums didn't really reflect what they had experienced. 0:22:11.716 --> 0:22:15.596 So yeah, I mean, I would like to think that. 0:22:16.836 --> 0:22:19.596 I would like to think you don't love everything you do, 0:22:20.556 --> 0:22:26.356 because that doesn't leave any room. You know, if everything 0:22:26.436 --> 0:22:31.996 is great, how great is great? I mean it's you know, 0:22:32.836 --> 0:22:35.236 it's got to be degrees of stuff. And out of 0:22:35.236 --> 0:22:39.756 all the albums we've done, we always gave it our best, 0:22:39.836 --> 0:22:42.036 and some of them might listen to and go, or 0:22:42.036 --> 0:22:44.716 I don't listen to and I go. You know, at 0:22:44.716 --> 0:22:47.356 that time there was this going on or that going on, 0:22:48.316 --> 0:22:50.556 and then there are other albums I think are really good, 0:22:50.876 --> 0:22:53.116 and then there's some albums I think are great. So 0:22:54.876 --> 0:22:57.796 I would hate to think everything that we do or 0:22:57.836 --> 0:23:00.596 I do is fantastic because it's not. 0:23:01.676 --> 0:23:04.396 If I had to ask you to rank your top 0:23:04.716 --> 0:23:09.116 five Kiss albums? What would you? What would you? 0:23:09.276 --> 0:23:12.916 For different reasons. The first has to be kiss Alive 0:23:14.396 --> 0:23:23.076 because Kiss Alive really captured the essence of the live experience. Now, 0:23:23.756 --> 0:23:27.716 that couldn't have happened without us going in the studio 0:23:28.116 --> 0:23:33.796 and enhancing it and surrounding you with people. Live albums 0:23:33.796 --> 0:23:37.476 were boring for four hours. You didn't even know they 0:23:37.476 --> 0:23:39.116 were live until the end of the song where you 0:23:39.156 --> 0:23:44.636 heard some clapping. But for Kiss, we wanted an album 0:23:45.196 --> 0:23:52.476 that immersed you. Immersion in the experience, which means being 0:23:52.516 --> 0:23:57.116 surrounded by people, which means bombs going off that are deafening, 0:23:58.596 --> 0:24:03.916 which means fixing any mistakes or a broken string. People 0:24:04.076 --> 0:24:07.796 may have snobs or purists may have looked down their 0:24:07.876 --> 0:24:13.036 nose at that idea, but the truth is that album 0:24:13.196 --> 0:24:18.916 still considers if not the greatest, one of the greatest, 0:24:18.956 --> 0:24:21.836 and then a lot of circles. Gray's live album ever, 0:24:22.756 --> 0:24:26.516 not because everything was live, but because it captured the 0:24:26.556 --> 0:24:34.276 live experience. So Kiss Alive destroyer, even though it didn't 0:24:34.396 --> 0:24:40.556 sound much like its predecessors. But working with Bob Ezrin 0:24:41.636 --> 0:24:50.116 was such a education, such a schooling discipline, and upping 0:24:50.196 --> 0:24:56.116 the writing and putting aside, at least temporarily, all the 0:24:56.236 --> 0:25:00.436 songs about you know, sleeping with this one or this group, 0:25:00.476 --> 0:25:01.916 your parties. 0:25:01.956 --> 0:25:02.636 And it. 0:25:04.196 --> 0:25:08.956 Raised the bar so destroyer. So many of those songs 0:25:09.196 --> 0:25:13.996 end up in our show up until the very end 0:25:14.436 --> 0:25:19.796 Detroit Rock City, God of thunder Beth shouted out loud, 0:25:20.236 --> 0:25:31.436 so destroyer, I would say Sonic Boom. Sonic Boom was 0:25:32.556 --> 0:25:38.036 a great album by a band that recognized its roots 0:25:39.036 --> 0:25:43.556 and recognized where it came from and picked up the 0:25:43.596 --> 0:25:47.436 slack and kept moving forward. I love that album, and 0:25:47.516 --> 0:25:51.276 I loved the spirit that went into it, where everybody 0:25:51.396 --> 0:25:55.716 knew what they wanted to do and at our best 0:25:55.916 --> 0:25:59.756 and most people's best I think comes from trying to 0:25:59.836 --> 0:26:04.876 make the team or the band or whatever you're involved 0:26:04.916 --> 0:26:09.316 in better, and that will make you look better than 0:26:09.356 --> 0:26:13.196 just trying to make you look better. And the team 0:26:13.356 --> 0:26:22.076 spirit on Sonic Boom was really really palpable and great album. 0:26:22.316 --> 0:26:27.356 Great album. And again, if modern day Delilah had been 0:26:27.396 --> 0:26:32.036 on Rock and Roll Over, it would be a classic. 0:26:32.716 --> 0:26:41.836 But songs take decades to gain that kind of patina 0:26:42.276 --> 0:26:46.756 or to have that life connection of when you heard 0:26:46.796 --> 0:26:49.836 that song at a certain time in your life. So 0:26:50.796 --> 0:26:55.236 as time went on, songs could be great, but they 0:26:55.516 --> 0:27:01.516 didn't have that the luster of being tied to the past. 0:27:01.996 --> 0:27:08.676 So whether it was modern day Delilah or Hell or Hallelujah. 0:27:06.996 --> 0:27:09.076 Is as good as any you know, both of those, 0:27:09.556 --> 0:27:12.636 as good as any leadoff Kiss songs on any you 0:27:12.636 --> 0:27:13.516 know come on. 0:27:13.596 --> 0:27:16.076 Totally ridiculous, and I just found myself going, you know, 0:27:17.516 --> 0:27:21.476 that's as good as it gets. And it's a different 0:27:21.556 --> 0:27:28.356 time now and people don't connect to songs as time 0:27:28.396 --> 0:27:33.196 pieces or a sonic photograph of a certain period. So 0:27:33.556 --> 0:27:37.996 but long story short, so not really, but so Sonic 0:27:38.036 --> 0:27:43.196 Boom would be in that top three, top three, and 0:27:43.236 --> 0:27:48.036 other than that, I would say I like rock and 0:27:48.116 --> 0:27:53.836 roll Over. I like that album. Again, it doesn't sound 0:27:54.396 --> 0:27:58.516 anywhere near what we sounded like. And that's after Kiss Alive. 0:27:59.396 --> 0:28:02.996 It was very elusive for us, perhaps because of some 0:28:03.036 --> 0:28:06.796 of the people we were working with. It just escaped 0:28:07.276 --> 0:28:12.396 escaped us. We did some thing with real focus and 0:28:13.436 --> 0:28:17.876 clarity of what we were doing. So that's really good. 0:28:18.196 --> 0:28:22.956 I love Kiss Unplugged, you know that album. I just 0:28:23.076 --> 0:28:26.196 listened to some of that couple of days ago. You know, 0:28:26.236 --> 0:28:32.956 the band at that point was just on fire, no effects, 0:28:33.556 --> 0:28:39.556 no amplifiers, no running around us with guitars and drums 0:28:40.036 --> 0:28:43.236 and singing our asses off. And also it gave a 0:28:43.356 --> 0:28:48.956 chance to showcase the songs because you know, I've always 0:28:49.036 --> 0:28:52.916 adhered to the idea that a good song can be 0:28:52.956 --> 0:28:57.396 played on one guitar if you have to go, well, 0:28:57.436 --> 0:29:00.836