KISS: Behind the Mask reviewed

To me, KISS(yes, I'm going to put the band name in all caps since that's what they deserve) is a strange band.  I'm not a big fan of their music but I do like a few of their songs but the songs I do like would have real KISS fans demand my head on a silver platter....I like living so I won't tell you what songs I do like.  But when somebody ie Eddie Trunk complains about them not being in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame I think why?  They're not good enough to be there BUT their stage crew does deserve to be there since they obviously put on one hell of a show.  But I do find endless fascination with the band for some reason and I do think Gene Simmons is a mad genius which is why I decided to get their autobiography.  Now let's rock and roll every night and party every day as we dive into KISS: Behind the Mask.

The real draw of this is that this was actually supposed to be released in 1979.  For reasons unknown to, well everyone, that didn't happen but it was eventually found and then released. In it, tells the standard tale of about the member's childhood and how the band came together and the massive success of Alive! and beyond and blah blah blah.  Then there's more stuff since this book was released in 2003 where it expands with the horrible era of the early 80's to the Unmasked years and then the reunion with Peter and Ace.  But the bulk of the book is actually an album-by-album and song-by-song commentary that goes the WHOLE gamut of KISS albums including the solo albums and even The Elder.

I think the best part of this book is the 1979 era.  There's still a rampant amount of optimism where it's the dawn before Dynasty got released and everything was still going great.  Oh sure there was the solo albums and the infamous KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park but they're regarded as natural stages of the whole KISS phenomenon and they treat them with respect instead of today where Phantom is mocked endlessly and the solo albums are regarded as a bad idea, but not bad albums per se except Peter's. But when we get back to the present and the band is talking about what happened after 1979 in terms of what they know now, it becomes less interesting since you don't have that optimism you did back in the 1979 segment and there's little to grab on to once we get past the 1980-1983 era.

But the story of the band is shockingly not the main draw of this book, it's the song-by-song commentary for almost every song KISS has ever did.  It's quite fun to see how the band rates every one of their albums and then talk about every one of their songs...except when they talk about Ace and Peter's solo albums for some reason, poor Ace but not Peter.  Of course the main problem is that a casual listener like me, I don't care about half of the songs and it's hard to make yourself read the thoughts behind some song when you feel like that.  However, it's an awesome gimmick and I think more bands biography should include this since it gives great insight into a band's various albums.

All in all, this book is not looking to convert people who are on the fence or just dislike KISS.  It's strictly for their hardcore fans who know all the albums and songs by heart for they will be the ones to get the most enjoyment out of it.  For me, all I see is a decent book with great ideas that gets bogged down by various interviews with other people in KISS's history that are quite boring, except for the other musicians opinion on KISS which are very interesting.  I mean it's not bad but it has no cross-over appeal to non-fans but then again, I wouldn't want it any other way from KISS.

6/10