The American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973 by Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Peter Criss, and Ace Frehley. Well known for its members’ face paint and stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid-to-late 1970s with their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood-spitting, smoking guitars, shooting rockets, levitating drum kits, and pyrotechnics.
The band has gone through several lineup changes, with Stanley and Simmons the only remaining original members.
With their make-up and costumes, they took on the personae of comic book-style characters: The Starchild (Stanley), The Demon (Simmons), The Spaceman or Space Ace (Frehley), and The Catman (Criss). Due to creative differences, both Criss and Frehley had departed the group by 1982.
In 1983, Kiss began performing without makeup and costumes, thinking that it was time to leave the makeup behind. The band experienced a minor commercial resurgence, and their music videos received regular airplay on MTV. Drummer Eric Carr, who had replaced Criss in 1980, died in 1991 of a rare type of heart cancer and was replaced by Eric Singer.
In response to a wave of Kiss nostalgia in the mid-1990s, the band announced a reunion of the original lineup in 1996, which also saw the return of their makeup and stage costumes. The resulting Alive/Worldwide Tour was commercially successful. Criss and Frehley have both since left the band again and have been replaced by Singer and Tommy Thayer, respectively.
The band have continued with their original stage makeup, with Singer and Thayer using the original Catman and Space Ace makeup, selling more than 75 million records worldwide, including 21 million RIAA-certified albums.
Over the course of their almost forty years, they have released a multitude of different albums, single, compilations and all kinds of merchandise. Below are just a few highlights of the latest arrivals, along with a short highlights video, and be sure to keep an eye on our latest arrivals.
Rock And Roll All Nite
1975 Japanese 7″ vinyl single on the blue ‘Bogart’ Casablanca label, also includes Room Service, complete with the scarce third variant textured picture insert with lyrics on reverse and song title printed in white English text on the front. The insert displays minimal wear whilst the vinyl shows little signs of play, a fantastic example of this hard to find pressing.
The Originals II
1978 Japanese-only 29-track triple LP, repackaging the albums Destroyer, Rock & Roll Over & Love Gun in a unique gatefold picture sleeve with artwork inners, 8-page lyric booklet, glossy full colour 8-page photo booklet & four superb Kiss masks. Each mask remains fully intact. The packaging has done a stellar job of housing all contents, with some minor edge creasing to show for its efforts. The vinyl discs are tinted brown when held to light & grade Excellent to Near Mint with minimal signs of play at all.
Turn On The Night
Original 1985 UK limited edition 4-track 12″ Picture Disc single, also including Hell On High Water, King Of The Mountain and Any Way You Slice It, clear PVC sleeve.
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