You can view Kiss’s non-makeup era from 1983 to 1995 as a period where the band managed to stay relevant despite the emergence of various rock sub-genres. However, critics have pointed out that the band seemed to be following musical trends instead of setting them.
During an interview with Billy Corgan on “The Magnificent Others,” Kiss co-founder Paul Stanley shared his thoughts on this topic. To his credit, he expressed critical views regarding some of the band’s decisions during this time.
“I mean, the clothes got ridiculous,” Stanley admitted. “We looked like we got dressed in the dark in a costume store, y’know? ‘What do you think of my feather earrings?’ ‘Oh, good. Goes with your eye makeup!'”
“But it was a way for us to continue. And in a way, I wanted the band to continue. I wasn’t ready…nobody can tell me when this band is over. And I did do interviews with journalists towards the end of the makeup period, where there could be such vitriol that somebody has joy in making you squirm.”
Stanley recalled some of the more obnoxious interviewers he crossed paths with right before Kiss took off their make-up in 1983, when the band’s popularity was at an all-time low.
“Probably angered by how long we had succeeded. So finally, the death knell: ‘How does it feel to be on the Titanic?’ It was kind of like, ‘I’m a human being. How, how could you say that?’ And all I could think was, ‘Nobody’s going to tell me when this ends. And watch this.’ And you have to have a reason to continue, and mine was that nobody gets to tell me when it’s over.”
However, looking back, Stanley has no regrets during this aforementioned era, which actually spawned some of Kiss’s most popular songs: “Crazy Crazy Nights,” “Forever,” “Lick It Up,” “Heaven’s on Fire,” etc.
“There were certainly some missteps that I listen to now and go, ‘Gee.’ All I can say is that we committed ourselves 100% to everything we did, and believed that we were doing the best we could when we did things. And some of it is pretty awful.”
