Paul Stanley ripped the first KISS album in a new SiriusXM interview.
“It was mixed. I’m gonna be honest with you… I thought the album sounded pretty crummy…
“I was never a fan of the first three albums, sonically. We were bombastic, this band, live, was thunder. And on albums, it sounded a little rinky-dink to me.
“I didn’t know how to make it sound better, but I knew that it wasn’t the way we sounded. And to that end, you have to remember that it wasn’t until ‘KISS Alive!’ that the band broke.
“In other words, it wasn’t until [the 1975 live album] ‘KISS Alive!’ that the band really became successful – because people would come to see us live and love what they saw – then you put the album on and go, ‘Well that doesn’t sound like the band I saw…’
“So, honestly, I was kind of like, ‘This is awesome!’ How could I not be excited the first time I heard it on the radio?
“The cover, also, which is iconic at this point – I never saw it until it was printed. Yeah, we were not in a position as a new band – we weren’t in a position to call the shots.
“We had to earn that right. And I remember looking at the cover and going, ‘Eh…’ Not what I had in mind…
“And the sound of the album – not what I had in mind. But, you got to start somewhere and to have songs like ‘Strutter,’ and ‘Deuce,’ ‘Black Diamond,’ ‘Firehouse,’ I mean, come on…
“It was great. Did it sound the way I hoped it would sound? No. But it was a KISS album.” Ultimate-Guitar transcribed his comments.
