February 27, 2025

I Still Love You, Vol. III: Thunder & Rock And Roll

KISS’ undeniable influence on heavy metal in 10 covers

One thing that KISS often gets made fun of for outside of their makeup and merchandising is their music, often from people who haven’t heard a note. They look at the costumes and capitalistic ventures and say, “that’s not for me.” While I obviously don’t agree, I understand resisting certain artists for trivial reasons. There are plenty of bands I have no interest in listening to if I think their name sucks or they have a vibe that throws me off. So consider this volume a mutual learning lesson: if you like metal, but you don’t like KISS, you have to understand that almost every band you like was influenced by them in one way or another.

KISS has been covered by many bands off and on various tribute albums over the years, from the major releases like 1994’s KISS My Ass: Classic KISS Regrooved to underground showcases like Hotter Than Hell, Colder Than Death: A Death Metal Tribute To KISS, released on my birthday in 2022 unbeknownst to me. Listening to KISS covers is one way to better understand how important their music is to so many bands, and I want to focus specifically on some of the great versions from the doom, sludge, and stoner metal world. A couple of my favorite all-time KISS covers appear in this list, which is no surprise for anyone who knows me. My favorite subgenre of heavy metal is the thick-toned, riff-based world that started with Black Sabbath, and continued on with bands like Pentagram, Monster Magnet, Fu Manchu, Electric Wizard, Clutch, and High On Fire to name a few. When bands like this cover KISS, it highlights how heavy the band really was, as well as their brilliance at writing memorable guitar riffs.

1. The Hellacopters - ‘All American Man’ (Cream Of The Crap!, 2004)

The Swedish “punk’n’roll” scene has produced many great bands, from international superstars The Hives to down and dirty bands like Gluecifer. If you’re a Guitar Hero III fan, you may remember The Hellacopters and their song ‘I’m In The Band,’ which was how I first heard of them. On a lengthy compilation of non-album material, the Swedes take on one of KISS’ deeper cuts from the in-studio fourth side of 1977’s Alive II. The Paul Stanley-led ‘All American Man’ gets a rough-and-tumble redo from the Scandinavian street rockers.

2. Pantera - ‘Cold Gin’ (Unreleased, 1994)

Panera has done a number of great covers, including Ted Nugent’s ‘Cat Scratch Fever’ featured on the 1999 Detroit Rock City film soundtrack. Five years earlier they released a version of Black Sabbath’s ‘Planet Caravan’ on their iconic Far Beyond Driven album, and that same year they were including the 1974 KISS classic ‘Cold Gin’ in their setlists. Though never officially released, there is a soundboard recording of a 1994 Tokyo concert that showcases the band ripping through the track, down to the Alive! nod at the end with Phil Anselmo introducing Dimebag Darrell, who I’ll talk about more further down the list. For further listening, check out the 1992 live Skid Row version of ‘Cold Gin’ featuring Phil Anselmo and Ace Frehley.

3. Harvey Milk - ‘Easy Thing’ (I Do Not Know How To Live My Life, 1995)

The eclectic Athens, GA band Harvey Milk were one of the best sludge metal bands of their era, releasing album after album of experimental and sometimes truly uncomfortable music. Led by vocalist/guitarist Creston Spiers, the band was exceptionally good at riding the line of genuine and tongue-in-cheek, shown best on their ‘Easy Thing’ cover, a 1978 Peter Criss solo album cut. Originally laid to 7” and later compiled on the 2003 Relapse Records release The Singles, the band takes their individualist approach to a track that you have to be a KISS diehard to know, let alone record a version of it. Harvey Milk also tipped their hat to KISS on their 1994 song ‘Anthem,’ not officially released until 2009, interpolating the seminal ‘Black Diamond’ outro.

4. White Zombie - ‘God Of Thunder’ (God Of Thunder, 1989)

When I saw Rob Zombie open for The Original Misfits at Riot Fest in 2016, he noted that Misfits were one of the two bands that inspired him to start a band of his own. A year later, when I saw him open for KISS at Chicago Open Air, he revealed that KISS was the second. Casual White/Rob Zombie fans may not be aware they had a handful of records out before their 1992 major label debut La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Vol. 1, and those early recordings were captured and remastered in the excellent 2016 Numero Group compilation It Came From NYC. White Zombie dedicated their 1989 12” EP to the 1976 Desroyer demon classic, keeping its menacing tone at the forefront but adding more grit and grime. Rob Zombie would cover the song again with an all-star lineup, Ace Frehley in tow, at the 2006 VH1 Rock Honors celebration.

5. Melvins - ‘Goin’ Blind’ (Houdini, 1993)

You can find loads of KISS nods and tributes throughout the Melvins’ nearly-40-year career. They too covered ‘God Of Thunder’ for the 1990 Hard To Believe compilation, which also featured Nirvana doing ‘Do You Love Me’ and Descendents spinoff ALL doing ‘Christine Sixteen.’ On their 1989 sophomore album Ozma, Melvins took on the relatively unfavorable ‘Love Theme From KISS,’ an instrumental track on the 1974 eponymous KISS debut. Melvins even released three solo albums on the same day in August 1992, just like KISS did in September 1978, with album covers that featured band portraits in homage. My personal favorite Melvins goes KISS moment is their ‘Goin’ Blind’ cover, an intentionally creepy demon ballad from the 1974 sophomore KISS album Hotter Than Hell. Buzz Osborne’s voice lends perfectly to the lyrics, and the rough tone of the original recording has been preserved and amplified through Melvins’ foundational stoner metal sound.

6. CKY - ‘I Stole Your Love’ (B-Sides & Rarities, 2011)

CKY’s 1999 debut Volume 1 is loaded with memorable riffs, like the crushingly heavy ‘Rio Bravo’ and the legendary ‘96 Quite Bitter Beings,’ suiting the band perfectly to take on the KISS classic 1977 Love Gun album opener and ultimate fan favorite, ‘I Stole Your Love.’ I’ve always loved this band but never knew about this cover until working on this list, and I’m so glad I found it. The band sounds absolutely mean, pumping up the original track’s energy to give it that riff-rock umph.

7. The Sword - ‘She’ (Chronology, 2020)

One of the first stoner metal bands I ever heard was The Sword, another one I have the Guitar Hero series to thank for featuring their genre-classic song ‘Freya’ in the second game. The band delivers their take on ‘She,’ one of the heaviest and riffiest early KISS songs, originally composed for Gene Simmons’ and Paul Stanley’s first band Wicked Lester and later rearranged for their 1975 album Dressed To Kill. It’s an excellent matchup for a band with a stellar track record of hard rock covers, including ‘Cheap Sunglasses’ by ZZ Top and ‘Cold Sweat’ by Thin Lizzy, both of which are also featured in the Chronology box set compilation.

8. Zeke - ‘Shout It Out Loud’ (Kicked In The Teeth, 1998)

Seattle’s punk rockers Zeke are a band I’ve seen countless posters and fliers from but haven’t listened to very much of. Upon hearing their ‘Shout It Out Loud’ cover, one of KISS’ biggest songs from 1976’s Destroyer, I’ll likely be investigating them further, in particular their third album and Epitaph Records debut Kicked In The Teeth. Similar to the Hellacopters track, Zeke leans much more fast and loose than a typical stoner band, but their emphasis on guitar tone and biting performance earns them a spot on this list, in addition to sharing the stage with bands like Nashville Pussy and Weedeater. They also paid tribute to KISS on a 2003 gig poster.

9. Dimebag Darrell - ‘Snowblind’ (Return Of The Comet, 1997)

Pantera’s “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott was tragically shot in 2004 during a gig with his band Damageplan, and was later buried in a KISS Kasket for his fandom and dedication to the band. His version of ‘Snowblind’ from the 1978 Ace Frehley solo album is an absolute monster, and cements himself in the guitar playing evolution from Frehley to Dimebag to Zack Wylde, who has never been shy about his influence of the first late Abbott brother and is now standing in for him in the current touring Pantera reunion lineup. Dimebag also contributed a cover of the instrumental track ‘Fractured Mirror,’ also from the ‘78 Ace album on another tribute album entitled Spacewalk a year earlier.

10. Ulver - ‘Strange Ways’ (Gods Of Thunder, 2005)

Norwegian metallers Ulver have had a long and prolific career, deeply respected by many fans across all of their eras. Their initial ‘90s output is heralded as some of the greatest in black metal, but they’ve run the gamut of multiple genres including doom, drone, goth and industrial metal. One of the few notable names on the Gods Of Thunder: A Norwegian Tribute To KISS compilation, Ulver takes the Peter Criss-led deep cut from 1974’s Hotter Than Hell and makes it heavy in the way that only Ulver can. Also notable but not completely fitting in this list is Megadeth’s version of the song from their 2007 Warchest box set, and the Swedish black metal titans’ Bathory ripping through KISS’ 1974 anthem ‘Deuce’ on their appropriately titled eighth album, 1995’s Octagon.