I Still Love You, Vol. VII: Love’s A Slap In The Face
You wanted the best, you got the worst.
The name of this newsletter is ‘I Still Love You,’ and it was a name I’ve had kicking around for a KISS-related project for years. For those unaware, it’s the name of the epic power ballad on the 1982 Creatures Of The Night album, but it’s also meant to be my direct message to the band: through all the bullshit and missteps we’ve experienced as fans, I still love KISS. The music first and foremost, the lore and culture next.
I love KISS so much, that it is unnervingly frustrating when they do something that makes it clear that they don’t care who loves the band, only who pays them. Even people who haven’t heard a note of KISS music probably know they’re the most heavily-merchandised musical act in history, creating mini-cash grabs every month it seems since their rise to stardom in the mid-1970s. To paraphrase brand master Gene Simmons, “we’ve made everything from KISS condoms to KISS caskets: we’ll get you coming and get you going.” Their hyper-capitalistic approach to the music business has always been a barrier for the uninitiated to want to listen to their albums, which I find a bit silly. The experience of being a fan of anything usually means getting pummeled with merch drops, which you can choose not to buy if you don’t want to. KISS isn’t any more guilty than Taylor Swift in 2025. But the main difference between KISS and Taylor Swift is that it seems the latter actually cares about her fans, giving them things they want consistently throughout the year, while KISS appears to be severing their fan relationship one new product at a time.
To be clear: when I reference that KISS is making poor decisions, or Taylor Swift is making the right ones, I’m obviously speaking about their teams, the all-encompassing entities. I have no idea how much Swift is specifically involved with her products, but I know that Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons aren’t involved much at all now that their entire band’s history has been sold off. Now that KISS has retired from touring, their characters and likenesses are property of Pophouse, a Swedish entertainment company that is working on a KISS avatar show, similar to the one they’ve already developed for ABBA. When it comes to the music, that’s all in the hands of Universal Music Group, who are making the calls on what releases come out and when. It appears to be that Pophouse is making calls on the merchandise end of things, potentially working with UMG when an album + merch bundle appears on the official KISS Online Shop.
Their first major collaboration to be announced was done in part with Precious Sounds, to create a 5” gold single of ‘Strutter’ from KISS’ 1974 debut album. The record came in two variants: a gold-plated edition in 500 units at $2,500 apiece, and a pure 24k gold edition in only 5 made-to-order units at $50,000 apiece. This item isn’t personally for me, and I understand KISS fans’ judgment about it. I look at it as a collectible fine art piece, primarily for fine art collectors, or MAYBE the ultimate KISS fan who wants to have it all. If I think about it objectively, however, I’m going to bet there are more fine art collectors in the world than there are disposable income KISS fans. The criticisms about this being purely a money-making venture with no fan service are wholly justifiable, and it’s annoying that KISS is not putting the fans first in this way. By the way, just to note, neither version has sold out yet.
This week it was announced that the live “official bootleg” Off The Soundboard album series would be returning with a recording from the 1985 Asylum tour, December 3 in San Antonio, Texas. A quick aside here, but how did the band have the creativity to write songs like ‘Detroit Rock City’ or attempt a concept album in 1981 with (Music From) The Elder and then turn around and give all of their new prospects the most generic fucking names I’ve ever heard, like “Off The Soundboard” or “End Of The Road” for their second final tour. This upcoming release marks the sixth Off The Soundboard installment, which has received mixed reviews already up to this point. The first two releases, Tokyo 2001 and Virginia Beach 2004, were among two of KISS’ weakest live albums to date, but they quickly picked themselves back up with Donnington 1996, Des Moines 1977, and Poughkeepsie 1984. While that last crop of shows were exciting releases to listen to, the artwork and packaging left a lot to be desired for fans, myself included. They all have the same plain brown-cardboard cover “art” with the KISS logo and badged “stamped” upon it with the show date, location, and band lineup. They’re meant to look like and old school primitive vinyl bootleg, which I understand conceptually, but it still was a miss for me personally. San Antonio 1985 will be the first Off The Soundboard release with a proper photographic front and back cover, which looks great, but of course there has to be a catch.
Up to this point, all of the Off The Soundboard albums have been released in three major domestic formats: CD, black vinyl, and colored vinyl usually exclusive to the KISS Online Shop. KISS album collectors appear to be a bit out of luck this time around, with this release only existing in a colored vinyl option that can only be purchased in a t-shirt bundle for $100. Here is the only upside, in my opinion: $100 for a colored 3LP boxed set and a t-shirt is not a bad deal in 2025, but that’s where my positive feelings end with this. It is an insult to the KISS Army to put out a new music release and then say “oh by the way, all you people who like to own all of our stuff, we’re gonna make you own more stuff that you don’t even want.” And I know I’m not alone in disappointment here, judging by the Instagram comments on the @ kissonline official post announcing the release. The lack of a standalone CD or black vinyl release is ridiculous, especially since it would be an opportunity for the band to make more money overall, which it always seems like they want to do.
Additionally, this will be the first Off The Soundboard release to feature Bruce Kulick, KISS’ lead guitarist from 1984 to 1996, and the second to feature Eric Carr, drummer from 1980 to 1991. This lineup of KISS is special to many fans, myself included, and is an integral part of the overarching KISStory. The photographs on the San Antonio 1985 album feature both Kulick and Carr, but on the coinciding merch they are nowhere to be found. There are a handful of designs being offered, all of which only feature Simmons and Stanley, which would be offensive enough to the band’s legacy, but it goes even deeper. One of the t-shirt designs features the original 1985 Asylum cover on the back with Kulick and Carr cropped out, an utterly confusing decision that continues with a set of trading cards also available that only feature Simmons and Stanley. Lastly, you can get a set of guitar picks that feature the four makeup icon silhouettes for some reason, designs that didn’t exist in 1985 nor were they on any merch of the time to my knowledge.
The KISS treatment of fans so far in 2025 has been pretty rough; while we have Ace Frehley and Gene Simmons solo tours to look forward to, Pophouse and UMG seem to only have plans to piss off the core fan base and try to get dirty money out of everyone else, a business strategy that doesn’t seem smart to me, but what do I know? KISS has written a lot of songs about love across their 20 studio albums (24 including the 1978 solo albums), with Paul Stanley asking in 1976 ‘Do You Love Me?,’ asserting in 1979 ‘I Was Made For Lovin’ You,’ pleading in 1982 ‘I Still Love You,’ and Gene Simmons saying it best in 1989, ‘Love’s A Slap In The Face.’ I get to bitch about the band because I love the band, it is crucial to be objective and critical about the things you love or else you become a mindless drone destined to drain your wallet on every poor decision your favorite entity makes. I am desperately holding out fora KISS win in 2025, and if it never happens, I still have plenty of great things to revisit until they get their shit together.
Justice for Bruce Kulick and Eric Carr.