Why does kiss have such a bad reputation?

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From what little bits I have heard of their music, I honestly kind of like it....

SO, I don't get why they were so like hated in the past...cause as far as I can tell is maybe for their time they were a bit to edgy or something...but seems like some peoples hate of them goes deeper than that. And I guess a ton of people were pissed when the realeased an album with some more disco style songs.

But well I am baised because I like disco music, but apparently it offended and upset a lot of people that they dared make an album with songs in that style. So yeah I guess as a millenial liking most kiss songs I've heard I don't get why there was controversy about them as they seem pretty mellow compared to a lot of metal I listen to.

But well I am a bit an audiophile, lol...so i probably spend more time thinking about music and how it sounds than most people. The weird part though is I cannot make music...but I am still obsessed with it but I cannot play an instrument so I just have to settle for listening.

bad rep...a lot had to do with Jean Simmons.

When I was in middle school and high school they were extremely popular, but like a lot of bands that had a very mainstream success they were seen by some as unsophisticated and even a bit cheesy (especially their makeup and outfits), so eventually people turned against them because they themselves didn't want to be seen as unsophisticated.

They certainly had some catchy tunes and they rocked. For me personally, I couldn't get past the outfits and the attitude. I also didn't find what they sang about relatable, and honestly I do find them somewhat cheesy.

But yes, there's also Gene Simmons's right-wing political views and general unpleasantness.

Two of the original members were Jewish so in some people's view they may be seen as a Jewish band, which in today's world could be a negative. Same for the Ramones, but they aren't around any more.

Last edited by MaxE on 04 Mar 2024, 7:15 am, edited 1 time in total.

It's because of Gene Simmons who was also the most well-behaved member of the band. He never drank or did drugs yet some of the more straight-laced people saw him as a bad influence because of things he did with his tongue. Certain people also didn't like their makeup and their clothes. I think it's ridiculous that people took offense to them. A lot of bands put makeup on and wore strange costumes in the 70s.

Where to even begin...

For starters Kiss have always been one of the most transparently commercial rock acts to ever exist. This rubbed a lot of rock fans the wrong way when Kiss first started to gain attention. Compounding this, they were a band that had a lot more appeal to younger fans in that era, meaning it was easy for older, more elitist rock fans to dismiss them. They were the cringy, costumed, wanna be superhero band someone's kid brother and all his friends listened to. They were a band that marketed themselves through merchandise (comics, action figures) older rock fans considered themselves to have outgrown, when that sort of commercialization was seen as the opposite of the "authenticity" rock bands were supposed to have. They were the archetypal sellout band and weren't even ashamed of it.

The personalities and behaviour of the various members over the years probably helps contribute as well. There's constant drama between various members and ex-members, meaning a lot has been written about negative aspects of every individual associated with the band, and often the most well known members do little to dispel those impressions. A former manager (Bill Aucoin) used a contest to meet the band to engage in sex crimes against a minor. That's one of many sex trafficking tales associated with the band. And that's just some of the stuff that they'll openly admit to.

Knights
In
Satan's
Service



'Nuff said?

I have heard the occasional song of theirs and they don't seem too bad, in my opinion. At least as far as their sound goes.

Let's be real, Gene Simmons was a real life Ron Jeremy
https://guitar.com/news/music-news/gene ... -steroids/

A large percentage of those were probably underaged. Elvis and the Beatles also liked them young, So too did Epstein.

Most of their songs have badly written - really terrible! - lyrics. Like "You say you wanna go for a spin/The party's just begun, we'll let you in/You drive us wild, we'll drive you crazy/You keep on shoutin', you keep on shoutin'/I wanna rock and roll all night and party every day". It's not exactly Bob Dylan.

I was in college during the height of their popularity, they were more ignored for the "juvenile" reasons you stated than hated. Disco was hated. They were one of many rock acts that disco/disco-influenced songs. With maybe the exception of the Grateful Dead whose fans were too stoned to notice, they all received hate mail. Most survived but some like the Bee Gees had their career destroyed for a decade.

For today they fit every negative stereotype about baby boomers imaginable hedonistic, hypocritical, transphobes, pedo song, staying around too long etc.

I don't think I used the word hated, just dismissed. Growing up I heard my dad say Kiss sucks plenty, if they were somehow relevant. Not with any sort of emotional investment in the sentiment, just like it was the appropriate slogan to recite.

He would have been at the end of high school when they were at their peak. I didn't really get the attitude until I was towards the end of high school and encountered Slipknot and never really could take them seriously.

I klearly understand now.

I really like them. When I was in high-school in the later 90s a lot of my classmates disliked Kiss due to my classmates considering Kiss to be glam rock. A lot of my classmates thought glam rock was gay & labeled gram rockers as being transgendered &/or homosexuals

My classmates were snobs about music in general for example Green Day & Blink 182 were hated because they were not real punk & Metallica was awesome till they released their Load album & then they majorly s#cked. I however liked all that music. I thought the old Metallica was really good but I also really liked their Load & Reload albums. I really like Green Day & Blink 182 but I also really like old-skewl punk bands like The Rammones, Social Distortion, & Bad Religion.

Their song Christine Sixteen comes to my mind. I kinda doubt that's the main reason people tend to dislike Kiss. A bit of the people I've known who hated Kiss were big Ted Nugent fans & Nugent did a song called Jailbait