Kiss, Buble Battle For No. 1 On Billboard 200
October 2009

Next week's Billboard 200 chart will either house a first-ever No. 1 album from iconic band Kiss, or pop singer Michael Buble may crash the group's rockin' party with his new set, "Crazy Love."

Industry sources suggest that Kiss' new Wal-Mart exclusive album, "Sonic Boom," may shift somewhere between 160,000 and 180,000 copies in its first week. If the set sells that much, it will also mark the group's best sales week since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking data in 1991.

Up against Kiss is Buble, who is releasing his new album on Oct. 9 to capitalize on his appearance that day on the "Oprah Winfrey Show." Buble's last set -- 2007's "Call Me Irresponsible" -- debuted at No. 2 (with 212,000 copies) before moving to No. 1 the following week.

It's hard to believe that Kiss has never reached the top in its long career. All told, the act has notched seven top 10 albums. Its highest charting set is 1998's "Psycho-Circus," which debuted and peaked at No. 3 with 110,000 copies in its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The group's other high-charting sets include 1975's "Alive!" (No. 9), 1977's "Love Gun" (No. 4) and 1992's "Revenge" (No. 6).



http://www.billboard.com/...0441.story

It's very different from Prince's release with consisted of three original albums, which is kind of crazy at that price!

Kiss knows that even as a Wal-Mart exclusive, an original album is dicey considering it is what they are known for. So yet again repackaging the live stuff is a big boost. Actually, Neil Diamond just released a two DVD set just like his "Hot August Night" (or whatever it was). Might have had a bonus CD as well, making it a total of three discs! Something like that.

Copycat said:

Low ass numbers! I mean, it's hard to compare AC/DC to Kiss, but consider what they did last year? Maybe it's just because Kiss isn't known for selling studio albums (I'm repeating myself).

lastdecember said:

Kiss don't own the MASTER RECORDINGS for their songs. They own their publishing etc but not the master recordings which is why they have re-recorded them.If you own your publishing and master recordings its easier to get synch fees for TV shows, movies and ads using the songs ...

VinnyM27 said:

Well KISS has never had that following that ACDC has had, i mean ACDC has one of the biggest selling albums of all time, KISS had their big years but they werent huge in terms of album sales, they will always get you a gold album, very very loyal following, very similar to Prince in that respect, but lets face it, only one band (STYX) had consecutive Multi-platnum albums (4) from 1976-1982. I think we tend to get lost in these numbers and forget that alot of these bands just had gold albums in their day, so pushing 60 years old or so, its not bad for Kiss to still be able to make people get out of their house and go buy a new record, plus the new recordings of the hits is really good.

lastdecember said:

That's why I was thinking it was an unfair comparison. But AC/DC's numbers were through the roof!

Knowing that Kiss doesn't own their masters is probably the reason that they they are constantly making live albums (pretty sure the last concert at Cobo in Detroit to commemorate "Alive" will be a DVD/CD).

VinnyM27 said:

I believe i have heard their masters are theirs now. Love his comments on downloading, i know that people disagree, but that is in fact what it is, whether you have done it or not, its that simple.

SPYZFAN1 said:

Thanks.....yeah, I get my facts mixed up a bit.

Wikipedia states that 1979-1983 was "Late make-up years and decline" period.
For me, the combination of Peter Criss leaving and the pop feel to Unmasked - which did not do that well in sales - was the end for me. Pretty much everything after that I laughed at. "Lick it Up" was cringe-worthy, etc.

I can't think of one song, other than 'Shandi" which I even remotely liked after Dynasty. I was in the KISS Army before that so this is coming from a real fan. They became nothing more than a novelty act after that. But nice to see they are still riding that wave, nearly 30 years later.

I will say that I enjoyed Gene Simmons solo record and a few of the tracks he wrote from Dynasty like "Charisma" and "X-ray Eyes". He is also somewhat of a marketing genius.
[Edited 10/9/09 11:27am]

Two classics from what was undeniably their best period:





I find it admirable that they've always had the same hair.

I agree japanrocks. I dug Gene's 78 solo LP too. And "Charisma" and "X-Ray Eyes" were cool songs too.


I have to say "Sonic Boom" is the best KISS CD I've heard in years. Ace's new CD "Anamoly" is great too.

SPYZFAN1 said:

Agree 100%
Look I'm a KISS fan from the 70's on and I've been with 'em even through the mostly forgetable 80's period. You know Asylum,Crazy Nights,Hot in the Shade.
I did though enjoy the 90's. Revenge and Psycho Circus. Anyway, Sonic Boom is really a great KISS album. It captures the essence and sometimes the sound of 70's KISS but with nods to other periods like Creature of The Night and Revenge. It sometimes sounds like a missing link from Rock and Roll All Night/Love Gun and Creatures/Revenge. It's a straight up rock and roll no bones KISS album. Period.
True fans will dig it. Fans who gave up may reconsider and rediscover why they liked KISS if the first place. If you never liked em before this probably won't change your mind.
Real KISS fans enjoy. This is fun stuff.

Copycat said:

Amen Bfunk!! Great post.

SPYZFAN1 said:

Thanks SPYZ.
In reference to the cover, I wasn't too crazy about it at first but it's cool now. Funny is Michael Dorat who did Rock and Roll Over cover did this as well.
And believe it or not actual product in hand looks and feels better. Hard to explain. Those who've bought it know what I mean. And this was no photoshop session. Dorat explains how he does his artwork on his website.
Regardless, the music rocks. Solid album through and through. And Gene's songs are really good!
Btw, Ace's album is also very good as SPYZ said.

Camped out in front of Hecht's to get tix for the

1979 Largo show

was my first concert ever at age 11

They blew me away and I could not hear for 24 hours after the show.

I also think I got a contact high from the marijuana smoke all around me.

KISS was real to me back then and I actually believed they were the Demon, Lover, Spaceman and Cat

care to share your KISS stories guys?

I have KISS buttons still on my backpack, as I recently found them (one of them has the guys without the make up on it). I used to buy those when I was a kid. Buttons / pins / etc. fan crap was a big deal in the 80s - unfortunately I just lost the Creatures of the Night one. I used to look at that album cover image and always wonder why the make-up of Peter Criss was wearing was so strange-looking - as a kid I could not understand that the band had gone through personnel changes (the new drummer had the "fox" make up instead).



But yeah, the names of the original members of KISS are etched into my mind like in the 60s the names of the members of The Beatles must have been etched to the kids of that time. I remember how in kindergarten I didn't want to draw the typical stuff that they made us draw - houses, cars, family members, jesus - it was always dragons, demons and the members of KISS for me (apparently they even reported about that to my mother). I still could probably draw Gene Simmons. It was also always traumatic for the boys from the non-English speaking countries to discover that the name of their favourite band was indeed "kiss". It's just four meaningless letters until somebody let's you know what it actually means when it's translated. In fact, some other kids used to tease the others about it.

I can't really be arsed to listen to those albums all the way through to be honest, for I don't think they are that good. Sometimes I watch stuff on youtube though. I'd say "Detroit Rock City" is my favourite track by them.
[Edited 10/10/09 8:17am]

... kiss 4ever .. ........ ....

^
Nice fingertips.
Man I don't ever remember KISS getting this much Org time. lol
Love Her All I Can is one of my faves.

dress to kill baby ...

"care to share your KISS stories"?

1st concert - Dynasty - Hampton Colisieum 1979...had nosebleed seats and needed 3 pairs of binoculars to see them. It was LOUD!. Being a fan of sci-fi, Star Wars, Marvel Comics and P-Funk, it was so easy to get wrapped up in KISS.

Still have all the 70's merch (Cards, posters, mags, books, LP's and the Meco action figures) packed away.

I remember waiting on Halloween night to watch the "Phantom" TV movie on the big screen color tv, to only get kicked out into my parents room to watch it on their no name, piece of crap, little b/w TV. They wanted to watch the 'Carol Burnett' show.

Been lucky to have met all of them for autographs, pictures, and even hung out with some of them. All of them (including Gene) were cool.

Like a lot of people, they were one of the bands that made me want to play music. And I got into rock music through them.

I too am a life long KISS fan (check my t-shirt on my avatar) and an article I wrote about KISS that's at the bottom of this post and all of my posts. Good to see this thread turn into a positive for KISS. I know my boy Spyz digs KISS too as we have that in common as bruthas growing up loving this band. It's because of Ace Frehley that I play right handed. Although I'm right handed, when I was little, I used to play my dad's guitars left hand handed for some reason. That was the only thing I did left handed. But because I loved KISS and Ace, because of Ace, I switched to playing right handed. Their new album is KLASSIC KISS and my boy's Ace's is great.

SPYZFAN1 said:

First KISS concert 1977 at the Forum, L.A. My mom took me! She's always liked some of KISS's songs too. She heard me playing KISS so much when I was little. I wore OUT the albums KISS Alive and Destroyer.
Favorite KISS song...This is a hard one because I have many but if someone was to put a pistol to my skull, I woulad have to say "Great Expectations". I have fucking ADORED that song my whole life. I used to play that song over and over and over when I was little. I would go around the house singing it, I would be singing it and humming that great riff on the chorus when I was outside playing...To this day, I still play this blasting in my car. I LOVE that song so much.
Favorite KISS album: This again is hard, very hard. But I have to go with "Rock and Roll Over". I love their debut and I also love Hotter Than Hell. Destroyer is a hella close second but I adore "Rock and Roll Over".

SPYZFAN1 said:

Alright SPYZ did we grow up together or something? Lol
Exact same story and situations as me. 1st concert 1979. Into marvel, sc-fi, Star Wars P-Funk.Wow. And Yes KISS made me want to play music as well. I never met them though. You got me there.
Agree also with BLACKG, good to see postive posts about KISS around here.

SPYZFAN1 said:

Yeah, I have met Gene a few times and Eric Singer a few times as well. The last time I met Gene, he told me that he saw me on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno at the KISS Reunion concert asking KISS related questions. That was cool. I have a guitar pic that Ace handed to me at a House of Blues show with a set by Robin Trower and a set with Ace. I went dressed as Peter 3 years in a row on Halloween Trick or Treating when I was a kid. Definately remember watching "Phanthom" when it aired and thinking that it took KISS too long before they appeared in the film. I have that on vhs and dvd. I remember seeing them on Paul Lynde's Halloween Special in 76. I also have that on dvd. As a kid in 77-78, my room was literally covered with KISS posters and KISS pictures. I still have many Circus and Creem mags from the 70's that had KISS on the cover. And I also still have both Marvel KISS comic books. I still have many of the posters and I have the tour books from The Love Gun tour as well as the Dynasty tour that I saw in 79. Again at The Forum. I saw Kiss on the Lick it Up Tour and on the Revenge tour in 92 at The Troubadour in Hollywood which was killin'. It was a club show and the place was super packed.
[Edited 10/10/09 15:37pm]

SPYZFAN1 said:

Yeah definately. I ran a thread on here a long time ago about the connection between Parliament and KISS. They shared the same wardrobe designer at Casablanca. Clinton was good friends with Gene and Paul. George is actually wearing a pair of Gene's boots in the promo clip of "Up For The Downstroke". George even took to sticking his tongue out which he did in many pics during this period. KISS was a huge influnce on Parliament visually. Their stage show on the P-Funk Earth tour had many of the same stage crew that had worked with KISS and George used many props and lights taken from KISS's previous tours. On the covers of Clones of Dr Funkenstein, George is dressed and posed like Paul. On Funkadelic's cover to "Tales of Kidd Funkadelic", the backside of the cover where the little black baby is transformed, he's dressed to emulate Gene. The comic book strips that used to come in the Parliament and Bottsy's albums, are all based from KISS comic books from Marvel.
[Edited 10/10/09 15:34pm]

fingertips said:

Dressed to Kill, my favorite Kiss album!

Love the pic with the borrowed suits


.

SPYZFAN1 said:I dug Gene's 78 solo LP too. And "Charisma" and "X-Ray Eyes" were cool songs too.[/quote]

Yeah, I remeber when all four were released at the same time in 78. That was a HUGE deal. I remember going to Tower Records and not being able to decide which one I wanted first. So I bought one myself and my mom bought me another. So I got Ace and Gene's first. A few days later, I heard one of my friends album of Paul's. I wasn't on fire about Paul's initially so the next one I got was Peter's. I just went ahead and bought Paul's so I could have all 4. My favorite out of the 4 is definately Ace's. "Ozone","Fractured Mirror", "Snow Blind" and "New York Groove" are all killin'. Gene's "Man of a Thousand Faces" and "See You In Your Dreams" is cool. Peter's "You Matter To Me" is cool too.
[Edited 10/10/09 18:52pm]

my one n only magical kiss night.. it really was insane fun

Solo Albums:
Yea, I think I bought Gene's myself and then asked for the rest for Christmas that year 78. Which I got amongst other variable KISS items.
My faves in order then were, Ace,Gene,Paul,Peter
Now, Gene, Paul, Ace, Peter.
They are all very cool in their own way. Depends on what vibe your in.
Gene's Always Near You/Nowhere To Hide into Man of A 1000 Faces has always been a personal favorite.

Bfunk..Yes we DID grow up together..(lol)..we just didn't know each other. Man do you rememeber when the solo LP's came out? That was insane! I have them all autographed and framed. Because of your post I pulled out the Ace and Gene CD's. Still holds up. "Burnin' Up With Fever" is sooooo funky in a odd way. The bass slaps at then end with Donna Summer singing kicked my ass as a kid.

And my Brutha B has always carried the torch for Klassic KISS. He and I have had so many conversations (posted and in private) about them. B you saw them at the Forum in 77???!!!?? Wow!! You were lucky. And your mom was so cool and hip to have taken you. I know that some (or most) of "ALIVE II" was recorded there.You actually witnessed 'KISStory'.(lol). You also saw the Singer/Kulick lineup at the Trubador?? Cool. I remember MTV's Headbanger's Ball did a special on that show. I used to have a vid bootleg concert of that show. They played great.

fingertips how was that show? I heard KISS blew Aerosmith (who I also love) off the stage.

I would have to say that my 2 faves are "Hotter Than Hell" and "R&ROver". I also dig the 2001 Box Set. And my solo LP faves are Ace, Paul, Gene and Peter.