Musical Style
They have been classed under the genre of "hard rock". Most of their '70s records, specifically from '74 to '77, is a blend of hard rock, rock n' roll, and the catchy melodies that characterized power pop. They also experimented in the disco (Dynasty), pop rock (Unmasked), symphonic rock/progressive rock (Music from "The Elder") styles. In the '80s, with the unmasking, they came as a glam metal act. Later, in the early '90s, their sound grew heavier, culminating with the grunge record (Carnival of Souls: The Final Sessions). Their last 3 albums, Psycho Circus, Sonic Boom, and Monster showed the band returning to their 70's hard rock roots with hints of modern sound and production.
Their music is described by Allmusic as "a commercially potent mix of anthemic, fist-pounding hard rock, driven by sleek hooks and ballads powered by loud guitars, cloying melodies, and sweeping strings. It was a sound that laid the groundwork for both arena rock and the pop-metal that dominated rock in the late '80s." Its first critical review described Kiss as "an American Black Sabbath" in Rolling Stone. "With twin guitars hammering out catchy mondo-distorto riffs and bass and drums amiably bringing up the rear," said RS of Hotter Than Hell, "Kiss spews forth a deceptively controlled type of thunderous hysteria, closely akin to the sound once popularized by the German Panzer tank division." At the same time, Bennington Banner from Rock Music magazine said, "with its members bizarre, Kabuki-like makeup, studded black leather costumes and arsenal of on-stage firepower – both musical and literal – Kiss represents the most extreme form of hard rock in 1974."
Read more about this topic: Kiss (band)
Famous quotes containing the words musical and/or style:
“Then, bringing me the joy we feel when wee see a work by our favorite painter which differs from any other that we know, or if we are led before a painting of which we have until then only seen a pencil sketch, if a musical piece heard only on the piano appears before us clothed in the colors of the orchestra, my grandfather called me the [hawthorn] hedge at Tansonville, saying, “You who are so fond of hawthorns, look at this pink thorn, isn’t it lovely?””
—Marcel Proust (1871–1922)
“Switzerland is a small, steep country, much more up and down than sideways, and is all stuck over with large brown hotels built on the cuckoo clock style of architecture.”
—Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961)