do you consider KISS hard rock or heavy metal?

[skycladsusy]

I'd say they're more stadium rock.

That's hair band & glam rock.

trivial tidbit: Gene Simmons was born in Israel.

[ToneBender]

I'd say they're more stadium rock.

That's hair band & glam rock.

trivial tidbit: Gene Simmons was born in Israel.

Another tidbit: His wife was born in Newfoundland.

[fsjm2112]

Definitely hard rock. Their appearance might be more metal but the music itself sound more like hard rock.

[fsjm2112]

I'd say they're more stadium rock.

That's hair band & glam rock.

trivial tidbit: Gene Simmons was born in Israel.

I wouldn't consider KISS glam at all, they might sort of give a glam-ish appearance and performance. But I don't think they sound like it.

I agree with you. Some songs may fit the glam category"(can't name any, not the biggest fan...) but most fit the hard rock genre in my opinion.

[mikeisnude]

The harder metal gets the smaller the market.   I'm a huge fan of groups like Devil Driver, Lamb of God, Panterra etc and while they make it ok they are not filling huge venues with fans or selling millions of albums.

Gene Simmons and the rest of KiSS are if nothing else astute businessmen.   The whole costume thing was a marketing ploy dating back to the groups beginnings.  Their music has evolved over the decades to the market to enable that they consistently produce a product that sells albums and concert tickets while maintaining their musical roots.   The license their image to about every kind of merchandise you can think of.   I can't think of any band or group that has been as commercially successful at they are.

I don't love their music but I like it and that's saying something for a group that came in the scene over 40 years ago.

[cc71]

I'd say borderline metal. Alice Cooper would also straddle the borderline between rock and metal as well.

[RC199666]

Definitely hard rock. From a musician's perspective and who plays in both a metal band and a hard rock band, they are hard rock. They're considered metal by the mainstream audience but to me, the music isn't really hard enough. Don't get me wrong, they're still an amazing band with crossover hits both in the metal and hard rock scene but any band that goes disco doesn't meet the criteria for metal :p

Ryan

[joeyn]

Hair band, glam rock of the 70's & 80's. Lots of make-up, costumes & guys looking like girls. Not heavy metal.

Same here!

[fsjm2112]

They may have started out on the heavy metal side but got softer and softer in the 80's and 90's. Once they took off their black & white make-up, platform boots & studded black leather, they started wearing lipstick, eyeliner, rouse, teased hair high enough any southern girl would have been envious of. GLAM rock.

A heavy metal band would never be caught dead wearing pastels or bright, day-glo colors.  Watch the video for "Tears are falling". Sorry boys they evolved from heavy metal to hair band. Not saying they have bad music, I like them.

 Hair band pictures below, 2 bands for reference.

Not sure how I missed this post but that Poison picture.. Oh God..