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Kiss: Behind the Mask: The Official Authorized Biography

By: David Leaf Ken Sharp
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Warner Books
ISBN: 0446695246
ISBN-13: 9780446695244
Released: 30 Jun 2005
RRP: £11.40
Average Rating:

Customer Reviews

Best KISS book to date - By: Lincman, 01 Sep 2008
Having read & watched so many KISS books & Video's over the years I was not gonna buy this one as hearing about Wicked Lester (yadayadayada) & hearing Gene & Pauls version only for the 100th time didnt appeal BUT.........I gave in & got it & am glad I did!
This book reallly gives you & insight into the albums - the song by song commentary by alll involved is fantastic. Ace, Peter, Vinnie, Mark, Bruce alll get a look in..and Paul & Gene reallly give a true & authentic view.
I reallly felt it gave a true feel for the personalities involved - how any of them played with Peter Criss is beyond me(sorry Catman fans)......
A must for alll KISS Army fan & periherals - it reallly is a great read.
The Best KISS Book I Have Read - By: Crazy Seahorse, 12 Apr 2007
I bought this book because it came up on one of those recommendations for you pages. I have been a fan of KISS for nearly 3 decades & there was a lot in this book that I didn't know. The book is written by two authors, one a life long fan & the other who became a fan by being commissioned to write a biography when the band were at a more successful, but not reallly happier stage in their careers. The first section of the book is this biography from 1979 & the second & third parts are written by Ken Sharp & is an amazing collection of interviews & comments organised on an album by album basis. There is a smalll potted history of the period in between the 1979 & the publishing of the book, but it is there for completeness only & is suitably brief.

The book gives a great insight into the thinking behind the KISS machine, what they were trying to achieve with the band, how their on stage personas were a development of childhood interests, why they released so many albums in such a short space of time, why it alll went wrong at the end of the seventies. It's not laid on a plate for you, but it's alll there in the form of quotes from the time, & on top of that it is remarkably candid & this honesty makes it a compelling read. I simply couldn't put it down until I had finished it.

Summary: This is a great book if you are a KISS fan as it gives a real insight into what went into one of America's most successful heavy rock bands. If you are a fan of music in general this book will probably get you closer to understanding what happens in the month to month management of a band & how decisions are made than any other. A fascinating read.
Stellar - By: The Owl, 26 Jun 2006
An excellent read.
Despite being a human repository (yes, repository) for KISS trivia, I found myself on numerous occasions saying "wow, I never knew that!" or "that's incredible".
Contains some excellent invective - see Gene on Peter's solo album - comments that would make a cat (though no doubt not The Cat) laugh.
Hands down the best "KISStory" book so far - By: C. Ons, 22 Jul 2004
*****
Awesome book - if you like the band & want to show 'em that you DO buy KISS stuff when it's value for money, everybody should get this now & make the book a huge success. Period. Then maybe they'll consider releasing the stuff the fans have been asking for years, like audiovisuals of the 70s shows & a real collection of ALL the outtakes & rarities, & not that half-assed boxed set they did. Especiallly when it comes to "vintage" KISS, the fans want cool stuff like this book, not the crap they've been throwing at us for years.

about the book :

I'm surprised this is actuallly an authorized release, as for the first time with an authorized KISS book, I get the feeling that most of what's in here is actuallly true & a good representation of facts, & not the usual "revisionist" KISStory we always seem to get from Gene & Paul, where they'd either blow things out of proportion, put it in the wong perspective, leave out information or just tell plain lies about the band's past. If you've been following this band for a while & read about them (I've been a fan since the late '70s) you'll undoubtedly know what I mean - & you'll be pleasantly surprised with the angle of this book -not to mention the sheer amount of great content it offers.

The first part of the book is an authorized KISS biography written by David Leaf in 1979 but, obviously, never released. Probably won't tell you that many new things if you know your KISS facts, but still, it's good. It's also much better & more comprehensive than two other books I own which deal with that era of the band, namely "KISS (of death)" by Robert Duncan (Savoy, 1978) & "KISS-The Real Story" (authorized biography, 1980). So this is roughly the first 100 pages in the book, & I guess it's a good & entertainging read, for any KISS fan.

The next section in the book is a bit of a mixed bag at first. There's a (thank God brief) overview of the post-70s & non-makeup years, & post-reunion (1996) interviews. That's a little over 20 pages of far less intersting reading (to me anyways). Then, still in section two, it gets a lot better again with the "Speaking In Tongues" section, which is roughly 60 pages in the form of interesting quotes & snippets from interviews, not just with Paul/Peter/Ace/Gene but also road managers, creative consultants, other artists that toured with them, etc... It deals with the early KISS days mostly, & is a reallly, reallly *great* read ! Most fans know the outline of the band's history in the early '70s, but this book reallly shows you how the band was made in the early days, who was behind it (not just Bill Aucoin & Neil Bogart - this book will tell you a lot about what people like Sean Delaney & Joyce Bogart & the rest of the KISS crew contributed to their success - which is a LOT). There's numerous details about the pre-KISS bands (not just Wicked Lester), the '73 demos, the early KISS albums/tours, etc... Remember, it's alll great QUOTES AND STORIES from the people who were there (including the band of course) & not just a bunch of chronological dates & figures or facts from one single perspective (which is one of the reasons why the book "KISS & Sell" by C. Lendt is good, but not great). So in that respect, "KISS - Behind the mask" has the goods AND delivers. Even if you consider yourself a KISS Konnoiseur you'll definitely find out a few things you didn't know, & read some quotes that are new to you. So thumbs up for that part of the book.

But believe it or not, this book keeps getting better - actuallly, the best part is saved for last, in the monstrously big third section of the book, entitled "Shout It Out Loud" by Ken Sharp, you get a chronolgicallly listed series of quotes about alll albums & songs KISS ever did. The quotes aren't just from the band (either their opinion of the material in question, how it came about /was recorded) but also from the producers, engineers, management, & so on. This section reveals a lot of details & interesting info, especiallly about the often obscured 1970's(to what extent were Alive! & Alive II touched up, just to name something). Great stuff.

Also, scattered throughout the book are some nice B/W photographs including some rare shots, & there's a 16-page glossy, full-color section in the middle. While these pages are okay, consider them a bonus - it's the written content & the stories where "KISS-Behind the mask" reallly shines. You won't put this down once you start reading.

I'd give this five stars because as it stands now, it's THE book (on the band's history) that you just CANNOT afford to miss. Sure, if you're a real fan, you should own titles like "KISS & Sell", "Black Diamond" - not to mention the wonderful photo books like "The Early Years" & "The KISS Years" as well - but when it comes to telling the story of this amazing band from as many possible angles & with some reallly great & insightful stories / quotes, "KISS - behind the mask" simply can't be beat - & with over 400 pages of high quality content & so much ground covered, it will be a hard act to follow ...
Kudos to the writers for putting out an authorized KISS product that is actuallly COOL & gives you some BANG FOR THE BUCK.

Two better than one - By: Aj Viljoen, 05 Mar 2004
Two different authors, each one writing about his own area of expertise. Good theory, very successful in practice.

This is a good book. Well written, never boring, easy (sometimes fascinating) reading, well presented. What more can I say? Oh yes: some nice photographs too.

I love reading about rock musicians. Many books are heavily biased or just boring. Many books don't have much content & are ripoffs. This is not true of Behind the mask. It is somehow obvious that the book has been well researched. There is no repetition, double spacing or huge type. The layout is logical. To me, the book was a good purchase. If you are remotely interested in KISS, or their music, you won't regret buying this book as it delivers the goods. Definetely value for money.