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PAUL STANLEY Pays Tribute To Legend JIMMY PAGE


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PAUL STANLEY Pays Tribute To LED ZEPPELIN Guitar Legend JIMMY PAGE

The December 2007 issue of Classic Rock magazine features the story "Rock's Sonic Architect" in which a number of musicians pay tribute to LED ZEPPELIN guitarist Jimmy Page, the man who many believe shaped the very sound of rock music.

In the article, KISS guitarist/vocalist Paul Stanley had the following to say regarding Page's influential guitar-playing style:

"What was interesting about the guitar players in THE YARDBIRDS is how they all took their love of the blues and took it in different directions, particularly when you listen to Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page, who seemed less purist and more adventurous. It's interesting to note that both THE JEFF BECK GROUP, which he formed after his stint in THE YARDBIRDS, and LED ZEPPELIN came about at virtually the same time. LED ZEPPELIN's first show as LED ZEPPELIN was October of 1968, and they were rehearsing before that. The Jeff Beck ['Truth'] album came out in August '68. So both, in a sense, were incubating at the same time.

"It's interesting to see how much broader and wider Jimmy Page's vision was of what was possible. Jimmy understood the complexities and subtleties of producing and arranging and brought that to his band. As brilliant as Jeff Beck was, that's something he couldn't do, whether it was the limitations of the people he played with, which he himself has said he found frustrating, or just the fact that consistently Jimmy Page turned out to be a visionary. Jeff Beck had to use his phenomenal guitar talents to try and compensate for a lack of interesting or original material.

"The great thing about somebody like Jimmy Page is he brought a lot of influences and flavors to the pot. He was able to realize that for something to be heavy didn't mean that it had to be crude; that part of what makes something heavy was the depth and the ontricacy or the lightness. Here's a guy who knew Celtic music, rockabilly, American folk and international music forms, besides the obvious admiration for Robert Johnson and everyone who followed in his footsteps. They [ZEPPELIN] were all fans of Sandy Denny and FAIRPORT CONVENTION. He understood that for something to be truly bombastic, it had to have depth, and depth doesn't come from cranking up an amplifier.

"The idea of being able to paint sonically, to paint with light and dark and to see things cinematically, almost so that your canvas is large and your color choices — you're not afraid to use the whole palette. That's what makes those songs so dramatic. If 'How Many More Times?' was just one guitar cranked, it wouldn't have anywhere near the drama that it has. To a listener sho doesn't really understand what they're listening to, that's what it might sound like. But in fact it's so much more. And that becomes evident when you hear somebody trying to emulate it by just taking a guitar ande cranking it up through an amplifier."

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Thanks for the quote Pagemeister! :beer:

KISS was what turned my 8 year-old mind onto rock so many years ago. Zeppelin followed quickly thereafter and I was forever altered. :lol:

I do agree with Matt about Simmons. The conversations I've had with Paul Stanley were always pleasant. He never rushed to end them and always was engaging and affable. He's a really cool, nice guy. No heirs about him. He's a fan just like us. Peter Criss, Tommy Thayer, Shannon Tweed, Nick Simmons, Paul's wife Erin, and Peter's wife Gigi were all very nice when we spoke as well. Simmons was every time an arrogant, aloof prick who avoided any encounter with "the fans that make KISS what it is" at all cost. He's the ultimate hypocrite. :rolleyes:

Edited by Evster2012
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I am die hard fan of Simmons and Stanley so I just think it is great to hear one of their points of views. I certainly consider them far more intelligent than most human beings and have nothing but the deepest respect for them for that.

I have no respect for Kiss or their opinions. Led Zeppelin combined their intelligence to elevate rock music to new heights in talent, creativity, musicianship, songwriting and intensity.

Kiss used theirs to dumb-down rock music and turn it into a cheap, disposable product of questionable artistic value.

To put Paul Stanley in the same sentence as Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page is like throwing Lyndsay Lohan along with Joni Mitchell and Janis Joplin.

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I have no respect for Kiss or their opinions. Led Zeppelin combined their intelligence to elevate rock music to new heights in talent, creativity, musicianship, songwriting and intensity.

Kiss used theirs to dumb-down rock music and turn it into a cheap, disposable product of questionable artistic value.

To put Paul Stanley in the same sentence as Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page is like throwing Lyndsay Lohan along with Joni Mitchell and Janis Joplin.

I'm sorry friends, but I have to agree here with grandmeaulne. I know there are a lot huge Kiss fans out there but I just never have liked them. One word comes to mind when I think of Kiss.... Ewwww.

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"Questionable artistic value?" This nonsense comes from the whole myth of "credibility." I call it a myth because all that matters is the sound coming out of the speakers. Kiss's first few albums were full of exciting, catchy hard rock (a lot of it more complex than the material on Zeppelin's first two albums, if that's your criteria); "artistic value" in music is a bit of a self-defeating term, because everyone has different tastes, and what's not good to you might be fantastic to someone else.

At the risk of sounding like I'm attacking you, which isn't my intention at all, I'd like to hear the reference points by which you're able to listen to music and discern what "artistic decisions" its writing has involved. In other words, let's hear some of your songs, please. I'm curious about what you'd consider "answered artistic value."

Take it with a nudge and a wink, not a scowl. Again, tastes differ, and I only get a bit vexed when someone attempts to apply pretentious terms that are extraneous to the actual sound of the music -- implying that those whose tastes are different enjoy "less artistic value," whatever the hell that implies in something visceral like music! :P

Edited by Chris.
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"Questionable artistic value?" This nonsense comes from the whole myth of "credibility." I call it a myth because all that matters is the sound coming out of the speakers. Kiss's first few albums were full of exciting, catchy hard rock (a lot of it more complex than the material on Zeppelin's first two albums, if that's your criteria); "artistic value" in music is a bit of a self-defeating term, because everyone has different tastes, and what's not good to you might be fantastic to someone else.

Well, you're a Kiss fan, and you feel attacked in your tastes, that's fine with me. I own a few Kiss albums (Alive, Alive 2, Destroyer etc) and I even enjoyed them live in the good old days. But I would never put them into the same league as Led Zeppelin, that's all. As far as I'm concerned, Kiss never broke any grounds musically, no matter how good they may have been.

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I wouldn't really call myself a die-hard Kiss fan...I don't much care for anything they recorded after 1979. I haven't taken offense; I just can't help but argue with weird terms about "value" when music is music. (Also, it's fun debating such things for some reason. Maybe it's just a slow day at work...)

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I don't understand why all the negitive responses directed towards Kiss.

Many of the previous posts have nothing to do with the original post,which personally

I thought was nothing but complimentary towards Jimmy.

Even though Paul made some nice comments, the poor guy is still associated with the biggest joke in rock & roll history. So it was bound to come out somewhere.

I enjoyed his thoughts on Zep personally.

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I don't understand why all the negitive responses directed towards Kiss.

Many of the previous posts have nothing to do with the original post,which personally

I thought was nothing but complimentary towards Jimmy.

You're right, speaking for myself.. my comment was a comment on someone else's comment which was a comment that didn't say anything positive about the first comment. I still don't like Kiss, but you're right, I probably didn't need to say it. sorry Paul Stanley and Kiss lovers.

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At least they didn't steal anything from Jake Holmes, Pentangle, Spirit, Willie Dixon, Bukka White, Robert Johnson, Bert Jansch, Eddie Cochran, Muddy Waters.....

(I'm a bigger Zep fan than Kiss fan, but claiming that a band who wrote their own songs and worked hard to build their reputation -- whether one likes their music or not -- as "the biggest joke in rock & roll history" when we're surrounded by Disney-fied mannequins and unoriginal, musically bereft products of American Idol-type travesties is ludicrous. Not to mention all that derivative, hippy-dippy shit that continued to breed during the '70s alongside Kiss and Zeppelin.)

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I don't understand why all the negitive responses directed towards Kiss.

Many of the previous posts have nothing to do with the original post,which personally

I thought was nothing but complimentary towards Jimmy.

Yes, he was very nice to Jimmy and Zep. But while Kiss did make some great entertainment for which they obviouysly worked very hard, their musical legacy doesn't compare to Zeppelin's. My biggest problem with Stanley is how he and Simmons marketed their music to the point where the music itself is lost deep under the hype. Or worse, it was adapted to match the marketing of derivative products.

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I don't understand why all the negitive responses directed towards Kiss.

Many of the previous posts have nothing to do with the original post,which personally

I thought was nothing but complimentary towards Jimmy.

It seems to be a trend on this forum whenever another musician says something nice about Led Zeppelin.

The thread on Dave Grohl's love of Zep is a prime example.

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I liked Kiss and the main reason I guess is because they are the total opposite of Led Zepplin musically speaking as well as being cool people, I don't understand people who don't like Gene Simmons I think he is hilarious and I don't think he really takes himself as serious as the people on here seem to.

RjK

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I liked Kiss and the main reason I guess is because they are the total opposite of Led Zepplin musically speaking as well as being cool people, I don't understand people who don't like Gene Simmons I think he is hilarious and I don't think he really takes himself as serious as the people on here seem to.

RjK

Have you seen his tongue? :P like I said, Ewwwww.

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Again, no knock directly intended towards Paul on my behalf. But Kiss was a marketing venture, not a creative force. As far as them writing their own songs? I believe their producer Bob Ezrin penned most of the "hits". If I'm mistaken then I apologize.

Pure schlock n' roll.

But if that's what some people dig, that's cool too.

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I've already said it was cool that Paul had some good things to say about Jimmy and Zep, so that's that. But on the subject and Kiss' artistic merit, it's important to remember that Gene Simmons himself is quite upfront about the fact that he doesn't care about the music, he wants to make as much money as possible, and brand as much merch for his fans to buy as possible. That's where their "questionable artistic integrity comes in". Here are some quotes from Simmons, and this is just from ONE INTERVIEW:

And now in the '90s and the 2000 era, we've got over 2,500 licenses: There's a KISS Broadway play on the way with Rob Roth, who directed Beauty and the Beast, a KISS cartoon show with the people who do Transformers and Beast Wars. In other words, there are KISS comic books in the works. Superman meets KISS. That's going to be the kickoff of the new Superman, uh, rather, the new KISS comic books series. So we're going everywhere. I can be on the cover of Playboy magazine, and I can sell comic books and bubble gum to younger fans. And it's all good. And instead of being in a rock and roll band -- who the hell wants to do that? I don't -- I want to be in a rock and roll brand. I want to be Disney without the overhead. And I'm on the way.

when asked about his makeup pattern on his face: A banker's pattern. When you look at it, it says, "Boy that guy's got a lot of money."

I will contend, and you try to disprove it, that the most important thing as we know it on this planet, in this plane, is, in fact, money. But getting to the money part, money is the single most important thing on the planet, including the notion that uh, love gives you everything. That's a lot of hogwash.

I believe in my heart that anyone who gets up there and says what they're doing is art is on crack, and is delusional, and that in point of fact, what they really ... their modus operandi initially -- perhaps it changed when they started to question their sexuality, but clearly, initially -- it was to get laid and make lots of money. And anybody who tells you otherwise is lying to you.

And my favorite obnoxious, money-grubbing, completely devoid of any artistic integrity quote: No one -- and that includes the Beatles and Elvis -- can touch our (KISS') merchandising and licensing. Nobody. Outside of the music world, it's only Disney and Lucas. But in the music world, they can't shine our shoes.

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I believe in my heart that anyone who gets up there and says what they're doing is art is on crack, and is delusional, and that in point of fact, what they really ... their modus operandi initially -- perhaps it changed when they started to question their sexuality, but clearly, initially -- it was to get laid and make lots of money. And anybody who tells you otherwise is lying to you.

The majority of people who become artists and musicians will barely make enough to make ends meet. Success stories are extremely rare. Such comments from Gene Simmons should be seen as an insult to every artistic creator in the world. And I doubt Jimmy would appreciate that someone of Gene's stature would say someting so derogatory towards other musicians.

It reminds me of a similar comment made by Neil Schon of Journey, when asked about a similar marketing approach to his music, and his answer was, "who cares, I'm laughing all the way to the bank..."

I'm not sure we'd have kept our devotion the Zeppelin intact if Jimmy or Robert behaved in such a way during the past 30 years.

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