Nothin’ To Lose The Making of KISS Book Review: KISStory at its Best

I love a good read and what’s better than reading something about one of your favourite bands? Well this year in August, KISS released their newest book that tells the story about how they rose to superstardom. I just had to buy it, and once I started reading it, I couldn’t put it down. It is written by Ken Sharp along with Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley. I finished reading this masterpiece last week and now I’ll tell you what I think.

KISS being one of my favourite rock bands in the world, this was a must read for me. The story was told in very well detail from all the interviews conducted with the band members, crew members, family & friends and even other legendary musicians. If you’re a die hard KISS fan like me whether you’ve been around as long as they have or you’re new to the KISS Army then this is a book for you. If you want to know how it all began then you have to read this. All I can say is if you read this and didn’t like it, it’s your loss because the story of KISS’s pathway to success is all about determination told from the perspective of many including Gene Simmons & Paul Stanley and even some parts with former members Ace Frehley and Peter Criss (who will forever be missed even though there are too many people on this planet that refuse to grasp the fact that they’re not returning to the band). Speaking of which I don’t think any shit was thrown at them in this book to be honest, they just started to have problems and well that’s just life.

Some moments that I read in this book I have to admit were unexpected. It was no surprise that Gene mentions a girlfriend he had back then, who knows how many girlfriends he had. The stories about some of the accidents the band went through was pretty tense like Ace in a car accident, Gene’s hair catching fire, Paul getting hit in the eye, etc.

The story ended right after their release of Alive! and their theme Rock and Roll All Nite. At first I was expecting there to be going on to Destroyer but I guess not. If there was a sequel that is where they should leave off.

Anyway, there were lots of tense moments in this book and even some funny parts. I really enjoyed reading about KISS’s early club shows, how they put together their show, and some of their first big shows like in Cadillac High.

This book was well-written in a unique way and KISS holds a place in my heart forever, totally worth the read of nearly 500 pages long. As Alice Cooper said: Read this book or KISS off!

-Emily