Bruce Kulick has voiced his frustration about the media coverage of KISS Unplugged in a recent interview with Chaoszine.
“One thing that I always feel frustrated by was Eric Singer and myself with Gene and Paul and those performances [‘KISS Unplugged’] were extra amazing, but all the publicity and all the press was always about that Ace [Frehley] and Peter [Criss] came out,” Kulick stated.
“They’re like 20 % of the album, and I get the hype of it, but it’s not in relation to the musicianship or the songs or how many things we did that were just untouchable,” he continued. “So everything that was done with the six of us or them, those four was a way to set that up like, ‘Okay, so we’ll do ‘2000 Man’ with Ace,’ which is really cool, and ‘Beth’ with Peter, and then we’ll play together.”
“But the truth is the body of the concert that Eric and I did with them, I just think is amazing,” Kulick added. “And the fans know, but I know if you ever look at any of the publicity or the press, all it wants to talk about is the reunion. And that was my last big live gig with them. It’s kind of sad, of course.”
The KISS Unplugged performance represented a crucial turning point in the band’s evolution and lineup changes.
Ultimate Classic Rock documented Kulick’s twelve-year tenure as KISS’s lead guitarist. He joined in 1984 and contributed to several landmark albums, including ‘Asylum’ and ‘Revenge’ during the band’s unmasked era.
The 1995 MTV Unplugged performance made history by uniting the current lineup with original members on one stage. Blabbermouth reported that this appearance paved the way for the ‘Alive/Worldwide Tour’ in 1996. The tour proceeded without Kulick and drummer Eric Singer.
Ultimate Metal revealed that Kulick and Singer remained unaware of the upcoming reunion during the recording of ‘Carnival of Souls’ in 1995. They discovered the news only after completing most of the album.
KISS demonstrated their loyalty to their former guitarist by continuing his payment for a full year after the reunion tour began.
