During a recent interview with Syncin’ Stanley YouTube channel, former Megadeth guitarist Marty Friedman shared his views on KISS. According to him, the band owes Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer a lot for still being around in 2023.
Considering the golden era of KISS, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss were also prominent members who contributed to the band’s success, along with Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons. Later on, Criss was replaced by Eric Carr, who died in 1991. Later on, Eric Singer joined the band as the new drummer and has been playing with them since then. Thayer also filled in for Frehley as the guitarist of KISS.
Friedman shared that this new lineup, including Thayer and Singer, has kept KISS alive on the rock scene. He thinks people still care about KISS due to their achievements in their golden era. However, according to Friedman, Singer and Thayer put much effort into keeping the band’s performance at the same or at least close level.
The guitarist also believes that KISS wouldn’t be around today if it had kept its original members together. They were successful at the time due to the magic of the era. Marty sees it as something that disappears as it comes. Yet, he still doesn’t deny that KISS was such a powerful inspiration for him in the past.
Marty Friedman’s words on KISS:
“I have a very strong opinion about the first of these things. I think it is a definite fact that thanks to Tommy and Eric, and the absolutely stellar work that they do, KISS is still around in 2023. It’s absolutely a no-brainer that the golden era of KISS, at least in my opinion, is the reason why people still care about KISS now.
However, if the golden era members were to stay together, they probably wouldn’t have lasted past 1982 or something like that. It’s just a reality, and there is nothing wrong with it, but it is just the magic that was, of course, back then. Of course, that was magic. Everyone knows that, and as someone who has seen them in that era, and actually inspired me to such an extreme extent that I’m still playing rock now.
It’s a testament to just how influential they were at that time and so many of my friends and peers. It started from that golden era of KISS. Okay, that’s true, but magic is a magical thing, and it goes in and goes out. Paul and Gene know this more than anyone else does, but you can’t force things that aren’t happening.”
Of course, what Friedman argues is a firm opinion, as he is also aware. There is no doubt that Thayer and Singer contributed a lot to KISS with their dedication and remarkable instrumental skills. Yet, it is still very open to interpretation whether KISS is still around thanks to them.
