I thought that was awful. I loved Ace as a kid. He was the reason I wanted to play guitar before any other guitar player. But I was influenced by the showmanship more than the musical content. Even though to this day I will still say that I love songs like Detroit Rock City and God of Thunder. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle aspect of their image passed a long time ago. I can only stomach very little of what I used to like in my childhood when it comes to Kiss. And Kiss was my first album and concert for me.

Watching that was painful to me. It's not really Ace or Peter playing. It looks and sounds silly in my opinion. It just reminds me that childhood heroes shouldn't be taken too seriously in my adult life. Nowadays, I kick myself in the ss for not being a bigger Bob Marley fan in my childhood. The messages and music were far more meaningful than Kiss will ever be. But I gotta give my props to Ace for being cool enough for me to have the dream of being a rock-star. I could pick apart his leads all day long NOW. But at 3-10 years old, he was the MAN to me.

Old and in a wheelchair woulda been better for me to see than the latest Letterman gig. Because Ace was the real guy that started it for me, not the impersonator.

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Two things...

1) Regarding Ace's lead guitar ... I agree with you that repalcing Ace is not a good fit for Clapton. Good thing -- I don' think Eric would dig the makeup and having to play that heavy Les Paul again. But it doesn't have to be Clapton or any one like him ... just someone capable of some quality hard rock fills and solos when you need them. A good example is someone like Craig Chaquico with Starship in the '70s/'80s -- he will never blow you away with style, technique, or speed, but he plays a nice fill or solo when you need it.

2) Regarding the songwriting ... Don't sell them short. You as a Kiss fan should get this more than any body. The reason Kiss has perservered so long is because they created a large body of very good songs. If it wasn't for all their great songs, they would have been only a footnote in musical history. To me when somone says how "simple" their music is, I ask them how many rock anthems and great songs that they wrote ... because Kiss wrote a boatload ...

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