Bryan Adams is one of my all-time favorite artists and songwriters and his unique brand of pop, rock and ballads a major influence on my music.

Memories

I first became aware of Bryan Adams with “Cuts Like a Knife” and his co-writes on KISS’ “Creatures of the Night”.  Then “Reckless” came out in 1984 and became one of the biggest albums of the 80s.

At one of my first bands (in France, around 1985-87), every rehearsal would start with a “warm up” which consisted of playing most tracks on “Reckless”, particularly “Kids Wanna Rock”, “It’s Only Love”, “Summer of 69”, etc.  That album was the model and inspiration for the kind of music I wanted to make at the time. 

At another band (in Austin, TX, 1989-90), I insisted that we include one Bryan Adams song in the repertoire – and we chose “Run to You”...

What is left to write about KISS that hasn’t been written before?...  I have grouped the KISS discography (minus some of the later-day compilations) into the 6 “musical phases of KISS” – as I see them, this is an entirely subjective and personal grouping – and for each album, listed and rated my personal favorite tracks:

• Classics in the making (1974-75)
• The hottest band in the world (1976-78)
• Exploring new sounds (1978-82)
• 80s Metal and Unmasked (1982-97)
• The second coming (1995-2008)
• Twenty-First Century Kiss (2009-Present)

I finish off with my recommendations for newbies and a video playlist from the KISS VEVO channel…

I’ve loved KISS since before I was a teenager.  I was first attracted by their outrageous look and soon became a fan of the music.

The cool, tough kids at school would draw the KISS logo on their denims, wear the t-shirts and buttons...   I would soon draw the logo and the four distinctive make up designs everywhere and on every page of my school exercise books; every wall in my room was covered with posters of Love Gun/Alive II-era Gene, Paul, Ace and Peter.  The inside cover of Alive II was the pinnacle of wow!  They were the coolest band and I was hooked on the image and mythology even before I became a fan of the music…

 
KISS Alive II inside cover