Gene Simmons Admits KISS Didn’t Have A Clue About What They Were Doing In The 80s

KISS bassist Gene Simmons spoke to Jeremy White and opened up about some of their iconic works from the 80s. The bassist admitted that they didn’t know what they were doing back then.

KISS released their thirteenth studio album ‘Asylum’ on September 16, 1985; the record was seen as a milestone work for glam metal. The success was followed by ‘Crazy Nights’ and ‘Hot in the Shade,’ which brought new approaches to the genre with their unique sounds and productions.

After Simmons drew attention to Def Leppard’s use of a note at a time while producing ‘Hysteria,’ the host stated that KISS’ ‘Hot in the Shade’ and ‘Asylum’ also had that cannonball snare sound and reverb. This comment made Simmons reveal something about their mindset back then.

The KISS bassist said they didn’t know that these albums would become groundbreaking works for the glam metal and the whole rock music industry. Simmons emphasized that they didn’t have any clue about it, and they only wanted to create different things in a pop-oriented world.

Here’s what the host said:

“If you listen to a record like ‘Hot in the Shade’ or ‘Asylum,’ it has got some of that the late 80s cannonball snare sound and reverb, super process kind of tone.“

Simmons stated in his interview that:

“We didn’t know what we were doing. We didn’t have a clue. We didn’t even pay attention because, at that time, pop was very popular, like ‘My girlfriend left me, I’m going to kill myself.’ Lies, of course. We didn’t have a clue. We just didn’t like what everybody else was doing.”

You can watch the video below.