According to Paul Stanley, composing new KISS music is not something he is interested in doing because it “never competes with the past.”
Because new music won’t have that “connection to important times in your life,” Stanley stated on the Howie Mandel Does Stuff podcast that he and his KISS bandmates won’t be releasing a follow-up to 2012’s “Monster” anytime soon.
He responded when questioned if the group was working on any new music:
“No. Because at this point, I came to the conclusion that it can never compete with the past. Not because it’s not as good, but it hasn’t the connection to important times in your life.
“It doesn’t have that patina to it of, ‘Gee, I remember I heard this song when I was 18,’ or, ‘I heard this song when I was on my first date or whatever.’ You can’t compete with that. It’s more than a song; it’s a snapshot of your life at a certain point.
“We did two albums in the last, I think probably 10 years, and there are songs on those that are every bit as good as anything I’ve ever written, but they’re new.
“Somebody says, ‘Why don’t you do a new album?’ You do a new album and do a song — we have one song, ‘Modern Day Delilah’, which is as good as ‘Love Gun’ or any of these songs, but it hasn’t aged; it’s not like wine that has a chance to have grown in importance. Not just because of what it is, but because what it’s surrounded by.”
Stanley continued by stating that he believed writing new music would be “setting myself up for disappointment.”
He added:
“Not crushing disappointment, but when you put your heart and soul into doing something and it kind of gets a polite nod, there’s other things I’d rather do.”
KISS didn’t release a new album until 2009, which was Sonic Boom, in reaction to the underwhelming reception of their Psycho Circus record from the previous year. Monster, the group’s most recent and perhaps final studio album, was released in 2012.
Before hanging up their famous costumes, the group revealed in 2018 that they will go on one more, huge tour. Simmons said that they were going to retire out of “self-respect” and “love” for their fans.
Watch the full podcast below: