Bob Dylan

In the early 1980s, a strange hysteria swept over the US. The trend that is now dubbed The Satanic Panic saw vigilante parents turf up the grounds around a preschool in search of secret tunnels; in the end, they were just digging for dirt. But a large swathe of their paranoia was borne from the boom of heavy metal.

Judas Priest were then accused of inexplicably killing off their fanbase with coded messages urging suicide. And then Kiss’ Gene Simmons was suspected of having the tongue of a cow grafted in place of his own. Essentially, the only cause for this devilish meshuga was an increase in working hours. This resulted in parents spending less time with their children, and the guilt this induced manifested in a bizarre way amid the rise of the religious right.

However, Kiss didn’t just receive a barrage of abuse from worried guardians; a born-again Bob Dylan was at it, too. While performing at the University of Arizona, the audience grew tired of him purely singing songs praising Christ and began to demand a few hits. Dylan fumed and thought that the time had a-changed for the worse. He scathingly yelled: “If you want rock ‘n’ roll, you can go see Kiss and rock ‘n’ roll all the way down to the pit.” This was the start of his belief that Simmons and his satanic face-painted cohorts were on their way to hell, and their gimmicky rock sound was not to his taste either.

Pete Townshend

For Townshend, there was a stark difference between the showmanship of someone like Jimi Hendrix and the make-up and posturing of Kiss. Speaking to Hazy Rock in 2014, Townshend aired his gripe against the rock cats, ghouls and whatever else. He explained: “One thing that Kiss are absolutely, unquestionably not — in any sense, whatsoever — is European or English. They are straight out of Creem magazine meets Las Vegas. Or New Orleans, even. There is a bit of New Orleans in it, a very American kind of Mardi Gras thing.”

“They couldn’t have happened here,“ he added with a notable degree of pride. “They could maybe have happened in Berlin — in which case their music wouldn’t have been like their music. They would have looked like they looked. But they would have made a different kind of music. They’re a very American phenomenon.”

But finally, he made it very clear that he means a phenomenon in the destructive weather sense. He said: “The early years of Kiss were difficult because there was sort of a parody of rock inherent in what they were doing. Also, that business of wearing disguises. Not quite sure about it. You know, I think I’d have to do an academic study to try and work out what’s really going on there.” But he found it easier to conclude that they weren’t sincere rock in the same spiritual sense that he likes.

Carlos Santana

Santana’s musicianship has often been the subject of lofty praise. He has admirers in the form of BB King, Prince, Jerry Garcia and just about everyone in his native Panama. There has always been a sincerity to his art that he feels is lacking when it comes to Kiss and, most notably, Gene Simmons. “He’s not a musician, he’s an entertainer. Kiss is Las Vegas entertainment, so he wouldn’t know what music is anyway. That’s why he wears all that stuff,” he said.

Adding: “Simmons hides his talent beneath costumes and makeup. A musician doesn’t need the mask or the mascara. There’s a difference between an entertainer and a musician.” For a while, Simmons took this rare derision in his stride, commenting: “Not everyone likes the same meal.” But soon, he ditched the dietary analogy as Santana clearly etched further under his skin with further comments. “I’m sick and tired of these bands like Carlos Santana looking at his shoes and thinking that’s a rock concert. Get off the stage,” he soon remarked in retaliation.

And just to further contextualise Santana’s criticism, we’re talking about a man here who BB King called the nicest guy in music history.

Nikki Sixx

Nikki Sixx has always cited Kiss as a major inspiration. However, the rocker turned against the band after Simmons erroneously claimed that Prince’s dabbling in drugs was the cause of his death. “His recent heartless remarks shows why he’s not my hero anymore,“ Sixx commented. “I think that Gene is an overrated, lucky guy that dresses like a clown. He wrote some good songs, but hasn’t in a long time, and loves to brag about himself.”

He later admitted: ”I’ll just be honest with you. [When] I [was growing] up, I loved Kiss. They influenced me as a songwriter. Kiss gave Mötley Crüe one of their very first tours. They’ve done a lot of great stuff for me in my life. I’ve co-headlined tours with those guys, I’ve known ’em forever. Gene’s a very opinionated man, and so am I.”

However, he added that feuding was not becoming of them. ”I’ll be honest with you, I think we just kind of look like a bunch of old women fighting at this point,” he said.

Steven Tyler

When you’re wearing cat face paint, you set yourself up for questions about sincerity. However, you would imagine that a band like Aerosmith understand that not every band has been as solemn as ‘Blowin’ in the Wind’. Nevertheless, Steven Tyler figured that even when it came to the fun, unserious side of rock, Kiss were simply regurgitating platitudes.

“I sometimes get offended by their music I hear that and go ‘What’s this all about?’” the frontman said, “Do they really mean it?’ That’s why Aerosmith have been around forever. Because we take ourselves seriously.” He then took things a step further and called them a “comic book rock band (with) spackled faces and a couple of hits.”

They’ve had two top ten hits, to be exact. But Tyler’s criticism goes a little beyond that, with the singer once admitting, “One of our roadies got into a knife fight with their guys,” he said, “so I hated them ever since.”