From Ray Charles to The Who: Gene Simmons on his favourite rock and roll albums
According to Gene Simmons, rock music will be forever rendered obsolete unless musicians are ready and willing to reinvent themselves. His words appear a little more colourful than that, but the basic principle remains the same: “Rock is dead. The people that killed it are fans. How do you expect somebody who loves the guitar to come into this creative process? You’ve got to invent yourself. And so rock is dead.”
You don’t have to look very far to understand why Simmons has adopted such a cynical view of the landscape—aside from some overt criticisms about modern festivals; the musician has lived through some of the most industry-defining eras, revolutionising the road as he journeyed down it. While one particular rant showcases his soured, ‘they don’t make ’em like this anymore’ edge, some of his points are actually worthy of note.
Overt sexism about female audiences aside, Simmons pinpoints rock’s downfall to changing tastes and over-commercialism, which pave a sure path to the erasure of greatness. As he not-to-succinctly reflected during an interview with Louder: “Point to a new look. I played this game before and it bears noting, rock continues to be dead. From 1958 until 1988, you’ve got Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, the Rolling Stones and on and on. Motown.”
Continuing his train of thought, he went on: “You have the surf thing and the Beach Boys, the British invasion – hundreds of bands. The Hollies are hardly ever talked about, they’re a great band. Disco stuff, Madonna, Prince, Bowie, all that great stuff. You had the heavy bands Metallica and Iron Maiden, all that stuff in those 30 years. Eternal music and bands.”
Uttering a simple “rock is dead” will always underscore the thinking of many legacy musicians, including Simmons, but in his case, it’s easy to view his nostalgia as the ramblings of a man who genuinely adores the craft. For instance, as someone who only came across the concept of rock and roll after moving to America in the late 1950s, Simmons’ early exposure centred around two of the biggest names in the business—Chuck Berry and Little Richard.
Ray Charles also appeared in the mix somewhere along the way because Simmons once reflected on his love for Greatest Hits, describing ‘Hit the Road Jack’ as one of the best rock songs ever made. “It doesn’t have a bridge; it doesn’t have a chorus,” he said, adding, “It only has that riff that keeps going back over and over again, and on top of that is a haunting melody with a give-and-take in the background. It’s just classic.”
He enjoys James Brown’s Greatest Hits for a similar reason, though he admires how he built himself from the ground up, learning from others to create something entirely unique and revolutionary in a more timeless sense. For Simmons, the rock and roll originators are ones who stepped into the limelight with fearlessness, appearing from an uncertain path to one with even more riskiness.
On that note, this list wouldn’t feel complete without Simmons mentioning The Beatles, who the musician owes his humble beginnings to. “There is no way I’d be doing what I do now if it wasn’t for The Beatles,” he said, first experiencing their magic like a lot of other future players did: watching their coveted appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. However, his favourite pick by the Fab Four is The White Album, mainly because it showed a band struggling to operate a machine destined to fall apart.
“You’re seeing turmoil within perhaps the greatest band that ever existed that recorded its own music, where each member was a star,” he said, “You could hear and feel the disjointed sense of that album, although clearly the songs shined and the playing and the production was terrific.”
Of course, the natural progression from The Beatles is discovering and cherishing acts like Led Zeppelin and The Who, both of which Simmons holds dearly in his collection of rock classics. Singling out the former’s self-titled debut and the eternally excellent Tommy, Simmons enjoys the effortlessness with which each group played, making them impossible to replicate, even after intense desperation.
Clearly, Simmons appreciates the many finer aspects of rock and roll, namely when it appears organic in its prowess, and suggests its decline has something to do with great players being more sparse in today’s landscape. As he put it: “From 1988 until today, who is the new Beatles? BTS? There’s no denying BTS are world famous. But am I going to form a garage band to do those songs? No. I think they’re well-crafted and professional, but One Direction and NSYNC and all the boy bands don’t change the world.”
Gene Simmons’ favourite rock ‘n’ roll albums:
- Ray Charles – Greatest Hits
- The Beatles – The White Album
- Jeff Beck – Truth/Beck-Ola
- Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin
- James Brown – 20 All-Time Greatest Hits!
- The Who – Tommy
- KISS – Destroyer
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