The one guitarist Paul Stanley said bested Jeff Beck: “That’s something he couldn’t do”
Where would rock music be without the innovative minds of exemplary guitarists? Would bands like Kiss even exist?
Kiss are often criticised for lacking music integrity, and you can understand where these critiques come from, given that the band are basically a 101 in music marketing. Never has a rock group been more recognisable and easy to sell than the four men who looked like a combination of superheroes and aliens.
While the band itself attest that the reason they had such flamboyant stage shows and looks was because they felt it gave them identity and room for creative freedom, there are other artists who weren’t all that impressed with the band. For instance, Sex Pistols and Public Image punk pioneer John Lydon was never shy about his critique of the band, saying that behind the makeup, there wasn’t a whole lot going on.
“There’s a lot [of artists] that are selling you an image that’s false, deliberately fake, and deliberately commercial,” said Lydon when discussing the band. “I’ve met the Kiss lads. They’re all right. You know, [but] without the makeup, there ain’t much going on.”
This sentiment is echoed throughout music, as a lot of artists have often called the integrity of Kiss into question; however, such comments have always seemed somewhat unfair. Yes, you have the flamboyant approach to live performance, but the band’s musical output has always been pretty undeniable. Kiss has constantly pushed itself to release music that allows it to broaden their horizons and truly tap into different styles of sound.
Not to mention, the way that the band members talk about other musicians shows a deep understanding of rock. While Paul Stanley was the band’s rhythm guitarist, he had an innate connection with the art of lead guitar and understood how some great musicians were responsible for paving the way towards modern rock music. He was a huge fan of Jeff Beck because of his talent as a guitarist; however, he thought there was another musician who bested him both as a guitar-playing talent but also as a visionary.
“It’s interesting how Jimmy Page’s vision of what was possible was so much broader and wider. He understood the complexities and subtleties of producing and arranging and brought that to his band,” said Stanley. “As brilliant as Jeff Beck was, that’s something he couldn’t do, whether it was the limitations of the people he played with, which he himself has said he found frustrating, or just the fact that Jimmy Page consistently turned out to be a visionary.”
It’s true that Jimmy Page was both a creative visionary and was surrounded by exceptional musicians who could help bring his ideas to life, and after spending years working as a session musician, the Led Zeppelin guitarist perfected the art of multiple genres and wanted to create a sound where he brought them all together.
With a team like John Bonham, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones, he was in a good position to do exactly that. Meanwhile, Beck wasn’t afforded such a luxury, and as Paul Stanley notes, he needed to rely more on sheer talent to stand out in a crowded market. You could argue this makes him more tenacious than the Led Zeppelin lead, but Stanley didn’t opt to say as much.
“Beck had to use his phenomenal guitar talents to compensate for a lack of interesting or original material,” he concluded.
