I am so glad to see the Bruce lineups ranked so high! Bruce is my favorite Kiss guitarist. Love Eric Carr too. But.... you have to rank the original band as number 1. It was just magic.

7. Mark & Eric 6. Tommy & Eric (tribute band to themselves) 5. Ace & Eric (pretty good) 4. Vinnie & Eric (I really like Vinnie Vincent) 3 & 2 (tied). Bruce & Eric 1. Ace & Peter (ORIGINAL)

The worst lineup by far was the last one

Ace wasn't involved in the making of Creatures album so the Creatures line up was actually with VV already.

The thing that made Pete perfect for the early music was the fact he wasn’t a rock drummer. He was the Gene Krupa, big band/jazz school, and the way he swings on those tracks gives them a dirty, garage band vibe that the hitters like Carr and Singer just don’t have. I’ve always known the best way to tell if Pete is playing on later tracks is by the use of his high hats. A standard drum theme in music is high hats for verses, and pre choruses, and rides for choruses and bridges. Pete uses his high hats almost exclusively, using his ride as more cymbal like than bell like, which gives Anton fig away instantly on the later recordings. Peter Criss was also a fantastic vocalist. His only issue was, he couldn’t write songs. And once cocaine came into the picture, it derailed him, feeling somehow he didn’t get enough of the spotlight as a songwriter. Remember, back then, as now, songwriters get the biggest piece of royalty monies. So the incentive to be a major writer in the band fueled his jealousy for Gene and Paul.

Best: Original lineup Worst: Mark St. John Most interesting : Vinnie Vincent and Eric Carr Disappointing but it’s “business”: Current lineup --- Damn good post & channel sir🍻🍻

I’ve worked at a number companies and they all want to create high performance teams. Hey there’s lots of advice how to do it, but there’s no recipe with specific ingredients. The Original KISS lineup is pure gold. The right time, people and situation. When that happens grab hold of it because it won’t last.

1. 🥇Paul, Gene, Eric, Bruce 2. 🥈Paul, Gene, Peter, Ace 3. 🥉Paul, Gene, Eric, Ace Love these

The two best players left early, after that I don't care what Gene and Paul did.

Thank you, Steve. As a true KISS fan, I definitely agree with you. In my opinion, musicianship-wise and technique or technician-wise, the best line up is Paul Stanley (awesome musician), Gene Simmons (awesome musician), Bruce Kulick (best musician guitarist of KISS that’s humble), and Eric Carr (R.I.P.- in my opinion The Fox 🦊 was the heaviest KISS drummer 🥁 like Bonham of Led Zeppelin). However, I agree the best classic KISS line up is the original lineup: Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley, and Peter Criss. As a musician, Peter Criss is a jazz-influenced drummer. In fact, Gene Krupa (R.I.P.) was a member of the KISS Army. The greatest proof that the original line up of KISS is #1 🥊💖🥇 is the song “Love Her All I Can” off Dressed To Kill. Just listen to Ace Frehley’s phenomenal guitar 🎸 work. That musicianship chemistry of the original KISS line up cannot be touched! 🥊🥊🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾💖✝️

The best and most musically tight version of Kiss was with Eric Singer and Bruce Kulick. They were well-rehearsed and took the old Kiss catalog to a whole new level. Gene created a tight rhythm section with Eric, and Bruce's leads were a great combination of shred and melody. He know when to let loose and when to use some restraint.

I think you nailed the ranking order, I’ve been a KISS fan since the mid 70’s and would have come to the same conclusion. When it comes to Revenge vs Carnival of Souls, I actually think Carnival of Souls is the better of the two. On Bruce, he’s my favorite guitarist next to Ace. He is humble even though he’s incredibly talented and just a super nice guy. I had the pleasure of meeting him while he was still in the band and he was just the easiest guy to talk to and very generous with his time.

Nice video. I think you forgot about the line up Gene, Paul, Ace and Eric Singer. This was a short period timeline during the farewell tour around Japan. In my opinion it was an excellent one.

I've seen every lineup... more than once. KISS concert total 36 as of today. I have to say I would push Vinnie version up to #3. I know Dude is a whacko but he wrote Lick it Up and that did a lot for KISS. I 100% agree with every other placement you made... you'll never beat the original but that goes for most things. I am the guy the looking forward to the AI version. I mean Gene will fly without strings now! LOL! Great Video! But... I can sit and talk KISS all day... and NO I don't live in my parents basement. ROCK ON EVERYBODY!

Cool video. There were two other lineups that never recorded: 2001-Paul, Gene, Ace, Eric S; 2002-Paul, Gene, Peter, Tommy. I saw the 2001 lineup at Tokyo Dome in 2001. They really rocked. That was actually my last Kiss concert since I lost interest in the band after Ace departed for the second time. If they had brought Bruce back, I might’ve gone out and seen them again.

100% Steve. Great commentary. Saw 1 - classic. But for me, 2 live was exceptional. The energy was incredible, the movement on stage & the playing. Wonderful gigs. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Steve, my friend, just turning 60 this January, my Rock-N-Roll stage antic days are far behind me. I fall in the "almost made it" category as do most musicians who ever picked up an instrument. I did, however, do many things that I to this day am very proud of. Three days after my 21st birthday, I was on a plane out of Indiana and on my way to land at LAX in LA to be a Rockstar. I first picked up a guitar because I heard KISS Alive at a friend's house. Long story short, I not only played up and down the Sunset Strip in Hollywood and up and down the Vegas Strip in Las Vegas (because I ended up moving away from Hollywood to become a "big fish in a small pond" in Vegas and it was close enough to drive a Hollywood and play) and wound up opening for many of the bands that I used to watch on MTV and got to know a lot of them as close friends. I even got to not only meet but eventually work with my musical heroes, KISS! Just when we were getting serious label interest, the "grunge" scene hit and slammed the door on "good time party Rock-N-Roll music" and the clock ran out on my Rockstar dreams but I couldn't let go of my love of music so I became a professional audio engineer and worked in Vegas with everyone from KISS to James Brown, Mariah Carey to Prince, Motley Crue to Christina Aguilera, etc... you get the picture... Anyway, sorry that my comment was so winded, but I agree with your evaluation 100%! (Great minds think alike!) New sub here my friend! I look forward to binge watching your channel and seeing new content also! God bless and take care...

Great job, great list, great narrative. Well done sir.

I agree with you on #1 and #2

I was positivelly surprised to see the Bruce/Carr-Lineup so high! It's my favorite lineup and Crazy Nights is really one of their greatest (and most underrated) record!

I love Bruce years

Thanks for posting this. I remember asking you to make this video.

Agree 💯 per cent with U! The original lineup just worked the best!

agree 100%- except for monster... I'll the album- I do hear the similarities you mentioned though... Paul wrote those 4 songs you mentioned so the probably sound so similar because of that. Pretty interesting though. Great Job

Good vid But forgot the line up of Peter and Tommy from 03. Also Ace and Eric singer did a couple shows outside the US, but I wouldn’t really count it as a lineup

spot on

There is something critical about Peter you didn't mention. Peter was by far one of the better singers in the band. And absolutely a better singer then Eric or Eric.

Have to put the Vinnie line up ahead of the Thayer line up. Lick It Up is far better than anything they did with Thayer.

What a great video this is! Awesome! 8 - Gene, Paul, Tommy and Peter: I really hate this lineup, completely out of sense, completely... I don't know, it's just bad. The fact that we had Peter already in a state of playing incredible bad, also there's Tommy omg... 7- Gene, Paul, Ace and Eric Carr: They sounded great, spectacular, but I prefer other lineups. 6- Original Kiss: Without them, without Kiss, but I prefer other lineups. 5- Gene, Paul, Tommy and Eric: Sonic Boom it's a underrated album, they sounded spectacular live (till 2010, after that Paul's voice fell apart, and was over for me), I love the 2010 Rock am Ring concert. Say what you want, but I prefer listening to these guys than any show Kiss putted out on the terrible reunion tour. 4- Gene, Paul, Bruce and Carr: The band had such a great chemistry, even though I'm not a fan of the albums recorded by them, live it was a completely different story. 3 - Gene, Paul, Mark and Eric: I love Animalize, it's a shame that Mark got sick and was fired from the band, the Off the Soundboard even though it's interesting, sounds like a disrespectful thing, the guy was sick, never rehearsed with the band, he was waaay better than what the sounded there. 2- Gene, Paul, Bruce and Singer: The best live version of Kiss, everything was on point, everything sounded nasty and mean, watching any 90-95 Kiss concert it's a pleasure. 1- Gene, Paul, Vinnie and Eric: Same thing as the Revenge lineup, but better (for me of course), I love Vinnie's style, if you join a band what's the point of playing the same solo of the original guy, it's like Megadeth, I don't wanna listen to Tornado of Souls solo like on the record, I wanna see how the new guy's gonna play it (and I love Vinnie's solo career). This lineup was aggressive, dark, mean, evil, fast, was the Heavy Metal Kiss, and that's it! Did you made a ranking of guitarists of Kiss? (I bet I know your completely ranking lol) if you don't, would be great!

well, interestin' topic, Vinnie V. wrote some gr8 tunes with Kiss, so in my opinion the line-up with him should be higher. As a live act one cannot deny the powerhouse Tommy/Eric/Gene/Paul was.But of course I agree with you, the original line-up is nr.1, no question about it, because they created most of the classic songs, the personas, the stage act.

Agreed!!!

Vinnie and Eric Carr!!

I agree with that line up also.

Is that a Guild Songbird in the background? I had one of those. Nice.

Agree

The original ! They were by far the most successful !

as much magic as the original line up has, i still put it at 2, the bruce, eric carr lineup is 1000% my fave, the energy is un matched, and as much as i love revenge as an album,, those parts were written for eric carr

I would rank 'em like this: *#7* Tommy & Eric Singer *#6* Mark & Eric Carr *#5* Ace & Eric Carr *#4* Vinnie & Eric Carr *#3* Bruce & Eric Carr *#2* Bruce & Eric Singer *#1* Ace & Peter The original lineup is the greatest. No way around it. People can mock Kiss in any number of creative ways but _that_ band became the *BIGGEST* band in the world. No one can ever take that away from them. You tossed out the transitory lineups featuring Tommy and Eric playing with three original members, and I commend you for that. By 2001 the band was a full-fledged nostalgia act. Psycho Circus has its moments but it was all creative collapse after that. Probably why 11 years passed between studio albums. I understand putting the Mark St John lineup last as he wasn't really all that prolific a member. However, I put that incarnation above the final lineup because I enjoy Animalize more than Sonic Boom and Monster.

W Ranking I agree 100%

Gonna say Eric Carr,Peter Criss,Eric Singer

I enjoyed the video. Thank you for posting! I liked your lineup and respect all the reasons you gave too. And I agree that the original is hard to beat and the reason you gave for that is because of the good times, attitude, and era it all began in. Agreed 💯 But if you were to ask me who my favorite lineup is, it’s Paul, Gene, Singer, and Kulick. Their sound was just more raw in my opinion, like in Alive III, and I truly believe that Singer and Kulick are better, more talented musicians. I like Kulick’s riffs more as he added some variations in songs that gave a scream kind of sound, and I think Singer hits the drums harder and can play faster with more variation than Criss. He could sing better than Carr too. And I also think he can sing just as well if not better than Criss🤷🏻 I just saw them in concert this year and they’re still killing it. Singer sang Beth and you could tell there was no added background artificial made sound aiding his vocals. It was Awesome ❤

I like the ranking. Good point on #1. 70’ s kiss is awesome. Some 80’s albums are good.

Spot on !

i would say you are spot on

To honestly say who the best or worst KISS lineup was needs some context for 1) the best sounding live, 2) the best studio band, and 3) the most appealing lineup for the fans. 1)Does anyone remember the very brief lineup of Gene, Paul, Ace and Eric? To me that was the KISS sound of the 80s albeit I've only heard 'The Oath' from the early 80s show 'Fridays' with that version of the band playing live. Imagine if that band had toured? 2) In the studio KISS did their best work with the Gene, Paul, Eric and Bruce lineup. 3) Bottom-line is the original KISS will always be true KISS fans' favourites.

Have to agree 100% with your rankings.

Look at you!! 745 subs Steve!!!!!❤

100%! Bravo!

Spot on about the original 4 being the best lineup.

That was a good list man.

I actually completely agree with you on the list. The top two I think we’re interchangeable but yes the magic was undeniable. What you failed to mention though was that sonic boom was also quite a subpar album. I listen to it once and gave it away. The most talented lineup was number two.

You nailed it. 100%. I thought about whether Vinnie should be higher than Ace w/ Eric bc they barely did anything together, but I sawVinnie live with Kiss & the Invasion & it was a train wreck both times. With the original lineup, the song was always more important than the player, which makes it #1 in my book.

Great video.

I was completely unaware of Paul's mj rants 😅

OEM # 1 CAN NEVER BE MATCHED, PURE MAGIC!

The original stuff was very good. The 4 did create magic. But I also loved creatures. It was a breath of fresh air after Elder.

Eric Carr was such a talent!

Partially agree

6:40 - I'd include the Who (1964-78) on that list...

Okay, gene & paul were in every lineup so just listing the lead guitar/ drummer combos. I’m not counting the random one offs but am including the touring lineups. There were nine that I know of. Let me know if I missed any. 1. Ace & Peter 2. Bruce & Eric Carr 3. Bruce & Eric Singer 4. Ace & Eric Carr 5. Vinnie & Eric Carr 6. Mark & Eric Carr 7. Tommy & Eric Singer 8. Ace & Eric Singer 9. Tommy & Peter Saw them in 2004 when Peter briefly rejoined the group. Ace left in 2002 so Tommy was on guitar. Probably the strangest lineup. Just seemed to lack the chemistry and excitement of the other lineups.

I agree to a large degree. I would perhaps have ranked Ace+Carr a bit higher, based on the Unmasked Tour. The live recordings from that one rock.

Agreed.

I would argue they didn't replace Ace with studio musicians quite a bit--more like "a few times." He wasn't on creatures at all nor did he want to- that was when he was quitting. I can only really think of the studio songs on Killers, Alive 2, Sweet pain and a couple solos on unmasked that Paul did

Although Psycho Circus is not one of the great albums, Kevin Valentine did a terrific job on drums….

I do agree with you great job 👏 👍🙏

I 100% agree with you!

Fawken eh. You got the number one right on. I loved Kiss growing up, but now just like Paul Stanley (in a Gay Voice says, Kiss is Piss. They turned into assholes. Im so glad I got to see them in Ottawa in the 90s with the original line up. Wow, a dream come true. But it was all downhill. But after that, I began to dislike them more and more as the years went. Today I can't stand em. Ace is rocking out with his music today. 10,000 volts is awesome. Just like his solo album when they were together, his was by far the best one. He still kicks their asses. Fawken eh ACE!!! Kiss is Piss.

You cant give Ace credit for Creatures... I'd consider that Vinnie era.

Least favorite lineup for me Gene, Paul, Eric S. and Tommy Thayer,second favorite is Gene, Paul,Eric C. and Bruce Kulick(I can't count Vinnie Vincent and Mark St. John because their time in the band was short lived) of course my number one favorite lineup Gene, Paul,Peter and Ace.

I agree

I think you nailed it man.

Good thing you had the original lineup as best.

As a huge fan or Carr/Kulick era, I agree with this. C/K may be my personal favourite, but the original is the original.

Peter was a great drummer back in the 70s

00:56 He/Mark actually did a tour with them. Although he almost never played live. At one point Bruce and Mark were on stage for half a show each, and as far as i know he only did 1 full show with them in Poughkeepsie 1984. It's up on KZfaq and Spotify, etc. So listen to it if you haven't already. My guess is that if you have a hard time with Vinnie you're gonna have a real hard time with Mark. I'd put the last lineup last on the list. Thayer is the only Kiss member out of everybody that doesn't have his own style, and i can't go for that. Lastly you forgot two lineups. 2001-2002 Kiss was Eric, Ace, Paul and Gene. And 2003 Kiss was Peter, Tommy, Gene and Paul. They even released Kiss Alive IV together. Nice video. Always fun with a chart.

For me, anything with Peter Criss after 1978 was compromised. The two Erics really brought the energy and groove up. The guitar players (lead) were all good.

Spot on

nice ill agree with this list and i will say rain and jungle were memorable on Carnival of Souls

Eric Singer couldn't hold Peter's drumsticks!!! Peter Criss had a great jungle rhythm and jazz filled riffs and unique style and voice was by far the best in Kiss ever!!! Original lineup is the only one that truly matters!!!

The elder album is awesome in my opinion

Ive seen kiss a dozen times, first time was in '82 at Cobo Hall in Detroit. The Plasmatics opened up and Wendy O was wild as hell. But Kiss felt off even then, and i was 12. I kept going to concerts and was disturbed by all the "final" tours. I went to 3 final tours before i gave up. They went from looking like superheroes to old men in drag. Last time i went was around 2014, and they were not rhe same band.

Well I see these opinionated rankings with things to do with the band (albums, album covers, songs, solo albums, etc etc) and I go meh, who cares. Yet I watched this and imo you nailed it. Exactly my order. You said why and what you felt, backed it up. And importantly you said that despite not the best technical musicians, it just worked. Ppl comparing Ace and Tommy. Ppl hating on Ace for his addictions and hating on Tommy for being a copy. Ultimately it’s the band. Totally agree. Eric and Tommy are polished but there is no feel. It’s a job. Peter and Ace (along with Gene and Paul) had passion and desire to create something amazing and that they did. It showed every night on stage. Incredible. E & T never experienced that and in reality turned up for work with something missing. That was the drive to be successful. Not their fault but it showed. The list is the same as mine. CNs gets panned and I love it despite being a fan from DTK. Great vid. Thank you.

Simmons Stanley Frehley Criss: #1 line-up of all time

honestly. im a huge Thayer fan. hes done some great things for KISS, but i understand he wasnt always allowed to be Tommy Thayer. i feel like he had so much potential for the lineup and couldve done so much better if he had a little more creative freedom.

I love the original line up but the Bruce Kulick and Eric Carr line up are a close second for me.

Also. You missed the lineup of Gene, Paul, Ace and Eric Singer and the lineup with Tommy and Peter

Their Favorite Album Was In Australia with Peter Tommy Thayer Paul And Gene.

I agree that the opening of “All for the Love of Rock & Roll” sounds like the opening of “Mr. Speed”, but the opening to “Hell or Hallelujah” sounds nothing like the opening to “I Stole Your Love”. At least that’s my opinion… As far as your list, flip 1 and 2. Maybe I say that because Simmons-Stanley-Carr-Kulick was the lineup I first heard and got into, but I still think they were the best lineup - with the Simmons-Stanley-Frehley-Carr lineup leaving one to wonder what could have been had it held together. Worst? That’s easy. THE AVATARS. By the looks of things, the avatar “lineup” is strictly Simmons-Stanley-Singer-Thayer. Someone feel free to correct me if I’m wrong, but it almost seems like they’re erasing Criss, Frehley, Carr and Kulick altogether. Not involving St. John (who wasn’t there that long), or especially Vincent (who’d likely file lawsuit #1,000,000 if they DID include his makeup character) is one thing. But leaving out the originals and the two that really got the band through the 80s? Give me a break!

You forgot Gen Paul Ace and Eric and Gene Paul Tommy and Peter but other than that this video was awesome nice work

love you bro

Top is AcE , Gene , Paul , Eric all though we never seen a lot like with Peter . Least would be Paul , Gene , mark , Eric due to not Knowing how it turned out .

I'm sure many fans have voiced their opinion to you on this one. The only shining moment from Tommy Thayer, for me, is Modern Day Delilah off of Sonic Boom. Most spontaneous playing and the solo absolutely kicks well.. you know what. Looking back now this lineup only did two albums? I wish Eric Singer and Tommy would keep the band going with Paul's son, Evan, on vocals. I know it is wishful thinking and will never happen but Id love to see Gene Simmons proved wrong.

I think with Vinnie they were the heaviest band ever....due of Vinnie problems of actitud we couldn't enjoyed em more......I agree about crazy nites my fav album.

I loved why you had the original band as number one. As an old front man for a number of metal bands in the 80's....a lot of times ( and the same is true in athletics ) the WHOLE is greater than the sum of it's parts. I played with some technically great musicians...many of whom were ( I lived in the Greater Cincinnati area at the time ) the VERY best in the Tri - State area....but the CHEMISTRY wasn't there...and you KNOW when you have that chemistry...just because you have the 4 or 5 best musicians playing together...doesn't mean you're gonna be the best band !

1974-1979

The original line up no doubt seen them 5 times destroyer.love gun.and reunion.

I have no idea where you get "cheesy" from...

Mark St. John didn’t even play the whole album

There was 2 other line-ups Paul gene Ace Eric Singer Paul gene peter Tommy Thayer

I agree with most of your opinions here. The first KISS album is killer, and unique. I also agree with you, that Crazy Nights is a great album. But I know most KISS fans rank it as one of their weakest efforts. Apart from the debut, and a few songs here and there, I like the 80's KISS best.