Gene Simmons

America’s “Glamour Girl”

Drenched in Blog: Kisslature

The Blog of Lists: 20 Teetotaling Musicians other than Ian Mackaye

Tonight: The Melvins and Big Business at Warehouse Live

Everyband

Though KISS is calling it quits, its legacy is only just beginning

King Diamond

Early recruiter of headbangers

Second Banana Blues

Scott Kannberg shows the world how to win fans and lose friends

Classic Rock Corner: The Greatest Band Logos of All Time, Part 2

An early example of rock art... We're back to reveal the best of the best, the cream of the crop, the cappo di tutti cappi of classic-rock band logos evah! And when we say "greatest," we look for a combination of things including memorability, longevity, graphic design, influence and appearances. ... More >>

Aftermath: Scott Weiland at Warehouse Live

Photos by Mark C. Austin There has to be an unspoken rule from now on that solo albums from the lead singers of big rock bands should be studio-only affairs. These are meant to fulfill record-company contracts, and should never be passed off as an extra insight into the artistic machinations of ... More >>

Press Picks

Photos by Mark C. Austin There has to be an unspoken rule from now on that solo albums from the lead singers of big rock bands should be studio-only affairs. These are meant to fulfill record-company contracts, and should never be passed off as an extra insight into the artistic machinations of ... More >>

Notes from the Front

Vamping down memory lane with members of the Kiss Army

Rotation

Vamping down memory lane with members of the Kiss Army

Tribute Bands Struggle for Respect

Talking to local fakers Dressed to KISS, Black Dog, Lights Out, Bad Motor Scooter, Toology and Brian's Johnson

Impossibly Passable

Talking to local fakers Dressed to KISS, Black Dog, Lights Out, Bad Motor Scooter, Toology and Brian's Johnson

Image of the Week

Baby giraffe

Vampires of Moscow

Baby giraffe

The Abattoir

Goring another of music's sacred cows

Rotation

The Jayhawks -- The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

Listen In

KISS - The Suspects - Gestapo Pussy Ranch

KISS Off

Detroit Rock City wallows through teens and concert tickets

Touring with Sleepytime Gorilla Museum

Get on the bus, it's a family affair.

Labor Pains

With Extract, Mike Judge goes back to work.

I Wanna Be Your Dog (Or Cat): Thanksgiving Edition

We all know the story of the first Thanksgiving -- the Penguins traveling to the New World in the rickety Mayday; Squinty the Indian teaching the clueless newcomers how to grow potatoes (the Penguins had left Ireland because of a famine); George Washington marrying Pocahantas on Plymouth Mount.These ... More >>

KISS Off

The makeup-clad rockers may be hilarious, but they're hardly metal.

The Great Unmasking and Other Embarrassing Moments in KISS History

​ The Knights In Satan's Service are back, and they'll be rocking the Toyota Center Saturday night as ably as a couple of 50-somethings lumbering around on platform boots can reasonably be expected to. There will be blood, as Paul Thomas Anderson might say, and flames, and a couple of guys in "Spa ... More >>

Pop Rocks: The King Is Dead

​Last Friday -- January 8 -- marked what would have been the 75th birthday of Elvis Presley. The milestone was dutifully noted on most national new broadcasts and publications, tastefully hitting the high points of the King's life without dwelling overmuch on this drug- addled final years. ... More >>

Edgeplay... The Other Runaways Movie; Ex-Inbred Whiteboy In Dallas Film Fest

​The Runaways biopic opens in Houston today, which you already know because you read Hollywood Shuffle religiously and are sick of hearing us talk about it. We swear this is the last of it. But before the new film was even a spark in some glimmery vampire-loving actress' eye, ex-Runaways bass play ... More >>

Pop Rocks: Ten Musicians I Want to Have Sex With Less Than Lady Gaga

​I understand Lady Gaga's declaration of celibacy last month was something of a big deal, if only because most of us have a hard time believing everyone in the music business isn't vigorously fellating each other on those off days when they're not sacrificing puppies to Clear Channel or auto-tunin ... More >>

KISS Brings "Hottest Show On Earth" (Duh) To Woodlands

Jay Lee​ KISS returns to Houston for the second time in less than a year September 17. This time the monstrously monolithic classic-rockers will be gracing the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion for a tour they are calling the "Hottest Show on Earth." A local on-sale date will no doubt be announced s ... More >>

Glee: Sir, You're No Vinnie Vincent

​Apparently you've forgotten our deal, Glee: I won't goof on the fact that you keep hitching yourself to trendy musical topics and awkwardly using old Top 40 sings to teach that week's life lesson, and you won't mess with any of my favorite bands. This time, it's personal. More on that later. ... More >>

Glee: You're No Vinnie Vincent

​Apparently you've forgotten our deal, Glee: I won't goof on the fact that you keep hitching yourself to trendy musical topics and awkwardly using old Top 40 sings to teach that week's life lesson, and you won't mess with any of my favorite bands. This time, it's personal. More on that later. ... More >>

"Metal, Dude!": Ten Juicy Quotes From The Ultimate Metal Movie

​With hair-metal legends(?) Ratt playing Warehouse Live this evening, Rocks Off decided we'd take a look back at the definitive document of that era of metal in Los Angeles: Penelope Spheeris' rockumentary The Decline Of Western Civilization II: The Metal Years. Ratt isn't featured in the fi ... More >>

Lady Gaga's Imaginary Penis: Music's Best Sex Urban Legend Ever?

Marco Torres​Well, milady has come and gone, leaving in her wake a trail of Christ's blood and broken hearts. And a lot of people who couldn't get into the show having to make do with Kesha. Rocks Off was not among the anointed allowed to cover the concert, and we couldn't buy our way in becau ... More >>

KISS Goes Boom

Guitarist goes from fan to fame.

Cage Match: KISS Vs. Fiskadoro

​Ladies and gentlemen, tomorrow night a battle for your musical soul will be waged in our fair city. In this corner, wearing make-up, black leather, and underpants made of your money, the knights in Satan's service, KISS! And in this corner, weighing in at 600 lbs, the masters of the jungle c ... More >>

KISS Merchandise The Band Hasn't Thought Of... Yet

owensworld.com​KISS pulls back into Houston Friday night for a show over at Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, less than a year after their last Bayou City stop at the Toyota Center. We aren't really sure if this show will be much different than the one we saw in December, save for this time yo ... More >>

Friday Night: KISS At The Woodlands

Photos by Groovehouse​KISS Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion September 17, 2010 For more photos from the show, see our slideshow here. There are those who say that KISS is dying. Fans have heard this before. ​Even before WWII, fathers sternly told their children that comic-book superher ... More >>

FAIL: Gene Simmons, Steve Albini, INXS, Danzig (Not)

Photo illustrations by John Seaborn Gray​Gene Simmons Is Donald Trump In Makeup: Fails has never been a big KISS fan, but we can't imagine watching Gene Simmons' behavior makes being one any easier. If you're a die-hard KISS fan, watching his douchey whoring and cutthroat CEO tactics must be d ... More >>

The Ten Most Spectacular Cyber Attacks of 2010

According to 4chan, Tea Party folks think cocaine is a helluva drug.​As the internet becomes a primary source for everything from news and entertainment to commerce and business, it makes sense that groups and hackers would be busier than ever. Websites are far more vulnerable to attack than, ... More >>

Last Night: KISS At RodeoHouston

Photos by Groovehouse​KISS Reliant Stadium March 15, 2011 We'll drive you wild with our photos from last night's show. In Tom Snyder's 1979 interview with the original members of KISS, only two of which remain, he asked bassist Gene Simmons, "What would happen if you went out on stage for a ... More >>

Solo Albums: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

​Tomorrow night, former Audioslave lead singer and (thankfully) current Soundgarden member Chris Cornell will be at House of Blues for a long-sold-out acoustic show. Recent set lists have included a number of Temple of the Dog songs, some solo work, the usual 'Garden and 'Slave tracks, plus a ... More >>

Top Five Most Overpaid Musicians In The World

​Last month Forbes released their list of the 25 highest-earning musicians of 2010, and the list contains several talents Rocks Off is happy to see keeping the lights on. No. 1 on the list, U2, is still a favorite of ours after all these years, and it's always good to see Tom Petty, Jay-Z, and ... More >>

Pop Rocks: Gene Simmons Is A Lucky Man -- Our Six Favorite Shannon Tweed VHS Covers (NSFW)

​On behalf of all of us here at Art Attack, I'd like to congratulate Gene Simmons and Shannon Tweed on the joyous occasion of their marriage. The pair lived together, "happily unmarried," for 28 years before finally deciding to take the plunge. I have no idea what prompted them to tie the kno ... More >>

All Eyez On Me: Rating The Best/Worst Rock & Rap Sex Tapes (NSFW)

​This week, we found out that a sex tape featuring Tupac Shakur exists, made in 1991 just five years before his fatal shooting in Las Vegas. Shakur's estate is the only entity that can release an item with the late rapper's likeness involved, and his mother Afeni Shakur is unlikely to allow a ... More >>

Texas Big Beat Drums for Charity This Sunday

Photo by groovehouseDrummers young and old.​Five years ago, drummer Donna Fisher noticed that Seattle had been doing a charity drum gathering each year called Woodstick, and it sparked an idea. "They got over 400 drummers and I thought, 'Oh my gosh, we have to do that in Houston,'" she told Ro ... More >>

Awesomeness and Hearing Loss at the 2011 Texas BigBeat

How do a crapload of drums sound when playing in unison in an airplane hangar? Pretty freaking awesome. ​In the Cameron Crowe-directed documentary Pearl Jam Twenty, lead singer Eddie Vedder discusses the detrimental impact of the band's Spinal Tap-like replacement of drummers, equating each ch ... More >>

Ace Frehley's Wild Rocket Ride

No Regrets by Ace Frehley with Joe Layden and John Ostrosky 320 pp., $26, Gallery Books ​Even by standards of '70s hard rock excess, original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley was out of this world. In this breezy, buzzy, and debauched memoir, The Spaceman takes readers on a rocket ride through his ... More >>

10 Rock Stars the GOP Should Nominate for President

Now, we're talking!​As the 2012 presidential race begins to heat up in earnest, Rocks Off can't help but feel that the front-runners for the Republican nomination are lacking a certain je ne sais quoi. Call it star power. Call it sex appeal. Whatever it is, these guys ain't got it. If the G ... More >>

The Adicts

Now, we're talking!​As the 2012 presidential race begins to heat up in earnest, Rocks Off can't help but feel that the front-runners for the Republican nomination are lacking a certain je ne sais quoi. Call it star power. Call it sex appeal. Whatever it is, these guys ain't got it. If the G ... More >>