PAUL STANLEY On New Solo CD: 'The Last Thing I Wanted To Do Was Try To Re-Create The Past'

New Times recently conducted an interview with KISS guitarist/vocalist Paul Stanley about his upcoming solo album, "Live to Win". A few excerpts from the chat follow:

On the long wait between solo albums:

"I've always wanted to do this. But the problem is that some of the other people in the band wanna be off doing other things all the time and, you know, somebody's gotta mind the store."

"When the good ship KISS starts springing leaks, I'm not shy about saying that I'm the one in there bailing water. As much as I wanted to do a solo album and do other projects, I had to pick and choose because I felt a tremendous responsibility to make sure that the band was solid. Nobody can do what I can do. I sometimes feel [the responsibility] has gotta stay with me, quite honestly."

On stubbornly clinging to his vision for the new solo CD:

"I really wasn't interested in any feedback or opinions. This is my album. It was the antithesis of doing a group album — there was no thought for anybody else and no diluting anything for someone else. It was incredibly rewarding, because when you work on a group album, invariably what you're doing is you're writing for the group's weaknesses and strengths. You're looking to make the most out of what you have, whereas when you do a solo album, you become the director of a film and the casting agent, and you're calling all the shots, so it's a completely different experience."

On making a solo CD that doesn't sound much like a KISS album at all:

"The last thing I wanted to do was try to re-create the past. I wasn't gonna make 'Son of Strutter' or 'I Wanna Rock and Roll All Night and Party Every Day More', you know? I didn't want to carry the sword, cross, or banner for KISS. I didn't want to be the 'one-man KISS band,' and I could have done that. It would have been easy for me to go into the studio and make something that sounded exactly like a KISS album. That would have taken no time, but that wouldn't have satisfied me, and then the criticism would have been, 'It sounds just like a KISS album, what's the point?'

"At the same time, if you put out an album that doesn't sound like KISS, people say, 'I like the KISS stuff — why didn't he do that?' But I'm far beyond the idea of trying to please anyone except myself. I made an album that I liked. That was the bottom line. You gotta follow your heart, and if you succeed, great, and if you fail, you did it on your own terms. I love the album, I know a lot of people do too, and that's good enough for me."