PAUL STANLEY Says 'It Will Take Some Time' Before KISS's 'Sonic Boom' And 'Monster' Albums Are Considered 'Classics'

KISS co-founder Paul Stanley recently spoke with Matt Bahan of the Peoria, Illinois radio station 105.7 The X Rocks. The full conversation can be streamed below. A few excerpts follow (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On finding the time to write his new book "Backstage Pass":

Paul: "It takes a lot of discipline, but it also takes a lot of passion. Obviously, you have to be passionate to get everything done, but I only believe in doing things one way, and that's the right way. I'm proud of what I do, and when I wrote 'Face The Music', my first book, it really chronicled my life as a member of the band and beyond that. People were telling me that it resonated with them and it was raw and honest and told about difficulties I had and issues I had... it was a philosophy of take no prisoners — just work, work, work and you'll succeed or get lucky. The harder you work, the luckier you get. That resonated with people, and people would come to me and say that they found themselves identifying with me in the book, so I thought, 'Let me write a book that is a self-improvement book, a self-help book,' [but] only in the sense that nobody can improve you or help you except you. Rather than me saying, 'If I were you, here's how I would do things,' the book really is about, 'Here's how I did things, and here are examples of things I dealt with and am dealing with.' It seems to connect with people. I want people to know how much we're similar, rather than thinking that people you look to are perfect. I'll tell you — from this guy's mouth, I'm far from perfect, and I've probably got most of the same issues that a lot of people have."

On his "live to win" philosophy:

Paul: "I always think that regrets are the one thing I don't want to live with. If something is appealing to me, then my philosophy is always 'Why?', not 'Why not?' Give everything a try. If it means something to you, it's better than the regret... The people who tell you what's impossible are invariably the ones who failed. I'd rather be here and be a cheerleader for people and say, 'Yeah, you can. If you're willing to work hard and you're passionate about something, there's no reason you can't have it.'"

On Gene Simmons:

Paul: "Relationships aren't always easy. Part of a good relationship and part of a good partnership is knowing its limitations — knowing what is impossible, what not to expect, what the other person can't bring to the party. That will make you less, I guess, disappointed, but there's no substitute for years and time where you see how somebody reacts to disappointment, to struggle and if they're there for you. I have to say, Gene's always been there. Sure, we've had our fights, and I would be the first to say, 'Are we different? Sure. Do we agree on certain things? No. Do I agree with some of the things he says? No.' But he's had my back and I've had for his for 40-plus years, and you can't deny that."

On KISS's "End Of The Road" tour:

Paul: "You have to love what you're doing. Here we are, 45-plus years into it, and this is by far and away the biggest, most complex and amazing show we've ever done... We're playing over two hours and we're covering all the periods of the band. We really wanted to make this the ultimate and raise the bar, not only for the fans who've been with us through different periods of the band, but people who have never seen us before who come to the shows and go, 'Why didn't I get into this earlier?' It's serious to us."

On whether he has a favorite KISS album:

Paul: "It's an impossible question to answer. KISS 'Alive!' was a pivotal album that took us from obscurity to front-page news and sold-out shows, so that's really indicative of the foundation of this band. There were a lot of great albums after that. I have to say that the last two albums we did, 'Sonic Boom' and 'Monster', are great albums, and it will take some time before those become classics. It's always interesting — when a song comes out, it's competing with songs that have memories for people, and histories. It's just interesting how it takes years for songs to get that patina, so to speak. 'Lick It Up', now, is a classic song. 'Psycho Circus' is a classic song. Those were new songs at one point, but they're not new anymore."

"Backstage Pass" was released on April 30 via HarperCollins.

KISS kicked off the initial European leg of its "End Of The Road" farewell tour on May 27 in Leipzig, Germany. The tour is expected to continue through 2020.