By Matthew Wilkening / Ultimateclassicrock.com

KISS' first live album not only saved the struggling band's career, it made them superstars. So it makes sense that the group has released many more live albums since that time.

By early 1975 the facepaint-wearing foursome had built a reputation as a must-see live act, with a bombastic stage show featuring pyrotechnics, levitating drums and bassist Gene Simmons' fire breathing, blood-spitting stunts.

The only problem was that not nearly enough people were buying the group's early studio albums, which didn't convey the power and energy KISS was capable of unleashing onstage. With the band and their label in danger of bankruptcy, the double-live, expensive and very risky Alive! was released in September of 1975.

The gamble paid off big time, with the album hitting the Top 10 and staying on the charts for over two years. The band became stars and headliners, and were able to expand on their fame with more polished studio albums such as Destroyer and Love Gun.

But no matter what other changes KISS made - and over the years there were many, from lineups to musical styles to revealing their real faces and then later putting the facepaint back on - the live show was always the group's calling card.

If you count the two collections that came packaged in the recent box sets for Destroyer and 1982's Creatures of the Night, KISS has now released 14 live albums - not counting the dozens of "instant live" sets they sold to fans attending nearly every show on their 2004, 2008 and 2010 tours, or the multiple longform concert home videos they have released over the years. By comparison, the now-retired group has to date released just 20 studio albums and told fans not to hold their breath for any more over a decade ago.

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Thanks to Richard Reyes for sharing his Paul Stanley End Of The Road smashed guitar with us. AWESOME!

What is your most prized KISS item, KISS ARMY? 

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On this day in KISSTORY - May 4, 1990 - We opened the Hot In The Shade Tour in Lubbock, Texas. We rocked over 130 cities on the tour, our last with Eric Carr.

Here's "I Want You" from the Detroit stop on the Hot In The Show Tour

On this day in KISSTORY - May 3, 2002 - KISS joined Dick Clark on ABC TV to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of American Bandstand.

By Andrew Daly / www.classicrockhistory.com

Photo by Keith Leroux

Though KISS is officially off the road, that doesn’t mean its longest-tenured guitarist, Tommy Thayer, is giving up the ghost. Quite the contrary, as Thayer has been active for various charity gigs and digging in on a myriad of side projects he’s got more time for now with KISS meeting its end as a live act.

To that end, while fans often give Thayer a hell of a hard time, make no mistake—he was integral to KISS’s latter career success. Sure, Ace Frehley will always be the original Spaceman, but there’s no denying that Thayer handled the gig with grace, bravado, skill, and showmanship. Moreover, the two records he was a part of, 2009’s Sonic Boom and 2012’s Monster, have aged wonderfully and are slowly but surely becoming KISS classics.

Elsewhere, as per KISS tradition, Thayer’s rig was ever-evolving. Much like those before him (and who he shared space in the band with), Thayer was known for brandishing a myriad of gorgeous guitars, all of which were plugged into a tidy stack of big-ass amps. But, of course, that’s KISS tradition, meaning Thayer was merely holding up his end of the bargain with an endgame goal of world domination. Mission accomplished, yeah?

When we look back on Tommy Thayer, sure, he’ll be remembered for his over 20-year tenure as the lead guitarist of KISS. But beyond the hyper lightest stage of the KISS machine, his exploits as founder and lead guitarist of Black N’ Blue—an underrated ‘80s institution—and his session work with Doro, and KISS, and with his post-Black N’ Blue band, Harlow, are all worthy entries into a career filled with more highs than you can shake a stick at.

Tommy Thayer of Kiss: The ClassicRockHistory.com Interview - ClassicRockHistory.com

On this day in KISSTORY - May 1, 2017 - KISS opened the European leg of the KISSWORLD Tour at Olimpiysky Arena In Moscow, Russia.

Here's a fan-filmed video from Moscow.