Updated to include new information about the band from the last 10 years, this candid biography tells the story of Kiss from its formation in New York City in the early 1970s to today. Examining the individual careers of each band member and telling the story of the band as a whole, the book chronicles the struggle to make it, their missteps along the route to stardom, their battle to stay on top, and the problems that led to changes in the lineup over the years. Finally, the circumstances leading to KISS’ 1996 reunion—with makeup—are discussed, and the state of the band today is revealed.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
"[Dale Sherman's] diligence and attention to detail is remarkable, making Black Diamond the bible for the KISS army." —Ken Sharp, The Rock Report
"A straight forward, no holds barred, factual presentation of KISS." —Shock Me
"The best KISS book I have ever read." —KISS News Network
About the Author
Dale Sherman is the author of 20th Century Rock and Roll: Women in Rock, Black Diamond 2: The Illustrated Collector’s Guide to KISS, Urban Legends of Rock Music: You Never Can Tell, and World Without Heroes. He lives in Louisville, Kentucky.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good Book, Good Info, Good Read,
By A Customer
This review is from: Black Diamond: Unauthorized Biography of Kiss with CD (Audio) (Paperback)
I thought the book was very good. It's information was unparalleled, and the background on each member of the band was a real bonus for the reader. For a big KISS fan like myself, it made for a great read, and developed well, wasn't slow and boring. Good job Dale.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
On par with Kiss & Sell,
By Greekfreak (Pusan Korea (South)) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Black Diamond: Unauthorized Biography of Kiss with CD (Audio) (Paperback)
I was pleasantly surprised by this book--it's written from a fan's perspective, but it's still well-balanced; it would have been easy for it to have gone the other way (adulation).Essentially it's the history of the band as told by various members of the group at various points in time via various interview (tired of the word 'various yet?) sources. It may bother some that Sherman never bothered to index the pages, but that's a minor complaint. My only real complaint is the lack of input from Vinnie Vincent, Mark St. John, Eric Singer, and Bruce Kulick; all off whom had valid opinions about the band, but were given little or no emphasis at all. Much better than Kiss & Tell, and as good as Kiss & Sell (however different), and well worth the money you spend on it. Especially for an unauthorised biography. I especially liked the massive amounts of contradiction amongst the band members concerning specific albums and tunes. I seriously doubt that Gene Simmons' upcoming book will be as honest as this one. Maybe the whole truth will never be discovered, but this book is a step in the right direction.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great Detail and Trivia, But Linguistically Flawed,
By erictheb "erictheb" (Boston) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Black Diamond: Unauthorized Biography of Kiss with CD (Audio) (Paperback)
Dale Sherman has written an engaging biography chock full of fascinating, little-known trivia, which succeeds in answering many questions fans such as myself may have had about the band. Many times I was caught thinking "Ah-haaa! So that's why..." This is in fact Sherman's intention, as stated in the Introduction. In fact, his dedication to trivia minutae is on occasion distracting and sometimes leads the reader onto unnecessary tangents.
The main problem I have with the book, besides the cheesy cover (Where's the band??) is the weakness in writing style. This may be the fault of the book's editor. There are countless instances of run-on sentences, dangling particles, awkward syntax and sentence structure, grammatical errors, words used out of context or with wrong meaning, and other frustrating language snafus. I do not claim to be an English professor, but there were many occasions when I had to read a sentence over again, shake my head, and think, "Why didn't he write that sentence this way, or use this word instead, or use this verb tense/form?", etc. It often distracted me from the narrative, making for a sometimes uncomfortable read where I was fearing the next grammatical flub, which always eventually came. Luckily, he uses quotes liberally from the band and others, and it is in fact these quotes which lack the syntax errors and are easiest to read! Otherwise, this is definitely a decent edition to the Kiss library and hopefully future editions will be better edited and thus easier to read.
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