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Face the Music: A Life Exposed Hardcover – April 8, 2014
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Paul Stanley
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NEW YORK TIMES and INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER
In Face the Music, Paul Stanley—the co-founder and famous “Starchild” frontman of KISS—reveals for the first time the incredible highs and equally incredible lows in his life both inside and outside the band. Face the Music is the shocking, funny, smart, inspirational story of one of rock’s most enduring icons and the group he helped create, define, and immortalize.
Stanley mixes compelling personal revelations and gripping, gritty war stories that will surprise even the most steadfast member of the KISS Army. He takes us back to his childhood in the 1950s and ’60s, a traumatic time made more painful thanks to a physical deformity. Born with a condition called microtia, he grew up partially deaf, with only one ear. But this instilled in him an inner drive to succeed in the most unlikely of pursuits: music.
With never-before-seen photos and images throughout, Stanley’s memoir is a fully realized and unflinching portrait of a rock star, a chronicle of the stories behind the famous anthems, the many brawls and betrayals, and all the drama and pyrotechnics on and off the stage. Raw and confessional, Stanley offers candid insights into his personal relationships, and the turbulent dynamics with his bandmates over the past four decades. And no one comes out unscathed—including Stanley himself.
“People say I was brave to write such a revealing book, but I wrote it because I needed to personally reflect on my own life. I know everyone will see themselves somewhere in this book, and where my story might take them is why I’m sharing it.” —Paul Stanley
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Print length480 pages
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LanguageEnglish
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PublisherHarperOne
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Publication dateApril 8, 2014
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Dimensions6 x 1.45 x 9 inches
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Editorial Reviews
From Booklist
Review
“Both honest and inspirational. Amazing tales from one of rock’s great frontmen.” -- Sir Elton John
“Paul is a great man who has achieved great things. From the Popcorn Club all the way to the Hall of Fame, his story is inspiring and motivating for anyone who dreams big.” -- Dave Grohl
“An entertaining yet piercingly honest journey from self–conscious child to the world’s most visually famous rock band, to, finally―with the makeup wiped away―a place of peace as a father and a man. Paul Stanley’s story is both ordinary and extraordinary, which makes it inspiring.” -- Mitch Albom, author of The First Phone Call From Heaven and Tuesdays With Morrie
“For years the members hid their true identities behind cartoon personas and hard rock anthems... After years of carefully maintaining his Starchild superhero identity, Stanley lets down his guard and unleashes a torrent of pent-up feelings that erupt and flow over 400 pages like molten lava.” -- Guitar World Magazine
“KISS’ flamboyant “Starchild” unplugs his high-wattage amps and introduces fans to an even more intriguing character: Stanley Harvey Eisen... [Face the Music is] an indispensable part of KISStory.” -- Kirkus Reviews
“Elegantly and thoughtfully, Stanley takes us behind the mask of Starchild, his KISS persona, and shares intimately his own insecurities about his physical appearance and his emotional life.” -- Publishers Weekly
“Most people will probably not associate sensitivity with the flamboyant heavy-metal rock band KISS, and yet in his memoir, front man, rhythm guitarist, and cofounder Paul Stanley succeeds in making a connection with the reader, KISS fan or not.” -- Booklist
From the Back Cover
"People say I was brave to write such a revealing book, but I wrote it because I needed to personally reflect on my own life. I know everyone will see themselves somewhere in this book, and where my story might take them is why I'm sharing it."
Well known for his onstage persona, the "Starchild," Paul Stanley has written a memoir with a gripping blend of personal revelations and gritty war stories about the highs and lows both inside and outside of KISS. Born with a condition called microtia (an ear deformity rendering him deaf on the right side), Stanley's traumatic childhood experiences produced an inner drive to succeed in the most unlikely of places: music. Taking readers through the series of events that led to the founding of KISS, the personal relationships that helped shape his life, and the turbulent dynamics among his bandmates over the past forty years, this book leaves no one unscathed—including Stanley himself.
With never-before-seen photos and images throughout, Face the Music is a colorful portrait of a man and the band he helped create, define, and sustain—made larger than life in artfully told stories that are shocking, funny, inspirational, and honest.
About the Author
Paul Stanley is the frontman and rhythm guitarist for KISS, which he cofounded in New York City in 1973. He is the designer of numerous KISS album covers, costumes, and concert stages, in addition to writing many of KISS's most successful songs. With sales of more than one hundred million records worldwide, KISS sits atop the list of American bands, with the most gold-certified albums earned in history. Along with his bandmates, Stanley was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014. A painter, with art sales reaching two million dollars; a solo musician; a musical stage performer; founding partner in Rock & Brews restaurants; and co-owner of the Arena Football League's L.A. KISS, Stanley is a committed and active supporter of various Wounded Warrior Project organizations. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Erin, and four children.
Product details
- ASIN : 0062114042
- Publisher : HarperOne; First Edition (April 8, 2014)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 480 pages
- Item Weight : 1.76 pounds
- Dimensions : 6 x 1.45 x 9 inches
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Best Sellers Rank:
#401,192 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,396 in Rock Band Biographies
- #1,701 in Rock Music (Books)
- #4,026 in Actor & Entertainer Biographies
- Customer Reviews:
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Customer reviews
Top reviews from the United States
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I ran across an interview paul did for this book on the Today Show. Paul came across the most authentic I have witnessed any member of Kiss so I purchased the book.
Paul is a NYC kid like I was. I was pleasantly surprised to read about the many things we had in common. He even lived 3 blocks away from me at one point. Thanks for turning me onto The Move. GREAT BAND !
The book tells the Kiss story and the Paul Story. I found it to be very informative and reflective of a life attained through hard work and determination, also of luck.
Paul stresses the good and disregards the bad as un necessary. The Starchild has grown up.
Thanks for the memories and the reminder to be yourself.
Kiss was very instrumental to me in my youth. I will never forget the joy I got listening to them and staring at the album covers. My imaginary friends that inspired me when all felt wrong.
Peace
Paul turns out, unsurprisingly, to be the intelligent, sensitive one. Don't expect minutiae about tours, equipment or particular songs and albums. Those stories are told in detail elsewhere. This is the well written and engaging story of Paul's overcoming a physical handicap (deafness and deformity of an ear) to become one of the biggest stars of the '70s. He holds back very few punches in exposing his take on his bandmates. Having read numerous books by and about KISS I believe I'm more inclined to believe Paul than the others.
Those who aren't fans might be tempted to give this a miss, but if you have any interest in the story of the self described "Hottest Band In The World" told by one who was there, it's worth a read.
Top reviews from other countries
As a KISS fan of 23 years, it was interesting to read how carefully Paul discussed the death and replacement of Eric Carr with Eric Singer. Paul didn’t seem to quite understand why Eric would hang out with ordinary folk/woman that weren’t Playboy bunnies. This says a lot about Eric and something about Paul. There were always rumours that skulduggery was a foot and reading between the lines, I fear that could be correct. Paul does have regrets over the handling of this. I think Paul was choosing his words – this happens again when discussing the KISS conventions/unplugged/putting the make-up back on. Us long time KISS fans know the real reason for that: Money verses losing ground to Grunge and finding a way to play stadiums again. Plus Paul got taken to the cleaners in his first divorce.
Ace and Peter come in for plenty of stick – mostly Peter. If Peter and Ace were that horrendous as musicians and people, why would anyone choose to have them in their band? Money. Despite Peter getting a right kicking again and again, he keeps being asked to play with the band. It comes across as hypocritical of Paul to go out to dinner/coffee with Peter, yet he does nothing but run the guy down.
The part which really got my back up was Paul stating that thanks to him, KISS fans will have been exposed to musical theatre and the world art thanks to his paintings and his role as the Phantom of the Opera. Does he really think that KISS fans have just wandered down from the mountains and have no appreciation and knowledge of the arts and culture? Yes, there could be an irony in that.. . KISS aren’t exactly high culture. Paul certainly isn’t all that as a painter, but I’m not sure he knows that.
To sum up, Paul is a nice guy albeit probably not in touch with the average person on the street that much. Is he the best guy to lead by example and teach all us lesser mortals how to be great? That’s up to you the reader to decide. I wonder if this book will appeal to American readers more than us Brits. I was a little Paul’d out by the time I finished it.
Whilst Ace and Gene had always been the stars as far as i was concerned,i had an admiration for the Paul Stanley i thought i knew,you know the one, supremely confident,articulate,a superstar frontman with one of the biggest bands of all time,who knew the pain he was going thru,he hid it well.
Anyone with a child with any 'disability' can relate to his childhood where he didnt get the support he needed,you can feel his sadness seep from the pages of the book.
Its plain his childhood left him with issues ,a desire to succeed and an almost pathalogical mistrust of most people,expecting to be let down and retreating further into himself everytime it happened.
His band mates take a beating,Ace and Peter,no surprise there,more surprisingly Gene cops a lot of flak and its really depressing his 'relationship' with Eric Carr.
Ultimately its an eye opening journey from Mr Stanley,it shed some light(maybe not enough) on the bands 80's and 90's phase when members came and went and the albums seemed disjointed.Thankfully he's in a happy place now,personally and musically,40 years !!! he finally got there.
All in all a great read,its his story not the KISS story,and thats as it should be,well worth purchasing.







