KISS Unveil A Monster

KISS unveiled their massive Monster Book of photos Tuesday at a press event held at West Hollywood's Viper Room. All four current members were there to reveal the 40-pound, three-foot tall, two-and-a-half-foot wide limited edition, which will sell for $4,250. Paul Stanley on why KISS's Monster Book is so expensive. "The book costs that much because it's a piece of art. It's hand bound. We didn't arbitrarily set the price, it was a matter of how much it cost to produce the book and then to not wind up doing it for charity, so to speak."

The printing of the hand-bound volume is limited to 1,000 apiece for 10 countries -- the U.S., Canada, Australia, Germany, Japan, Great Britain, Sweden, Norway, Brazil and the Russian Federation. Each country's edition has the nation's flag on the cover along with the autographs of the band members.

Kiss drummer Eric Singer on whether the photos in the Monster Book will be well known to most KISS fans. "Some of the people that are just into everything KISS, that have every kind of bootleg and every TV appearance and anything that's anything to do with KISS may be aware of some of this stuff, but I definitely know there's some shots they've never seen before."

Singer-guitarist Paul Stanley tells us that looking at the book makes him want to "celebrate the history of the band."

Paul Stanley on what he thought looking at the finished Monster Book for the first time. "Really, to celebrate the history of the band. When you realize that it's 40 years on, to look at some of those pictures, I get to look at them not only as a member of the band, but as a fan. And I'm proud of what the band has accomplished, not because of me, but because we stuck to our guns and we did something that we believed in. And it is timeless and it is as valid today as ever."