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Paul Stanley Faces The Music In His Latest Book #sponsored

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Paul Stanley Face The Music: A Life ExposedEat Play Rock

Recently I got the opportunity to read the brand new autobiography of KISS front man Paul Stanley, entitled Face The Music: A Life Exposed. Here is my opinion of the book and what I think you will find within the pages.

Paul Stanley: On The Stigma Of Bullying

Up until recently, we knew very little about the private life of Kiss front man, rhythm guitarist and co-founder Paul Stanley. He keeps his private life, well, private. As a matter of fact, until about five years ago, it was not made public that Paul was born with a deformity of his right ear that left him totally deaf on his right side. It’s called microtia, which is a deformity in which the cartilage of the ear does not form correctly. Thus, Paul Stanley was born with just a stump for his right ear. However, even if you grew up a die hard KISS fan, as I did, then you would not have known that Paul Stanley had this deformity, because he always wore his hair long enough to cover his ears.

This is just an example of the things that we learn about our favorite front man in his new autobiography, “Face The Music: A Life Exposed.” In this book, Paul Stanley finally opens up about his life and the personal demons that haunted him, until he found a way to conquer them. He then goes on to tell us what helped him conquer his problems and his own personal ideas for what he thinks may help us all to lead happier lives. The end of the book reads more like a self-help book than anything.

Paul Stanley: On KISS

Before that, however, we are told stories of Paul’s life, both inside and outside of KISS, that we have never heard before. Stories such as that of the young boy who referred to him as “Stan the one-eared monster” when he was growing up are featured in Face The Music: A Life Exposed. And how, despite the fact that he found Gene Simmons to be odd and very self-serving, he realized that Gene was serious about making it big in the music industry – as serious as Paul was – therefore he decided to work with Gene.

Face The Music: A Life Exposed takes a real in-depth approach to the inner workings of Kiss and of the problems that lead to the eventual departures of both Peter Criss and Ace Frehley. He talks about the insecurities of Peter’s replacement, Eric Carr, and of the cockiness of Ace’s replacement, Vinnie Vincent. The book takes us right through the 1980s and early 90s, where Paul pulls no punches, stating that he alone was the driving force behind the band during this time because Gene was too busy making movies, Eric was too insecure and, later on, too ill, and there was a revolving door of lead guitarists.

Face The Music: What Did I Think?

I found Face The Music: A Life Exposed extremely entertaining and at times I could not put it down. I have read several rock star autobiographies, but by far this one moved at the best pace of any of them, and it was brutally honest. It was finally wonderful to hear the story of the most private member of my favorite band in his own words. You will enjoy this book, not only as a Kiss fan, but as a fan of life in general. There’s lots of information on how to make yourself a better person and to enjoy life to its fullest, no matter what your difficulties. I recommend this book highly to anyone, not just rock music fans or Kiss fans. I think you will find it a wonderful read.

Have You Read Face The Music: A Life Exposed? If Not, Do You Plan To?

*Eat Play Rock received a copy of this book to facilitate this review. All opinions are 100% our own.

About Jay Crawford

Jay is a die hard sports fan {football and college basketball being his favorites}. His favorite teams are the Carolina Panthers and Tarheels and, of course, his alma mater, the Appalachian Mountaineers. He spends his free time listening to music, especially KISS, Def Leppard, the Eagles and a lot of the newer country music, and watching comic book and action movies. The more special effects - the better.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Rosey says

    I haven’t read it. My husband loves these kinds of books though, so I might pick it up for his birthday (coming up very soon!).

  2. Robin (Masshole Mommy) says

    I remember seeing Kiss in concert with my ex-husband years ago. I was not a fan before I went to the show, but I left as one.

  3. Jaime says

    I’ve never read the book, but it sounds interesting. I think it would be a good book for my husband as well. I love learning more about artists that have been around for so long.

  6. melinda says

    i definitely learned about about Paul Stanley. I like hearing celebrities speak up about their struggles likeus regular people

  10. Pam says

    I haven’t read his book yet, but I love reading biographies. It’s so interesting to find out all the things about people you’ve seen on TV or heard on the radio but you know nothing about them.

  11. Amy Desrosiers says

    I cannot believe that he was born with an ear defect! Considering he is a musician, it is really amazing that he was able to overcome that. I would have never known!

    • Dawn McAlexander says

      I agree. It would be hard for anyone really to deal with an ear defect. But it seems so much harder to me for a musician to have to. It just shows that people really can overcome things if they really want to.

    • Dawn McAlexander says

      I have definitely read a lot of autobiographies of people that I was not necessarily a huge fan of. Sometimes I have become a fan after reading the books, too. And sometimes I don’t like someone so much anymore after reading theirs, lol.

  23. Chrysa says

    This sounds like a really interesting book. I wasn’t a KISS fan growing up, but my husband turned me on to them later in life. I would like a more “behind the scenes” look like this!

    • Dawn McAlexander says

      I do, too. I think a lot of people think that most celebrities have had charmed lives. However, many of them have grown up just like regular people we all know and dealt with the same struggles. I think it’s inspiring to hear what people have had to overcome and still been able to be successful.

  28. Everyday Living with Chrys says

    This sounds like a great biography. I grew up with all the 80s/90s hair bands and Kiss was not only a band my mother listened to, but myself as well. Sounds like Paul is a great guy who fought demons like so many others. From watching the Family Values show of Gene Simmons I often feel that sometimes he just takes things a little too far. There is so much more to life than money.

    • Dawn McAlexander says

      Oh yeah, Gene Simmons is an interesting character, lol. I loved that show, though. Never a dull moment.

  36. Shasta Walton says

    That is so interesting. I love music, and I love learning about the people behind the music. I would have never guessed he had this deformity, and now I really want to read the book!

  38. Travel Blogger says

    Personally not my type of book but I know both my husband and father in law would enjoy this. They’re both heavy into music and like to read autobiographies of musicians.

  40. Danielle @ We Have It All says

    Ahh, another KISS fan 🙂 My ex-husband was a KISS fan. So much so that he dragged me to over 20 concerts all across the US and we got to do a bunch of ‘meet and greets’ so I have a few pictures with the guys. We even drove to Canada to see Paul in Phantom of the Opera. Crazy, huh? The band is one of the greatest, especially Paul and Gene. I am curious about the book, but no, I probably won’t read it. I’m all “KISSed” out. I like reading little bits and pieces like this though.

    • Dawn McAlexander says

      Wow! Yeah, we haven’t gone that far, lol. We have seen them in concert twice – and never met them. 😀

  44. Anne says

    I like these kind of books for the behind the scenes look you get at celebrity and the music business. It sounds like this one is well done, I will have to pick it up.