Kiss Solo Albums Ranked Worst to Best

Unless your name is Gene Simmons or Paul Stanley, being a member of Kiss isn't a lifelong job.

Since the self-proclaimed "hottest band in the land" formed in 1973, eight other men have joined the group for stints lasting anywhere from decades to mere months. To date, seven of those 10 present and former Kiss alumni have combined to release more than 25 solo studio albums.

You'll find our rankings for this highly unwieldy collection of music below.

The First Kiss Solo Albums Were a Peacemaking Effort

The first four Kiss solo albums were famously released on the same day in 1978. They were partially designed to let the group's other two founding members, Peter Criss and Ace Frehley, work out some personal and creative frustrations instead of quitting for good. It worked, but only briefly. Criss left in 1980 and went on to release four more studio albums before retiring in 2017. Frehley walked away in 1981 and went on to release more than a half dozen post-Kiss studio efforts.

Kiss mainstays Simmons and Stanley have only released a few solo albums. (We're not counting 2017's archival-clearing Gene Simmons Vault, which was available only via private events in limited quantities at costs of $2,000 and up.) Stanley's 1978 effort sounds a lot like a '70s Kiss album with just one singer, but otherwise, these records tend to be focused on exploring new musical territory. This is most evident on Stanley's Now and Then, a love letter to '60s and '70s soul music.

The following list of Kiss Solo Albums Ranked Worst to Best is focused on solo efforts from present or former band members, so pre-Kiss albums as well as collaborative projects such as Union, White Tiger and ESP are not included.