Paul Stanley Talks 2012 Kiss Tour and New Album

When the members of Kiss touched down in Vegas last week, they had golf on their minds — but in between putt-putt interviews, frontman Paul Stanley took a moment to speak about the band’s plans for 2012, including a tour and new album.

Though Stanley declined to confirm to Backstage Axxess that Kiss would be touring with Motley Crue — the countdown clocks on both band’s sites indicates this news will come Tuesday — he did say they’d be starting off in the States and doing at least 40 dates, explaining that “It’s definitely a year for us to be out there working.”

Early in the interview, Stanley described the thought process behind the band lending its name and likeness to a miniature golf course, saying “it’s about taking opportunities,” and he applied the same mentality when asked whether the new Kiss album, ‘Monster,’ would be released through an exclusive partnership — similar to their last album, ‘Sonic Boom,’ which was issued via a Walmart exclusive.

“No, our thought for this album is that we’re going to go through the more accepted channels,” responded Stanley. “We’re always trying something new, and we loved our partnership with Walmart. It had some advantages and some disadvantages. This time, we’ll try a different model.”

Asked when fans could expect to hear the new record, he would say only that “It’ll be the summer,” adding, “A single will probably come before that. It’s just great. I can’t say enough good things about it.”

As for which track from the album would be the single, Stanley couldn’t say. “We’re still deciding. It’s a big problem we have, that we can’t decide which song to release first. But it’s great. Terrific.”