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It's my belief KISS references many early Rock and Roll acts as a template for their music, not only American bands but British Rock bands too "The Rolling Stones were also a big influence for Kiss, the American group even covered on their 1979 album 'Dynasty' the song '2000 Man' from the Stones 1967 album “Their Satanic Majesties Request." (Polcaro, 2022).
Gene Simmons even mentions the first KISS song he ever wrote 'Deuce' paid homage to the group "I ripped off the lick from Bitch by The Rolling Stones and changed it so it starts in A and goes to a C." (Guitar World Staff, 2022).
I believe KISS were heavily influenced by their iconic riffs, songwriting, stage presence and wild live performances, I've felt the same energy in the room after seeing both bands play live.

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David Lee Roth says he grew up listening to the Beach Boys “These are people who I learned so much from as a kid growing up,” Roth adds. “These are my mentors. These are my role models. These are fellows who vocally created unbelievable panoramas and vistas.” (Else, 2014).
Later after the band split with Lee Roth he pursued a solo career and went on to record a popular cover version of The Beach Boys' - California Girls. (Lee, 2014). I believe Van Halen quite successfully replicated a vocal harmony style as a 3 piece vocal group similar to The Beach Boys which can be heard throughout their early career and was a staple in them developing their own sound.

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I think it could be argued fellow British Rock band Queen is the predominant influence for UK rockers The Darkness, from the high falsetto vocal range, multi-tracked guitar harmonies & an outlandish frontman. When recording their follow-up album 'One way ticket to hell and back' the band specifically chose to record in the same studio Queen had recorded in "We're in the same studio that they recorded 'Bohemian Rhapsody' in, so I'm using Freddie's piano and stuff.” Justin Hawkins said. (Blabbermouth, 2005).
Brian May is another guitar player Justin Hawkins' cites as an influence, he said "my particular sort of vibrato style is quite similar to Brian May's." (bryanrolli, 2023).
I personally hear a lot of Queen bleed through The Darkness' music, even more so now that Queen's drummer Roger Taylor's son, Rufus Taylor joined the band on drums in 2015.

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The Darkness have noted many old-school artists & twin guitar rock bands as an influence on their own music, Dan Hawkins said "We listened to a very varied, wide range of music, but the things that we really both together gravitated to were the sort of similar sort of artists like Queen, Aerosmith, AC/DC, Thin Lizzy and Abba. And the Eagles, actually." (daveswanson, 2015).
A track from their first album 'Love is only a feeling' features dual-harmonised guitar melodies similar to the style of Thin Lizzy. (RHINO, 2014).
After seeing the band many times live it's easy for me to pick up on the Thin Lizzy influence present in the dual guitar playing, twin Les Pauls and guitar player Dan Hawkins sporting a Thin Lizzy T-shirt at almost all of their performances.

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I've heard Justin Hawkins say in interviews he grew up listening to AC/DC and he's been asked about their influence, in particular Angus Young's guitar-playing "The sort of licks I play are very similar to Angus Young." (bryanrolli, 2023).
I know he and his brother Dan are the main songwriters for the band, both are guitar players & brothers like AC/DC so they try to replicate a similar relationship between the two guitars, bass & drums “I still think Back In Black is the benchmark sonically for how you want a rock record to sound,”  - Justin Hawkins (Wilson, 2020).
When I listen to the opening track 'Black Shuck' from their debut album 'Permission to Land' the guitar riff and four-to-the-floor drums it's very reminiscent of AC/DC's 'Dirty Deeds".

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Paul Stanley remembers seeing Alice Cooper’s Billion Dollar Babies Tour in 1973 and the theatrical Rock show left an impression on him, he said. “He really opened my eyes to the possibilities of a rock ‘n’ roll show. (Paul Stanley, 2014).
Probably the most noticeable similarity between the two artists is their stage personas & makeup, Alice Cooper mentioned in an interview "We knew them back when they were …. before Kiss. We told them where to buy their makeup." (mattwardlaw, 2021).
It seems to me that Alice Cooper's theatrical Rock show was used as a prototype when KISS were developing their own live shows.

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KISS has never been shy to admit that The Beatles were a huge influence on their music & brand, with Gene Simmons saying  “Our reference point was The Beatles because we were delusional. We wanted to think of ourselves as The Beatles on steroids." (Coffman, 2023).
I know KISS upped the ante with their shock rock look, heavier sound and explosive live show but stuck to a familiar formula that made The Beatles so successful 'We follow the Beatles’ songwriting format, A-B-A, verse-chours-verse basically,” Simmons said. Polcaro, R.' (2022, May 30)
I believe the phenomenon that was the KISS Army in the mid to late 1970s was referencing the pop culture of Beatlemania throughout the 1960s.

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Eddie Van Halen credits many legendary Rock guitar players who came before him in developing his style & riffs one of which was Jimmy Page  "Eddie was also a huge fan of Led Zeppelin, and there’s no doubt that they had a big influence on his riff writing and songs."
"The Heartbreaker solo in particular features many sounds that are staples in Eddie’s own arsenal; tapped notes with large bends, pick slides and wide vibrato." (Short, 2022).
EVH has stated that the origins of developing his unique tapping style came to him one night after he and his brother Alex saw them play at the LA Forum. (Zócalo Public Square, 2015).
It's my belief that Van Halen broke new ground further developing Zeppelin's 4 piece guitar rock style but without Led Zeppelin before them, there would be no Van Halen.

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I know Eddie Van Halen not only looked to the Rock gods of the 1960s & 1970s for inspiration when writing music he also branched out to other genres "He was also captivated by jazz-fusion heavyweight, Allan Holdsworth. Allan was an incredibly accomplished legato player and experimented with all sorts of unconventional tonalities." Short, P. (2022, May 27).
EVH has stated that he was heavily influenced by Holdsworth's guitar playing and that it helped him develop his own sound "Describing him as the "baddest" guitarist, Van Halen also openly admitted how Holdsworth’s influence over him resulted in much of the music that you hear today.' (Scanlon, 2023).
I believe Holdsworth's influence is prevalent in some of Eddie's more obscure solos like in Van Halen's song 'And the Cradle Wil Rock… '.

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This band has had a significant influence on me in a different way, unlike the other bands I listen to they reached their peak commercial success while I was alive and I was able to experience their musical journey. Their hit single 'I Believe in Thing Called Love' came out just as I was becoming heavily invested in the world of music and they continue to release great music that is in many ways a throwback to a golden era of Rock and proves it's still relevant in the music industry today.

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Van Halen is one of my biggest influences, they walk a fine line between the Rock sounds of the 70's & 80's and I believe they significantly contributed to pioneering the sound and style of rock music that would be popular for the remainder of the 1980's. All aspects of the band's music, performance & look have heavily influenced my playing, writing & performing, in particular, Eddie Van Halen's guitar playing techniques such as tapping, tremolo picking, harmonics, whammy bar & tone.

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KISS is like a Rock & Roll circus to me and their unique contribution to rock music has influenced my playing, songwriting, fashion & social circle.
Their stripped-back old-school Rock n' Roll approach of 2 guitars, bass, drums & vocals, simple harmonies, catchy riffs and a wall of Marshalls has been a template for my own music and performance for the last decade.