KISS w/ The Academy Is… and The Envy

With their face paint, flamboyant outfits and flaming guitars, KISS branded themselves as the most theatrical rockers of the 1970s. Following a string of moderately successful records, the risky double live album Alive! brought the band the massive commercial breakthrough they had been seeking all along, and the KISS franchise has been running strong ever since (though many fans prefer to forget the period in the ’80s when the band abandoned their signature makeup). Founding members Ace Frehley and Peter Criss left the band early last decade, but Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons carried their own on the group’s latest record, 2009’s Sonic Boom, which became the group’s highest-charting album ever.