1988

January 27: The promo video for "Turn on the Night" is filmed at a show in Worster, MA.

February: "Turn on the Night" / "Thief in the Night" is released as a single but fails to chart.

March: Kiss releases their second official home video, "Crazy Nights". The video contains the three promo videos for the album and eventually attains Gold status.

April 2: The American leg of the "Crazy Nights" tour ends in Las Vegas, NV.

Mid April: Kiss returns to Japan for the first time in 10 years.

June: Kiss record two new studio tunes "Let's Put the X in Sex" and "(You Make Me) Rock Hard" at Right Track Studios in New York. These songs will be included on an upcoming compilation album.

June: Kiss releases "Chikara" in Japan only. It contains several remixes of standard Kiss tunes.

Late June: Ace's band is playing the Limelight club in New York City and Gene and Paul are in the audience. During the encore they get onstage with him and perform "Deuce".

August 12: Kiss plays two nights at The Ritz in New York as warm-up dates for the upcoming European tour. One of the shows is filmed by MTV.

August 20: Kiss headlines the annual Castle Donnington festival in England.

October 3: European tour concludes in Belfast, Ireland.

November 11: "Let's Put the X in Sex" / "Calling Dr. Love" is released as a single from the upcoming compilation album. The single stalls at #97.

November 17: "Smashes, Thrashes, and Hits" is released. It quickly attains Platinum status and becomes Kiss' best selling album of the 1980's. The album features a bit of controversy with Eric Carr supplying lead vocals (his first on a Kiss album) to "Beth".

1989

February 15: Paul begins a solo club tour. The set list includes classic Kiss songs, tracks from his solo album in '78, and even new material. The band he takes on the road includes Bob Kulick on lead guitar and Eric Singer on drums.

May 4: Paul's solo tour ends in Hollywood, CA.

July: Kiss enters Fortress Studios in Los Angeles to begin work on their next studio album, their first in almost two years.

July: Talks between Kiss and Ace Frehley begin about a possible reunion tour but Ace is cold to the idea of doing an entire tour instead of a few big shows. Peter is not considered as part of the reunion by Gene and Paul.

August: Kiss re-signs with PolyGram Records with a 10 year, 7 album deal which is to include a live album, a compilation album, solo albums by Gene and Paul, and three studio albums.

September: A promotional video for "Hide Your Heart" is filmed in L.A.

October 10: "Hide Your Heart" / "Betrayed" is released as a single but stalls at #66.

October 17: "Hot in the Shade" is released. The album contains an unusually large number of songs at fifteen. This album also features the first and last lead vocals by Eric Carr on an original song, "Little Caesar". The album peaks at #29.

November 21: Kiss film the promo video for "Rise To It" featuring segments with Gene and Paul in makeup and costume for the first time in 6 years. Eric is displeased by the fact that he was not a part of this considering the 4 years he wore the makeup.

December 16: Kiss film a promotional video for "Forever".

1990

February 15: "Forever" / "The Street Giveth and the Street Taketh Away" is released as a single and shoots all the way up into the top 10 peaking at #8.

April 14: In preparation for the upcoming tour, Kiss play a benefit show at the Stone Pony in Ashbury, NJ. This show featured the only live performance of "Little Caesar".

April 24: Kiss plays a concert for contest winners at the Reseda Country Club in California.

April 30: The "Hot in the Shade" tour kicks off in Lubbock, TX. This tour features the new stage set complete with giant Sphinx. This would be the first tour that Kiss would expand the length of their live set to play 1.5 - 2 hours on each show. Also, Kiss returns some old classics to the set list including: "I Stole Your Love", "I Was Made For Lovin' You", and "God of Thunder".

May 23: PolyGram releases "Music from The Elder" on CD after years of waiting.

June: Paul injures himself on stage by running into a piece of metal. As a result, several shows are cancelled.

July 4: During a day off from the tour on the east coast, Paul is involved in a serious accident while riding in his limousine. He luckily only suffered a few broken ribs but a few more dates are cancelled.

November 9: The tour concludes in New York at Madison Square Garden.