Rush vs. Kiss, love vs. hate

Even the nuttiest fans generally agree: Kiss and Rush are and always have been the love-'em-or-hate-'em kind of bands. Here are a few of the reasons why.

RUSH Love 'em: Geddy Lee, Neil Peart and Alex Lifeson are three of the most proficient, gifted, innovative musicians in rock. I dare you to find a band whose members can all play at their level of perfection.

Hate 'em: It's rock 'n' roll, not Popular Science. Rush can be precise and tight to the point of being dull and stifling. I don't care how godly you are, drum and bass solos are still just drum and bass solos.

Love 'em: Ooh, those lyrics! Peart's songs about space, time, war, peace, mankind and general wowee-zowee themes have been the stuff of late-night, life-pondering discussions and can be interpreted on several levels.

Hate 'em: Ooh, that voice! Lee's high, nasal, cat-shrieky delivery has been the stuff of ridicule by the band Pavement and Stephen Colbert, among others, and can be damaging on several levels. Like whale-communication levels.

Love 'em: They're Canada's finest.

Hate 'em: Yep, Canada's finest. No argument there.

Hate 'em: Too bad Gene Simmons also still has a show on TV. His "Simmons Family Values" is the hokiest, most unrealistic "reality" series out there, and it's almost as saccharine as those uncomfortably unfunny Dr. Pepper ads.

Love 'em: Even without all the visual pizazz, songs such as "Black Diamond," "Cold Gin," "Deuce" and nearly all the "Destroyer" album are still some of the best swaggering, fist-in-the-air, dueling-guitar, hard-rock anthems of all time.

Hate 'em: The band is also playing "I Was Made for Lovin' You" and "God Gave Rock 'n' Roll to You" on this tour, some of the schmaltziest, fluffiest soft-rock hits of all time.

Love 'em: As with the Beatles, the original Kiss featured four distinct characters and voices who are individually iconic.