For some fans, the ultimate Kiss line up will always be the original:
Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley and Peter
Criss. For Simmons and Stanley, however, it would seem that the definitive
Kiss is the current version of the band. So much so, that they wish the current
line-up had been in place since the band’s beginning. Simmons had the following
to say in an interview with Revolver:

"We're so comfortable now, this
should have been Kiss always: Tommy (Thayer), Eric
(Singer), Paul and myself... We like each other's company, we like playing
onstage with each other. And the creative process is just second skin. We could
have just as easily gone into the studio and done another record."

"I want to go on record: Eric and Tommy have revitalized the band, made
Paul and myself realize what lucky bastards we are to be in Kiss and to have
each other. And this should have been the lineup of Kiss from the
beginning."

Paul Stanley went on to add:

"Eric's been in and out of the band for 20-some-odd years. And Tommy,
too", added Stanley. "The only people who would complain, I think, are
people who don't really follow the band at this point. The myth that sometimes
surrounds the original lineup is purely myth. Some of it was of our own doing.
The whole projecting the idea that it was four guys giving equally. Quite
honestly, it was kind of our take on The Beatles: four guys that spend all their
time together and run down the street jumping up in the air. But it's not a
reality. And maybe part of the problem was that some of the guys in the band
really bought into believing it. The band always had two people who were leading
it and the idea that anybody is entitled to having songs on an album is
crazy."