Sorry but this is about the most absurd thing I have ever heard this side of GreasyBammer saying Pat Dye was bad for Auburn.
Muddy Waters
Chuck Berry (although not a band)
Beatles
Queen
The Doors
Everly Brothers
To me all of these acts really did something different not done before and ushered Rock n Roll fwd into mainstream and got it into the limelight. All were pioneers in one way or another. Kiss - although I think they are a decent enough band and I think Simmons is actually quite a funny guy in real life - didn't do anything spectacular from a musical perspective IMHO. Show me where they did something that was really just out there or brilliant in regards to a particular time signature or in their lyrics or where they pioneered some new technique (such as what Chuck Berry or George Harrison did). BUT - with all that said, I think they deserve a place at the table (RnR HOF), I just don't think they are elite.
More gold records than any American band (except maybe Aerosmith?) says different.
KISS helped create an entirely new genre of rock. They pioneered stadium rock. And they brought the world the rock ballad which is now a staple of most hard rock acts. KISS made the live album a viable vehicle, something that has also become standard fare for most bands.
Were they the most creative? Nope. They freely admit that they take bits and pieces of things they like from others and make their own versions (Black Diamond evolved from Brown Sugar, for instance). Are they the most musically talented? Not even close. Greatest songwriters? It is to laugh.
You can't deny the influence the band had on the metal scene, though. Numerous acts -- some already enshrined in this farcical Hall -- credit KISS as one of their primary influences.
I guess it depends on what you're looking for. Will KISS' musical catalog speak to the ages? Do they have a piece of work that will endure for generations (well, I guess that's already happened)? They don't have a Hotel California or a Stairway to Heaven in their repertoire, but that's not what they are.
Does ABBA have any of that? Donna Summer? Chic? The O'Jays? Brenda Fucking Lee? The Moonglows? Parliament?
You see, I have no issue with denying KISS entry on the grounds that they don't meet some high falootin' standard of what rock music should be. You know, the Dylanites who think that if you mumble some gooble shit it has great societal meaning. But if you're going to enshrine ABBA? And The Moonglows? Then you're just being a hypocrite to exclude a band that has sustained itself -- very successfully -- for nearly 40 years playing nothing but rock and roll.