Music journalists the world over have been subjected to the wrath of Kiss singer Gene Simmons.

He of the facepaint and oversized tongue fame has inspired much soul searching in Quietus HQ as he took music critics to task, describing them as an "unnecessary life form".

Speaking to the BBC, Gene said: “We own some very big houses that critics have bought us with their bad reviews.

"Critics are an unnecessary life form. There's a large Kiss cemetery at the back of our houses where we bury them."

Well, that put us in our place. But before we started browsing the careers section of the newspaper, it was comforting to know that at least one person felt satisfied with their job this morning.

"We made Kiss, with our look, all the pyrotechnics of our live show, the epitome of everything we wanted from a band", said Gene.

"And now here we are 35 years later and I think we've released one of the best records of our career."