when the original members of the band regrouped, starting in 1995 with the "mtv unplugged" special that carried over into re-adopting their make-up and costuming for the alive/worldwide tour in 1996, kulick and eric singer were paid weekly during the tour; while "sidelined" from kiss, both were allowed to do other projects so long as simmons and stanley okayed them. kulick officially left kiss in december 1996. kulick was with the band longer than any member aside from the original foursome and drummer eric singer (singer has done three discontinuous stints with the band). when ace frehley again left kiss (in 2002, after the kiss farewell tour), kulick was not asked to rejoin, as simmons and stanley thought that tommy thayer (former black 'n blue guitarist and kiss tour manager) could capture/copy frehley's persona better than kulick; however, kulick continued to work with kiss after his departure, contributing uncredited guitar work to the albums "you wanted the best, you got the best!!" and "psycho circus."