Working with a professional songwriter (or two, in the case of some of their songs) is nothing to be ashamed of, but a co-write is not anywhere near the same as writing solo. Generally the rule of "write a word, get a third" tends to apply for artists.It's true, after KISS became an established, famous band, they worked with some "name" producers who co-wrote some of their biggest hits. But Paul and Gene still co-wrote those songs. They just had some help knocking them into shape. Not from 3rd party writers, but from the producers (which is a fairly common practise between rock bands and hands on producers.)