eric carr

REVIEW: KISS – The Best Of Kiss (Green Series), Playlist Your Way, Legends of Rock, Superstar Series (2008-2009)

Part 47 of my series of Kiss reviews, leading up to the release of Monster! 

KISS – The Best Of Kiss (Green Series) (2008), Playlist Your Way (2008), Legends of Rock (2009), Superstar Series (2009) (All on Universal)

These are all garbage.  All of these discs are part of a “series” spanning multiple artists.  None are particularly notable.  The ones that do have liner notes (Legends of Rock and Green Series) are just generic, with info readily available on wikipedia.

Playlist Your Way is amusing at least for pairing “Beth” followed by “Uh! All Night”.   It’s also funny to see “Uh! All Night” on a compilation like this at all.  I’m not sure why that song was chosen to represent the 80’s, along with the much more notable “Lick It Up” and “I Love It Loud”.   Of the four, this is the only one that has “Love Gun”, interestingly.

Playlist Your Way also has a big ol’ hole in the front cover, holding some kind of download card.  I think it’s for ringtones.  But it’s only good in the US, so it doesn’t matter to me.

The Best Of Kiss (from the “Green Series”) has “Shock Me” on it, which is an interesting choice.  Yet, it doesn’t have “Love Gun”.  Odd.

Superstar Series is definitely to be avoided, since it only has 7 tracks, and all 7 are repeated on Legends of Rock.  Bizarre.  Yet you see them at comparable prices.

Legends of Rock has a pic of a Fender strat on the back cover, a guitar that nobody in Kiss played onstage.  Again, it’s just lack of care, interest, and knowledge.  It has 15 tracks, at least, unlike Superstar‘s meager seven.

Tracklists are below.  Avoid at all costs.

1/5 stars

 

REVIEW: KISS – Gold (2005)

Part 43 of my series of Kiss reviews, leading up to the release of Monster!   Chronologically, this album was released in between 20th Century Masters Vol. 2, and Vol. 3, in 2005.

KISS – Gold (2005, Universal)

At this point, you can’t blame Gene anymore.   Kiss’ old record label was free to issue whatever compilations they wanted, and they did.  Of these compilations, none contained previously unreleased material.  So, these are aimed strictly at the newbies, and the collectors.  And the collectors loathe shelling out for this kind of thing.

There is some light shining through the clouds.

First off, unlike every hits album released before it, this one actually has liner notes! Not bad liner notes either! Some common errors have been corrected in them (for example, Anton Fig is listed on drums for the “disco” albums). Not all the errors have been corrected, unfortunately, and I believe all lineup information has been taken directly from the liner notes of Kiss’ The Box Set.

Second, the track listing really is superb, even if offering few surprises. The ground covered is the “makeup years” 1974-1982…yet for unknown reasons the entire (excellent) Creatures Of The Night album is absent. Instead Universal ends this compilation with two tracks from the import only Killers, a pleasant if baffling inclusion. The liner notes end here as well, glossing over the entire last two decades of the band.

Lastly, there are a total of 40 tracks on two CDs, a very generous slice of rock n’ roll indeed. This allowed Universal to include no less than five tracks from the first album! Five tracks are included from Destroyer, four from Alive!, and each solo record is given one track as well! Even the box set didn’t have anything from Gene’s solo record (although it included an unreleased demo). The disco albums are given a total of four tracks combined, and Music From The Elder is not ignored either.

I suppose in this day and age, a band of Kiss’ age does need a number of hits albums. You need a good, full-length single disc for the people who want that (The Very Best Of). You need a double-disc version for the people who want a little more (Gold). And now in this era, you also need a budget-priced 10 or 12 track hits compilation like 20th Century Masters.   When you think about it, it all makes sense.

While I think Universal really should have put something on here for the diehards who already have all this material several times over, one version of this album comes with a DVD of Kiss Exposed.  I guess that’s cool if you don’t have it already.  It’s an odd pick, since Exposed mostly focuses on the music after the makeup came off, none of which are relevant to Gold.

For newbies: 4/5 stars.  It’s good value for a good selection of arguably the best years.  But be aware there are plenty more hits that you’re missing.

For fans:  2/5 stars.   Good compilation of material, that Universal are hoping to get you to buy again for the umpteenth time.

Full tracklist can be seen in the gallery below.

REVIEW: KISS – 20th Century Masters – The Millennium Collection: The Best of Kiss Vol. 1, 2 and 3

Part 41 of my series of Kiss reviews, leading up to the release of Monster!   We’re deep into the second compilation years of Kiss.  This time I’m doing three at once!

KISS – 20th Century Masters – The Millennium Collection: The Best of Kiss Vol. 1, 2 and 3 (2003, 2004, 2006)

This series is one I find quite enjoyable (The Millenium Collection in general, which spanned many artists). For a budget price you get 10 to 12 hits in a brief running time. Perfect for people who aren’t fans but want some hits.  If you know where to go you can get these for around $5.  Imagine that — three discs of awesome Kiss for $15.  Not a bad value.

Let’s start with Volume 1, shall we?

I am a fan. I don’t play this series often, but I do enjoy it. The problem here is, of course, you can’t sum up the early years of Kiss in 12 songs. Here’s the album breakdown:

  • 2 songs from Kiss
  • 1 song from Hotter Than Hell
  • 1 song from Dressed To Kill
  • 1 song from Alive!
  • 2 songs from Destroyer
  • 2 songs from Rock And Roll Over
  • 2 songs from Love Gun
  • 1 song from Dynasty

Considering what this album is, the only thing I don’t like is the inclusion of “I Was Made For Loving You”. I would have put on something like “Shout It Out Loud”. Dynasty doesn’t really fit in with the other albums included here, but it came out in 1979 and therefore couldn’t go on Volume II (the 80’s).

1. Strutter
2. Deuce
3. Hotter Than Hell
4. C’mon And Love Me
5. Rock And Roll All Nite
6. Detroit Rock City
7. Beth
8. Hard Luck Woman
9. Calling Dr. Love
10. Love Gun
11. Christeen Sixteen
12. I Was Made For Lovin’ You

Volume 2 continues the concept.  It contains tunes from the following records:

  • 2 songs from Creatures Of The Night
  • 2 songs from Lick It Up
  • 2 songs from Animalize
  • 2 songs from Asylum
  • 2 songs from Crazy Nights
  • 2 songs from Hot In The Shade

Although between Volume I and Volume II, a couple albums slip through the cracks (Unmasked, The Elder, Killers) this CD is a pretty good summary of key singles from 1982-1989. Only a few singles are missing (“Who Wants To Be Lonely”, “Turn On The Night”, “Let’s Put The X In Sex”, “(You Make Me) Rock Hard”, “Rise To It”). I don’t think I would have subsituted any of those, for any of these:

1. Creatures Of The Night
2. I Love It Loud
3. Lick It Up
4. All Hell’s Breakin’ Loose
5. Heaven’s On Fire
6. Thrills In The Night
7. Tears Are Falling
8. Uh! All Night
9. Crazy Crazy Nights
10. Reason To Live
11. Hide Your Heart
12. Forever

Volume 3 is the shakiest of the three.  It leans a bit too much on live versions of popular hits for my tastes.  I would have preferred more studio songs, but KISS didn’t release that many studio albums in the 90’s so there’s not much you can really change. Here’s the album breakdown.

  • 2 songs from Revenge
  • 1 song from Alive III
  • 3 songs from Carnival Of Souls: The Final Sessions
  • 2 songs from MTV Unplugged
  • 3 songs from Psycho-Circus
  • 1 song from the Detroit Rock City soundtrack

I think 3 is too many Carnival Of Souls songs on a hits CD aimed at the casual fan, and I think “Nothing Can Keep Me From You” is a terrible song with no redeeming value.  Sorry Paul.  In reality, it should almost be considered a Paul solo track:  No other members of Kiss played on or were anywhere near that song.  It’s also never been performed live by the band.

This disc is notable for being an easy, cheap place to get two rare tracks.  “Nothing Can Keep Me From You” is one, and the unplugged version of “Got To Choose” is another.

1. God Gave Rock & Roll To You II
2. Unholy
3. Domino
4. Hate
5. Childhood’s End
6. I Will Be There
7. Coming Home (Unplugged)
8. Got To Choose (Unplugged)
9. Psycho Circus
10. Into The Void
11. I Pledge Allegiance to the State of Rock & Roll
12. Nothing Can Keep Me From You

For the whole set:

3/5 stars

BEST OF INNER

REVIEW: KISS – The Very Best Of (2002)

Part 40 of my series of Kiss reviews, leading up to the release of Monster! 

KISS – The Very Best Of (Universal, 2002)

My 1 star review is not based on the music. Clearly, these are all classic songs, each of which needs to be included on a Kiss hits CD. Rather my 1 star is based on what this CD represents.

The Very Best Of was the first release by Universal after Kiss’ contract was over. They could then release as many hits albums as they wanted, with no new material required, and they have. Many more times albums like this came out, some better than others, and most better than this.

No liner notes, no input from the band, and a tracklist that is largely repeated on CDs such as Greatest Hits and Greatest KISS. At least this CD was in chronological order and not scattershot like the previous two that I mentioned. It was also nice to finally see “Forever” on a hits CD as that was a huge hit for the non-makeup version of the band. Weird thing though, the then-current Kiss never played that one live.  It was nice that “New York Groove” (an Ace solo track) is on here, as well as “Lick It Up” which were being played live by the band at that time.

Otherwise, this CD was unnessesary then, and is very unnessesary now. As mentioned, at the time there were plenty of similar Kiss hits discs out, and now there are literally at least a dozen. This one stands out in no way anymore.

1/5 star. For diehards who have to own everything, or newbies only.

1. Strutter
2. Deuce
3. Got To Choose
4. Hotter Than Hell
5. C’Mon And Love Me
6. Rock And Roll All Nite (live)
7. Detroit Rock City
8. Shout It Out Loud
9. Beth
10. I Want You
11. Calling Dr. Love
12. Hard Luck Woman
13. I Stole Your Love
14. Christine Sixteen
15. Love Gun
16. New York Groove
17. I Was Made For Loving You
18. I Love It Loud
19. Lick It Up
20. Forever
21. God Gave Rock ‘N’ Roll To You II

REVIEW: KISS – The Box Set (Deluxe mini guitar case edition!)

Part 39 of my series of Kiss reviews, leading up to the release of Monster! 

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KISS – The Box Set (Deluxe mini guitar case edition, 2001)

These days it’s pretty common to see deluxe versions of box sets, for the mega-fan who just has to have everything.  In 2001, it was less so.  Am I giving Gene Simmons credit for creating the concept?  Kind of, yeah.  This, the very first KISS box set, was available in three editions.  First I’m going to discuss the one that I chose — the mini guitar case edition — and we’ll go from there!  Gene is pretty much a business genius, and he knows if he makes something available, people will buy it.  “If you build it, they will come.”  I don’t blame him in the least and I’m the last person who’d call him “Greed Simmons”.  He’s not taking our money — we’re giving it to him.

So, leave it to KISS to package one version of their first box set in a miniature replica guitar case.  Granted there have been much cooler box looking sets before and since (see: ZZ Top, Pink Floyd) but everybody needs a KISS box set in a case like this, don’t they?

Well, I did.  It’s a handsome sturdy black case, with handle and silver KISS logo emblazoned on the front.  If memory serves it cost me about $250.  I got it from the American Amazon site, I had it on pre-order and I was so stoked to get it.

Included are 5 CDs (around 6 hours of music), an awesome hardcover book with loads of liner notes and rare photos, and 31 rare or unreleased tracks.  Some have been released on singles or compilations before, which I will discuss in greater detail, but most are previously unheard.
The box doesn’t hold the CD jewel cases all that well when you open it, so be careful.  Under one of the CDs is a secret compartment, with a thing of silica gel (“DO NOT EAT” helpfully written upon it) and keys for the case!

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Before I go through the discs, I’ll mention a few things that KISS fans often moan about when it comes to this box set:

  • “Gene promised the entire Wicked Lester album, and it’s not here.”
  • “There was supposed to be entire early KISS show would be in the box.”
  • “Gene said there’d be a video or a DVD.”
  • “The Elder demos are not on here, and Gene said they would be .”
  • “Where’s ‘Rip And Destroy’ and the acoustic version of ‘Beth’?”
  • “I have bootlegs of this stuff already, and it sounds better on the bootlegs.”

Since the release of this set, KISS have released ample DVDs (the KISStory series will be hitting 4 volumes this year) so I think that point is moot.  When questioned on other points, Gene always responds, “Be patient.  It’s coming.”  A buddy of mine, Mike Lukas of the band Legendary Klopeks, actually asked Gene some of these exact questions in person, and Gene said, “I know.  It’s coming.  Be patient.”  I’m sure that will bear out to be true.  As for the sound quality issues, I have bootlegs of some of this stuff on CD already, and none of them sound better than this box set, so I don’t know where people got that better sounding stuff.  And plenty of this stuff has not been bootlegged before.

Onto the music!

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DISC 1:

This CD starts off with a whopping 12 rare tracks before you even delve into the first KISS album.  The first two, Eddie Kramer demos of “Strutter” and “Deuce”, have been released before on singles and compilations, but many casual fans did not have them until now.  These tracks just smoke, with “Strutter” being quite a bit longer.  They are raw and have great playing from Ace.  Three tracks from the Wicked Lester album are included.  Wicked Lester was Gene and Paul’s original band, which transformed into KISS when they fired the other three guys.  Many Wicked Lester tracks were later recorded by KISS.  Yes, it would have been nice to have the whole album.  Maybe it will be released officially one day, maybe we will have to live with the crap-sounding bootlegs.  If it is never released, I won’t blame Gene.  It’s pretty terrible.

More demos abound including an early Gene song and an early Paul song.  Both hint at some directions they would explore within KISS and their solo albums.  A live take of the unreleased song “Acrobat” follows (essentially: “Love Theme From Kiss” melded with an unreleased song called “You’re Much Too Young”, which contains an early version of the “Detroit Rock City” riff — whew).  From here, there are nine tracks from the first three albums, ending with “Rock And Roll All Nite”.  Not a terribly generous slice of music from those first albums, but it does prevent too much duplication with the songs already included as demos.

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DISC 2:

Live tracks from Alive! kick off this disc, which is mostly made up of songs from the 4th through 6th KISS studio albums.  One really cool track is “Doncha Hesitate” which was completely unknown to me  previously.  It is especially cool because unlike later KISS demos, it includes all four members.  Plus, it is actually a really great song!  It just didn’t fit in with the direction of Destroyer; it is clearly in the mould of early KISS, which is why it never made the album.

Paul’s “God Of Thunder” demo is here (Paul’s lead vocal and alternate lyrics about Aphrodite), as well as an early version of “Dr. Love” called “Bad Bad Lovin'”.  The disc ends with another previously unheard song, a Gene demo called “Love Is Blind” which reveals his crooning Beatles roots.

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DISC 3:

This disc chronicles KISS’ decline in popularity in the early 80’s.  It starts out with a bang, “Detroit Rock City”, which is out of chronology.  Some tracks from Alive II and the solo albums (with another Gene demo) take us into the disco years.  The demo and live versions of the disco tracks reveal the harder edge intended when those songs were written.  Not many rarities on this disc, although “Nowhere To Run” is included, one of my all time favourite songs from KISS Killers, an import-only hits compilation with bonus material.

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DISC 4:

There are even fewer rare tracks on this disc, which is strange because there are tons of demos from the 80’s floating in collector’s circles.  I guess they’re probably just not that good.  This CD covers Lick It Up (1983) through to Hot In The Shade (1989):  The non-makeup part of the 80’s.  “Ain’t That Peculiar” is one of the best rarities here, an Eric Carr demo of what would become “Little Caesar”.  There is also a demo of Paul’s “Time Traveller”, a keyboard-based pop rock song which has not aged well.  Unfortunately, due to squeezing so many albums onto this CD, Lick It Up is criminally underrepresented.  It had many more great songs than just the two singles presented here.  “Let’s Put The X In Sex” should have been dropped in favour of “Exciter”, “And On The 8th Day”, or “A Million To One”.

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DISC 5:

Eric Carr’s final recording (and Eric Singer’s first with KISS) was “God Gave Rock ‘N’ Roll To You II”, which kicks off this disc.  Eric Carr was sick with heart cancer, and was unable to play drums on the track.  He did sing the background vocal, which is a highlight of the song.  Eric Singer, who had played with Paul Stanley on his 1989 solo tour, was called to replace Carr for the sessions.  Sadly, that replacement would have to become permanent when Carr died in November of 1991.  I would have preferred the original mix of this song, from the Bill & Ted soundtrack, personally.

As far as rarities go, there is not much on this disc.  A Gene demo of “Domino” is neat, but underwhelming.  “Got To Choose” from the Japanese version of MTV Unplugged is very welcome, but where is the live take of “New York Groove” from the Japanese version of You Wanted The Best?  I would really like to have that in a digital format — I only have it on vinyl.

“It’s My Life”, from the Psycho-Circus sessions, was an old KISS song written back in the 80’s and first released by Wendy O. Williams on an album written and produced by Gene Simmons.  KISS finally released their own version of it many years later on this box, and it purports to include the entire original band playing on it.  I am skeptical of this, but it does definitely have a verse sung by Ace Frehley, while Gene sings the main part.  “Nothing Can Keep Me From You” is on here, a terrible song from the Detroit Rock City movie, and actually more of a Paul solo song since no other members appear on it.  The unreleased full-length version of “Childhood’s End” from Carnival of Souls (featuring a coda called “Outromental”) round out the non-album stuff.

A bad song choice or two from Revenge, some of the wrong tracks from Carnival of Souls, and a few too many from Psycho-Circus are the main flaws with this disc.  A track from Alive III would have been nice.

The box set ends with the “live” (not really though, actually dubbed) version of “Shout It Out Loud” from the Greatest KISS album, and a “preview track” from what was intended to be the forthcoming Alive IV:  “Rock And Roll All Nite” (the only song to be repeated).  This version of Alive VI ended up getting shelved in favour of a symphonic live album, which was then dubbed Alive VI: Kiss Symphony.  The original version of Alive VI has since been issued in another KISS box set.

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As I said earlier in the review, I am sure that KISS will release more rare stuff in the future.  It has already started to happen with the afforementioned KISS Alive Box, and KISSology DVD sets.  As Gene said, be patient, it’s coming.  On the whole, quibbles aside I very much enjoy listening to the KISS box set.  It is quite interesting to hear the band evolve, and you gain an appreciation for their charisma and songwriting.  Regardless of what the critics say, Kiss are quite talented songwriters.  Often simple, but we’re still listening to them almost 40 years later.  And they said it would never last six months.

The liner notes are quite insightful if not entirely accurate (Peter Criss did not play on any tracks from Psycho-Circus except one, no matter what the notes say).

I mentioned there were other versions available.  There is a basic version, with a softcover version of the book, in a simple black box.  It retails for around $100.  That’s the version most people should grab.  The only difference is the box it comes in, and the softcover book vs. hardcover.  Oh, and the guitar box also came with a print of a  note in what appears to be Paul Stanley’s handwriting, talking about the long awaited set.  Not a huge deal.

Then, for the ultimate fan, there is the box set that actually came in a full sized guitar case. The Premium Gold Edition. It appears to still be available.

It comes with an RIAA gold record of Kiss Alive!  and apparently “hand written” liner notes in gold ink on parchment paper.  Retail price to us Canucks:  $850 smackaroos!

For the music itself, I rate this one:

5/5 stars

REVIEW: KISS – Greatest Hits (European import 1997)

Part 37 of my series of Kiss reviews, leading up to the release of Monster! 

KISS – Greatest Hits (1997, Europe only)

Wait a minute — wasn’t the last review I did a Kiss compilation from 1997 called Greatest Kiss?  Yup!  Welcome to Kiss – the compilation years.  This is why fans such as me were losing their patience.

Yet, I paid $40 to order this from Europe, wanting my Kiss collection to be as complete as possible.   My employers wondered what the hell was wrong with me, spending $40 for 20 songs that I already had.  I guess it’s hard to understand if you’re not from the Kiss Army!

Greatest Hits was released in Europe hot on the heels of Greatest Kiss. For the fifth time in a row, Kiss had released a non-original, non-studio album. This had never happened before. (For the record, the four before this one were Alive III, MTV Unplugged, You Wanted The Best, and Greatest Kiss.  And this doesn’t include Kiss My Ass.)

The tracklisting is actually a little interesting. Greatest Kiss only had one non-makeup song (“God Gave Rock And Roll To You II”) and this one has three: “Crazy Crazy Nights”, “Lick It Up”, and “God Gave”. That alone was unexpected and I remember listening to this CD, glad that Kiss weren’t totally disregarding the 80’s.

Aside from this, it’s a pretty ordinary compilation and covers a lot of ground already on Greatest Kiss. I did detect one bad edit between tracks, where a fade did not end completely. This was dissapointing to me, and combined with the lack of any sort of liner notes in the packaging, smacked of a rush-job and cash-in.

Thankfully, Kiss were listening, and finally released a studio album next.  Puzzling the general public even more, the next album didn’t have the original lineup.  TO BE CONTINUED…

2/5 stars

REVIEW: KISS – Greatest Kiss (1997 European, Japanese, North American versions)

Part 36 of my series of Kiss reviews, leading up to the release of Monster! 

KISS – Greatest Kiss (1997 European, Japanese, North American versions)

The Reunion Tour was a tremendous ongoing success.  As Kiss hit different markets, different releases were prepared.  Europe got Greatest Kiss first,and I paid almost $30 for it with tax on import from an HMV store in early ’97.

While we, the fans, were not happy that it had been five years since the last studio album, we still bought this new compilation for one “new” track:  A live version of “Shout It Out Loud” from the Reunion Tour.  I’ve heard though that the song was recorded in the studio or at rehearsal, not the live Detroit concert as claimed.  Either way, this song was released as a promotional video, so it was nice to have a CD version of it.

Also, much as You Wanted the Best, You Got the Best!! was a taster for the remastered live albums, Greatest Kiss was a taster for the remastered studio albums, about to be released through 1997 in groups of three.

The CD is otherwise made up of your standard original era hits.  Both North America and Japan had their own track listings, and I ended up getting all three:

Here’s the most familiar around here, the North American version:

1. Detroit Rock City
2. Hard Luck Woman
3. Sure Know Something
4. Deuce
5. Do You Love Me
6. I Was Made For Lovin’ You
7. Calling Dr. Love
8. Christine Sixteen
9. Beth
10. Strutter
11. Cold Gin
12. Plaster Caster (yes! nice to see this on a compilation)
13. Rock And Roll All Nite
14. Flaming Youth
15. Two Sides Of The Coin
16. Shout It Out Loud (Live ’96)

Europe had 20 tracks, adding “Black Diamond”, “God of Thunder”,  “She”, “Love Gun”, “Goin’ Blind”, “”Shock Me”, and puzzlingly “God Gave Rock ‘N’ Roll To You II” which was not by the original band.  Europe lacked “Flaming Youth”, “Two Sides of the Coin”,  and “Christine Sixteen”, however.

Japan also had 20 tracks.  Their CD is almost identical to the European one, with  “Flaming Youth”, “Two Sides of the Coin”,  and “Christine Sixteen” missing.  They subbed in “C’mon And Love Me” and “Rock Bottom” instead of “Cold Gin” and “Plaster Caster”.

Personally I’m not partial to this CD.  The one “new” song is now available on the Kiss Box Set so there’s nothing exclusive.  Today the novelty of the Kiss remasters project is old hat, so there’s not much here to entice a buyer.  There are other compilations on the market, and I’m going to discuss them all.  If you only want original Kiss, then this one works as well as any.

2/5stars

BOOK REVIEW: KISStory

Part 33 of my series of Kiss reviews, leading up to the release of Monster!  By 1995, Kiss merchandising was in full gear.  This was its flagship release.

KISStory, Jeff Kitts, 1995 ($149.99 in 1995, currently $320.70 new/$263.24 used, on Amazon, in CAD)

I got KISStory back when it came out, in early 1995 or so.  I ordered it (or, rather, my mom ordered it for me since she had the credit card in the house) back in July of 1994.   When it arrived, it took me a couple weeks to go through all the content.

Early pressings were all signed by Eric Singer, Bruce Kulick, Paul Stanley, and Gene Simmons. The second pressing was signed by the original band. Personally I am happy with my copy, as I love the Revenge lineup of the band, which was much shorter lived than the original. As a side note, according to the Firehouse fanzine, Bill Aucoin (ex Kiss-manager) stated that a good number of the copies signed by the original band are actually autopen.  For that reason I’m glad I have the Revenge lineup, which was contemporary to the release of the book.

Also, early pressings had a lot of binding issues. Be careful. A friend of mine had his copy of KISStory repaired professionally because his binding fell apart. I have been very, very careful with my book and in the 15 years since, the binding is still OK.  But I treat this thing with kid gloves, people.

Each book is numbered and comes in a black case. The book is massive. Absolutely huge. It’s always funny when the advertizing for a book states that it weighs over 8 lbs.

Content wise, it is rich but flawed. There are numerous errors in the book. For example, the book states that five new songs were released on Kiss Killers. Well, we all know it was four new songs. The timeline is a bit mixed up at times, and the 80’s are not covered in enough depth.  But let’s face it, you don’t buy a book like this for text.  You buy it for the pictures.  Text is kind of like…a bonus track.  The best text is probably in old newspaper articles and concert reviews contained inside anyway.

Where the book succeeds, it succeeds like no other. However you have to remember, when this came out this was the only authorized Kiss book. Now there are lots, and much cheaper. At the time though, some of these photographs had never seen the light of day before. Newspaper articles, reviews, magazine covers, it’s all here, in massive quantities.

I think my personal favourite things were sketches of costumes and basses out of Gene’s personal sketchbook. Also, early lyrics for songs released and unreleased. There are costume sketches for outfits never made. There are drawings for stage shows that never saw the light of day. Everything you can imagine.

Yes, the price tag is hefty. However, if I sold my copy of KISStory today, I’d make a good profit. This is an investment as much as a book, but I think you’ll want to hang onto yours.

4/5 stars.

REVIEW: KISS My A** (1994)

Part 32 of my series of Kiss reviews, leading up to the release of Monster!

VARIOUS – Kiss My Ass: Classic Kiss Regrooved (Official tribute album, 1994)

Kiss My Ass (you just knew they’d use that title eventually) was released in several formats:  LP, CD, and a cool almost unrelated DVD too.  I’ll talk about it all.

In the 90’s if there wasn’t a tribute album for your band, you didn’t matter. But Kiss had one out before Zeppelin and Sabbath. Kiss put it together themselves, which isn’t a bad thing — Black Sabbath and Robert Plant participated in their own tribute albums, too. Kiss My Ass or A** (available with and without profanity) is an enjoyable, diverse listen from start to finish, leaning heavily on stars from the 90’s, but also reaching back in time to a handful of earlier legends.

Up first is a great, very different version of “Deuce” by Lenny Kravitz and Stevie Wonder. Stevie plays some seriously honkin’ harmonica on the track.  It’s completely unlike the original but if you like Lenny Kravitz (which I do), it’s awesome.

The Garth Brooks track is probably the most interesting on the album. Not because it’s Garth — Garth could probably do “Hard Luck Woman” in his sleep, it’s right up his alley and the world knows what a huge Kiss fan he is. It’s his backing band, who appear here uncredited. You may have heard of them. A little band called Kiss.  Kiss even performed the song live with Brooks on late night TV.

Anthrax (with John Bush on vocals), who are also diehard Kiss fans and have done many Kiss covers over the years, simply pummel “She” to a pulp, and once again it’s great. Incidentally, produced by Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons.

By now you’ve heard three diverse tracks by three completely different bands, so you’ll be excused if you find the ride a little bumpy now.

The Gin Blossoms played it very straight on “Christine Sixteen”, but Toad The Wet Sprocket really shook it up on “Rock And Roll All Nite”. You have to admire their urge to experiment with the most famous of all Kiss tunes, but really, who spiked their water with Valium? I snooze through this one every time.  It sucks.

“Calling Dr. Love” is performed by supergroup Shandi’s Addiction: Tom and Brad from Rage Against The Machine, Billy Gould from Faith No More on funky bass, all topped by the unique vocals of Maynard James Keenan. How much more 90’s can you get? None, none more 90’s. I can’t say this track is a winner but it sure is different. You’re forced to keep listening out of sheer curiosity.  It sounds like a mash of all three bands which is pretty unimaginable.

Dinosaur Jr. turn up one of the best performances on the disc with a dour, lush “Goin’ Blind”. This mournful version is true to the spirit of the muddy original, and J. Mascis just nails it. Heh…Dinosaur Jr! Yeah, it must have been 1994.

At this point, I’m realizing that Kiss My Ass is just as much a tribute to the bands of the mid-90’s as it is to Kiss!

Extreme turned in a slowed down but groovy version of “Strutter”, complete with Nuno’s own sweet harmony vocals. Great track by a great, underrated band.

I could do without The Lemonheads’ version of “Plaster Caster”, but it is very faithful to the original song. Once again, kids today will ask “Who are the Lemonheads?”

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones really had balls to open “Detroit Rock City” the way they did. It opens with a phone call from Gene Simmons explaining that they could not perform “Detroit”, as Ugly Kid Joe and Megadeth were already fighting over who was going to do the song. Gene advises them to pick another song, right before that bone-crushing opening riff kicks in. And this is truly a great version, if you dig the Bosstones’ unique style of vocalizing.  Ironically neither Megadeth nor Ugly Kid Joe made the cut for this album.  Nor did Nine Inch Nails, who recorded “Love Gun” (still unreleased).

The final track on the domestic CD is a beautiful orchestral version of “Black Diamond” by someone called Yoshiki (X Japan). This is a great instrumental, and the ideal way to end an album such as this. The album, diverse all the way through, ends on a very different note from that which it began!

Import and LP versions have a bonus track, “Unholy” by some German industrial band. I haven’t heard it because I never opened my LP, but for those interested, it is the only non-makeup song included on the album.

I mentioned a DVD release.  It’s badass.  It’s basically a third DVD, along the lines of Exposed and X-Treme Close Up.  It’s loaded with vintage clips and has some interviews with Paul, Gene, Bruce, and Eric.  They briefly show Anthrax in the studio cutting their Kiss cover, as well as Gin Blossoms.  There’s even a preview of the cover artwork for the forthcoming Kiss album to be called Head…

Lastly, I even have a rare, rare, really really rare promo Kiss My A** On the Radio CD.  I have no idea what this sucker is worth today.  It is the only audio release of some of the best live tunes from the Kiss My Ass DVD, seven of them, along with tons of Gene and Paul talking.

4/5 stars all around.

The track lists can be found within the photo gallery below:

REVIEW: KISS – Revenge (1992)

Redemption! Part 30 of my series of Kiss reviews, leading up to the release of Monster!

I still love this video.

KISS – Revenge (1992)

The death of Eric Carr at age 41 was a terrible tragedy.  A guy who lived a healthy lifestyle, struck down by cancer, at the peak of his talents.

The initial concept of having Eric Carr play on half of Revenge and Eric Singer the other half was shelved.  Carr was simply too sick, something he had a hard time accepting, according to Dale Sherman in his excellent Carr-centric book Black Diamond.  When Eric Carr passed, bringing Singer into the fold was a natural step.  Singer had already worked with Paul Stanley on his 1989 solo tour.

Eric Carr did manage to record background vocals to the preview single, “God Gave Rock ‘N’ Roll To You II”, before passing in November 1991.

Kiss felt like they had something to prove on Revenge.  After a series of poppy albums and lacklustre tours, they found their roots again.  In addition producer Pop Ezrin challenged Bruce Kulick to better himself and make his soloing more aggressive. As a hard-fought result, Kulick’s guitar had never sounded better. It is mean, aggressive, like blood splattering on the railroad tracks. Wah-wah pedals and effects came to the forefront and it completely suited the music that Kiss had written.

“Unholy”, the first song and first single, was also the first Gene Simmons lead vocal in a Kiss single since “I Love It Loud”. It sounds like the demonic half-brother to “War Machine” from Creatures Of The Night. Indeed, if Revenge would be compared to any previous Kiss album it should probably be Creatures.

“I Just Wanna” was the second single, a Paul song. Sadly it is quite a transparent rewrite of “Summertime Blues”. It also has a silly chorus: “I just wanna fuh-, I just wanna fuh-, I just wanna forget you.” Despite this it’s also one of the catchiest tunes on the album, and quite irrestible despite its flaws.

Third single, “Domino”, was another Gene track, this one the most vintage-KISS of them all. It is a basic stripped down groovy rock track with Gene singing about a girl named Domino who “got me by the balls”. The video was quite unique in that it featured Kiss playing as a trio, Paul on bass, while Gene was out cruising in his car. Bruce’s soloing here is really good.

Fourth and final single from the album was “Every Time I Look At You” featuring Bob Ezrin on piano. It’s another power ballad, along the lines of “Forever” or the later “I Finally Found My Way”. Sadly in the era of grunge it was quickly forgotten, but aside from a very nice version with strings from MTV Unplugged it is largely forgettable anyway.  Inferior to “Forever” despite the superior production values.

The rest of the tracks include “Take It Off”, Paul’s tribute to strippers everywhere, and very similar in style and tone to “I Just Wanna”. Paul’s “Tough Love” channels S&M, a bit and is a very cool heavier rock track with some great Bruce solos. “Spit” is quite possibly the album’s best song, and the most fun.  Paul even quotes Spinal Tap:  “The bigger the cushion, the better the pushin'”. Its vocals are split between Gene and Paul, a rarity in later Kiss. Bruce’s solo here is awesome. His technique is stunning, the solo is both amusing and jaw-dropping.

“Side 1” of the album ended with a remix of “God Gave Rock And Roll To You II”, previously released on the Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey soundtrack.  Not really an outstanding song, it’s a semi-cover of an old Argent song and again features Gene and Paul splitting the lead vocals.

“Side 2” kicks off with the Vinnie Vincent-penned “Heart of Chrome”, one of Paul’s coolest titles and another outstanding track, somewhat similar to “Tough Love”. Gene’s “Thou Shalt Not” covers similar lyrical territory as “Cadillac Dreams” from the last album, but is a much better song.  It is very catchy and has some cool licks on guitar. “Paralyzed” is another Gene track, only this time the verses are cooler than the chorus. There’s also a nifty spoken word bit in the middle as only Gene can do, kind of funky.

The album ends with “Carr Jam 1981”, an Eric song which had circulated in collector’s circles for a long time, except with Ace Frehley on lead guitar. It was recorded by Ezrin during The Elder sessions which yielded a ton of unused song ideas. Ace Frehley decided to use it himself in 1987 as “Breakout”, on the Frehley’s Comet album. This version however replaces Ace’s guitar with Bruce Kulick’s.  Eric Carr plays the only drum solo he ever recorded in the studio.  It is a very fitting tribute to the man who helped Kiss get through some very tough times, and didn’t live long enough to play drums on this fantastic album.

Some fans heard the heavier sound on this CD and accused Kiss of selling out to grunge. Not so; the album was released in early 1992 and was written before grunge took hold. Music was naturally moving in a heavier direction at the time, and Kiss were part of that.  Kiss’ recent evolution had shown that Revenge was the only possible next step.

Well, other than a reunion.  And Revenge would prove to be the last studio album released (though not recorded!) before the long-awaited return of the original Kiss.

4.5/5 stars