By
Paul Autry
Before I begin this review, I'd like to state that Kiss is, without a doubt,
my all time favorite band. When it comes to rock 'n' roll, there is none
better. Kiss is number one and everyone else is just second best. This
release is something that Kiss fans have been waiting a long time for and,
since it has finally been released, it's sure to be the subject of many a
conversation. Was it worth waiting for is probably the main question that
people will be asking. Well, it all depends on how you look at it. Everything
that's found on this five disc set...including the previously unreleased
material...is already in circulation. If I wanted to, I could've had
everything on this release and, yes, that includes the previously unreleased
stuff, without even trying hard. So, for the hardcore Kiss fan, there's
nothing special to be found here. You've heard it all before. Now, for those
of you who don't go through the bootleg circle to get anything and everything
you can, there's some interesting material to be found here. But, when
it comes to the studio recordings, most people already have everything.
So, once again, there's nothing special here. It's the same old stuff
that we've heard over and over again. If you consider the fact that Kiss is
a band that could put out, hell, probably a 30 hour box set of
material that even the most dedicated fan has never heard, you could view
this as a disappointment. You know for a fact that Kiss is sitting on a
wealth of material that very few people have heard. So, why not give
us something like that...the good stuff. Most Kiss fans are
exceptionally loyal and, no matter what you see fit to release, they'll buy
it. So, when are we gonna start getting what we really deserve? Come on,
guys, we've stood behind you long enough...we deserve something
new...we deserve something special. Dig deep into that vault and do the
right thing. Anyway, we've got about six hours worth of material to go
through here and we're gonna go through it pretty much track by track.
That's the only way to review this release. With that said...you wanted
the best...you got it...the hottest band in the world...KISS!
DISC ONE:
1966-1975 It would seem that this is the disc that stands out as far as
the material is concerned. It starts off with the demo version of
"Strutter" and "Deuce" and then goes into three pre-Kiss tunes from the
unreleased Wicked Lester album. But, those songs, which would be "Keep Me
Waiting," "She" and "Love Her All I Can," (two of which would later be
re-recorded by Kiss) aren't anything special since a lot of people,
including myself, already have a copy of this album. One has to wonder why
this album remains on the shelf. Most people already have it and those
who don't can easily get a copy because it's not hard to find. In fact,
my copy is just as good as what I'm hearing here. You then get the
demo version of "Let Me Know" and "100,000 Years." The next two tracks,
an unreleased Paul Stanley demo, "Stop, Look To Listen" and a demo
from Gene's Bullfrog Bheer days, "Leeta," are rather interesting. The
other two songs that appear here in demo form are "Let Me Go Rock 'N'
Roll" and "Firehouse." "Acrobat," which eventually became "Love Theme
From Kiss," without vocals is featured here in a live version. Yes, that
tune actually had vocals at one time, which were from a Gene Simmons
penned song, "Too Young." The rest of the disc goes on like just
another compilation album..."Nothin' To Lose," "Black Diamond," "Hotter
Than Hell," "Strange Ways," "Parasite," "Goin' Blind," "Anything For
My Baby," "Ladies In Waiting" and "Rock And Roll All Nite."
DISC
TWO: 1975-1977 We start this disc off with four songs from the "Alive"
album, "C'mon And Love Me," "Rock Bottom, "Watchin' You" and "Cold Gin."
What's the point here? "Rock Bottom" was already featured on the "You Wanted
The Best, You Got The Best Album" and most Kiss fans already have
"Alive." Right here is just another example of the band giving us the same
old stuff that we've heard a million times over. We then get the
demo version of "Doncha Hesitate" and "Mad Dog." The guitar line from
"Mad Dog" would later be featured in "Flaming Youth." We all know that
"God Of Thunder" is the ultimate Gene Simmons song and this demo
version, which is more uptempo that what you hear on "Destroyer," features
Paul Stanley on vocals and if you're someone who likes to know who
wrote what, well, you should know that "God Of Thunder" was a Paul
Stanley song. So, this was rather interesting to hear. Also from the
"Destroyer" album, we get "Great Expectations," "Beth" and "Do You Love Me."
Now, come on, who hasn't heard the original version of "Beth" before?
Even people who hate Kiss know this song. Why not give us a different
version of this one? After all, how many Kiss albums and, hell, how many
non Kiss albums has this appeared on? Yes, it's a good song and it
did wonders for the band, but, enough is enough. Why not put the
acoustic version on here that Peter Criss recorded later in his career?
That would've been cool and it wouldn't have been expected. Next is the
demo of "Bad, Bad Lovin'," which would eventually become "Calling Dr.
Love," which is also included here. Speaking of which, something caught my
ear on this one and I even pulled out my "Rock And Roll Over" disc to
double check. About 15 seconds into "Calling Dr. Love," it sounds like
there's a defect in the song. It's on the original and it's on this version
as well. It's hard to describe what I'm hearing. I guess you could say
it sounds like a skip. So, my question would be, was this intentional or
is there a defect on the original, master tape? I've never seen
this discussed anywhere and, not that it matters a whole hell of a lot.
But, I'd like to know the answer. There's nothing too special about the
demo for "Mr. Speed" except that there's an unknown drummer and Bob
Kulick plays lead guitar. Four more studio tracks, "Christeen Sixteen,"
"Hard Luck Woman," "Shock Me" and "I Stole Your Love" are up next and,
let's be honest here, how many other albums have these songs been on? It's
not like we've never heard them before. The soundcheck recording of "I
Want You" was pretty cool...why wasn't there more tunes like this included
on this release? We also get the demo version of "Love Gun" and
an unreleased Gene Simmons demo, "Love Is Blind," which is a
rather interesting number. There's a click track in the back round and it's
an acoustic tune. This sounds like something that should've been
featured on the Gene Simmons solo album. Kind of a mellow way to end this
disc, but, like I said, it's one of the more interesting numbers.
DISC
THREE: 1976-1982 This is probably the weakest disc in the set as it
doesn't offer all that much. We start off with "Detroit Rock City," without
the introduction that's featured on the "Destroyer" album. Yet, in the
book that comes with the box set, which we'll discuss later, it mentions
the introduction. So, why talk about it in the book and not include it
on here? That doesn't make any sense to me. It then goes into a
live version of "King Of The Night Time World" from "Alive II." More
songs featured from that release include "Larger Than Life" and "Rocket
Ride." We go into the four solo albums next and, wouldn't you
know it...wouldn't you expect it...you get one song from each
release. "Tonight You Belong To Me" by Paul Stanley, "Don't You Let Me Down"
by Peter Criss and "New York Groove" by Ace Frehley. Now, when it comes
to Gene Simmons, we get the demo version of "Radioactive," which
featured Married With Children's Katey Segal on backround vocals. "I Was Made
For Lovin' You" and "Sure Know Something" are here to represent
the "Dynasty" album and the studio version of "Shandi" is here to
represent "Unmasked." We go a little more into the "Unmasked" album with a
demo version of "You're All That I Want, You're All That I Need," which
later became "You're All That I Want," and a live version of "Talk To Me."
The "(Music From) The Elder" album, which I happen to enjoy, is featured
by way of "A World Without Heroes" and "The Oath." Sadly missing is what
I feel is one of the stronger songs from that album and one that
best represents what Kiss was and is all about, the song with a one
letter title, "I." At least this disc ends on a rather heavy note,
with "Nowhere To Run" from the "Killers" album and "Creatures Of The
Night," "War Machine" and "I Love It Loud" from the "Creatures Of The
Night" album.
DISC FOUR: 1983-1989 This is the disc that I found the
most pleasure in simply because of the song selection. Yes, there's not much
in the way of bonus material and the studio tracks are, as I've said before,
stuff we've heard a million times over. But, I enjoy the way this disc flows
and it's pretty much some of my favorite non-makeup Kiss songs. We start
out with the "Lick It Up" album, which was when Kiss finally decided to take
off the make up and go with the flow like every other band out there. "Lick
It Up" and "All Hell's Breaking Loose" kick things into gear and takes us
into the "Animalize" album with "Heaven's On Fire," "Get All You Can Take,"
and "Thrills In The Night." We go into the "Asylum" album with "Tears Are
Falling" and one of my all time favorite sex songs, "Uh All Night." So, here
we are, seven tracks into the disc and, finally, on the eighth track, we get
something special, the demo version of "Time Traveler," a song that was
written for the "Crazy Nights" album that just didn't make the cut. Now, I
know this is only a demo, but, if the song was properly recorded, I could see
it being included on the "Crazy Nights" album. As far as other songs
from that album, they give you "Crazy, Crazy Nights," "Reason To Live"
and "Hell Or High Water." We get one of the two new tracks from
the "Smashes, Thrashes & Hits" disc and the one we get is "Let's Put The
X In Sex." We close the disc out with selections from "Hot In The
Shade," including "Hide Your Heart," "Silver Spoon" and the single version
of "Forever." The demo version of "Ain't That Peculiar" is the
original version of the Eric Carr tune, "Little Caesar." DISC FIVE:
1992-1999 Well, first of all, the songs on this disc cover material between
the years 1992 and 1999. Last time I checked, that was two years ago.
You mean to tell me that there's nothing after 1999 that they
could've included on this release...no recent live tracks or anything like
that? Oh well, that's rock 'n' roll for you. As I'm sure you already
know, this release starts off with tracks from "Revenge." Those tracks
include "God Gave Rock 'N' Roll To You II," "Unholy" and "Every Time I Look
At You" and the demo version of "Domino." We don't get anything special from
the "Unplugged" album. Four tracks, "Comin' Home," "Got To Choose," "I Still
Love You" and "Nothin' To Lose." There's also nothing special from the
"Carnival Of Souls" or "Psycho Circus" albums either..."Childhood's End," "I
Will Be There," "Psycho Circus," (without the intro), "Into The Void,"
"Within" and "I Pledge Allegiance To The State Of Rock & Roll." From the
"Detroit Rock City" soundtrack, we get the Diane Warren penned tune "Nothing
Can Keep Me From You." Oh, and we can't forget the "Greatest Kiss" album,
gotta throw something on here from that one and "Shout It Out Loud" was
what they gave us. The real gem on this disc and the only other special
track besides the "Domino" demo is the original version of "It's My
Life," which was recorded by the late great Wendy O. Williams on her
Gene Simmons produced album from 1984, "Wow," which is a great album and
I know a lot of people who consider that a Kiss album. After all,
it's produced by Gene Simmons and some of the featured players include
Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley and Eric Carr. This disc, and the box set
itself, ends with yet another version of "Rock And Roll All Nite" from
the upcoming "Alive IV" album, which should see the light of day
sometime next year. The box set comes with an official merchandise
catalog...of course, we can't leave that out. That's what it's all about now
anyway, isn't it? Yeah, that was a shot...sorry, couldn't help it. I only
call it like I see it and even my all time favorite band can't avoid the
truth that flows from the keyboard as I type my reviews. Also included is a
book that gives us the history of the band...like we don't know that by
heart by now, right? The most interesting part of the book comes from the
band as they give you the story behind each song that's included on
this release. There's some stuff that I already know, but, for the most
part, there was a lot that I didn't know. So, it was an
exceptionally informative read. Plus, there's a ton of great pictures, most
of which have already been seen by the public before. So, what it boils down
to is this...and I'm sure the debate will continue for many years
to come...was this release worth waiting for and does it do the
band justice? Well, like I said at the begining of this review, everything
on this release is already in circulation in one form or another. I
could have gotten this entire box set without even trying. So, most people
who purchase this will probably say the same thing. In that sense, it's
a disappointment, especially when you consider that Kiss is a band
that could release a box set that features over six hours of material
that hasn't been heard, even in the hardcore bootleg circles, by anyone
other than themselves. As for doing the band justice, yes, I would say it
does that. This release covers the history of the band and it does it
rather well. Although some discussion is sure to be about what other
songs should've been included on here and, if I put a little thought into
it, I could argue the point for certain songs from album to album.
Every member of the band is given exposure as well. It's not just
Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley, Peter Criss and Paul Stanley. Eric Carr,
Vinnie Vincent, Mark St. John, Bruce Kulick and Eric Singer are featured
on here as well. Although no other members other than Gene, Ace, Peter
and Paul are given a chance to add any input, which should have been
done when discussing the songs that they performed on. It would have
been nice to get their perspective on things as well. After all, this
release is supposed to celebrate the entire history of the band and, yes,
after the original band became a memory for all those years, Kiss was
alive and well in various forms and without those additional members,
Kiss would not have survived the non-makeup years. As good as Gene and
Paul are, they couldn't get up on that stage by themselves and be Kiss
now, could they? Another topic of discussion might be how well this album
actually flows. When you go from listening to a studio track to a demo,
there's an obvious difference in the sound quality and I feel that throws the
album off balance. Sure, the songs are in order, but, wouldn't it have
been better to include all the bonus material on a seperate disc or
two because, let's face it, that's why most of us will purchase this
to begin with. I paid exactly $63.48 for my copy of this release and,
for the most part, I'm happy with it. It's a welcomed addition to
my collection. Hell, my collection wouldn't be complete without it. But,
on the other hand, I was expecting a little more for my money. Since I
have every one of the Kiss albums, I already had about what, 90% of
this material. Well, what can I say, they've gotta keep their cash cow
alive and well and there's no doubt that we'll probably see another box set
a few years down the road. If and when they decide to do another
one, hopefully, they'll give their fans a whole collection of material
that we haven't heard before...even in the bootleg circles. That would be
the ultimate tribute to the greatest rock 'n' roll band that this planet
has ever seen! http://www.kissonline.com
© 2002, BBHrdRpt
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