KISS

Forostar

Ancient Mariner
I guess everyone must have heard something by KISS to have an opinion about them. I'd say go ahead but I especially wanted to open this topic because it seems the band re-recorded old songs.

DefSTAR Records/Sony Music Japan has just released "Jigoku-Retsuden", a new KISS greatest-hits CD featuring all-new recordings of 15 KISS classics. The tracks were recently recorded and feature Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer. A limited-edition version of the CD includes a bonus "Kissology Special" DVD with live footage from KISS' legendary 1977 performance at Budokan.

"Jigoku-Retsuden" (new recordings CD):

01. Deuce
02. Detroit Rock City
03. Shout It Out Loud
04. Hotter Than Hell
05. Calling Dr. Love
06. Love Gun
07. I Was Made For Lovin' You
08. Heaven's On Fire
09. Lick It Up
10. I Love It Loud
11. Forever
12. Christine Sixteen
13. Do You Love Me
14. Black Diamond
15. Rock And Roll All Nite

Check out audio samples at this location.

So, do some KISS-lovers like this? Is it cool or it useless blasphemy? Only original versions in your stereo (or computer?)

I wouldn't mind to see Maiden doing something like this (perhaps with the more rare tracks).
 
Useless blasphemy?

If Singer and Thayer merely duplicated Ace's and Peter's original parts, then it's useless.

If they altered those parts and did their own thing, then it's blasphemy.

One or the other, not both.  :bigsmile:
 
Gene Simmons should re-record "When You Wish Upon A Star".
 
Haven't listened to the samples, but yesterday one of the Sirius DJs described them as "plodding and uninspired". And this is a DJ who likes old Kiss songs. So I'll take his word for it.
 
KISS.... great live, fucking hate them otherwise... HATE. and since I've never SEEN them live... I just hate them
 
I cannot conceive the horror of the upbringing which could leave your soul so irreparably barren as to make you hate Kiss. There are few, if any, more perfect embodiments of rock and roll as a party. Specifically: "Rock and roll all nite and party every day" is not merely a song lyric; it's a goddamn mission statement.

Children of the Church of Adrian Smith, please join me in a prayer for Onhell:

Master H, we humbly beseech thee to pick up thy axe and play the intro riff from "Calling Dr. Love" a few times to heal the damaged mind of Onhell, whose distorted view of Kiss threatens to bring us all down. Or at least make Dennis Stratton play it for you, if the lowly Stratton is finished shining your shoes. In either case, please restore Onhell to sanity such that he may enjoy the greatness of even the cheesiest Kiss songs like "Let's Put The X In Sex".

This prayer service of the Church of Adrian Smith has concluded. Go in heaviness.
 
I hate most "party anthems." Unless I'm drunk or high, I cannot stand mindless party lyrics. I can much better stomach cheese like Europe or Survivor than the crap Kiss, Motley Crue and other "bands" have put out.
 
A message from the High Priest of the Church of Adrian Smith:

I have a confession to make, my children. A confession regarding the sin of pride.

In a folly of enormous magnitude, I had the pride and ego to instruct His Holiness Adrian Smith on how to heal Onhell's terribly morbid soul. I asked His H-ness to play the intro riff from a Kiss song.

I am but a puny mortal, and I have no place telling Adrian Smith what to do. I shall not repeat that mistake.

Let us pray:
O Adrian Smith, we beseech thee to heal the insanity of Onhell in any manner which you see fit. It is clear that Onhell desperately needs your assistance, and we know that your power can restore him to wholeness. Look favorably upon him and grant him the ability to enjoy party anthems.

May the Mullet be with you.
 
Onhell said:
I hate most "party anthems." Unless I'm drunk or high, I cannot stand mindless party lyrics. I can much better stomach cheese like Europe or Survivor than the crap Kiss, Motley Crue and other "bands" have put out.
Motley Crue had their moments. Overall, I'd say that the Crue are not a bad band - and good fun live.

Kiss just are a bit too cheesy for me.
 
Albie said:
Motley Crue had their moments. Overall, I'd say that the Crue are not a bad band - and good fun live.

Kiss just are a bit too cheesy for me.

I have the exact opposite idea. I despize all those hairbands from the 80's with their crappy songmaterial.
Kiss had some good songs, especially in the 70's but also on some eighties records.
 
Looks like I was more positive in the past.

Let's continue the Kiss discussion here, if there's some animo.

To be honest, I have not seen the Kiss DVD's. What struck me was the difference in time range they covered.


Per album, I wrote down the songs that I like. It ranges from pretty OK to great. The best ones per album are in blue, but they are not in every case great; just the best from the album.


Kiss (1974)
Black Diamond
Strutter


Hotter than Hell (1974)
Hotter than Hell
Goin Blind


Dressed to Kill (1975)
Getaway
C’mon and Love Me
Rock Bottom


Destroyer (1976)
Detroit Rock City
Shout it Out Loud
King of the Night Time World
God of Thunder
Beth
Do You Love Me


Rock and Roll Over (1976)
I Want You
Calling Dr. Love
Ladies Room
Makin’ Love


Love Gun (1977)
Love Gun
Christine Sixteen
I Stole Your Love
Shock Me


Dynasty (1979)
Magic Touch (One of my alltime favourite Kiss songs. Superb vocal melodies/harmonies and a fine warm guitar sound and solos)
Sure Know Something
Charisma
X-Ray Eyes
I Was Made for Loving You


Unmasked (1980)
Easy As It Seems
Naked City
I like all these catchy tunes for these two albums. Great bass lines.


The Elder (1981)
Best album. Great from start to end. Progressive rock, serious music.


Creatures of the Night (1982)
Creatures of the Night
Danger
War Machine
Kiss' most overrated album because the rest is pretty bad.


Lick It Up (1983)
A Million to One
Exciter
And on the 8th Day
The rest is pretty bad.


Animalize (1984)
I've Had Enough (Into the Fire)
Thrills in the Night
While the City Sleeps
The rest is pretty bad.


Asylum (1985)
Who Wants to be Lonely
King of the Mountain
Tears Are Falling
I’m Alive
The rest is pretty bad.


Crazy Nights (1987)
I'll Fight Hell to Hold You
Crazy Crazy Nights
My Way
Reason to Live
The rest is pretty bad.


Hot in the Shade (1989)
I'll Fight Hell to Hold You
Crazy Crazy Nights
My Way
Reason to Live
The rest is pretty bad.


Revenge (1992)
Carr Jam 1981
Domino
Heart of Chrome
The rest is pretty bad.
So yeah, it is a real mixed bag post Elder ... you could take all the good songs off these 10 albums and end up with 4 good albums
Make that 1 for me.
 
I'll play, just my favorites from each album though

Kiss (1974)
Deuce



Hotter than Hell (1974)
Got To Choose

Dressed to Kill (1975)
C’mon and Love Me

Destroyer (1976)
King of the Night Time World

Rock and Roll Over (1976)
I Want You (Or Makin' Love)





Love Gun (1977)
Shock Me

Dynasty (1979)
Sure Know Something

Unmasked (1980)
Talk To Me



The Elder:
The Oath

Creatures of the Night (1982)
I Still Love You

Lick It Up (1983)
All Hell's Breaking Loose

Animalize (1984)
Heaven's On Fire

Asylum (1985)
Tears Are Falling

Crazy Nights (1987)
Crazy Crazy Nights

Hot in the Shade (1989)
Rise To It

Revenge (1992)
Really tough to decide. Either Unholy or I Just Wanna.
 
See the Kiss dvds, Foro. They're great. The commentaries by Paul and Gene are great as well. Even though some years have more content than others, every era is pretty well represented.

Kissology 1 is just 70's. All the way up to Love Gun. Nothing from the Destroyer tour, but I think every other tour has something. The setlists don't vary much but there are 2 really good concerts. Cobo Hall and Winterland. The former being from the Alive era and the latter being from the Hotter Than Hell era. Very good mix of interviews and concert and it's interesting to see the band grow so rapidly.

Kissology 2 has more content and thus, more eras are covered. The first disc is the last we see of the original lineup. Not much on it as the space is filled up by the movie Kiss Meets The Phantom, which is so bad that I've never been able to get through the whole thing. It gives a good idea of where they were as a band though, and the soundtrack is mostly stuff from the solo albums. Then Disc 2 is them introducing Eric Carr and has what is one of the best concerts in the entire series. Definitely the best of the makeup era. Kiss in Australia from the Unmasked tour. Great energy, good setlist that covers just about everything up to that point, and awesome show. Also some Elder performances. Disc 3 is all without makeup except for the first concert, which isn't very good imo. It has Vinnie Vincent on guitar and the quality is pretty bad. Not to mention the meh setlist. This was a rough time for Kiss, as the commentaries say, but that particular show was huge. At the Macarana stadium in Rio, very familiar to us Maiden fans. Lots of great stuff after that though, including Kiss' first appearance and concert without makeup. Also another one of the best concerts in the series, Palace Of Auburn Hills during the Hot In The Shade Tour. Huge stage, huge setlist, Bruce Kulick. Pretty good tribute to Eric Carr at the end.

3 is pretty much all concert. Disc one is the best. Show from the Revenge Tour that rivals the Hot In The Shade show I talked about earlier and the Unplugged show which is a must see. Not only is it a cool contrast to the huge stadium shows and loud rock that we're used to from Kiss but we also get to see the original lineup reunite for some songs. Disc 2 and 3 covers the 3 tours that the reunited lineup did together. The reunion tour, Psycho Circus, and the Farewell Tour. The stage and setlists are pretty similar in all of these so I don't watch them much. But Tiger Stadium and Dodger Stadium are pretty cool. Dodger Stadium is so long that it's on 2 discs! Probably the only show you absolutely need to see from this era, but the whole set is worth seeing at least once. Disc 4 is the earliest complete Kiss concert that we know of. Includes most of the first album plus Let Me Go Rock And Roll. It's pretty cool, I like seeing Let Me Know. That's a fun a song.

Damn, now I'm going to have to watch these again!
 
Good description of the DVDs. Winterland is probably my favorite show on there. As for Phantom of the Park, it is so bad, it is almost good. In a Mystery Science Theater sort of way .. probably helps to have a few drinks while watching it. Keep an eye out for Black Ace (his stunt double).

As for the albums, I'll take a few different tacts

For these albums, these are the songs I do not like

Kiss

Kissing Time (stupid cover/single)

Hotter Than Hell
Like the whole album, thought the production could be better, the Alive versions usually sound better

Dressed to Kill
Two Timer

Destroyer
Great Expectations (they are not the Beatles)

Rock and Roll Over
Like the whole album

Love Gun
Then She Kissed Me

Ace Frehley
One of my all time favorite albums

From there on, these are the songs I do like

Paul Stanley
Tonight You Belong to Me
Rest of the album is okay, but nothing great

Gene Simmons
Radioactive
See You in Your Dreams
Rest is okay

Peter Criss
As a whole, I like the album, but it is not really a rock album and you have to be in a certain mood to get into it

Dynasty
2,000 Man
Sure Know Something
Dirty Livin
Save Your Love
Rest is decent, I cannot stand I Was Made for Lovin You though
Unmasked
Talk to Me
Torpedo Girl
Two Sides of the Coin
Rest is okay to bad.

Elder
Pretty much like the whole album Odyssey and Just a Boy are a little weak. Dark Light and The Oath are awesome

Creatures of the Night
Title Track, War Machine, and Danger ... rest is not so good.

Lick it Up
I like most of this one except Gimme More and A Million to One

Animalize
Under the Gun, I've Had Enough, Heavens on Fire .. rest is so-so to weak

Asylum/Crazy Nights/Hot in the Shade
I like these less and less every time I hear them and have little desire to hear them again

Revenge
Unholy, Domino, Carr Jam (which if you like, check out Breakout on the first Frehley's Comet album , which was based on it), and Heart of Chrome

Carnival of Souls
Hate, Rain, Jungle, Master and Slave, the rest is still pretty decent

Psycho Circus
Title Track, Into the Void, Within .. rest is so-so to poor

Sonic Boom/Monster
Cannot get into either of these album. I am a little tired of the "you can do anything you want kind of sappy songs"
 
I liked Sonic Boom when it came out, now not so much. Monster was horrible, worst Kiss album. I couldn't even finish it. I actually haven't heard Carnival of Souls. I probably should try it one of these days.

And yea, Winterland is awesome. My favorite would either be Sydney, the Hot In The Shade show, or the Revenge Show.
 
Carnival of Souls is an odd album, it is similar to the Elder in that it a real departure for the band, both in terms of the content of the songs and musical style. It is also odd that the album was finished when the reunion started, so for a year+ there were leaks of the album around and bootlegs before it was released. Then when it was released, the reunion was in full swing and they did little to promote it, never toured for it (like Elder). Bruce Kuilick, now no longer with the band did most of the promotion as it featured his sole vocal effort for Kiss along and he had most of writing credits on it.
 
That's part of the reason why I avoided it. It doesn't seem like a coherent album, just a compilation of what they were working on. Also, I've heard bits from the making of thing in Kissology 3 and I didn't care for it too much.
 
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