Kiss – ‘Kissworld: The Best of Kiss’ (2017) – Album Review (The Kiss Review Series)

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic

I know what you are thinking.  Why do we need another Kiss Greatest Hits compilation?  Honestly, we really don’t.  We have tons already and there is nothing new on here that the real fan doesn’t already have.  So Why?  Well, easy.  Kiss was touring their End of the Road tour and they wanted product out there that the casual fan or new fan that they get from all the press can run out and grab.  Simple!

But is this something worth getting?  As a casual fan…Maybe, but maybe not as well as there are better compilations out there.  As the Hard Core Fan….Well, I did buy it if that tells you anything.  I had to buy it because I didn’t have it in my ever growing collection.  Plus, it is so pretty.  Yes, pretty.  I bought the Special Edition double LP with Yellow/Red Splatter vinyl.

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The packaging is a gatefold with the Group photo on the front and the track listing on the back such as below…

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And when you open the gatefold, you don’t get a giant picture of the band or a huge concert photo, you get an old vintage picture of the original members on one side.  I mean this is early Kiss.  Notice that sweater Paul is wearing under his leather jacket…wait…sorry…that is just his chest hair…my bad.

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On the other side, you get another picture.  Wait…sorry…no you don’t.  You get another track listing!!  What the hell is that all about.  You put it on the back, why don’t we get another picture or even some album notes or comments from the band…something other than a repeat of the track listing.  That is the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen…and probably the laziest as well!!

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I guess they want to shout out what a great track listing they have, but really they don’t.  Now I know how hard it must be to have such a vast catalog and somehow narrow it down to only 20 songs.  That is quite a huge undertaking.  The track listing isn’t bad, just weird.

There is nothing from the first couple albums, nothing from the solos, nothing from Creatures of the Night!!! Also, there are 3 songs from Destroyer.  3 out of 20 songs from one album, come on guys.

But there are some cool things about the tracks.  There is a bunch from the 80’s, 90’s and beyond.  You get “I’m A Legend Tonight” from the Killers Compilation, you get “Shandi” and “Unholy” which are great choices.  It is nice to see the last three albums get a song a piece.  It isn’t all bad.  It is mostly an uninspiring track list.

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Don’t get me wrong, I do love the package as a whole.  I only think they could have put a little more time and effort into putting the whole package together.  There is nothing new to offer the hardcore fan.  No new mixes, special live editions or anything.  I have everything on here (more than once in some instances) so at least a nugget of something new or rare would have been a nice touch.

Now production wise, the album sounds great.  The vinyl is so clean and crisp sounding and the music comes to life.  I enjoyed every song (okay, maybe not “Rock & Roll All Nite” as I am okay only hearing that in a concert setting).

I will rate the whole package a 2.5 out of 5.0 Stars.  It gets a higher mark because of its stunning beauty of the package.  The colored Vinyl is brilliant and the album cover is so life-like.  Such a great photo of each member.  Really eye-catching.  The Music choices are why it is only getting a 2.5.  Not enough variety and some strange choices, but I get how hard it was to narrow down.  There were still some great songs on here though.  The basic set is for the casual fan.  This set is for the more hardcore fan who wants a limited edition set with colored-vinyl.  It’s so pretty!!!

And that brings us to our FINAL KISS REVIEW!!!! Come back next week for our final review in the Kiss Review Series.  After that, we will have one more post that will be an Album Ranking of all the Kiss Studio Albums.  I can’t believe we are almost done!!

Next Up: Kiss – Off The Soundboard: Tokyo 2001 (2021)

Check out the rest of the series if you have time!!

The Kiss Review Series:

  1. Wicked Lester and the Progeny Demo Sessions (Bootleg)
  2. Kiss – Kiss (1974)
  3. Kiss – Hotter Than Hell (1974)
  4. Kiss – Dressed to Kill (1975)
  5. Kiss – Alive! (1975)
  6. Kiss – Destroyer (1976)
  7. Kiss – “Flaming Youth” 45 Promo Single – Bonus Edition (1976)
  8. Kiss – Special Kiss Album For Their Summer Tour (1976)
  9. Kiss – The Originals (1976)
  10. Kiss – Rock & Roll Over (1976)
  11. Kiss – Love Gun (1977)
  12. Kiss – Alive II (1977)
  13. Kiss – Double Platinum (1978)
  14. Kiss – Paul Stanley (1978)
  15. Kiss – Gene Simmons (1978)
  16. Kiss – Peter Criss (1978)
  17. Kiss – Ace Frehley (1978)
  18. Kiss – Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park Movie (1978)
  19. Kiss – Dynasty (1979)
  20. Kiss – “I Was Made For Lovin’ You” (1979) – 12″ & 7″ Singles (Bonus Edition)
  21. Kiss – Unmasked (1980)
  22. Peter Criss – Out of Control (1980)
  23. Kiss – Music From The Elder (1981)
  24. Kiss – Killers (1982)
  25. Kiss – Creatures of the Night (1982)
  26. Kiss – Lick It Up (1983)
  27. Kiss – Animalize (1984)
  28. Wendy O. Williams – WOW (1984) (Bonus Edition)
  29. Kiss – Animalize Live Uncensored (1985)
  30. Kiss – Asylum (1985)
  31. Kiss – “Tears Are Falling” 7″ Single (Bonus Edition) (1985)
  32. Kiss – Creatures of the Night (1985 Re-Issue)
  33. Vinnie Vincent Invasion – Vinnie Vincent Invasion (1986)
  34. Black N’ Blue – Nasty Nasty (1986)
  35. Ace Frehley – Frehley’s Comet (1987)
  36. Kiss – Exposed VHS (1987)
  37. Kiss – Crazy Nights (1987)
  38. Kiss – “Crazy Crazy Nights” – 12″ Single (Bonus Edition)
  39. Kiss – “Reason To Live” – 12″ Picture Disc (Bonus Edition)
  40. Kiss – Chikara (1988)
  41. Kiss – Smashes, Thrashes & Hits (1988)
  42. Kiss – Hot In The Shade (1989)
  43. Kiss – “God Gave Rock And Roll To You II” (1991) – 12″ Picture Disc
  44. Kiss – Revenge (1992)
  45. Kiss – Alive III (1993)
  46. Kiss – Konfidential VHS (1993)
  47. Kiss – Kiss My Ass: Classic Kiss Regrooved (1994)
  48. Kiss – MTV Unplugged (1996)
  49. Kiss – You Wanted the Best, You Got the Best!! (1996)
  50. Kiss – Greatest Kiss (1997)
  51. Kiss – Carnival of Souls: The Final Sessions (1997)
  52. Kiss – Psycho Circus (1998)
  53. Kiss – The Second Coming Documentary (1998)
  54. Eric Carr – Rockology (1999)
  55. Mark St. John – Mark St. John Project (1999)
  56. Eric Singer Project – ESP (1999)
  57. Bruce Kulick – Audiodog (2001)
  58. Kiss – Kiss Symphony: Alive IV (2003)
  59. Gene Simmons – Asshole (2004)
  60. Kiss – Rock the Nation Live! DVD (2005)
  61. Kiss – Alive! The Millennium Concert (2006)
  62. Paul Stanley – Live to Win (2006)
  63. Kiss – Kissology: Volumes 1 to 3 (2006-2007)
  64. Kiss – Jigoku-Retsuden (2008)
  65. Kiss – Sonic Boom (2009)
  66. Kiss – Monster (2012)
  67. Kiss – The Casablanca Singles 1973-1982 (2012)
  68. Kiss – Kiss 40 (2014)
  69. Kiss – Kiss Rocks Vegas (2016)
  70. Kiss – Kissworld: The Best of Kiss (2017)

The Bootleg Series:

  1. Kiss – ‘Accept No Imitations’ (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (ASYLUM TOUR)
  2. Kiss – Look Wot You Dun to Me (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (CRAZY NIGHTS TOUR)
  3. Kiss – The Summer of Satan: The Devils Ride Out! (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (DESTROYER TOUR)
  4. Kiss – Return to Capital Center (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (DYNASTY TOUR)
  5. Kiss – With Fire & Thunder (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (HOTTER THAN HELL TOUR)
  6. Kiss – Northhampton PA March 19th, 1975 (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (DRESSED TO KILL TOUR)
  7. Kiss – The Hottest Show On Earth (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (THE HOTTEST SHOW ON EARTH TOUR 2010)
  8. Kiss – All the Way to the Ball Room (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (Australian Tour 1995)
  9. Kiss – Kiss of Thunder (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (The Rising Sun Tour 2006)
  10. Kiss – Agora Ballroom 1974: The Cleveland Broadcast plus Bonus Cuts (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (THE KISS TOUR)
  11. Kiss – Hotter Than Hell: Radio Broadcast 1976 (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (ROCK & ROLL OVER TOUR)
  12. Kiss – The Tickler (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (LICK IT UP TOUR 1983)
  13. Kiss – Barbarize (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (ANIMALIZE WORLD TOUR 1984 – North American Tour)
  14. Kiss – They Only Come Out At Night (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (ANIMALIZE WORLD TOUR 1984 – EUROPEAN TOUR)
  15. Wicked Lester and the Progeny Demo Sessions (Bootleg)

Kiss – The Box Set:

  1. The Box Set (Part 1 of 6)
  2. The Box Set – Disc One 1966-1975 (Part 2 of 6)
  3. The Box Set – Disc Two 1975-1977 (Part 3 of 6)
  4. The Box Set – Disc Three 1976-1982 (Part 4 of 6)
  5. The Box Set – Disc Four 1983-1989 (Part 5 of 6)
  6. The Box Set – Disc Five 1992-1999 (Part 6 of 6)

Gene Simmons – The Vault:

  1. Part 1 – The Grand Opening
  2. Part 2 – Disk 1
  3. Part 3 – Disk 2
  4. Part 4 – Disk 3
  5. Part 5 – Disk 4
  6. Part 6 – Disk 5
  7. Part 7 – Disk 6
  8. Part 8 – Disk 7
  9. Part 9 – Disk 8
  10. Part 10 – Disk 9
  11. Part 11 – Disk 10
  12. Part 12 – The Bonus Disk
  13. Part 13 – The Best Songs of the Vault
  14. Part 14 – The Worst Songs of the Vault
  15. Part 15 – The Final Verdict

57 thoughts on “Kiss – ‘Kissworld: The Best of Kiss’ (2017) – Album Review (The Kiss Review Series)”

  2. No Ace No Creatures C’mon Gene and Paul!
    I will add like you pointed out the packaging is very cool. Slick looking double vinyl thats for sure John!
    I’m sure KISSWorld 2 is coming out at some point haha

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  4. Oh dear me. That track listing is shockingly poor. As a farewell tour promo it could have been a lot more impressive. The sleeve and vinyl are nice but if this was their only hits record you’d struggle to understand how that lasted so long

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  7. Mnah. I don’t know much about Kiss, but this looks awfy like a budget release. Cover is okay, but such a waste of a gatefold sleeve. What are the inner sleeves like? They plain?

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      1. Congrats! What a task. To think u listened to them all. Are there any obvious ones that will be dropped from active listening now? And did u rediscover many forgotten gems?

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        1. Hot in the Shade and Peter’s album still won’t get listened to that much. I did like Elder more than I remembered, the same with Dynasty. The rest will get listened to about the same, but still need a few months before I pull one out again.

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  14. “Notice that sweater Paul is wearing under his leather jacket…wait…sorry…that is just his chest hair…my bad.” Haha, great line, dude! But yeah why couldn’t they just put the songwriting credits on the back track listing, instead of adding another track listing in the gatefold. The person who put this set together wasn’t thinking straight.

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  15. It was originally released in the UK in 2017 ahead of their European tour. Crazy Crazy Nights was picked as the lead track as it actually went to #4 in the UK charts. Apparently the label thought there was money to be made here so they released it here in the US in 2019. That’s why the track listing is so weird. I love KISS, been a fan since 1975, but you have to agree some of their song choices throughout the years have been shall we say, eclectic?

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