After over a year of reviewing everything Kiss and pretty much everything in my collection, we are finally to very last Kiss record in the collection…I am sure it won’t be the last as they will release more over the years to come and I will add them to the series. For now, this is it though. Kiss has finally realized they can make money on these Kiss Bootlegs that are out in the wild by finally releasing their own Bootleg Series called “Off the Soundboard”. First up for them is the show from Tokyo 2001 which is a short era of the band that has little to no representation anywhere else. It was with the line up of Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, of course, but also features Eric Singer on drums and Ace Frehley on lead guitar. This line-up was only around a very short time right after the first Farewell Tour that was really a farewell to Peter. And it is this line-up that is the major selling point which is why they highlighted it on the front cover.

The album came out last month on June 11, 2021 and it is great to go out on the Review Series with a new release, but do note, I would’ve bought it no matter what. The packaging is really fantastic and yet very simple. Kiss brilliantly gave the set a look like it was really a bootleg. It looks like cheap cardboard box with everything just stamped on to the box. It looks cheap and yet it is that cheapness that is the brilliance. The vinyl are on a white label that looks like the info was also stamped and typed on to it which gives it even more of a bootleg feel. If it is going to be an official bootleg, make it look like one and they did. I hope this is the beginning of a lot of great shows that are out there in the bootleg world and yet we will get a cleaned up mix with some great sound and this one is a perfect start.

The show for this release was on March 13, 2001 at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan. This was actually part of the Farewell Tour and really close to the end. As I mentioned earlier, by the time this show was done, Peter was gone and Eric Singer was brought in. This set list is impressive. It contains 21 songs and includes all the solos, the great Paul Stanley banter and all mistakes which is exactly what you want from a bootleg. The show is over 2 hours long and does cover 3 LPs. Kiss didn’t skimp on this release in the least.

LP 1:

The first LP has many highlights including some songs Ace gets to play that he was never on the original studio version. You get Kiss doing “I Love It Loud” from ‘Creatures of the Night’ which Ace was featured but didn’t actually play. And you get “Heaven’s on Fire” from the non-makeup era which Ace was not a part. You get some fantastic Paul banter especially when he tries to speak Japanese. Paul’s vocals are still great at this time as you can really hear on the extended opening to “Heaven’s on Fire” where Paul’s “woooah’s woooah’s” sound amazing. He still has it at this point. But the biggest highlight on here is Ace getting to sing “Talk to Me” from the album “Unmasked” which I don’t think I had a live version of this…I could check, but for sake of time I will just say I don’t.

LP 2:

The second LP is the middle of the show and has the fewest songs because Kiss includes all the solos including the guitar, bass and drum. The biggest highlight on this disc is again Ace. Ace does his signature song “Shock Me” and includes an extensive guitar solo that goes on forever. In fact the song goes on for over 13 minutes. Crazy right! It is all Ace and it takes me back to all those great Ace solos from the Alive! albums. You get a great drum solo on “Lick It Up” by Eric Singer and it shows he has the chops to make this band better than ever. The only negative about including the solos is the bass solo. Gene’s bass solos aren’t there to show off his talent. It is there to give some demonic color to his blood spitting and when you can’t see the blood spitting, it does sort of linger on too long, but otherwise “God of Thunder” is still great. And then you get more Ace on songs he didn’t originally play on such as “Psycho Circus” and “Lick It Up”.

LP 3:

Now, we are to the final LP and this is pretty much all 70’s Kiss with the exception of “I Still Love You” which Paul still sounds amazing. I have always loved this song always enjoyed when they played it back in the 80’s a lot so glad to see it back in the set. I don’t think Paul does as well with it anymore so they don’t play it much at all now. This set is full of classic songs such as “Cold Gin” which is always a crowd pleaser and has Ace singing lead with Paul and Gene. It sounds like they all had a turn on this one. And then two of my favorite songs to hear live, “100,000 Years” and “Black Diamond” which are two of their best songs…period…end of story. However, the versions I usually hear, cut out the banter and stuff in the middle of the song. This version of “100,000 Years” keeps the part where Paul is throwing out T-Shirts to the audience while Eric keeps time. It is a lot of boring, wasted space to keep on an album, but being a “bootleg” it has to stay in so I will live with it. On “Black Diamond”, we get Eric Singer on vocals and he does a respectable job even he doesn’t have the grit that Peter had in his vocals, it is still a great version. The band also does “Love Gun” and Paul asks the crowd if he can come out there so I am sure at that point he flies out to a stage in the crowd and sings this one like he does all the time now. The album ends with two encore songs. One which I don’t think is as common as they do “I Was Made For Lovin’ You” which I like because it is more a rock song than disco when played live. The last song is the one that they are most famous for and one I’m so tired of, but it is still a great one…”Rock And Roll All Nite”.

I have to say I think this is the best live album they’ve put out in years. Probably the best since the Symphony one years back. I love at times that this is unedited, uncut and the full show, but that also has some very minor drawbacks. Overall, the sound is fantastic, Paul still sounds great and Ace is all over it with 3 songs sung and a massive guitar solo. If this is the beginning of the Series, then Kiss is doing it right. No matter what, this is awesome and worth the purchase. It is a solid 5.0 out of 5.0 Stars for me! Great job Kiss and what a way to finish the Series!!

And that was our FINAL KISS REVIEW!!!! Come back next week and we will have one more post that will be an Album Ranking of all the Kiss Studio Albums.  It will be Epic!!! It is the longest one I’ve ever done at 24 Studio albums and over 4,000 words long so get your sleep ahead of time so you are well rested.

Next Up: Kiss – The Albums Ranked From Worst to First

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)
71. Kiss – Off the Soundboard: Tokyo 2001 (2021)

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