1982 was a pivotal year for Kiss. After the disaster of their last album, ‘Music from the Elder’, Kiss were in a do or die situation. They needed to get back to their hard rock roots and show the world that Kiss was still Kiss. Producer Michael James Jackson was brought in to produce the album and Kiss new they needed to rock. Heck, Eric Carr was telling them that all the time…and he was right. To celebrate this pivotal album, Kiss delivered the 40th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition Box Set and it is jammed pack with goodness. Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley have been paying attention to other band’s box sets and now they know how to put one of these together. If you thought the Destroyer 45th Anniversary Box Set was stellar, then this one will make you even happier.

It is jammed pack with 5 discs of music. A remastered edition of the main album; 2 CDs of demos, rarities, outtakes and remixes as well as 2 Live CDs chock full of goodness from various shows in 1982. And you also get a Blu-Ray Audio of the main album and I can’t wait to turn this baby on in surround sound and hear those drums surround the room. But that is not all, not by a long shot. The box set is packed with an 80-page book, posters, stickers, patches, photo cards, buttons, picks and all sorts of information about the band…don’t believe, look at the sticker from the front of the box set…

So sit back and let’s go through the box set in detail with a lot of pictures to show you the beauty of this set.

DISC ONE: ORIGINAL ALBUM REMASTERED:

First up is the remastered original album. And let me tell you it sounds fantastic. The drums are just as powerful as before and cranked it rocks out like never before. I will not go in to detail with this album as I have reviewed it before as you can click on the links below to see the full Kiss Review Series below. This is one of my favorite albums and favorite Kiss albums and I will say after listening to this remastering, it still is one of my favorite albums of all time!! I do love it loud too!!

DISC TWO & THREE: DEMOS, RARITIES AND OUTTAKES:

This is where the sweetest stuff lies in this box set. The unreleased material. Disc Two kicks off with the four songs that were recorded more as a test run for Michael James Jackson and they showed up on The Killers release and are all stellar songs. We get a bunch of demos that were recorded at Penny Lane Studios. One was later finished and released on Asylum as “Love’s A Deadly Weapon” and one called “Feel Like Heaven” was released on a Peter Criss Solo album. The other ended up on Killers as “Nowhere to Run”. We get a couple instrumental, backing track pieces and two I hadn’t heard with “Tell It To a Fool” and “Chrome Goes Into Motion”. The last two tracks are Gene Simmons demos and they were actually released on The Vault which if you are a Vault owner, that pisses you off a bit as we were under the impression those songs wouldn’t be released anywhere else.

Disc Three has a couple more songs from The Vault with “Legends Never Die” that Wendy O. Williams covered and the classic Kiss demo of “It’s My Life” which Wendy also covered. But the biggest and best song on here is the demo for the song “Not for the Innocent”. That song wound up on the album ‘Lick it Up’ in a final form, but this version is something Kiss should’ve been doing more of. It was a duet version with both Gene and Paul and it is simply Fucking Awesome!! This alone was worth the price of admission for me. A huge missed opportunity for the band!! Another cool outtake is for the song “Betrayed” which is another famous unreleased track from the band. The rest of the disc has various outtakes of songs from the album and they are a lot of fun to explore. The last song is the only song on the album from the 1985 Remix of Creatures and honestly, they should’ve included the whole album as another disc in my opinion. That would’ve been cool.

DISC FOUR & FIVE: CREATURES TOUR LIVE ’82/’83

Disc four and five are also fantastic. It is a collection of live songs from the Creatures Tour in 1982-1983 fro shows in Rockford, Illinois; Sioux City, Iowa; and Houston, Texas. It would’ve been even cooler if they include the full versions of all three shows, but we will take what we can get. There are 7 live songs on here that are tracks from the album and it is too bad we couldn’t get the two missing track in a live version. They did piece the songs together to make it feel like a full live show and the sound is actually amazing. Way better than the live show on the Destroyer box set. My favorite part might be Paul’s banter between songs. He seemed to be angry at times and his language was pretty crude and NC-17 at times which he did get tamer as the years went on. I found it hilarious and cool at times listening back to how he played with the crowd. He is a master at it.

After “Rock And Roll All Nite”, we got some more bonus live songs, a couple repeats of songs but from a different city of course. I think the coolest thing on there might be the fact they added the backing tracks from all the sound effects used on tour that year. You get the Tank, the Turbine, the Firehouse siren, the drums and ending tank sounds, the bass solo wind and gargoyle sounds as well as bells and flame sounds. It was a pretty unique idea and I like it. All-in-all, a great set of live songs that I’ll listen to over and over!!

BLU-RAY AUDIO:

The Blu-Ray Audio disc is the album remastered in surround sound as well as Dolby Atmos. I did get Surround Sound for Christmas and so I put this in and I will be honest, I wasn’t impressed with the surround sound effect of the album. Don’t get me wrong, it sounded great, the drums were huge, but it didn’t feel as immersive as other 5.1 mixes that I have. I was a little disappointed. I thought the Destroyer album’s 5.1 was so much better.

Now it is time to go through the rest of the collection and will start with the book…

80-PAGE HARD COVER BOOK:

First we will talk about the 80-page hard cover book. And let me tell you it is incredible. The pictures are beautiful and a lot I’ve never seen before. One of my favorite parts of the book are all the pictures of the different variants and releases related to this album where it be picture discs or singles. It is a history lesson for you on all that gets released. Speaking of history lesson, that is really what this book is. A collection of stories and interviews about every aspect of the making of this album as well as the related tour.

You get interviews from Gene & Paul as well as old conversations with Michael James Jackson, Vinnie Vincent, Eric Carr and from all the people involved. They talk about the disaster that was The Elder and the freaking out the band did as a result. They talked about Ace leaving and then all the people that auditioned to take his place, including Richie Sambora. They talked about Vinnie and even Eric and that massive drum sound that totally made the album the great album it is. You get stories on the tour and the tank, the media and promotion of the album and all the design concepts the band had. They even talked about removing the make-up. Folks, this is a history book of a critical point in time for the band.

1982 PRESS KIT:

One of the cool pieces included in the set was a replica of the 1982 Press Kit that was sent out for the album. It included the Band Bio, 3 Posters, 2 Stage Design Drawings, Promo Photos, A Creatures T-Shirt Iron On Transfer, a Bumper Sticker, a Replica Ticket, a backstage pass and 4 trading cards….they looked like all of this…

1983 REPLICA TOUR BOOK:

They also included a replica tour book which is great because this is one of the tour books I am missing from my collection as it is quite pricey. I am not going to show every picture as we have enough so far…what is cool about the book is of course the tank, but it is the fact this was the band’s 10th Anniversary Tour. After all that had gone on with the band, it is hard to believe at this point it was only 10 years.

THE REST:

There was another envelope that contained a couple more things. But first, the picture shows a mistake on the cover of the envelope. Either it was printed backwards or it was upside down…look at the logo…I think you can see it…

That envelope included another set of four illustrated art cards of each member, but the prize is the 2nd Volume of the Gotham City News (the first was in the Destroyer Box Set). It contains song-by-song account of the album and most of the bonus tracks. You get discussions from Gene and Paul as well as some of the song writers (Jim Vallance and Bryan Adams) and some of the players on the albums or people working the boards. Really cool reading.

And that still isn’t everything. There were also 5 glow in the dark guitar picks and 4 buttons…

And lastly, an iron-on patch of the album cover…

And I think that is it! Whew…that is a lot of stuff.

If you are a Kiss fan and a fan of this album, you can’t go wrong getting this box set. My Overall Score is a 5.0 out of 5.0 Stars as they check off everything. A remastered album, check…a ton of unreleased demos, rarities, outtakes, check….a live show that was unreleased (sort of), check…and a bunch of other goodies, check!!! What more could you want. Thanks for hanging out so long with me.

Now, if you want to check out my discussion on the album and boxset with Superdekes on his show Scotch on the Rocks, click the link below. Have a great day!!

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 – “Beth” – 7″ Single – Bonus Edition (1976)
9. Kiss – Special Kiss Album For Their Summer Tour (1976)
10. Kiss – The Originals (1976)
11. Kiss – Rock & Roll Over (1976)
12. Kiss – “Calling Dr. Love” – 7″ Single – Bonus Edition (1977)
13. Kiss – Love Gun (1977)
14. Kiss – “Christine Sixteen” – 7″ Single – Bonus Edition (1977)
15. Kiss – Alive II (1977)
16. Kiss – Double Platinum (1978)
17. Kiss – Paul Stanley (1978)
18. Kiss – Gene Simmons (1978)
19. Kiss – Peter Criss (1978)
20. Kiss – Ace Frehley (1978)
21. Kiss – Best of Solo Albums (1978)
22. Kiss – Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park Movie (1978)
23. Kiss – Dynasty (1979)
24. Kiss – “I Was Made For Lovin’ You” (1979) – 12″ & 7″ Singles (Bonus Edition)
25. Kiss – Unmasked (1980)
26. Peter Criss – Out of Control (1980)
27. Kiss – Music From The Elder (1981)
28. Kiss – Killers (1982)
29. Kiss – Creatures of the Night (1982)
30. Kiss – Lick It Up (1983)
31. Kiss – Animalize (1984)
32. Wendy O. Williams – WOW (1984) (Bonus Edition)
33. Kiss – Animalize Live Uncensored (1985)
34. Kiss – Asylum (1985)
35. Kiss – “Tears Are Falling” 7″ Single (Bonus Edition) (1985)
36. Kiss – Creatures of the Night (1985 Re-Issue)
37. Vinnie Vincent Invasion – Vinnie Vincent Invasion (1986)
38. Black N’ Blue – Nasty Nasty (1986)
39. Ace Frehley – Frehley’s Comet (1987)
40. Kiss – Exposed VHS (1987)
41. Kiss – Crazy Nights (1987)
42. Kiss – “Crazy Crazy Nights” – 12″ Single (Bonus Edition)
43. Kiss – “Reason To Live” – 12″ Picture Disc (Bonus Edition)
44. Kiss – Chikara (1988)
45. Kiss – Smashes, Thrashes & Hits (1988)
46. Kiss – Hot In The Shade (1989)
47. Kiss – “God Gave Rock And Roll To You II” (1991) – 12″ Picture Disc
48. Kiss – Revenge (1992)
49. Kiss – Alive III (1993)
50. Kiss – “I Was Made For Lovin’ You (Live)” (1993) – CD Maxi Single (Bonus Edition)
51. Kiss – Konfidential VHS (1993)
52. Kiss – Kiss My Ass: Classic Kiss Regrooved (1994)
53. Kiss – MTV Unplugged (1996)
54. Kiss – You Wanted the Best, You Got the Best!! (1996)
55. Kiss – Greatest Kiss (1997)
56. Kiss – Carnival of Souls: The Final Sessions (1997)
57. Kiss – Psycho Circus (1998)
58. Kiss – The Second Coming Documentary (1998)
59. Eric Carr – Rockology (1999)
60. Mark St. John – Mark St. John Project (1999)
61. Eric Singer Project – ESP (1999)
62. Bruce Kulick – Audiodog (2001)
63. Kiss – Kiss Symphony: Alive IV (2003)
64. Gene Simmons – Asshole (2004)
65. Kisss – Rock the Nation 2004 World Tour: Instant Live (Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre Charlotte, NC 7/28/04) (2004)
66. Kiss – Rock the Nation Live! DVD (2005)
67. Kiss – Alive! The Millennium Concert (2006)
68. Paul Stanley – Live to Win (2006)
69. Kiss – Kissology: Volumes 1 to 3 (2006-2007)
70. Kiss – Jigoku-Retsuden (2008)
71. Kiss – Sonic Boom (2009)
72. Kiss – Monster (2012)
73. Kiss – The Casablanca Singles 1973-1982 (2012)
74. Kiss – Kiss 40 (2014)
75. Kiss – Kiss Rocks Vegas (2016)
76. Kiss – Kissworld: The Best of Kiss (2017)
77. Kiss – Off the Soundboard: Tokyo 2001 (2021)
78. Kiss – Off the Soundboard: Live in Virginia Beach July 24, 2004 (2022)
79. Kiss – The Albums Ranked From Worst to First (2021)
80. Kiss – Creatures of the Night: 40th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition (2022)

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)
16. Kiss – Black Diamond: Lafayette Music Room, Memphis, TN April 18th, 1974 – FM Broadcast
17. Kiss – End of the Road: In Allentown 2020 (PPL Center, Allentown, PA, 4th February 2020) (End of the Road Tour) – Blu-Ray
18. Kiss – ‘Monster Tour: Simpsonville 2013’ (Charter Amphitheatre at Heritage Park, Simpsonville, C – 13th August 2013) – Blu-Ray
19. Wicked Lester – The Original Wicked Lester Sessions (Bootleg)
20. Kiss – The Ritz on Fire (August 12, 1988, The Ritz, New York City. A radio broadcast – Crazy Nights Tour)
21. Kiss – Kiss My Axe 1978: Live from the Los Angeles Forum in California, August 25, 1977 (Love Gun Tour)

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