In my quest for bootlegs, another one popped up at a record show here in Charlotte. This one was fairly new as it was released in 2020 and it was still sealed. It is simply called ‘Gods of Thunder”. The show is only a partial show from the Monsters of Rock show in Sao Paulo, Brazil on August 27, 1994. That setlist had 22 tracks and this is a streamlined vinyl with only 10 tracks and not even sure these are the best 10 tracks. But the good news is, they did omit “Rock & Roll All Nite” which we didn’t really need to have another live version of that as I have a million of it already.

I’m not sure what they were going for with the cover but I am sure with the lightning and cloudy skies is the God of Thunder part, but what is with the chess board at the bottom and the poorly cropped faces on the cover. That looks about as shitty of job that I could do. The bright side is, they at least got the right people as that would’ve been the line-up in 1994. The back cover is the same scene minus the heads and the track list instead. The cool thing about it is the beautiful blue vinyl. I like that a lot. And as far as sound, it is from a radio broadcast, so the sound is fantastic. There is no denying it is a live show as nothing has been done to fix the imperfections, which is what we like about the bootlegs.

SIDE 1:

The album kicks off with the song “Deuce” which was not the song to kick off the concert, that was “Creatures of the Night”. Gene sounds great as he screams out Sao Paulo a lot at the beginning. The band has played this one a million times and so it is tight and sounds great. No complaints. A handful of songs are skipped and then we land on “Cold Gin”. I do love this song, but without Ace on guitar, it really doesn’t give me the chills like when he does it. Bruce is capable no doubt, but Ace’s sloppiness is the magic. There is something about his tone that can’t be matched. This one feels more paint by numbers. Now, the transition from one song to the next is impeccable as you can’t tell a ton of songs were skipped. It feel like a natural transition.

Then we get the third Gene song in a row to kick off the album and this time it is “Calling Dr. Love”. That opening riff is great and Gene’s “yeah, yeah” gets it all going. There is nothing exciting about it though, as I like to hear more of the crowd and capture their energy but not much here. Then we get to Gene’s favorite song, sung by Paul, “I Was Made For Loving You”. This is 1994 and Paul sounds great. The “do-do-do’s” sound okay, but it’s Paul that is the highlight as he can still hit those high notes here. Always a fun song live…even if Gene hates it to this day. The final track on the first side is “Love Gun” and we don’t get any great, cheesy ass Paul intro which is missed greatly. They go in to the song and Gene’s bass is really thumping away and sounds fantastic. Paul gives it his all, but all-in-all it is boring as all I hear is the bass, the guitar is not noticeable at all and the drums are flat.

SIDE 2:

Side 2 kicks off with “Lick It Up” and another example of the bass being the key focus as the mix has everything else to the back which makes the song sound flat and no excitement or life to it as the guitars are so buried. Then we get “God of Thunder” and thunderous it doesn’t sound like. It isn’t as dark and menacing as it should be and left me empty. “I Love It Loud” gets some great crowd reactions and gave the sang a little life. A classic Kiss track at this point and always a fan favorite. The backing vocals are a little suspect on here as you mostly hear Gene and not Eric & Bruce on the backing vocals, otherwise I always like this one.

“Detroit Rock City” ends the show before we get the Encore songs of course. What can I say about this one. Nothing wrong with it. The bass line on this one sounds fantastic as it should so it being up front in the mix works here. Still need more guitars though. They really can’t screw this one up. The one encore we get is “Black Diamond” which is one of my all time favorite Kiss songs so always welcome for me. Eric gets the mic on this one and he does a respectable job. The song is so epic for me and I love the riffs throughout and of course all the drum fills, just a masterpiece of a song and they don’t disappoint.

All I can say is that the song choices from this setlist are the safe and boring choices. From the original setlist, the good stuff would’ve been “Unholy”, “Watchin’ You”, “Makin’ Love, “Take it Off” and “Domino”. Those would’ve been really cool. And the other issue is the mix. Heavy on the bass and the guitar is buried in the background and sounds terrible. The drums are a little flat at times as well. Vocals sound great, but the instrument mix really makes this dull and lifeless. So, with all that said, you would guess right if I was going to score this one. My Overall Score is only a 2.0 out of 5.0 Stars. Too many things I don’t like about this one.

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)
22. Kiss – Gods of Thunder: The Legendary Concert Broadcast – Sao Paulo, August 27, 1994′