Back on August 5, 2003, Kiss released, okay, the record company released a greatest hits compilation called The Millennium Collection: The Best of Kiss (1973-1979). It was the first of three volume set which we will get to the other two soon enough. In a move only a record label would do, the label issued the ‘Icon’ Series with two volumes. The first volume is the exact same track list as ‘The Millennium Collection: The Best of Kiss (1973-1979)’ and was released in 2010.

In a cash grab kind of move, they changed NOTHING!! The Icon version is the exact same except for crappier cover art and no inserts/liner notes. A very bare bones set. I do not really recommend any of these sets as they weren’t done by Kiss per se. But us collectors buy it all. And as a collector of Kiss albums, I do have it. So for now, let us go through this set and talk about the songs since we are here as there is nothing else good to say about this…wait, have I said anything good yet???

The album kicks off with the first song of their debut, “Strutter”.  The song was written by both Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons and over the years, this would be a rare experience as they would wind up writing songs by themselves.  The music of the song was based off an old Gene song called “Stanley the Parrot” which was recorded even before there was a Wicked Lester.  The song has a great opening drum fill by Peter and is an uptempo rock song that was inspired by all the sexy women in New York.  There is a great bass riff by Gene why Ace belts out the solo. Paul sings the song and shows all the confidence a lead singer should show.

“Deuce” is up next and also from the debut album. The song was written and sung by Gene and he doesn’t even know what the song actually means.  He just thought it sounded good…and he was right.  The opening line, “Get Up and get your Grandma out of here” is the best opening line.  This is one of those songs that live sounds so much cooler and has more grit, but this is still awesome.  The guitar playing is fantastic and Ace plays a killer solo to end the song.  Peter lays down some nice fills and gives the song a great fast tempo beat that drives the song along.

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“Hotter Than Hell”, from the album of the same name, was written by Paul and another song he stole from somewhere else.  This one is basically a re-write of the Free song “All Right Now” and you can hear that Free influence in it.  The song is about picking up a woman in a bar and having your way and it turns out she’s married which burns you like the midday sun.  Oh, good times.  To keep with the Japanese theme, the song has Peter hitting a giant gong for added affect.

Things keep getting better with another classic Paul Stanley song called “C’mon and Love Me” which is from the album ‘Dressed to Kill’.  This song also gives Paul his first solo on a Kiss song and it is worth noting as it is wonderful.  The song has a rock and pop feel and is catchy as hell with the help of Gene on those backing vocals.  I love the line “She’s a dancer, a romancer, I’m a Capricorn and she is a Cancer” because Paul is not a Capricorn he’s Aquarius.  So, basically he is lying to us.  The second single on the album and only charted to #…who am I kidding, it didn’t chart.

Then we get to the song that started it all for the band.  The start to superstardom was because of “Rock & Roll All Nite” and the live version from the smash album ‘Alive!’.  This is now their signature song and it is easy to see why.  It is a pure rock anthem like no other.  Now, it has been overplayed and I am truly sick of it and don’t care if I ever hear it again, but let’s be honest…it is a fantastic and amazing song to be played Live!!  

“Detroit Rock City” is up next and this is the Single Version not the album version from ‘Destroyer’. The original song was so different than anything they had done prior, musically and lyrically.  They took a chance shaking things up a bit and it worked.  The single version pretty much cuts out the opening bit of the boy getting in the car and all the car parts as well as the crash. The song does mention Detroit, but is really about a young fan that is killed why he was on his way to a Kiss concert.  The story is based off an actual event that occurred outside a Kiss concert in Charlotte where a fan was hit by a car and killed outside the arena.  Knowing it is based a real life event adds a little extra to the impact of the song.

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Side two kicks off with “Beth” , also from ‘Destroyer’, which became one of the band’s biggest hits to date.  It went all the way to #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was sung by Peter Criss.  The song was one Peter had written prior to Kiss and written with guitarist Stan Penridge.  The song is a ballad and played on piano by Bob Ezrin, with full backing orchestration by the New York Philharmonic.  The song originally had the line “Beck what can I do” after the girlfriend of one of Peter’s bandmates in the band Chelsea.  Of course, they changed to Beth which seem to work. The song was softly played and softly sung and was simply a beautiful song that was totally out of left field for the band up to this point.

Now after the success of “Beth”, Peter was given another ballad to sing and I am sure it was in hopes of repeating that magic. This song, “Hard Luck Woman” from ‘Rock And Roll Over’, was written by Paul and Paul had written so Rod Stewart could sing and when listening to the track, I could hear Rod singing this.  Paul was talked in to giving it to Peter and although the song did do as well as “Beth”, it still gave the band another Top 20 hit.  It is mostly acoustic and Peter does a great job and delivers a sweet song.  I also think Peter’s vocals fit the song as they give it some grit and an extra added layer of emotion.  A nice change of pace on an album that has a lot of rock songs…this maybe should’ve been placed earlier to break things up a bit more but who am I to say anything.

“Calling Dr. Love” is the first of four Gene songs on the ‘Rock And Roll Over’.  The song stems from a Gene song called “Bad Bad Lovin’” which you can hear in many forms on Gene Simmons ‘The Vault’ (click links below).  It is a heavy song and Gene sounds as menacing as ever.  This is one of his signature songs.  Interesting to note, on the backing vocals, you can hear Katy Sagal from Married With Children and Sons of Anarchy.  Of course she wasn’t famous at this point.

Now we get ot one of the band’s most iconic songs, “Love Gun” from the album of the same name.  That barrage of drum hits by Peter are so recognizable that the second you hear, you know what you are getting.  When Peter does that barrage towards the end and then Ace comes in with a mini solo, it is magical.  If the bass sounds a little different, that is because Paul handles those duties. The song is still played live today and at almost every show since its release.  Paul has stated that the song was inspired by “The Hunter” by Booker T. & the MG’s but I believe performed by Albert King.  The song does mention a “love gun”.

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The next song was the first single off Love Gun’, “Christine Sixteen”.  Now this song wouldn’t fly today as it is an older man going after a much younger woman at only 16.  But at the time, no one thought anything about it.  Heck, they did this before with “Goin’ Blind’ off the ‘Hotter Than Hell’ album.  There is a cool piano riff in the song which was done by Eddie Kramer.  It is a fun, upbeat track and a favorite of mine for Gene.  A cool, fun fact about the song, the demo was done with Gene and two unknown artist at the time by the name of Eddie and Alex Van Halen.  They also did the demo for “Got Love For Sale” and you can hear those demos on Gene Simmons ‘The Vault”.

Then we jump past Alive II and the solo albums all the way to ‘Dynasty’. The opening track and first single was “I Was Made For Lovin’ You”. The song was written by Paul Stanley, Vini Poncia and the great Desmond Child makes his first of many appears with the band (only one on this album). The story goes that Disco was really big at the time and the record company wanted the band to be a little more commercial. Paul thought any idiot could write a disco song and a bet was made and a few hours later, the song was written and the Paul proved his point. The song went to #11 on the Billboard Hot 100. And as I mentioned earlier, the result was people thought this was a disco album. Wrong!! This song did have every trapping of a disco song, the tempo, the beat, the pop sound, the disco sound effects…I mean it was disco…but it was good and it was catchy and they still play it, but I still don’t know if I can give it full marks. Now on a side note, this is Gene’s least favorite song (and Peter and Ace hate it too).

And that is all folks. I know, you are heart broken, but no more songs on this album. As far as Compilation albums go, it is pretty basic. Nothing really cool and a ton of songs omitted that should be on a Kiss Greatest Hits album. But it is what it is and that is a cheap, low cost simply basic compilation. It is made for those fans who aren’t really fans, but just want a little set of their hits, probably because they like “Beth” or “Rock And Roll All Nite”. And this would fit that bill. For me, this is really skippable unless you are a collector. My Overall Score is a 1.0 out of 5.0 Stars for the set. Now, the vinyl version that came titles as ‘Icon’ has a cool splatter so maybe I’d give it a 2.0 out of 5.0. But that is it. Thanks for hanging around.

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. Kiss – 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) – 2 CD Set
75. Kiss – Kiss 40 (2014) – Japanese Edition
76. Kiss – Kiss Rocks Vegas (2016)
77. Kiss – Kissworld: The Best of Kiss (2017)
78. Kiss – Off the Soundboard: Tokyo 2001 (2021)
79. Kiss – Off the Soundboard: Live in Virginia Beach July 24, 2004 (2022)
80. Kiss – The Albums Ranked From Worst to First (2021)
81. Kiss – Destroyer: 45th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition (2021)
82. Kiss – Destroyer: 45th Anniversary 2-LP Deluxe Edition (Colored Vinyl) (2021)
83. Kiss – Creatures of the Night: 40th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition (2022)
84. Kiss – Creatures of the Night: 40th Anniversary 3-LP Deluxe Edition (Colored Vinyl) (2022)
85. Kiss – Off the Soundboard: Poughkeepsie, NY Mid Hudson Civic Arena, November 28, 1984 (2023)
86. Kiss – Icon (2010 / 2023)
87. Kiss – Lick it Up (40th Anniversary Picture Disc) (2023)

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′
23. Kiss – Black Diamond: Lafayette Music Room, Memphis, TN April 18th, 1974 – FM Broadcast (Alternate Cover)
24. Kiss -Alive! in Amityville: June 1973 – (2021)
25. Kiss – Set the World On Fire: Live (10 CD Box Set – Radio Broadcasts 1974-1994)
26. Kiss – Diamonds in the Dust (2022)