Kiss – Kabuki Beasts: Kyoto 1977 – Album Review (The Kiss Bootleg Series)

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic18 Comments

I have been doing a Kiss Bootleg Series for years. You get a review every time I add a new one to the collection. Well, after buying 38 Bootleg CDs from John Humphrey’s personal collection, I figured let’s jump right back in and do a whole lot of reviews on the Bootlegs. Oh, if you don’t know who John Humphrey is, you need to know he is a massive Kiss collector. And he is the drummer of the band Seether. John decided to sell off his entire collection…sort of…he kept all the vinyl (like 4,000 of them). He did it through an auction at Backstage Auctions and I had to have a piece of it…and I did wind up with some things.

The next one in the series is ‘Kabuki Beasts: Kyoto 1977’. It is a full show on 1 CD that was recorded Saturday, March 26, 1977 at Kyoto Kaikan Dai Ichi Hall in Kyoto, Japan. This was only their third show ever in Japan at this point. It is an audience recording and it sounds amazing considering that fact. There are a few rough patches where the sound is not crystal clear for either a vocal or a guitar part, but overall this is a superb recording. It is raw, untouched and pure Kiss at their prime. And as an added bonus, it even includes a little poster.

It is hard to believe they fit a full show on 1 CD, but they did. It has the introduction, the solos, Paul’s talks to the crowd and even ends with the crowd cheering for them to come back for another encore after doing 3 songs already. There is an energy with the band that is electric, the crowd is just as enthusiastic and you can feel it in the performances. Being 1977, this is classic Kiss and nothing more. This has one killer track after another. They kick it off with “Detroit Rock City” and straight in to “Take Me” which is one I never get to hear enough live. Gene rocks out to “Let Me Go Rock ‘N’ Roll” and then he tears it up in the “Ladies Room”. It is all loud and sensational.

Paul’s crowd interactions are all stellar, we don’t have those uncomfortable intros he did from the 80’s as those were cringeworthy. Let’s talk a little about the band’s playing. Well, they can play at this point and hadn’t lost anything. Peter’s drums are killer and he is pounding away. Ace’s playing is sloppy, but not in a bad way. It is the good way we like hearing him play. You get the freaking loud siren in “Firehouse” and with “I Want You” and “Makin’ Love” it nothing but crowd pleasing rock & roll. One of the few times the vocals weren’t as loud and clear was on “Makin’ Love”, but I didn’t care. The ‘Alive II’ version is better.

Things kick up a notch even more with “Cold Gin” as Gene tears it up vocally and Ace really shines. Ace impressions even more with his guitar solo. It is so Ace with tone and the shooting of the rockets from the guitar and all the explosions. Peter bangs it out for “Do You Love Me” as Paul struts through the vocals and then one of my favorite live songs is “Nothin’ to Lose” even if the start seems a little messed up. Peter sounds great when he does his part. Gene goes into a bass solo (if you can call it that as it is just noise to do the blood spitting) then in to “God Of Thunder” and he lets the Demon loose only to be pleasantly interrupted with a Peter drum solo only to come back with the finale of “God of Thunder”.

They wrap things up with “Rock And Roll All Nite” and although I am tired of this song, the energy throughout this show makes the song exciting again. And that is it as the crowd cheers louder and louder. The boys don’t disappoint and come back and do 3 encore songs including “Shout It Out Loud” followed by Peter doing “Beth” and the only one that sings it the way it should be sung. The end it all with another favorite of mine and that is “Black Diamond”. Damn, what a great show.

And that is it. For an audience recording, this disc is spectacular. Cranking it up as loud as you can stand only makes it better. Only a few rough patches, but they ain’t that rough and don’t detract from the listening experience. As I said before, the energy is electric both from the band and the crowd. Everyone is having a good time. Kiss were on fire that night and they seem to be really enjoying themselves still. It is a killer setlist, you get a cool poster and it all makes for a good time. As far as bootlegs go, they don’t sound much better than this one. My Overall Score is a 5.0 out of 5.0 Stars as I really enjoyed this one from beginning to end.

The Kiss 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)
  27. Kiss – Wicked Lester (John Humphrey Collection)
  28. Kiss – Unplugged (John Humphrey Collection)
  29. Kiss – Kabuki Beasts: Kyoto 1977 (John Humphrey Collection)

Alan Niven Interview: ‘Sound N’ Fury: Rock & Roll Stories’ – PREMIERING RIGHT NOW!!!

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic8 Comments

Mike Ladano, from Grab A Stack of Rock, and I had a chance to sit down with former Guns ‘N Roses and Great White Manager, Alan Niven to discuss his upcoming book. ‘Sound N’ Fury: Rock & Roll Stories’ will be out on June 24th so go pre-order your copy now at any fine bookstore. Appetite for Destruction!  Once Bitten!  Twice Shy!  This is the guy who made Guns N’ Roses into superstars, and gave Great White their big second chance. 

Alan talks about the great stories in his book. So many Axl Rose stories, Slash and Izzy as well as some great stories on Great White. We even talk Shakespeare, sending the cops to get a band member to a show, the art of saying yes, Def Leppard is a boy band, Bon Jovi is cliche and the fact there are only 7 songs you can write plus a whole lot more. We got to spend an hour with him, so get ready as the interview IS UP RIGHT NOW!!! (Monday, June 2, 2025 at 7PM) on Youtube. Get ready as Alan unleashes the Sound N’ Fury and it will also put everything I said above in context.

Alan Niven Interview: ‘Sound N’ Fury: Rock & Roll Stories’

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic10 Comments

Mike Ladano, from Grab A Stack of Rock, and I had a chance to sit down with former Guns ‘N Roses and Great White Manager, Alan Niven to discuss his upcoming book. ‘Sound N’ Fury: Rock & Roll Stories’ will be out on June 24th so go pre-order your copy now at any fine bookstore. Appetite for Destruction!  Once Bitten!  Twice Shy!  This is the guy who made Guns N’ Roses into superstars, and gave Great White their big second chance. 

Alan talks about the great stories in his book. So many Axl Rose stories, Slash and Izzy as well as some great stories on Great White. We even talk Shakespeare, sending the cops to get a band member to a show, the art of saying yes, Def Leppard is a boy band, Bon Jovi is cliche and the fact there are only 7 songs you can write plus a whole lot more. We got to spend an hour with him, so get ready as the interview will be tonight Monday, June 2, 2025 at 7PM on Youtube. Get ready as Alan unleashes the Sound N’ Fury and it will also put everything I said above in context.

My Sunday Song – “I Hope UR Miserable Until UR Dead” by Nessa Barrett

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic6 Comments

For My Sunday Song #435, we are going to visit a song that I only know because of my daughter. It is Nessa Barrett’s brutal song “I Hope UR Miserable Until UR Dead” off her debut E.P., ‘Pretty Poison’ released back in 2021. The song was written by a whole slew of people including Nessa herself. It also has Evan Blair, Madi Yanofsky, Samuel Mark Catalano and Tim Randolph. The song only went to #88 on the Billboard Top 100 chart, but it is #1 in my book.

Some toxic relationships end and you can either take the high road and move on and not look back or you can take the low road and be petty and bitter. This song is the latter. She is completely brutal in this song wishing this guy was miserable until he dies…that is harsh. It talks about how toxic he was and she wants to call him out for all the bad crap he’s done, but won’t. She knows that his true colors will show and his friends will end up hating him since he really is a little shit. She does let him go and moves on with her life, but still wants him to be miserable. Toxicity should not be tolerated and you should always get out of those type of relationships.

Nessa’s vocals are really awesome. This sweet sounding angel with the mouth of a sailor really shines throughout the song. I think her vocals are what make the song. What I like about the song is the rock sound with the heavy guitar riffs during the hard parts and soft acoustic guitars during the slower parts. And the drum beats are heart poundingly brutal and make you feel the anger that really lies behind those lyrics. A dark, brooding song that has such great pop sensibilities with its massive hooks and melody. A killer track.

Continue reading “My Sunday Song – “I Hope UR Miserable Until UR Dead” by Nessa Barrett” →

Friday New Releases – May 30, 2025

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic13 Comments

Welcome to the end of May. The month might be about over, but the new releases keep coming. This week a few I’m interested in streaming, but not necessarily purchase…yet. I would’n’t mind hearing the new Miley, Garbage, Daises and Anderson East albums. What are you interested in hearing or what did we miss. Let us know. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all have a great weekend.

  • Miley Cyrus – Something Beautiful – (Columbia Records)
  • Garbage – Let All That We Imagine Be The Light – (BMG Rights Mgmt)
  • The Dead Daisies – Lookin’ For Trouble – (Fame – Malaco)
  • Anderson East – Worthy – (Rounder Records)
  • Wolves At The Gate – Wasteland – (Solid State Records)
  • Aesop Rock – Black Hole Superette – (Rhymesayers Entertainment)
  • Grouplove – Rock N’ Roll You Won’t Save Me (Live) – (Glassnote Music LLC)
  • Gloria Estefan – Raices – (Sony U.S. Latin)
Continue reading “Friday New Releases – May 30, 2025” →

The Alan Niven Interview – ‘Sound N’ Fury: Rock & Roll Stories’ – COMING SOON!!!

Published on by 2loud2oldmusicLeave a comment

Mike Ladano, from Grab A Stack of Rock, and I had a chance to sit down with former Guns ‘N Roses and Great White Manager, Alan Niven to discuss his upcoming book. ‘Sound N’ Fury: Rock & Roll Stories’ will be out on June 24th so go pre-order your copy now at any fine bookstore. Appetite for Destruction!  Once Bitten!  Twice Shy!  This is the guy who made Guns N’ Roses into superstars, and gave Great White their big second chance. 

Alan talks about the great stories in his book. So many Axl Rose stories, Slash and Izzy as well as some great stories on Great White. We even talk Shakespeare, sending the cops to get a band member to a show, the art of saying yes, Def Leppard is a boy band, Bon Jovi is cliche and the fact there are only 7 songs you can write plus a whole lot more. We got to spend an hour with him, so get ready as the interview will be coming Monday, June 2, 2025 on Youtube and right here. Get ready as Alan unleashes the Sound N’ Fury and it will also put everything I said above in context.

Go to YouTube and subscribe now so you will be notified when it posts…

https://www.youtube.com/@2loud2oldmusic

Kiss – ‘Unplugged’ – Album Review (The Kiss Bootleg Series)

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic23 Comments

I have been doing a Kiss Bootleg Series for years. You get a review every time I add a new one to the collection. Well, after buying 38 Bootleg CDs from John Humphrey’s personal collection, I figured let’s jump right back in and do a whole lot of reviews on the Bootlegs. Oh, if you don’t know who John Humphrey is, you need to know he is a massive Kiss collector. And he is the drummer of the band Seether. John decided to sell off his entire collection…sort of…he kept all the vinyl (like 4,000 of them). He did it through an auction at Backstage Auctions and I had to have a piece of it…and I did wind up with somethings.

As it says in the liner notes, Kiss has done numerous acoustic performances over the years on radio and TV (excluding MTV unplugged). This compilation takes those performances and puts them in one disc. It covers the time periods of 1990-1994 which makes most of it having Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Eric Singer and Bruce Kulick. But we do get Eric Carr and Ace Frehley tracks as well. The sound quality if actually pretty good and we get 12 fun and exciting tracks and wildly good time as it shows the humor of the guys as well as these are very loose and crazy performances.

The first track is from The Howard Stern show on February 25, 1993 and you can hear Howard and Robin joking it up with Paul and Gene. They play “Detroit Rock City” and Gene is a cut-up throughout the whole thing. I love it when he points out where all the explosions would be when they play it live. Paul sounds relaxed and vocally is on point. I love seeing the lighter side of the band.

Continue reading “Kiss – ‘Unplugged’ – Album Review (The Kiss Bootleg Series)” →

The Collection: Ep. 58 – May 2025 Wrap-Up

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic7 Comments

I know it isn’t the end of the month yet, but we are doing our Wrap-Up for May anyway. So for now, it is time to go back and see what 2 Loud 2 Old Music added to the collection. This is May 2025 and we have a little vinyl, a whole lot of CDs and even a book. So much to go through including several new Rock Candy CDs in the collection, a new item for the Kiss collection and a couple Box Sets. Lots of great new and old stuff to go through and show for this month so I hope you enjoy the show!!

So go check it out as it will be live tonight right now, May 26, 2025 at 7pm. Thanks for stopping by and please click “Like” and hit “Subscribe” as it helps out the site when you do.

And in case you can’t watch it for whatever reason that is not a good enough excuse, here is everything…

My Sunday Song – “Pictures of You” By The Last Goodnight

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic2 Comments

For My Sunday Song #434, we are going to talk about the song “Pictures of You” by the band The Last Goodnight. The song was off their only album ‘Poison Kiss’ from 2007. A great pop rock band that only had one album and gone too soon. “Pictures of You” was the debut single off their debut album and it only went to #70 in the U.S., but did much better in Australia where it went to #3 and went Platinum. The song was written by Jeff Blue, Mike Nadeau and Kurtis John. Kurtis is the lead singer, Mike is on guitar while Jeff is the producer of the album.

The song appears to be about life, both the good and bad. We take pictures and hang them on the wall and we can imagine what we could have been. It starts out with a newborn child and all the potential that child has. Life gets in the way and has different ideas. A cure is discovered for a disease while the government blocks its release. A solider goes off to war and the parents are home worrying themselves to death. You are boxer in a ring with thoughts of winning a title, but it doesn’t materialize. So many great things can happen…but don’t. A rather depressing look at life.

It might be a depressing look at life, but it is a beautifully written song. Musically, it is on the softer side of rock and is so full of the pop tricks. It has a great big chorus that is catchy and will hook you right in. The chorus is a little repetitive which helps it stick in your head and makes you sing along quickly as if the song is an old friend you’ve known forever. I think Kurtis’ vocals are stellar and really pop. Clean, smooth and very pleasant to the ears. And I don’t always like the use of keyboards, but they are subtle and add so much texture to the song on this one. It is one of those songs that grabbed me quickly and never let go. Even after around 18 years, I still catch myself singing this one and wanting to hear it.

Continue reading “My Sunday Song – “Pictures of You” By The Last Goodnight” →

Friday New Releases – May 23, 2025

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic4 Comments

We have reached another Friday and of course that means we have some releases for you this week. Though not a ton. For me, I am taking it easy as there is nothing I’m running out to buy, but hopefully there is something for you to listen to this week. Let me know what you want to hear or what we may have missed. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all have a great weekend.

  • Don Felder – The Vault: Fifty Years of Music – (Frontiers Records)
  • Ronnie Romero – Live at Rock Imperium Festival – (Frontiers Records)
  • Taj Mahal / Keb’ Mo’ – Room on the Porch – (Concord Records)
  • Big Daddy Weave – Let It Begin – (Curb Records)
  • Green Day – Saviors (edition de luxe) – (Reprise Records)
  • Joe Jonas – Music For People Who Believe in Love – (Republic Records / UMG)
  • Sports Team – Boys These Days – (Bright Antenna Entertainment / AWAL)
  • Cardinal Black – Midnight at The Valencia – (Jump In Records / Thirty Tigers)
  • Stereolab – Instant Holograms on Metal Film – (Duophonic)
  • The SteelDrivers – Outrun – (Sun Records)
  • Sparks – MAD! – (Transgressive)
  • Firefall – Friends And Family 2 – (Firetours Inc / Sunset Blvd Records)
  • Feversea – Man Under Erasure – (Dark Essence Records)
  • Witchcraft – Idag – (Heavy Psych Sounds)
  • OnSlaught – Origins of Aggression – (Reigning Phoenix Music)
  • Crystal Spiders – Metanoia – (Ripple Music)
  • Unmerciful – Devouring Darkness – (Willowtip)
  • Unantastbar – Fur Immer Wir – (Napalm Records)
  • Age of Apocalypse – In Oblivion – (Closed Casket Activities)
  • St. Johns Wood Affair – 2 – (Think Like A Key Music / Keith Smart)
  • Cindytalk – Camouflage Heart – (Dais Records)
  • Charmer – Downpour – (Counter Intuitive Records)
  • Skunk Anansie – The Painful Truth – (Boogooyamma / Frontiers Records)
  • These New Puritans – Crooked Wing – (Domino Recordings)
  • House of Protection – Outrun You All – (Red Bull Records)
  • Amble – Reverie – (Warner Records / Amble Music Ltd)