Tag: Ace Frehley

Kiss – ‘HoriPro Music Publishing Collection: Disc 1’ (2007) – Promo CD (The Kiss Review Series)

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In my hunt for Kiss compilations, I came across this single disc cd from 2007 that was actually a promo CD of a larger collection that had 8 CDs, only one of which was Kiss. The info on it is as follows:

KISS/VARIOUS Horipro Music Publishing Collection (2007 US promotional only 120-track 8-CD album set issued by the music publishing arm of the Horipro Entertainment Group to illustrate the diversity of their song catalogue, comprising four various artist compilations of hit country songs and classic rock songs, individual discs dedicated to the ‘Emerald Forest’ subsidiary, Jerry Reed and REO Speedwagon, plus a 13-track Kiss collection exclusive to this set. Custom printed discs and full colour picture sleeves, housed in a card picture slipcase with 16-page booklet including artist biographies).

I do not have the whole set, but only the Kiss CD that I picked up on Discogs. I would love to grab the whole set one day, but for now, I’m happy with the Kiss CD at the very least…which is all I really wanted anyway. It is a simple collection with 13 tracks and the inside album sheet had the songs listed and where they wound up on the Billboard Charts and the year. However, not all the songs charted. A very simple set with nothing else included and heck, it didn’t even have the normal Kiss Logo. But it did have a great selection of tracks.

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The Collection: Ep. 40 – My Favorite Things In 2024

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As we close out 2024, what were the things I liked the most that I obtained in the collection? That is a very good question that we will answer in this week’s video. We will talk new releases, live albums, reissues and the coolest stuff I think I found this year to add in to the collection. A whole bunch of stuff so check it out!!

Kiss – ‘Star Boulevard’ (2012) – Album Review (The Kiss Review Series)

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Universal Music was spitting out Kiss compilations faster than Gene and Paul were badmouthing Ace & Peter. Man, that is fast. This time around, we get a German only compilation from 2012 that was only available at the retail store Rossman. It is a 2 CD set with 30 songs and a bonus track as well. But is it really a bonus track if this is the only version released. No vinyl, no cassette, only a CD. That to me seems like it is a 2 CD set with 31 songs. Maybe it is because all the songs on here are album cuts except for this 31st song…who knows. Regardless, cool to get this one in the collection and I love that it has the German Kiss logo with the different SS’s.

The songs are mostly focused on the 70’s with a small taste of anything from the 80’s and when I say small, I mean only like 4 songs out of the 31. But there are some cool choices on here that you don’t normally see on a Kiss compilation and being 2 CDs, gives you a great taste of the band especially if you like the 70’s.

CD 1:

The album kicks off with the song “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.

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Kiss – ‘Icon 2’ (2010) – Album Review (The Kiss Review Series)

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Back in 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. Well, then in 2010, 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’…well…it is and it sort of isn’t. 11 of the tracks in order are from Vol. 1 of The Millennium Collection while the last song from that collection is moved to kick off Disc 2. In its place is a live song from ‘Alive II’. Disc 2 kicks off with a song from ‘Dynasty’ and picks one song from every album after that up to ‘Pyscho Circus’…well that is if you exclude ‘Carnival of Souls’ and any of the live or compilation albums.

However, as the collector in me, I had to have ‘Icon 2’. Even though I have ‘Icon’ on CD and have the brand new, first time on vinyl version of Icon as Walmart has just released an Exclusive Silver Black Splatter vinyl. And since I collect everything vinyl for Kiss, I had to have it for my collection wouldn’t be complete. Okay, my collection is not complete anyway as I am missing a couple pieces that are extremely pricey, but that is for another time. Yes, I have a problem. Both ‘Icon’ and ‘Icon 2’ were released by Universal in 2010. Universal started vomiting greatest hits compilations for Kiss ever since they left the label. And I mean vomit…there are at least a dozen in about a 10 year span from around the world. It is nuts.

Let us go through this set and talk about the songs since we are here.

DISC 1:

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Kiss – ‘Superstar Series: The Best of Kiss’ (2009) – Album Review (The Kiss Review Series)

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Universal Music was spitting out Kiss Compilations like candy in the 2000’s. There are numerous ones to speak about (and we have been). This time around we get a Canada only release for a Compilation Series that spanned numerous artists. Of course, this one is on Kiss or why else would I be talking about it. This is a very generic series and with only 7 songs, very skippable…and I mean skippable unless you are certifiably insane like me and have to have everything! There are no liner notes and no thought was put in to this release at all. But since we are here, what songs are on it?

It kicks off with “Shout It Out Loud” which was the first single off ‘Destroyer’. It was trying to capitalize off the success of the live version of “Rock and Roll All Nite” that was released previously.  The title of the song comes from the Hollies song “We Want to Shout It Out Loud” which Wicked Lester demoed years earlier. The song is sung by both Paul and Gene  and that chorus of “Shout it, Shout it, Shout It Out Loud” is pure rock gold.

“I Was Made For Lovin’ You” was written by Paul Stanley, Vini Poncia and the great Desmond Child makes his first of many appears with the band. This is from ‘Dynasty’ and 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 Paul proved his point. The song went to #11 on the Billboard Hot 100.

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Kiss – ‘3 CD » Playlist + Plus’ (2008) – Album Review (The Kiss Review Series)

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 The 2000’s were a huge time for Kiss…well, for the label to release greatest hits compilations that is. There are dozens. One of the easiest ones to find is The Millennium Collection which was actually a 3 volume set with a volume released in 2003, one in 2004 and the final in 2006. 2 years after the Volume 3 set was released, Universal decided, why not repackage it and release it all in one set. Sure, why not! As a result, we get ‘3 CD » Playlist + Plus’ which was repackaged as a Double-Gatefold Cardboard set up covered in a Slipcase. It was even promoted as an environmentally friendly set (despite the plastic that wrapped around the set).

The track listing is exactly as The Millennium Collection, no changes at all. For the 3 CDs, we do get a total of 36 tracks and each disc is separate era of the band which is nice. I love the choice of pictures on the packaging with two live shots, one from Alive! and one from ‘The Millennium Concert’. And the two band pictures are pretty sweet, I even like the cover shot with the black background and the faces of the guys. Each CD is a different color and this time, not representing each band member as we get a yellow, an orange and a pink (I think).

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Kiss – ‘Playlist Your Way: Hits CD’ (2008) – Album Review

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Kiss is known for having a million greatest hits album and here we have another. This one is on the cheap side of things and is pretty basic. It is probably a label release and the band probably had zero to do with this one. It was released in 2008 by Mercury and UMe. It is called ‘Playlist Your Way’ and everything about it is cheap. The packing is a fold out cardboard that the CD is housed in. The cover has a big cutout and slipped in is a credit card size cardboard with a picture of the band on one side and a code on the other I believe to download some ringtones. This was 2008 and everyone wanted a ringtone so why not a Kiss one. The card could only be used in the U.S. and my copy was a sealed brand new release so the card was never used.

The CD has 14 tracks that range from the debut album up to ‘Hot in the Shade’. But no, there is not a song from every album in between. It is a random selection and it is basically the hits…well…except for “Uh! All Night”. I don’t really consider that one a hit or a good song. My buddy Michael Ladano reviewed this years ago and he thought it was strange that “Beth” was butted up against “Uh! All Night” and I would have to agree. The dynamics of those two songs sort of clash being side by side. While we are on the songs, let’s discuss them.

First up is “Rock And Roll All Nite” and surprisingly it is the ‘Dressed to Kill’ studio version and not the live version as it is on most comps. It is the rock anthem of rock anthem’s and you can hear those elements and that this song was bursting to be heard.  The song came together because Neil wanted them to write an anthem or something for the fans to rally behind and this was the result…not bad! 

“Lick It Up” is the band’s first single and first video without make-up and the song only went to #66.  It opens with a nice little riff and a little scream from Paul.  Paul’s second song on the album and it was meant for the radio.  This is a pure 80’s, melodic rock song and no wonder it still gets played a lot.  The video was so 80’s as well.  Real cheesy and had the band in a post-apocalyptic world.  It is a little comical watching it now.  The song, however, is about a guy trying to talk his girlfriend in to doing the nasty so doesn’t really fit with the video.

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Kiss – ‘The Very Best of Kiss’ (2002) – Album Review (The Kiss Review Series)

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Kiss and their label are know for releasing a ton of greatest hits compilations as you have seen over the last few months from what I’ve posted. And we’ve barely scratched the surface. I have another one for you and this one is was released on August 27, 2002. It is called ‘The Very Best of Kiss’ and you get 21 songs. There is nothing new, unreleased or anything special about these songs. They are all taken from the albums they represent with the exception of “Detroit Rock City” which is the edited version but it is from ‘Double Platinum’ and has been released before. Basically, there is really no reason to buy this one.

It is not well representative of their whole career as we only get 3 songs from the 80’s and 1 from the 90’s and that is it. We also only get 1 song from the solo albums and that is Ace’s “New York Groove”. The 70’s heyday is what is mostly represented here and if you want that era, get the ‘Gold’ compilation we mentioned awhile back as it is splendid. You do get a lot of band members represented as we have songs with Gene Simmons, Paul Stanely, Ace Frehley, Peter Criss, Eric Carr, Vinnie Vincent, Bruce Kulick and Eric Singer. No Mark St. John nor Tommy Thayer though. The album did chart at #52 on the Billboard 200 album chart and it did go Gold in the U.S., but otherwise nothing special. And with that, let’s get in to the music.s

The album kicks off with the song “Strutter” from the debut album.  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. 

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Kiss – ‘Ikons’ (2008) – Album Review (The Kiss Review Series)

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I know, I know. I’ve done a lot of Kiss compilations lately. Hopefully, you have it in you for another one. This one is a little different then the others, believe it or not. It is a 4 CD set called ‘Ikons’ and it contains one CD for each member of the band. That is right. The songs on each CD are sung by the band member the CD is named after. Funny thing is, growing up, I would do the exact same thing. I would make a cassette, or later CDs, that were band member specific. The Ace and Peter ones were easy as they barely had enough songs to make a CD. However, Gene’s and Paul’s were more difficult as they had a lot more to choose from.

The ‘Ikon’ box set came out on October 21, 2008 and was included in a gatefold case that folded out to have 5 sections. It also came with a slip cover to go over it. It contained a different image then what was on the case itself which is awesome. You get a picture of each band member along with a slot for each members album specifically designed for each member with their famous ‘icon’ stamped on it. It was a nicely put together set. Each Disc contains 14 tracks so you do the math on how many songs you get (don’t forget to carry the one).

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Kiss – ‘Gold’ (2005) – Album Review (The Kiss Review Series)

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Between 2002-2008, The record labels in control of the Kiss Catalog released not one, not two, heck not even 3 Greatest Hit Compilations. Nope. They released a total of 7 greatest hits compilations spread over those years. I am sure there are more, I just haven’t found them yet. Over the last few weeks, we have been through a bunch of them and hopefully this is the last one for a little while. At least until I find more…which I will. As far as compilations go, this one is worth taking notice. Let me explain.

Originally this was released in 2004 as part of the KISS Sound and Vision box set. This set was released on January 11, 2005 and is a 2 CD Set called ‘Gold’. The label for this one was Universal Music Corporation. This set covers the make-up years from 1974 up to 1982…except it doesn’t include anything from ‘Creatures of the Night’. The 1982 in reference here is for the ‘Killers’ compilation. There are 20 songs per disc which means we get a handful of releases from almost every album with some minor exceptions. There is at least one from every release though (except maybe Double Platinum. If you want a comp that gives you the best coverage of the make-up era, I don’t know if you can do better than this.

DISC 1:

Kiss (1974): The representation of the debut album is strong as it gives you five tracks:

The album kicks off with the song “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. 

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