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.
This time around we have another Australian Bootleg which means it has a big “UNAUTHORIZED” across the cover. It is called Boxx (Vol. 2) – Live in Europe 1984 and was released in 1993 by a label called Banana and distributed by Apple House Music. What is with the fruit references?? It’s packaging is identical to the other two we’ve reviewed from this company All were made in Australia. This time we get a Gold Disc for the CD which is different.
This show has Bruce Kulick on guitar and he was not yet an official member. All the songs are from a show at the Gaumont Theater in Ipswich, England on October 11, 1984 for the Animalize Tour. I have a full show from this European Tour and it was the October 26 show in Stockholm on the “They Only Come Out at Night” bootleg. This one here is only 10 tracks, it is not a full show, but with only 3 songs are classic 70’s Kiss and the rest are all from the 80’s, I am truly okay with that as I love the 80’s songs. Heck, the 80’s were the era I grew up in. The 70’s, I was a little kid and influenced heavily by my brother’s taste. The 80’s were all my doing.
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.
This time around we have another Australian Bootleg which means it has a big “UNAUTHORIZED” across the cover. It is called Boxx (Vol. 1) and was released in 1993 by a label called Banana and distributed by Apple House Music. What is with the fruit references?? It’s packaging is identical to the Live Vol. 1 we did a few weeks back. Both were made in Australia. This time instead of tracks from one show we get them from two. One is Cleveland 1975 and the other is actually Nashville 1984 despite the cover saying ’85. Oops. It looks like songs 1-6 are from June 21, 1975 at the Cleveland Music Hall and was actually part of the King Biscuit Flower Hour Broadcast…which explains why it sounds so good. Tracks 7-13 are from January 11, 1984 show at Nashville Municipal Auditorium.
It starts off with what is called “Intro” so I was expecting a big “You Wanted the Best, You Got the Best…” opening, however, it was simply the intro to the song “Hotter Than Hell” as are only taking songs from the setlist here and not a full show. “Hotter Than Hell” really cooks. The guitars are smoking, the bass is steaming and the drums are explosive. Paul’s vocals are killer and it is hard to believe this is a bootleg. The go right into “Firehouse” like they do in the original full show. And it is more of the same awesomeness. You know how the song goes so no need discussing that, simply know this sounds like a band in their prime and hungry as hell.
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.
This is yet another live show from 1977 and I know I said I needed to pick one from a different year as I’ve done a lot from 1977, but I couldn’t pass this one up. This is another from Budokan in 1977 and was a finished mix that was supposed to be used for their Alive II album, but it was scrapped. A year later, we actually got ‘Alive II’ and it was not as quite as live as this one is. This version is more raw and rough around the edges unlike ‘Alive II’ that came out. And for that, it might be a better version, for the most part.
This version of the Bootleg I believe is a self-made CD. The reason I say that is because the pictures seem to be photocopies of another picture as they aren’t as crisp and clear. The CD cover art looks homemade and well, the back cover of the insert is simply a white page with the statement printed on it that reads “From The Collection of John Humphrey”. All that leads me to believe he had the digital version of this and decided to put it on CD. So, I guess this is a bootlegged bootleg…which is cool. To top it off, we get the studio songs that are on Side 4 of ‘Alive II’, but these are different mixes and alternate versions. Lastly, there are 4 demo songs from Gene’s solo album. That is also really cool. Now, how does all this sound?
I’ll be honest. It sounds amazing. The mix is sensational, the crowd noise is pumped in and it feels exciting and electric. The songs are edited together that make you feel this is one cohesive show…and that is how it should be. They open with “Detroit Rock City” and the energy is dripping from the speakers. Paul goes into “Take Me” and he has the crowd in the palm of his hand. The guitars are brutal and the drums are powerful. Gene meets you in the “Ladies Room” next and damn does it feel like the crowd is going nuts.
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.
This time the bootleg is a live show from Madison Square Garden recorded on February 18, 1977. This was a historical show for the band as it was their first time playing this arena. It is also known for that great photo of the band members in full make-up and outfits surrounded by their parents and even has Bill Aucoin in the picture (see above). The set we have here was released in 2016 by Eat A Peach! and of course it is unofficial or it wouldn’t be in my bootleg series.
Included is a little 4 page booklet and even an inner sleeve like an album sleeve with some information on the show. Lastly, the CD is a cool picture disc with the I Love NY on it and the band’s faces in the heart (or the love part). This show is a soundboard recording, but it isn’t the best one I’ve heard. The sound is weak, almost hollow at times and there is a lot of tape wobble at certain parts too. However, it is a full show and even comes with 2 bonus tracks which we will discuss.
It has been a couple years since we received any new ‘Off the Sounboard’ albums from Kiss. They were busy ending their touring career and selling off the rights on their image and catalog. Now that things are settled, we are back with the newest ‘Off the Sounboard’ and this is the 6th album in the series. This was was filmed in San Antonio, Texas on December 3, 1985 at HemisFair Arena, which puts right in to the Asylum Tour. If I’m not mistaken, this is the first one we get with Bruce Kulick on guitar. This means we are only missing one from the Vinnie Vincent era as all other members have been covered so far. The rest of the band is of course, Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons with Eric Carr on drums. A great lineup of the band.
For this one, Kiss changed things up. It is still similar in packaging in the flimsy brown cardboard box, but instead of a plan brown cover with a stamped on logo, they actually added a picture of the band. However, jury is still out if I like the change or not. It does change the look when you place it against the others, but it is still kinda cool. But the thing that really pisses me off is on how they were offered. You could only get the vinyl on Kiss Online and you could only get it in a bundle which means I had to buy a T-Shirt as well which jacks up the already over-inflated price. There was only the color version of the vinyl and not a standard black and there was NO CD!! Well, there was no CD anywhere in the world except for Japan. So, CDJapan received another big order from me as I want to make sure I get enough stuff to make the shipping worth it. I have to say, the choices on what we were able to buy were limited and very disappointing.
This week on the collection, we are going to show of the new Kiss ‘Off the Soundboard’ release we have on both vinyl and CD. The show is from San Antonio, TX recorded on December 3, 1985 and is the first ‘Off the Soundboard’ release to feature Bruce Kulick on guitar. The tour was for ‘Asylum’ which is one of the tours I saw and I actually saw the show later that month in 1985 in Atlanta. We will talk the packaging, the crappy things Kiss Online store do and talk the show itself.
So go check it out as it will be live tonight right now, July 7, 2025 at 7pm. Thanks for stopping by and please click “Like” and hit “Subscribe” as it helps out the site when you do.
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.
A month ago, we did a review of ‘Kabuki Beasts: Kyoto 1977’ and it was recorded Saturday, March 26, 1977 at Kyoto Kaikan Dai Ichi Hall in Kyoto, Japan. This is another Japanese show from that tour. In fact, it is the Last Show of the 1977 Japanese Tour and it was April 4, 1977 at Budokan in Tokyo, Japan. It is called ‘Snake Attack Budokan: Last Show Japan Tour 1977’. There were only 150 of these made and sold so good luck trying to find one and if you do, I hope your wallet is full. Mine is #62.
This episode we are going to show-off the Kiss 45th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition Box Set for their album ‘Destroyer. With talk of two new box sets this year from Kiss, I figured why not show-off the two that I have so this episode will be the first one they released. 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 and it is stellar…mostly. We walk through each CD that comes with it (there are 4), a Blu Ray, a hard back book and so much more. An album that came out March 15, 1976 when I wasn’t even 8 years old, but I remember it and still love the album today.
So go check it out as it will be live tonight right now, June 12, 2025 at 12PM (NOON). Thanks for stopping by and please click “Like” and hit “Subscribe” as it helps out the site when you do.
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 collection I bought is ‘Live in Australia 1980’. It isn’t really a live show per se. It is actually a Australian documentary show that talks about Kiss and interspersed between the narrator, we get live songs and tidbits from band members, Doc Mchee and even their road manager. It sounds like the show was recorded on VHS and they transferred it to be put on CD (more on that later). You get about 11 live songs from their tour in Australia that hit Perth, Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney and Brisbane I believe. Most songs I’ve read come from Sydney, but I hear the announcer and Paul calling out Adelaide I believe.
As I said, it is a documentary type show as there is a narrator and the dialogue written is quite comical at times. The narrator delivers it so seriously, but it is so cheesy and at times so inaccurate. Quite enjoyable for the humor of it that wasn’t intentional. It all kicks off with a TV promo that has each member introducing themselves and then Ace introducing the band’s new drummer Eric Carr. The band gets introduced and they go in to “Detroit Rock City” but it is not listed on the track listing. That song is usually a great song to kick off the show, but because this recorded on tape, the tape was rather warped or whatever because we get a lot of tape drag and Ace’s playing sounds simply atrocious. Luckily, this is the only song that is that way.
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.
2 Loud 2 Old Music 