Tag: Detroit Rock City

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

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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)

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

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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.

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Kiss – The Best of Kiss: Green Series (2008) – Album Review (The Kiss Review Series)

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Universal Music did not care about over saturation of an artist as they released a ton of Kiss Compilations and Canada received the brunt of them. This one was released in April 2008, I believe. It was part of the Green Series that Universal was releasing which had a number of bands. The Green Series means the packaging was all done with recycled paper and even used a plant based ink. Good on them for trying to save the earth, but with the shipping of the product and I am sure was wrapped in some sort of plastic, it was really all for naught. Plus, the cardboard digipak would tend to show wear and tear after awhile. However, the copy I received was in pretty darn good shape.

The album contains 15 tracks and really only covers the 70’s with the minor exception of “Lick It Up” from 1983. The rest is only from the original band members of Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Peter Criss and Ace Frehley. With “Lick It Up”, you add Eric Carr and Vinnie Vincent. Wait, this isn’t all entirely true as the song “Cold Gin” is live and is copyrighted from 2001. More on that later. There is a write-up in the booklet by Don Winkley giving a brief history of the band only going up to the reunion (and this was 2008 when released so I would say they missed some years). If you like the 70’s material, then at 15 tracks, not a bad comp…but not a great one either. A pure cash grab from the label. Let’s get to the music…

“Shout It Out Loud” was the first single off ‘Destroyer’ 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.

Ace is finally on lead vocals with “Shock Me” and might be my favorite Ace song.  The song is based off an incident that is well documented where Ace touched an ungrounded metal railing and had the life shocked out of him.  No, he didn’t die, but he was thrown back a little.  He continued the show with no feeling in his hand and I believe the show was December 12, 1976, at the Lakeland Civic Center in Lakeland, Florida.  Ace having little confidence wanted Gene to sing and Gene, thankfully, talked Ace in to singing.  Ace finally agreed and actually recorded the song lying down on the floor.  I hope that method has changed. The song is utterly brilliant and the guitar work is some of Ace’s best. In fact, he does all the guitar work on this one, both lead and rhythm.  This defines Ace Frehley in my book!!

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Kiss – ‘Legends of Rock’ (2009) – Album Review (The Kiss Review Series)

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Universal Music was at it again in 2009 with yet another compilation. This one was called ‘Legends of Rock’ and was exclusive to Canada like so many others. They were pumping these out and trying to grab as much cash as they could since Kiss was no longer on their label. I do like the old photograph from the ‘Dressed to Kill’ era that was the cover. It was a decent set with 15 tracks, but nothing really special or unexpected. Same old, same old, you’d say. It is a bare bones set, but at least they had some write-up in the liner notes. It says it is a 4 page booklet, but don’t let that fool you into thinking there is anything cool in there because there is not. The only thing of interest is the songs and even those are not that interesting since most of the tracks are on every other compilation out there. What songs are on it? Let’s go through it and see.

First up is “Heaven’s On Fire” which is Paul Stanly and Desmond Child song and the first single off ‘Animalize’. Paul shows off with a little “Oooh Oooh Oooh” that I’m not sure he could not hit today as it is so high, but it is a perfect way to kick off the song  The song is another rocker and a very typical 80’s sounding song. It was all over MTV and helped propel the album to Platinum status. On radio, it didn’t fare as well not breaking the Top 40 and hanging around #49. The song is one of the few 80’s song to actually get occasionally played live after they went back to make-up which is cool. Now sadly, this was the only video that contains Mark as he was gone before anything else was done, but at least we have this to remember him by.

“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. Really cool they kicked things off with 2 80’s songs, but that is all we get. The rest are from the 70’s.

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.

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Kiss – ‘Greatest Hits’ (1997) – Album Review (The Kiss Review Series)

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In 1997, Kiss was enjoying the renewed attention with the make-up back on and a reunion in full swing. Ace and Peter were back so they released a compilation around the world called ‘Greatest Kiss’ which was full of songs from the early years with the original four members. Strangely enough, the UK released another compilation in 1997 called ‘Greatest Hits’. It was a UK exclusive but why release it when they released the other compilation around the same time that was released all around Europe so easy to get. Made no sense to me.

Who knows why. What I do know is I finally have a copy of the release. It was from Polygram TV which was a division of Polygram records so a legit release. It had 20 songs like the ‘Greatest Kiss’ release; however there were a few songs that were different. This UK release actually had some songs from Kiss that did not have Ace and Peter with some of the 80’s tracks. There are no unreleased tracks or anything new, these are all album cuts so you already have these songs if you own all the albums.

Now, Wikipedia states that this was released on June 28, 1999, however, that is wrong…unless the date on the back cover of 1997 was a misprint or this was held for two years after printing them out. And another thing…if you aren’t sure what the track listing is, don’t you worry. It is printed a total of 4 times throughout the booklet. On the back cover, the back of the booklet and if you open the booklet it is there again in case you forgot. And if that wasn’t enough, it is also on the CD. Whew! I’m so happy they did it so many times because I’m sure I would’ve have forgotten. Also, inside is a chance to win a portable CD player. In 1997, that would’ve been really cool.

The music is the most important part anyway, so let’s get to it. “Here’s a little song for everybody other there”…The first track is “Crazy Crazy Nights” which was a big hit in the UK so understandable it was on here. The song was written by Paul Stanley and Adam Mitchell who Paul and Gene have both worked with quite a bit. It was a different opening track for the band as was really upbeat, kind of pop sounding yet anthemic at the same time. It wasn’t an out and out rocker like most of their albums. Paul didn’t sing so much as speak the verses and is overall it is quite cheesy.  It is the only song that the band has played live after this tour. They picked it back up due to demand back in 2010 and started adding it to shows.

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Kiss – ‘Lo Mejor De…Kiss’ (2015) – Album Review (The Kiss Review Series)

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Universal Music is still the compilation king even in 2015. For almost 10 years, they have been spitting out Kiss compilations like they were going out of style. This time around they release a single disc compilation that was only available in Spain. It was titled ‘Lo Mejor…Kiss’. For you English speaking folks, that simply means ‘The Best of…Kiss’. It is only 14 tracks that covers the 70’s and a smidge in the 80’s as we do get 3 tracks from that era. You get a handful with Gene on vocals, a smattering of Paul and a sprinkle of Peter…but no Ace songs…boo!!! The cover of the album is pretty nice with an early photo of the band. I love how the cover looks like a magazine cover and I even like the font of the logo. There isn’t much to it as the album cover opens to reveal the track listing with a few credits, but no other pictures, no write-up, nothing. Pretty basic. Another cash grab. But being that is a Spanish release, the cool factor is pretty high for me to have it in the collection.

There isn’t much else I could find on it, so we might as well talk the music. The album kicks off with the song that started it all for the band.  The start to superstardom was because of “Rock And Roll All Nite”.  This is now their signature song and it is easy to see why.  It is a pure rock anthem like no other. The ‘Alive!’ version is better though.

And then Paul shows off with a little “Oooh Oooh Oooh” that I’m not sure he could not hit today as it is so high, but it is a perfect way to kick off the song “Heaven’s On Fire” which is another Paul and Desmond song and the first single off ‘Animalize’ The song is another rocker and a very typical 80’s sounding song. It was all over MTV and helped propel the album to Platinum status. On radio, it didn’t fare as well not breaking the Top 40 and hanging around #49. The song is one of the few 80’s song to actually get occasionally played live after they went back to make-up which is cool. Now sadly, this was the only video that contains Mark as he was gone before anything else was done, but at least we have this to remember him by.

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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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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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