KISS – Page 11 – 2 Loud 2 Old Music

Kiss – ‘Diamonds in the Dust’ (2022) – Album Review (The Bootleg Series)

Published on January 16, 2024December 10, 2023 by 2loud2oldmusic34 Comments

My love for bootlegs started with collecting Kiss Bootlegs and as you can see from the list at the bottom of this post, I have quite a few Kiss Bootlegs and as long as I keep finding them, the more I will buy. It is a never ending cycle as new Kiss bootlegs keep popping up all the time. This one I found over a Repo Records was released in 2022, but it is a re-issue of one that came out in 2012 and it is a little different than the others that I have. Most of my bootlegs are full shows, parts of one show or a collection of demos.

This one is different in that is a collection of live tracks from various shows and not one show in particular. That to me is odd. What is the purpose of this one? I can’t seem to find out. The timeframe of the shows range from 1974 up to 1978 so they are the peak years of the band. But it is still a strange collection.

What is not strange and rather cool is the packaging. The cover is a cool live shot of Gene as the Demon and the back cover is the Kiss Alive II photo of Gene with the blood all over his face. It is an awesome shot. The inner sleeve is a couple of cool band photos on bot sides. And the final piece is a cool colored vinyl in the color of purple. I don’t have too many purple discs, so very nice. The picture from the cover is on one side of the vinyl and the Kiss logo on the other, both with the Diamonds in the Dust title. I don’t have much info on this so let’s get to the music.

SIDE ONE:

The first track is “Room Service” which was taken from Fremd High School Gymnasium, Palatine, Illinois April 19, 1975 and it sounds like it was. It is very hollow sounding and not from a soundboard. It sounds like I am outside the gym getting refreshments and the sound is bleeding from the closed doors. Paul sounds good though.

Next up is the “Love Theme From Kiss” from the Bayou Theatre in Georgetown, Washington D.C. from March 25, 1974. You hear Paul say this is one we never perform live which is not true because they use to play it when it was called Acrobat. This is definitely an early version since it is 1974 and a month after the release of the debut album.

After it fades out we get “You’re Much Too Young” from Lafayette’s Music Room in Memphis, Tennessee on December 2, 1976. A song the band would never release, but I have several versions of it live. A really cool mostly instrumental piece with basically Gene saying “You’re Much Too Young” several times during the show. The band is jamming and Peter is killing it on the drums. An interesting cool piece that sees Ace ripping a cool solo and an all around killer track. The album jacket says The Lafayette show is from that same night as the next song “Strutter”, but at a different arena. Kiss are good, but I don’t think they are that good. That means the Lafayette show from “You’re Much Too Young” is probably from April 18, 1974. And I have that show down below in the Bootleg Series list. Just my guess.

Then we get a twofer with “Strutter and “Hard Luck Woman” back to back as they are from the same show at the Mid South Coliseum in Memphis, Tennessee on December 2, 1976….wait a freaking minute…”Strutter” just ended and so did Side one. Where the heck is “Hard Luck Woman”. I think I just got ripped off. And I did. The 2022 version is missing a couple songs that were on the 2012 release. Oh well. “Strutter” was pretty good though.

SIDE TWO:

Side Two kicks off with “Ladies in Waiting” which was played at the National Guard Armory in Rockford, Illinois on November 15, 1975. The sound is really rough, it sounds like it was taken from a tape that was taken from a tape and then taken from a tape again. It is muddied and almost unlistenable. I can make out Ace’s killer solo, but the vocals are tough to hear and so are the drums, but Gene’s bass is pretty loud. All simply horrible.

Next up is a group of shows from the same show starting with “Watching You”, then a Peter Criss drum solo and lastly “Flaming Youth”. These are taken from the Roosevelt Stadium show in Jersey City, New Jersey on July 10, 1976. The sound is really good on these tracks (compared to the others). Gene sounds menacing and you can hear Peter on backing vocals really well. Peter’s drum solo is typical Peter or I should say classic Peter. It sounds great, if not a little simple. He definitely is beating the crap out of the skins, but he’s doing it as well as Peter can. You can hear the crowd scream out a few things during it. He bangs the gong and then rips a drum roll before it fades out in to “Flaming Youth”, a personal favorite. Paul’s vocals sound so deep as the tape this taken from drags a little. Man, oh man.

For the last track, we get the classic Kiss song “Deuce”. This one is from the Roberts Municipal Stadium in Evansville, Indiana on January 23, 1978. Roberts Municipal Stadium what a boring name, I guess company’s didn’t fork out millions to sponsor stadiums yet. Anyway, on to the song. Paul introduces and says this isn’t one they’d done in a long time which surprises me. When the band kicks in the sound is horrible. I can’t make hardly any of it out. I can hear Gene, but it is distant and not all that clear. Man, it is hurting the ears the high pitch it is all coming out at. I hope this ends soon as my ear might actually be bleeding.

This is a very skippable bootleg except maybe real diehards. This one makes no sense being a collection of songs from various shows. The only real cool thing about it, other than the packaging, is the fact it isn’t the standard fair of songs. You get some deep cuts and thankfully no “Rock & Roll All Nite” as I could do without that one. The sound sucks at times and sometimes not, but overall this is not one I’ll pull out very often as I prefer to hear full shows. My Overall Score is a 2.0 out of 5.0 Stars and that is being generous. It gets points for great artwork and a cool Purple vinyl. I took one for the team on this one, but still glad it is in the collection because I didn’t have it. Thanks for hanging around.

The Bootleg Series:

December 2023 Purchases – Vinyl & CDs & More

Published on December 29, 2023December 25, 2023 by 2loud2oldmusic26 Comments

Welcome to the final Purchases Wrap-Up of 2023 and we will go out with a bang. This month saw a trip to New York City to see the final Kiss show so of course we hit some record stores while there. It also saw Christmas and my Birthday so a lot of good stuff came my way. The month started off with the Kiss show and if you want to see all the Kiss stuff go read the review HERE!!!. Here, we will show the purchases I made while in New York. We hit four record stores and bought from three of them. First up is a couple from the first store and found the debut Kix album and Maneskin’s new one on vinyl. Good stuff…

And at the next one, we found a couple Whitesnake bootlegs of a couple radio broadcasts. And these are early 80’s which is the best stuff…

And I picked up a couple CDs as well including Eric Singers ESP album signed by Eric…

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My Sunday Song – “In Your Face” by Kiss

Published on December 24, 2023October 14, 2023 by 2loud2oldmusic5 Comments

For My Sunday Song #392, then next one in the Japanese Bonus Tracks from Mike Ladano’s picks is one from Kiss off the 1998 reunion album ‘Psycho Circus’ is the Japanese Bonus Track called “In Your Face”. It was written by Gene Simmons but it is Ace that is on vocals. The song didn’t make the regular album, but did show up as a B-Side on singles and listed as a non-album track. Therefore, there are no charting on the song and it didn’t help drive sales, but I have to say I really dig it.

The song seems to be autobiographical for Ace even though Gene did write it. Gene made it from Ace’s perspective. The song seems to be about that Ace doesn’t feel like he belongs, but he is who he is and he won’t apologize for it. And if you push him, he will get in your face so you better watch out. They lyrics mention Ace and the Spaceman and the song feels like an Ace track. It is better than numerous songs on this album.

As I said, Ace sings and actually plays lead guitar on this one which he only does on 3 of the 11 tracks on the Japanese Edition. I assume Gene is on bass since he wrote the song and Paul on rhythm guitar, but there is no Peter on drums as it is handled by Kevin Valentine. I do love the bass on this one as Gene really gets a little nasty on this one. Ace sounds great and his solo is also spectacular. Again, the song has a classic Ace feel to it and is a solid rocker with a catchy chorus and all around melodic track.

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Kiss – ‘Set The World on Fire: Live’ Box Set – Album Review (The Bootleg Series)

Published on December 12, 2023October 13, 2023 by 2loud2oldmusic47 Comments

If there is one thing I love to find and that is Kiss Bootlegs. Whether it is on CD or vinyl, I don’t really care. I do prefer vinyl, but I’ll take it on CD as well so I can play it anywhere once I load it up to the cloud. This time around it is a CD bootleg. And not any CD bootleg, but a whole collection of radio broadcast from over the years. In fact, there are 8 shows spread over 10 CDs and includes 119 tracks. A good coverage of years from as early as 1974 all the way up to 1994. I guess there aren’t too many broadcast after the 90’s as you can see from below…

I love that it covers the make-up era and the non make-up era all the way up to prior to the big Reunion Tour. And it even includes one Non-Kiss Show with a Frehley’s Comet one. The are radio broadcast so the quality is good, but realize these are bootlegs and not pure soundboard recordings released by the band with the sound cleaned up. The set comes in a small cardboard box with each individual disc in a fake vinyl-like sleeve. Nothing fancy, but they cram a lot of music in to a small package.

These are raw and rough and that is why I like them. I really enjoy bootlegs and getting all the shows that I can have from throughout their career. The band started releasing their own “bootleg” type albums with the ‘Off the Soundboard’ Series, but after five releases, that has been put on hold currently. I do hope they get back to it soon. For now, let’s go through this set of albums.

Disc 1:

WMMS, Agora Ballroom, Cleveland, Ohio, 1st April 1974 / King Biscuit Flour Hour, The Music Hall, Cleveland, Ohio, 21st June 1975

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Kiss -‘End Of The Road’ – THE FINAL SHOW (December 2nd, 2023: Madison Square Garden)

Published on December 4, 2023December 3, 2023 by 2loud2oldmusic31 Comments

Yes, I was there for the end. The final Kiss show. I have been a fan for around 46 years or since ever since I discovered these albums in my brothers collection. I was around 7-8 years old. The make-up, the larger than life characters, the pictures on those albums and most of all, the songs all captured this little kid’s mind and never let go. Through the good years and the bad (and there have been some), Kiss has always been a part of my life.

My very first Kiss show was December 26, 1983 for the Lick It Up Tour. My brother, Gary, gave me a ticket for the show on my birthday, which was the day before the show. Imagine my surprise. Here we are 40 years later and this time I bought the tickets. My brother took me to My First Kiss Show and I am taking him to the Last!! We arrived in New York City early morning on Friday, December 1st, 2023. Gary from Atlanta and I from Charlotte. Once we arrived, we did a couple touristy things, but one of the cool things was going to where Kiss were photographed in the suits for the Dressed to Kill album cover. That was at the southeast corner of W23rd Street and 8th Avenue looking North. I didn’t recreate it, just took a picture there.

Cheesy, yeah…but it was fun standing there where the guys made that iconic Kiss picture. The other Kiss place we went was down to Electric Lady Studios. The place where Kiss recorded their demos with Eddie Kramer, prior to the debut album. You know this studio because it was Jimi Hendrix’s Studio. If you open the door, you will see the original door and brick that was there when Kiss was. The funny thing about these two locations is that we knew we found the right locations as there were already other Kiss fans doing the same thing we planned on doing. And speaking of fans, everyone we met was so friendly and so excited about the weekend. Kiss fans, when not being overly critical, are actually great people.

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October 2023 Purchases – Vinyl & CD’s and more

Published on October 31, 2023October 21, 2023 by 2loud2oldmusic45 Comments

We have a lot of treats for you today. No tricks. I promise. It is all good stuff. October was another good month for the 2 Loud 2 Old Music Collection. We have box sets, CDs, Vinyl, Cassettes, books and I would say that is a good month. The month started off with a couple items that were supposed to arrive in September, but sadly did not come until after I had written the September Purchases post. It also ended with a new a new band from this album as well. A perfect booked. So, we have the two Night Ranger Rock Candy reissues and their new album that is a live album done with a Youth Orchestra. Great stuff…

Next up is a bunch of items I picked up when I went to visit a local store I hadn’t hit in a while. It is Repo Records. I dug through the CDs, the Cassettes and the Vinyl and found a lot of good things. First, I found another Kiss bootleg I didn’t have in my collection. That was an easy decisions…

And then I found some great 45’s from the 80’s with picture sleeves. I like picture sleeves. I picked up a Billy Idol, a Loverboy, a Billy Squire and a John Cougar Mellencamp single. All choice cuts…

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September 2023 Purchases – Vinyl & CDs

Published on September 28, 2023September 24, 2023 by 2loud2oldmusic13 Comments

Welcome to the monthly round-up as we go through the purchases here at 2 Loud 2 Old Music for September 2023. It was another good month for vinyl and CDs, but that was it. Nothing out of the ordinary this month like Cassettes, 8-Tracks or even books. Strictly vinyl and CDs which I won’t complain about because that is enough. The month started out with a couple new releases that came out at the end of August, but didn’t arrive until after the August post was done. I picked the new albums for both Eclipse and H.E.A.T. and both are great…

Then during Labor Day weekend, my wife and I had a kid free weekend and we went out to 2nd & Charles so she could look for books. I, of course, took advantage of the Buy 2 Get 2 Free in the used CD section where I picked up 10 CDs. Two of them were actually still sealed (Lifehouse and Halestorm)!! I picked up a handful of Live including their debut E.P., some Wallflowers and a great Pearl Jam live CD and as Jimmy Buffett passed away, I grabbed his greatest hits in memory of him.

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Girl – ‘Sheer Greed’ (1980) – Album Review (The Def Leppard Collection Series)

Published on September 21, 2023September 17, 2023 by 2loud2oldmusic105 Comments

When planning the Def Leppard Collection Series, I thought it would be fun to include what I call Def Leppard Adjacent albums. That would be any side projects or bands the members of Leppard have been in that I have in my collection. First up is an interesting one in that it is the band Girl which features future Def Leppard guitarists, Phil Collen. What is cool about it for me is that Girl’s debut and Def Leppard’s debut albums came out one month apart in the year of 1980. It was a battle of two new British bands and we know who comes out on top. But which album was better? Before we get in to that, lets talk about the band.

The band was formed in 1979 by Phil Lewis, Phil Collen, Gerry Laffy, Jonathon Trevisick and Mark MeGary. Two names should be easily recognizable as we know Phil Collen from Leppard, but Phil Lewis went on to fame with a Sunset Strip band in 1987 called L.A. Guns. The band quickly replaced two members of the band as Trevsicik was out and Dave Gaynor was in on drums and then MeGary was out with Simon Laffy on bass and yes, Simon is Gerry’s brother.

The band quickly signed with Jet Records and in no time had an album out called ‘Sheer Greed’. The debut came out in January 1980…that is pretty fast after just forming in 1979. Not sure if they paid their dues as they didn’t spend years grinding it out in clubs to finally get a record deal. No, they got it right out of the gate…bam!

The New Wave of British Heavy Metal was sweeping the nation, but the androgynous glamminess of Girl was a little misunderstood, however they make a few waves, just nothing big you could surf off of. They weren’t metal, but they were hard enough with even a little punk side to them with some dashes of reggae thrown in for good measure. ‘Sheer Greed’ peaked at #33 and its debut single hit #50. They didn’t have massive success, but they made some waves. Many years after the band split, Phil Collen and Simon Laffy would be in another band together called Man Raze…we will get to it in due time.

The version of the album I have in my collection is a Gold Stamped Promo. It even has “Demonstration Not For Sale” on the vinyl label. It also still has the inner sleeve with the song lyrics. There is something about picking up a promo that I do love. Maybe because it was played by a Radio Station or whatever, but it is cool to know this was handed out by the record label to specific locations. Enough about that, let’s get to the music.

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August 2023 Purchases – Vinyl, CD’s & More

Published on August 31, 2023August 26, 2023 by 2loud2oldmusic22 Comments

Another month comes to a close so it is time for another monthly wrap up of what landed in 2 Loud 2 Old Music’s collection this month and it was another decent month, if I do say so myself. It started off with a couple of new releases. First being the vinyl for the 2nd Mammoth WVH album and I like it as much as the first one…

And the second that item that came out the same time was the new album for Rick Springfield. 20 songs on one disc and it is classic Springfield and I have enjoyed it a lot as I do most of his albums.

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July 2023 Purchases – Vinyl & CDs & More

Published on July 31, 2023July 29, 2023 by 2loud2oldmusic27 Comments

July was the month of local record stores. I spent a lot of time at a couple this month, Noble Records and Hardy Boys, both excellent local shops. First, we made a trip to Noble Records and I actually had a good trip for vinyl. Meaning I bought a handful not just one here and one there. I grabbed some I’ve been meaning to add to the collection and Tim Durling is to blame for 3 of them as he’s been talking about them a lot.

And if that wasn’t enough, I was scanning the cassettes and I found a ton of Kiss cassettes, those are hard to come by so I grabbed them even though they weren’t in the best shape. I didn’t care too much about that as I just wanted them in the collection. They needed a new home anyway, so why not…I adopted a bunch…

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	Andrew on Friday New Releases – Ma…
	deKe on Friday New Releases – Ma…
	Aphoristical on Friday New Releases – Ma…
	“Me and Bobbie… on The Original vs. The Cover vs.…
	Something in the Ora… on My Sunday Song – “…

	Andrew on Friday New Releases – Ma…
	deKe on Friday New Releases – Ma…
	Aphoristical on Friday New Releases – Ma…
	“Me and Bobbie… on The Original vs. The Cover vs.…
	Something in the Ora… on My Sunday Song – “…

	Andrew on Friday New Releases – Ma…
	deKe on Friday New Releases – Ma…
	Aphoristical on Friday New Releases – Ma…
	“Me and Bobbie… on The Original vs. The Cover vs.…
	Something in the Ora… on My Sunday Song – “…

	Andrew on Friday New Releases – Ma…
	deKe on Friday New Releases – Ma…
	Aphoristical on Friday New Releases – Ma…
	“Me and Bobbie… on The Original vs. The Cover vs.…
	Something in the Ora… on My Sunday Song – “…

SIDE ONE:

SIDE TWO:

The Bootleg Series:

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Disc 1:

WMMS, Agora Ballroom, Cleveland, Ohio, 1st April 1974 / King Biscuit Flour Hour, The Music Hall, Cleveland, Ohio, 21st June 1975

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