Tag: KISS

Kiss – ‘Kiss Rocks Vegas’ (2016) – DVD Review (The Kiss Review Series)

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Believe it or not, Kiss released yet another live album and not a studio album. It is a sad commentary on the Kiss World at this time. And to this day, it still doesn’t look like a studio album is coming. But this is no ordinary live album…or is it? Kiss took a break from their killer 40th Anniversary World Tour and spent some time at a residency in Las Vegas…I mean who doesn’t nowadays. From November 5-23 of 2014, Kiss held up shop at the Hard Rock Hotel And Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer gave us the Kiss spectacle night after night in all its glory. The DVD set was released on August 26, 2016 almost two years later and not sure why the delay in getting it out.

And this package is a beautiful set and gives you everything you want. You get a DVD of the show in Full Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, you get a bonus acoustic set and then you get the show on CD of the same songs (less the acoustic). If you want the acoustic on CD you need to get the Japanese version…of course…and of course Ladano has that one if you want to here his take on it. You also get a booklet with tons of pictures from the band.

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June 2021 Purchases – Vinyl & CDs

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We are now half way through the year, man, that is so hard to believe. Before we know it, the year will be over 2022 will be upon us, but for that, let us see what June had in store for 2 Loud 2 Old Music. The month started off with my youngest daughter and I doing some thrift store shopping. I didn’t expect to be buying any music there, but lo and behold, they actually had some CDs for $1 a piece so I grabbed a few (or more). I got Seal, Jonny Lang, Eric Clapton and David Lanz…

I also picked up a couple of Cheap Trick albums. I had a gift card to Amazon from MyPoints.com and so I picked up Special One on CD and then their latest album finally arrived a month after it was released…it must have been lost In Another World for a little while…

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Kiss – ‘Kiss 40’ (2014) – Album Review (The Kiss Review Series)

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By this time in the Kiss World, things are kind of boring. There are no more studio albums and doesn’t look like there will ever be. The band is touring regularly meaning they are basically doing Summer Tours with another Big Named Band. And for their 40th, that Big Name Band was none other than Def Leppard…yes, I saw that show and Leppard was freaking fantastic and Kiss was good. But it was still exciting because the band was celebrating their 40th Anniversary (which was really 2013 if I’m not mistaken)…regardless, it was time for the band to release another Greatest Hits Compilation…yes…just what we needed!! That is supposed to be very sarcastic so if you could read as such, that would be great!!

They did make this compilation a little interesting. Being the 40th Anniversary, they picked one song…and I mean only 1 song…from each and every album release they have had over the years. That means, that picked a song from all studio albums, including the solo albums, they picked one from every live album and every greatest hits package and every box set. How many bands can say when they pick one song from every release they can have 40 songs…probably none. And actually they couldn’t either. There were 4 extra songs added to get to the 40 and we will talk about that later.

Not every song was the album version though. They did throw in some Single Mixes such as “I Was Made for Loving You” from Dynasty, Radio Edits like “Jungle” from Carnival of Souls, an edited version of “Shout It Out Loud” from Alive II and an edited version of “Psycho Circus’ from Psycho Circus that had the beginning instrumental piece edited out. They weren’t all the cookie cutter songs straight off the release.

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Kiss – ‘The Casablanca Singles 1974–1982’ (2012) – Box Set Review (The Kiss Review Series – Bonus Edition)

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This time around, we have a little bonus edition for you. There is no dramatic story behind this release, it is simple a way to give the fans something kind of cool and the band a little more money. There are no new songs or remixes, these are all songs you already have in some way shape or form. On November 13, 2012, Kiss released the box set, ‘The Casablanca Singles 1974-1982’ collection. It houses all 29 singles the band released on Casablanca Records. They have all been digitally remastered and given some very collectible sleeves from the original single releases from around the world.

Now, this is not going to be review of each song, been there done that with all of the album reviews. No, this is going to be a picture review of the entire box set. You are going to see everything there is to see in this box set. There are over 90 pictures so sit back and enjoy. We will do them in order of each album, but first we will start with the box set itself and the booklet. I hope you enjoy…

The box set is literally housed in a box. There is a flap on the side you open and all the singles and booklet slide right in. It is nice and sturdy. There is a cool effect on the front where the box there is an empty space with a fiery red, orange and yellow swirled backing that gives the Kiss logo its fiery appearance. The box also has an etched metal plaque engraved with the name “The Casablanca Singles 1974-1982 Limited Edition”. But here is the big question…What’s in the Box??

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Kiss – ‘Monster’ (2012) – Album Review (The Kiss Review Series)

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It has only been three short years since ‘Sonic Boom’ and Kiss is ready to put out another album. Three years might seem like a long time, but lately in the Kiss World, it is a blip in the radar. The band has actually not had any drama during this time gap and things seem to be going smoothly which is not normal for these guys. The band is unchanged with Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley still at the helm and Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer still the hired guns.

The band went back in the studio starting in April 2011 and didn’t finish the album until January 2012. And heck, then it wasn’t even released until October 9, 2012. The guys were in no rush obviously. Kiss wanted to get back to their roots on this one while keeping it sounding like what the band is today. To help accomplish that the band actually recorded the album using analog equipment and a 24 Track Tape and a Trident board. They were going at it old school…no digital. Did it help? Well the album went all the way to #3 on the Billboard Charts, so we will see.

But speaking of old school. There were no outside writers and no outside players (except one on piano, but we will get to that shortly). Tommy gets to sing again and so does Eric. This was a band album, just like ‘Sonic Boom’, and a band album is what the fans want. They started with around 20 songs and ended up with 12 on the vinyl & the CD (13 on iTunes). We are talking the 12 here since my copy is on vinyl. Let’s get started.

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Friday New Releases – June 11, 2021

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IT IS FRIDAY!!!!! The biggest Friday for me in a long time. Man, there are some great stuff coming out this week and I am sure you will find something. There are over 35 releases on the list and I know it is way too much to listen to everything, but there are so many I want to hear. There are actually 3 albums I have on Pre-Order and they are the first three on my list. All my choices will be in Blue like normal. Make sure to tell me what you want to hear and what albums I may have missed. Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you all have a wonderful and enjoyable weekend. I know I will as I can feel the sandy beaches and ocean calling my name right now!!!

  • 91sZmAbkqZL._SS500_  Mammoth WVH – Mammoth WVH – (EX1 Records): First up this week is the debut album Wolfgang Van Halen. Yes, Eddie’s son is out with his one band and this is going to be awesome. Wolfgang is making his own path with this very modern rock album. And the guy can sing and play all the instruments too!! A major talent in the rock world that is ready to be unleashed. Hold on tight and grab on because this is going to blow you away!!! Can’t wait for the delivery guy to get here with my copy!!
  • 81jAyegbnJL._SX522_  Kiss – Off the Soundboard: Tokyo 2001 (Live) – (Universal / Simstan Music): Kiss!! Is there anything that needs to be said…well…yeah actually. Kiss is starting a series of albums called “Off the Soundboard” and is going to be bootleg type albums from concerts of the past and what a good one to start with. I can tell you if this becomes a regular thing, someone is going broke!!! And it will be worth it!! Yes, I bought this too!!
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Kiss – ‘Sonic Boom’ (2009) – Album Review (The Kiss Review Series)

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It has been 11 years since Kiss has released a studio album, and on October 6, 2009, we finally got what we had been waiting so long to hear. Now, the band gave us a lot of stuff in those 11 years. We did get greatest hits compilations, live albums, DVDs, solo projects, but we had been wanting a Kiss Studio album of all new songs. And the band finally delivered what we had been longing to hear for over a decade. This time in Kisstory, the band was Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley and current members of Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer. And this album is the first in decades to feature all 4 members of the band playing on the album and writing all the songs. That is right, no outside influences in any way. This was so much of a band album that even Eric and Tommy both had a song to sing. This was just like the old Kiss from the 70’s.

So why did Kiss finally release a new studio album. In part, it was because Paul & Gene didn’t want ‘Psycho Circus’ to be the final Kiss studio album. They were upset that Ace and Peter wouldn’t show up to play on it and what was supposed to be a Kiss album was full of outside writers and players. Now, if you talk to Peter Criss, I believe his story would be more along the line of Gene and Paul didn’t want them playing on it so they paid them not to be on it. That might be partially true, but Ace and Peter were on it, sadly only the songs they sang on. If they didn’t want ‘Psycho Circus’ to be their last studio album, does that mean ‘Sonic Boom’ will be their last? We will have to wait and find out.

When the album was finished it was released exclusively by Wal-mart…yes…Wal-mart. You were not able to get this album from anywhere else if you lived in the U.S. and Canada. Now, they did sweeten the pot with this one as you got a 20-page booklet, the album, a CD of Kiss Klassics and a Bonus DVD of Kiss Live in Buenos Aires. All packaged in a nice cardboard digipack. It is actually quite a bang for the buck. But was it all worth it, let us find out.

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Kiss – ‘Jigoku-Retsuden’ (2008) – Album Review (The Kiss Review Series)

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We are now 10 years past the last studio album, ‘Psycho Circus’, and Kiss has still yet to do another studio album. Instead, we basically get yet another greatest hits package. This one is different of course because it was actually a re-recording of Kiss Klassics, but this time the players are not just Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, but we now have those old hits recorded by Eric Singer on drums and Tommy Thayer on guitar. My first question is…WHY?? Do we really need to have studio versions of these great, amazing Kiss songs done by the new members. (rhetorical question)

I guess the people of Japan did because that is the only place this album was released. The title of the album is Jigoku-Retsuden which means something like “Legends from Hell” or “Hell’s Legends” in Japanese. Okay, that is pretty cool, but that is the only thing cool about this release. Okay, maybe the OBI strip is pretty cool as well. But that is it, I promise…alright, the cover is a little cool too…no more…stop!!

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May 2021 Purchases – Vinyl & CDs

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Welcome to the another month of purchases here at 2 Loud 2 Old Music. This month was going to start out very promising as I was going to a record show the first weekend of the month. I had high hopes. I put together a list of records I was going to hunt specifically for as I was going to get a grail item. Well, that didn’t happen. Nope…it was kind of a let down. Almost a bust. Now, that doesn’t mean I didn’t find some stuff, just nothing I was hoping to find.

What did I find? Well, as you know, I am a Billy Idol fan and I found a 12″ Picture Disc as well as two 7″ Singles. There were more, but condition was not great on the rest so I left them there. Here are the Idol Items I found…

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Kiss – ‘Kissology’ Volumes 1 to 3 (2006-2007) – DVD Review

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We are now to one of the greatest things Kiss has ever released. In 2006 and through to 2007, Kiss released the Kissology: The Ultimate Kiss Collection over a 3 Volume set. This set was amazing as it brought Kiss in living color to your screen. Each set covers a different era of Kiss and each is filled with interviews, promotional videos and tons and tons of live shows. It is more Kiss than you could ever absorb in a day. And we aren’t going to babble on any more as this is too good to wait, let’s jump right in to it!!!

KISSOLOGY: THE ULTIMATE KISS COLLECTION VOL. 1 – 1974-1977:

First up is Volume One which covers the years 1974-1977 the classic years of Kiss. This is Kiss in their prime and there is so much goodness in this set as there are around 380 minutes of Kiss. This set only had 2 Discs (only, because the other 2 sets have more). The first disc has so memorable and historic Kiss moments and kicks off with the earliest recorded video from February 17, 1974 of the band playing the song ‘Acrobat’ which was never released prior to this set. It also includes some TV appearances on ABC’s In Convert and their appearance on the Mike Douglas Show which has the most hilarious interview with Gene. The disc also has two full live shows with one from the Hotter Than Hell Tour from 1975 and a set for the Alive! Tour from Cobo Hall in 1976.

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