Tag: KISS

Kiss – Alive / Worldwide Tour (1997) – Tour Book

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In my quest to get all the Kiss Tour Books in my collection, I have now come to my fourth in the Tour Book Series.  This is one of two that came from the Kiss Alive / Worldwide Tour from 1996-1997.  This is the 1997 Tour Book that includes the Giant 1997 Poster Calendar as the earlier Tour Book with the black cover did not.  I have that book as well and will get to it once I finally have it in my possession as it is currently being held by my brother in Atlanta until I come down to visit as I am too cheap to pay for the shipping. Plus, it gives me another excuse to get back home to see the family.

This book I bought on eBay and it has a pretty interesting story on the shipping. Okay, it is interesting to me.  I bought the book at a great price at only $10 and paid $5 for shipping.  Sadly, the post office didn’t deliver it, instead I got notice that there was still postage due of $7.42.  What the F@$K????  I paid for shipping.  Well, it turns out the U.S. Postal Service did an inspection, opened it and found out it doesn’t qualify for Media Mail which is the cheaper mailing service used for books, CDs, etc…  I thought that this certainly qualifies and apparently so did the seller.

It turns out because this Tour Book had a calendar and advertising in it that is doesn’t qualify.  Again What the F@$K???  The advertising, btw, was the band members advertising their guitars and the merch page.  I couldn’t believe it.  I was extremely pissed that I had to take time out of my day and go pick this up and pay extra. I reached out to the seller to voice my displeasure and he quickly refunded the extra shipping cost. That was very much appreciated.

Now on to the Tour Book.  As we normally do, I will show you every page of the book in the order of the book so you can see what you missed from 1997.  This particular Tour Book was a replica of the European Tour Book and finally available to US Tour goers during the 1997 leg of the Tour. Continue reading “Kiss – Alive / Worldwide Tour (1997) – Tour Book” →

1980 – The Greatest Year in Music?

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If you are new to the site, I started this series with the year 1987 and then noticed that 1991 and 1983 were also a couple of the greatest years in music.  I got to thinking, was there a pattern that every 4 years we have another great year in music.  Well theory didn’t last long as I don’t think the next two years I researched were “great” years in music.  Those years were 1979 and 1995. If you want to explore all the years I have examined so far, click on the link below…

1971 – The Greatest Year in Music?

1979 – The Greatest Year in Music?

1983 – The Greatest Year in Music?

1987 – The Greatest Year in Music?

1991 – The Greatest Year in Music?

1995 – The Greatest Year in Music?

Now that my theory is busted, I am now on the hunt for the “Greatest” year in music. I reviewed 1971 first and it was pretty fantastic and I am now on 1980.  I know, I know.  I am not going in any kind of order.  I am going with what I am in the mood to explore and this time 1980 has me jazzed as so many great albums are now 40 years old!!

Will 1980 be another great year or will it be the greatest year.  Let us explore and see and then decide at the end.  But first we have to ask What were the top albums of the year?, What were the debut albums from some of the great rock bands? and What was going on in the world of music that year?

NEWS:

400px-Original_Sony_Walkman_TPS-L2The Sony Walkman: I wrote about the advent of the Sony Walkman in the 1979 post as that was when it went on sale in Japan.  In the U.S., it went on sale on June 25, 1980 almost a year later.  The way you listen to music was changed forever!! (at least until the CD and then the MP3 and now streaming).  Who didn’t have one of these if you were a kid in the 80’s.  I definitely did.  It helped spur my love for music as it now was more portable and more personal.  It was better than just the radio, I could listen to what I wanted to wherever and whenever I wanted.  I used mine while I mowed the lawn (and every now and again I would snag the cord on the mower and pull my headphones off). I had a boombox, but that wasn’t the same as the Walkman.  There was nothing better (until my iPod). Continue reading “1980 – The Greatest Year in Music?” →

Kiss – ‘Peter Criss’ (1978) – Album Review (The Kiss Review Series)

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The third Kiss solo album in the review series is none other than the Catman, Peter Criss.  Peter’s album was released on the same day as all the other band members on September 18, 1978.  And Peter, sadly, had the least selling and the lowest chart placing on Billboard charts at #43, however, that doesn’t mean it was the worst of the group…ok, yes it does!

Peter’s album was my least favorite, by far, and I haven’t heard it in over 30+ years probably.  And when I pulled it out for this review and gave it a listen, it isn’t bad as I remember.  I think that stems from the fact I know so much more about who Peter is that I feel the album fits him perfectly.  Peter is not a real rock drummer, he has more of a jazz feel and this is more of his style of music.  Does that mean I like this one, no, not at all, but I get it now and I respect him for it.

IMG_2432 Continue reading “Kiss – ‘Peter Criss’ (1978) – Album Review (The Kiss Review Series)” →

Kiss – ‘Gene Simmons’ – Album Review (The Kiss Review Series)

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The second Kiss solo album in the review series is none other than the Demon himself, Gene Simmons.  Gene’s album was released on the same day as all the other band members on September 18, 1978.  And Gene had the distinction of being the highest ranked album on the Billboard charts at #22, however, that doesn’t mean it was the best of the bunch.

Gene approached his album a little different than the other members.  Gene wanted as many people as he could possibly get to appear on his album.  And he delivered a smorgasbord of guest including Joe Perry from Aerosmith, his current girlfriend Cher, Cheap Trick’s Rick Nielsen, Bob Seger, Helen Reddy, Donna Summer, Michael Des Barres and an unknown artist at the time Katy Sagal (you know her as Peg Bundy from Married with Children). And an interesting note on the album is that Gene did not play bass on it at all, that was handled by Neil Jason.

IMG_2355 Continue reading “Kiss – ‘Gene Simmons’ – Album Review (The Kiss Review Series)” →

August 2020 Purchases – Vinyl & CDs

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August started off with a bang on purchases.  We went on vacation down to St. Augustine, Florida and like I do on every trip, I hit the local record stores to see what I can find.  There were three to choose from on this trip and of course, I hit all three on different days.

The first was actually in a little house that was selling Antiques.  The record shop goes by the name On The Record – Vinyl Records and More and it was two blocks from where we were staying which made for an easy walk from the house.  It was a small shop and didn’t have a ton, but enough that  I found some albums.  First up was a Crowded House album and then 2nd was The Cult.  I also picked up a 45 Single for the song from the TV show The Greatest American Hero which I loved (at least the first season).

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The next shop was a record store called MusicMatters. It was in a strip mall and looked promising but was far from it.  They didn’t have anything really cool and everything was overpriced.  Not a great shop in my book.  I did find a Kiss Bootleg and thankfully I already had that one because they wanted $200 for it.  That is right $200.  CRAZY!!!…no F$&KING CRAZY!!  I paid $50 for mine and the quality was no different at all.  I did find one cool piece at this store and that was a compilation that I bought for two reasons, 1) I had when I was a kid and 2) it was $5.  It was “Masters of Metal”… Continue reading “August 2020 Purchases – Vinyl & CDs” →

Kiss – ‘Paul Stanley’ (1978) – Album Review (The Kiss Review Series)

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By 1978, Kiss had reached the peak of stardom.  They were flying high and a couple members were too.  Trouble was brewing and most especially with Ace Frehley and Peter Criss. From what I have read, they both wanted to do solo albums, but the band needed to keep the train rolling.  So Bill Aucoin and others came up with a strategy to help keep the peace.  The entire band would each do a solo album and they would all be released at the same time on the same day, however, they would be under the Kiss umbrella.  Brilliant or Stupid was still yet to be seen.  No band had ever attempted this prior or since and probably for good reason.

Each member had to find their own producer, their own musicians as no one in the band played on the other persons record.  It took a lot of time and while they were working on the records, the label released ‘Double Platinum’ which we discussed last week.  All the albums came out on the same day, September 18, 1978.  Now I needed to decide what order to review these so it wouldn’t look like I was showing favorites so I let the posters do the talking.  The order of these Solo reviews is based on how the posters piece together from left to right.  In that case, Paul Stanley’s album is up first.

IMG_2333 Continue reading “Kiss – ‘Paul Stanley’ (1978) – Album Review (The Kiss Review Series)” →

Casual Thursday Stream: A chat with 2loud2oldmusic! — mikeladano.com

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I had the pleasure of jumping on a live stream with Mike Ladano (Lebrain) whether he wanted me to or not (next time he might think twice about posting the link to join…Ha!). We had a good time discussing my favorite topic Kiss among other things.

He has his usual live stream on Facebook tonight where they go through a Nigel Tufnel Top Ten List and this time it is the Top 11 Favorite Concerts of All Time! Make sure to check it out on Facebook.

Just went live with John from 2loud2oldmusic.com! Check out our KISS-heavy chat below. John comes in at the 05:05 mark.

Casual Thursday Stream: A chat with 2loud2oldmusic! — mikeladano.com

Kiss – ‘Double Platinum’ (1978) – Album Review (The Kiss Review Series)

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Kiss was flying high.  Alive II was doing well and heck, all their albums were selling and some even reaching Platinum status.  Kiss had been in and out of the studio and on the road touring for over 4 years straight. They had 6 studio albums and 2 live albums under the belt now and they were tired.  Band friction was starting to form.  They were about to implode.  Ace wanted to do a solo album and to help keep the peace, management and the band came up with the idea of doing 4 solo albums all under the Kiss moniker.  To keep the ball rolling and capitalize on their current success, a greatest hits album was put together for a quick cash-grab and to give them more time to finish the solo projects and save the train wreck about to happen.

The album was released on April 2, 1978 and not just a simple single LP.  No, this was a 2 LP, 20 song greatest hits compilation.  It covers everything.  To entice people to buy it, they remixed a number of songs on here so the fan would have something a little different than what they already had.  And the packaging was beautiful.  The album cover was a gatefold which made sense for a double LP.  It was also embossed in a silver, foil-like sheen.  And let me tell you that trying to take a picture of this and not have me and the camera visible was very difficult.  The front and back cover for my version, are exactly the same.  I know some later ones, the back is different. Continue reading “Kiss – ‘Double Platinum’ (1978) – Album Review (The Kiss Review Series)” →

Kiss – World Domination 2003-2004 Tour – Tour Book

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In yet another Kiss post, we are back on the topic of Tour Books. I had 3 Tour Books from Kiss and I have done posts on 2 of those and I really enjoyed going back through the book and looking at all the pictures.  The third one is from the End of the Road Tour and I will get to that one eventually.  In the meantime, I said to myself, “you know John, we should start collecting Tour Books”.  And I answered myself back with “John, that is a brilliant idea.  Not only are you handsome, but you are pretty damn smart too!”  I couldn’t agree with myself more.

That got weird fast!!

Back on topic.  I actually went on to eBay and noticed there are tons of them for sale, but dang! they are expensive.  Maybe this wasn’t a good idea.  Then I saw one that was only $5 and the pictures looked pretty great actually.  I added it to the Watch list and about 4 hours before it was to end, I figured let me place a bid.  So I did and I was not wanting to go over $10 so that was what I put in as the max bid. I went to bed and forgot about, but morning came and dang it, I got it.  My Tour Book collecting had officially begun.

The one I bought was from the World Domination Tour in 2003.  This was Kiss with Aerosmith and I actually missed this tour as I believe they came to town shortly after the birth of my first daughter so there was no way I was getting out to see a show.  So I was excited to see what this book looked like and now it is time to share it with all of you. Continue reading “Kiss – World Domination 2003-2004 Tour – Tour Book” →

Kiss – ‘Alive II’ (1977) – Album Review (The Kiss Review Series)

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After three studio albums, it was time to repeat the magic with another live album, ‘Alive II’.  It worked well the first time so it seemed like that was the intention this time around to try and capture that gold again.  However, that was not the original intention.  While the band was touring Japan for ‘Rock & Roll Over’, they recorded the entire show of the band at the famed Budokan Hall in Tokyo on April 2, 1977.  They felt the band needed a break before recording the next album and this would be it.  However, Casablanca hated the album and it was scrapped.

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The band went and released ‘Love Gun’ as planned and then it was time for another live album.  This time they recorded three shows at the LA Forum on August 26-28 of 1977 while out on Tour for the ‘Love Gun’ album which was just released in June.  Heck, they even recorded the soundchecks as the goal for this album was to not duplicate any songs that were on ‘Alive!’.  And to add something special to the album, Side Four was going to be all new studio songs which gives this release a little something extra.  Eddie Kramer was brought back in to produce and he worked his magic. Continue reading “Kiss – ‘Alive II’ (1977) – Album Review (The Kiss Review Series)” →