Between 2002-2008, The record labels in control of the Kiss Catalog released not one, not two, heck not even 3 Greatest Hit Compilations. Nope. They released a total of 7 greatest hits compilations spread over those years. I am sure there are more, I just haven’t found them yet. Over the last few weeks, we have been through a bunch of them and hopefully this is the last one for a little while. At least until I find more…which I will. As far as compilations go, this one is worth taking notice. Let me explain.
Originally this was released in 2004 as part of the KISS Sound and Vision box set. This set was released on January 11, 2005 and is a 2 CD Set called ‘Gold’. The label for this one was Universal Music Corporation. This set covers the make-up years from 1974 up to 1982…except it doesn’t include anything from ‘Creatures of the Night’. The 1982 in reference here is for the ‘Killers’ compilation. There are 20 songs per disc which means we get a handful of releases from almost every album with some minor exceptions. There is at least one from every release though (except maybe Double Platinum. If you want a comp that gives you the best coverage of the make-up era, I don’t know if you can do better than this.
DISC 1:
Kiss (1974): The representation of the debut album is strong as it gives you five tracks:
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.
If there is one thing I love to find and that is Kiss Bootlegs. I was out on Record Store Day, in line to check out with my RSD vinyl when I looked down and to my left and at the bottom of this shelf were a handful of bootlegs. 2 Van Halen boots and 1 Kiss. Well, all three are mine now and first up we have the Kiss Bootleg, Alive! in Amityville 1973. It was recorded at the Daisy in Amityville, NY on June 16, 1973. It says it is an audience recording, but I’ve read else where it is a soundboard recording, but either way…it is a recording and I have it. The sound quality is actually quite good as it has been remastered and repaired as it says on the back cover.
The really cool thing about this album is that this is about 8 months before the debut album ‘Kiss’ came out in 1974. You can’t get much earlier than this with Kiss recordings. Except maybe the Coventry shows. This is the original line-up of Gene Simons, Paul Stanley, Peter Criss and Ace Frehley. The band didn’t form until late January 1973, so we are only 6 months in to the life of this band. A lot of these songs you know as they did get released, but not all of them made to recording stages. Heck, the band hasn’t even been signed yet and Bill Aucoin isn’t even in the picture at this point. Really cool stuff. Let’s check this show out.
SIDE 1:
First up is the song “Nothin’ to Lose” and it sounds like the song from the debut. You have both Gene and Peter and they attack this song with a vicious ferocity. The lyrics don’t match up perfectly and it seems a little scattered as some of the arrangement does differ from the final studio version, but you do recognize it for what it is. The band is killing it as you can feel the energy and excitement in their playing.
The strange thing is that Peter seems to do most of the talking between songs. He does a great job, but it is weird not hearing Paul. Then we get the song “Firehouse” which seems to have Gene and Paul on vocals. The song sounds like you’d expect, but it isn’t quite the same. There is a strange scream before the chorus, and extra long drum part and the guitar solo from Ace sounds nothing like the one from the studio version. They didn’t have a siren so the end is Peter hitting the cymbals to make that sound. But still so cool to hear it played this way.
The next track is one I’ve never heard before, ever. It is called “Life in the Woods” and it is almost 8 minutes of riffing as it is a guitar heavy song. It was originally titled “Want You Beside” and written by Paul. The song has Paul yelling at the crowd to get up and get moving. There are a lot of harmonies at the beginning with Paul and Peter and then the band comes full force in. There is a break in it where they are screaming “Life in the Woods” and honestly I don’t know who is singing it as it doesn’t sound like any of the guys. And Peter seems to take over the vocals at the end and let’s out an F Bomb at the end. It is a strange song and doesn’t sound like they really know what to do with it as it is all over the place. I don’t think the song really works well and within a month or so, they stopped playing this one which is great because it is awful.
The final track on side 1 is the old Wicked Lester song “Simple Type”. This one I have heard before and have the studio version of the track on a bootleg or two. Ace opens this one with a great riff and then they lay down a cool groove while Ace throws out riffs all over the place. The studio song is less than 3 minutes I believe but this goes on for over 7 minutes. You have both Paul and Gene on vocals and I have to admit this doesn’t sound like the “Simple Type” song I remember from other bootlegs. This one is more of a rocker and the guys are letting all hang out on this one. Ace is really tearing things up here. What drags this song for 7 minutes is the cool jam section and I like to see the boys do that. Now, on the vocals so far, it seems like most of the songs have had two different people in each song singing…this would later become, one song, one voice except for may “Rock & Roll All Nite” and very few others. It’s nice to see more of a band focus here.
SIDE 2:
The first song up is “Acrobat” which is a part of two songs one of which would become “Love Theme from Kiss” off the debut and the other is called “Much Too Young” which was a Gene idea that never materialized. Most of the song is an instrumental, but there are some lyrics with the “Much Too Young” part. Mid way through, Peter gets a drum break and then Ace gets to let loose as well. If you have the Kiss Box Set, this recording of “Acrobat” is in there and it is attributed to the August Daisy shows, but there is some disagreement on that front. I don’t know or care which is true.
Next up is the classic song “Deuce” and this will sound familiar. It is basically the album version, but maybe some tweaks to the ending. Come on, you know it isn’t going to match perfectly. Gene is on vocals, liked you’d expect, and he tears it up. It is Gene, all dark and menacing. This feels like the Kiss I know and love.
“100,000 Years” is another off the debut album and you get what you expect here. You get Gene’s opening bass line which is so recognizable and then Paul comes in on vocals. Paul’s vocals are stellar and hits those high notes perfectly. And then throw in Ace’s blistering guitar work and you have a masterpiece. The biggest difference is Paul’s lyrics at the end are completely different and he even tells the woman he’s speaking to in the lyrics to give him head!! Okay, that’s different.
The famous guitar lick kicks in and you know it is time for “Watchin’ You”. Gene’s on vocals and they are a little rough as he’s screaming too loud in to the mic at first, but it gets better. This song sounds like the final version and it is such a killer tune and great to hear live.
The final track we have here is “Let Me Know” which sees Gene and Paul trade off on the vocals. It is a fun song and a little more poppy. It is basically the old song “Sunday Driver” which Paul had written. I really like this song and I love it when those two trade off on vocals. It is something they should’ve done more of through their career.
And there you have it. Another cool piece in Kisstory. I will point out that this bootleg of the show appears to be missing the songs “Black Diamond” and “Strutter” so if I ever find another version of this show and those two songs are on it, I’ll have to grab it. Otherwise, this set is awesome. I really love it. The sound quality is actually phenomenal so whatever they did to clean it up worked beautifully. I can see myself pulling this one out again and again. My Overall Score is a 5.0 out of 5.0 Stars. There is nothing negative I really have to say about this one. Yeah, “Life in the Woods” isn’t a great song, but how cool is it to have a recording of it when the band never actually recorded this song. If you see this one, you need to grab it.
On February 18, 1974, the world received their first Kiss album, simply called ‘Kiss’. But not many people took notice. It only sold around 70,000 copies at the time and quickly faded into existence. But hold on, before we get in to the album, let’s go back to the first Kiss show one year earlier on January 30th, 1973. For that show, the band didn’t really wear any make-up. They had their name, but were just setting out and didn’t know who they were yet. They had the drag/glam look going for them, but the make-up progressed rather quickly. Each member was discovering their personalities….The Demon (Gene), The Starchild (Paul), The Spaceman (Ace) and the Catman (Peter). Over the next year, they would settle on who they were and so much more. And who were they? They were the following:
Paul Stanley – The Starchild
Gene Simmons – The Demon
Ace Frehley – The Spaceman
Peter Criss – The Catman
In early March, the band would finally decide on the make-up, then about a week later, they entered The Daisy in Amityville, NY with famed Led Zeppelin producer and recorded a five song demo. The same 5 songs we talked about briefly on the Wicked Lester demo album from last week.
Then shortly after that, they were doing a showcase in the Summer and they meet a lad named Bill Aucoin who would become their manager and change their life forever. But before they signed with Bill, they said he had 2 weeks to get them a record deal. Not much time for anyone, but for Bill, he made it work. The band would be the first band to sign with Neil Bogart’s Casablanca Record label on November 1st, 1973. Quite a busy year. And yes, I skipped so much, but this isn’t a history lesson, this is an album review. So why don’t we get to that part now.
On April 1st, 1974, Kiss played at the Agora Ballroom in Cleveland, Ohio. It was broadcast live on the radio and we have that show captured right here on another in the Bootleg Series. This is probably one of the most famous of the bootlegs and one the band seems to like as well.
Kiss was signed only 6 months earlier on November 1st, 1973 to Casablanca records and Casablanca was heavily promoting them and this bootleg contains 3 such promotions. The Agora Ballroom show, 3 songs from the ABC In Concert performance from March 29th, 1974 and their appearance on the Mike Douglas Show on April 29th, 1974. It is Kiss at their infancy.
The recording is from a broadcast and it is sounds really great. Now do remember that this is a bootleg and so the sound isn’t perfect, but I think it is a true representation of the band’s live show and how cool to have such an early show. The sound is a little flat as the bass is a little understated (okay, a lot understated) and only one strong guitar sound (Ace). The guys are eager, they are hungry and they are tearing it up. There are no explosions, no one is breathing fire, it is straight up Rock & Roll. Well, there is the siren for “Firehouse”, but that is it.
We are up to the fifth album in the Bootleg series and we are still on the albums I found in Paris back in April. And since it is July 4th, I thought what is more American than July 4th…well KISS!!!
This was was from September 14, 1974 on the Hotter Than Hell Tour and it was recorded at The Victory Burlesque in Toronto, ON, Canada. This was actually a warm-up show for the tour, one of two nights (not sure which one). This was also about a month before the Hotter Than Hell album came out.
As usual, before we get into the music we will talk about the packaging and what was offered with this set. First off, this was a single LP and not a double like all the others as this was only a 9 song set as you have to remember this was only 1974 and Kiss hadn’t been around very long with only 2 album to choose from at this point. The packaging was quite simple. The front (as seen above) is a very early shot of the band before all the glitz and glamour. The back is a great shot of the band on stage (what show, I do not know for sure…we will assume this one, but I am sure it is not).
The vinyl sleeve is a nice solid cardboard sleeve that is very sturdy and has more great pictures.
2 Loud 2 Old Music 