Untitled Document

I got this lavish package last Christmas and have so far listened to it twice all the way through and also paid special attention to the several demos and unreleased cuts it contains. I wrote this review as i got through it so these are first but IMO solid impressions.

The hype around this release has been growing steadily since first reports of its progress got out during 1990’s. We all know there’s plenty of unreleased material locked in the Kiss vault so only 30 all new (and in many cases, bootlegged) tracks might seem like a let down. Also high price (I had to loan the money actually) was another reason for some of the fans to pass this. However, in my humble opinion the amount of unreleased material didn’t affect my liking of this box at all. Why, I’ll come to that later.

At first let’s go through the unreleased selections track by track, the rest are classics we all know and love so I won’t bore you with another insight on “Detroit Rock City,” “Rock & Roll All Nite” and about 50 others.

DISC 1 (1966-1975)

STRUTTER (Demo 1973)
According to Peter Criss, this is one of the greatest rock songs ever written and i can relate to that. Recorded in New York with Eddie Kramer, this is a wild and extended version passing nearly 5 minutes.

DEUCE (Demo 1973)
Pretty close to the final cut although like “Strutter” this one has some extended riffing and lead guitar work, which are always a treat.

KEEP ME WAITING (Wicked Lester 1971)
Wicked Lester, as we all know was the group Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons had before Kiss. They recorded one self-titled album for Epic Records. It was never released and group disbanded with Stanley and Simmons wanting to put together heavier, more outrageous outfit. Wicked Lester demos have circulated among collectors for years but never on an official release until now. Hopefully we will get a complete album at some point. Typically for all these tracks, “Keep Me Waiting” is filled with horns, keyboards and other instruments. However in my opinion there is a good song hidden underneath and i believe this would have been another good one for Kiss to record.

SHE (Wicked Lester 1971)
Strange version with flute and keyboards all over it. Hard to tell it’s the same song Kiss later recorded.

LOVE HER ALL I CAN (Wicked Lester 1972)
Same as above. Paul sounds like he’s restraining himself, trying to sing calmly instead of shouting out the words like later on.

LET ME KNOW (Demo 1973)
Faithful rendition, includes the additional sing along part much like on the “fake” live version in You Wanted The Best record. This is one of my favourite Kiss songs.

100.000 YEARS (Demo 1973)
Recorded at Bell Studios, “100.000 Years” is played surprisingly almost exactly like the live version with extended drum breaks. It was then edited for the first record. Paul ad-libs some never heard before lyrics over Peter’s drum solo. There’s a clear mistake when the band comes in to second verse at 1:17, good to hear they have left it on and not screwed up with these recordings although there’s a digital beep two minutes later - which in turn is a producer’s mistake.

STOP, LOOK TO LISTEN (Demo)
Paul Stanley demo from 1966. Its value is purely historical, there’s no bass player and Paul goes off key several times. Quite good effort still considering these were barely 14 year old kids playing.

LEETA (Demo 1969)
Typical 1960’s number from Gene, Beatles influenced. Not my favourite, although it’s nice to have this one too.

LET ME GO ROCK’N’ROLL (Demo 1973)
Begins with a sound like someone letting out a belch! Like “100.000 Years” it’s done in its live arrangement but without Peter shouting “Kiss loves you!” in the end.

ACROBAT (Live at Daisy 1973)
This one rocks! From the very first Kiss tour or maybe even the first Kiss show ever, this combines two songs - the very early version of “Love Theme From Kiss” and another Gene Simmons number “Too Young”. The main guitar theme came from Ace, although the song was later credited to the whole band. The latter part has a catchy guitar riff and especially Peter gets to shine in this track with several drum breaks. The band is indeed young, hungry and full of fire, this is closest you’ll ever get to see them live at their very beginning. I love it!

FIREHOUSE (Demo 1973)
After one false start and studio banter, they begin take 2. Very close to studio version.

This is my favorite disc of the five and definitely the most interesting one as well. Over half of it is unreleased and several tracks from three first studio records appear here in their original form. All the songs from the first Kiss record are included, either in studio, demo or live versions. This disc shows the energy and drive the band had in their early days, especially Eddie Kramer
demos are wonderful. To me, this one alone is worth checking out.

DISC 2 (1975-1977)

DONCHA HESITATE (Demo 1975)
Awesome! Probably the best of all unreleased tracks here. Written by Paul and recorded by the whole band for Dressed To Kill, it’s really a rare diamond. The song reminds me of “Let Me Go Rock’n’Roll” with similar opening bass line, later on it’s more like a cross between “Strutter” and “Anything For My Baby” and features another classic Ace Frehley lead. My favorite so far!

MAD DOG (Demo 1976)
One of Gene’s original demos for Destroyer. It has the riff from “Flaming Youth” going through it but is totally different song otherwise. Ace plays some tasteful licks during the outro.

GOD OF THUNDER (Demo)
Now the gem of this disc, the original demo of GOT with Paul doing the vocal. I like this version a lot, it’s much faster and Paul adds a few alternate lyrics. I agree with the liner notes in that the song was meant for Gene but I always love a different approach. This goes to top-10!

BAD BAD LOVIN’ (Demo 1976)
Early version of “Calling Dr.Love” - guitar riffs are the same as the verse melody but chorus and lyrics are totally different. Interesting fact about this song is that Gene plays everything on this, guitars, bass drums, even lead break which isn’t bad at all! The original Doctor Love comes right after it which makes comparing easier. It’s pretty good actually.

MR.SPEED (Demo)
Really raw-sounding and has a lot of energy. Musically similar to Rock And Roll Over version. Bob Kulick plays guitar on this.

I WANT YOU (soundcheck)
Alive 2 without overdubbed crowd noise? Could be, i still like this song. It’s powerful and has a great “live” attack in it.

LOVE GUN (Demo)
Very similar to studio version with only the high guitar parts during the machine gun drums missing. Another powerful song.

LOVE IS BLIND (Demo 1977)
One more psychedelic Gene Simmons track. Like everything else on his solo album.

Disc two is almost as interesting as disc one, four songs from Alive open it with a blast and there’s several great demos here plus material from the bands classic records Love Gun, Destroyer and Rock And Roll Over.

DISC 3 (1977-1982)

RADIOACTIVE (Demo)
Gene’s solo single from 1978. Nothing special here.

YOU’RE ALL THAT I WANT (Demo)
Very good. I was really surprised by this, this is the original demo of the song which dates back to 1977. The song itself is almost identical to the final Unmasked version right down to Paul’s background vocals but musically takes a lot better, more rockier direction and has some nice acoustic guitars in it. It proves that some of those songs were really good when stripped down from their plastic guitar sound, lame vocals and keyboards. One of the best things in this box!

TALK TO ME (Live)
Taken from Ace’s last tour with the band, Sydney Australia. This is a good performance, I have a bootleg from Paris 1980 and this sounds very similar, one of the best songs from Unmasked anyway.

NOWHERE TO RUN (from Killers, unreleased in the US)
Good track. although I would have chosen “I’m A Legend Tonight” or even better, why not all four tracks?

I have a strange liking for this disc, right from “Detroit Rock City” opener till the end where three great songs from my second favorite Kiss album of all time, Creatures Of The Night are featured. One of the reasons for this is probably that i don’t think the supposed “dysfunctional” period from 1979-1982 is actually not that dysfunctional at all! There were some great songs on both Dynasty and Unmasked, although compilers have excluded most of them from this box. Tracks from The Elder don’t sound that bad either.

DISC 4 (1983-1990)

TIME TRAVELLER (demo 1987)
Paul’s demo from 1987 - you know, i’m not that fond of Crazy Nights but this song could have fit there easily with its keyboards and a very eighties sound. I think it’s quite good, co-written by Desmond Child BTW.

AIN’T THAT PECULIAR (demo 1989)
An early version of “Little Caesar.” Bruce Kulick obviously located this one, it’s similar to stuff that was on Eric Carr’s Rockology CD. Guitar riff and vocal melody are all there but Eric’s original lyrics are different. It’s great they have included something from him although I prefer the final LC over this.

Disc four has only couple of unreleased tracks but it still covers an important and often overlooked part of Kiss’ past, the 1980’s. The song selection especially from Lick It Up and Asylum is rather questionable, though. There were some real highlights on those records but they have included the hit singles instead of rare but equally cool stuff like “Exciter” and “King Of The Mountain.” There’s even a single mix of the worst Kiss song ever, that is “Forever”. Let’s just say I played it twice and will probably never listen to it again.;)

DISC 5 (1991-1999)

DOMINO (Demo)
One of my favorite Gene tunes and the only song from the band i think sounds like AC/DC. Again, not that much different from the final studio version but includes some lyric changes and doesn’t have a guitar solo.

GOT TO CHOOSE (unplugged)
Taken from the vinyl version of Kiss Unplugged. Good track, already had it in the video though.

CHILDHOOD’S END (with coda)
I’ve never liked Carnival Of Souls, the worst Kiss album ever IMO. Much worse than The Elder. COS did have couple of decent tracks, like “I Will Be There” (included here) and “I Confess.” This song is not the worst one but not very good either, it’s just another Gene Simmons solo number. It has the original coda added to the end, which is essentially only a minute worth of weird instrumentation.

NOTHING CAN KEEP ME FROM YOU (Detroit Rock City OST)
It has been said if you don’t have anything nice to say then don’t say it….so I’m just going to skip this one.

IT’S MY LIFE (unreleased 1998)
From Psycho Circus sessions, this track was originally written by Paul & Gene and recorded for Creatures Of The Night album, didn’t make it and was later re-recorded for PC - only to be tossed out by Bruce Fairbairn (RIP) who I’m sorry, didn’t have a glue what classic Kiss was all about. We have now got two extra songs from those sessions and both are thousand times better than some of the crap that got on the record. But back to “It’s My Life,” this is THE classic Kiss from vocals right down to guitar sound, although I don’t think Ace plays the solo here. Gene, Ace and Paul divide the vocal duties here and it works great, Gene and Ace handling the verses and Paul overdubbing some of his usual shouts and back-up vocals.

SHOUT IT OUT LOUD (Live)
Recorded in Detroit Tiger Stadium in 1996. Taken from Greatest Kiss album. I’ve always liked this version, it still has the power and glory before the band gradually slowed down on Psycho Circus and farewell tours.

ROCK AND ROLL ALL NITE (Alive 4)
We are still waiting for Alive 4 (according to box set book, it will be released this year) but get a teaser in the form of this all time Kiss anthem. It’s a right way to close this box and a solid version. But I must repeat what I said above with the band slowing down shows clearly on this track, Peter Criss is behind in his drumming thus resulting the whole band playing slower. Not a big thing but does make you think that maybe the time has indeed come for them to retire. Can’t go around forever jumping in those platform boots!

Disc five is a nice representation of 1990’s Kiss, although for some strange
reason there’s absolutely NOTHING from Alive 3! Some reviews have objected the four tracks taken from Psycho Circus, but i think they are fine, definitely the best songs from that record were chosen plus the annoying intros from both “Psycho Circus” and “Within” have been removed - making them flow better. And of course “It’s My Life” is the gem of this disc.

Box comes with a great 130 page booklet telling the story of the band plus extensive liner notes and comments on every track. Reading these was particulary enjoyable. Lots of new stuff I hadn’t been aware of. Like Paul, disliking “Thrills In The Night” and “Let’s Put The X In Sex”, the band recording another version of “Strange Ways” with a seven-minute drum solo and cutting it with Peter threatening to leave the group, Vinnie Vincent getting into an argument with Gene over the solo on “I Love It Loud.” Cool stuff. The remastering job is done well, all demos sound very good. So the audio quality is certainly not the reason to skip this box, even the Hotter Than Hell material has been brought up to a better lever although those songs still sound a bit flat.
Now about the previously unrelased material, or the lack of it as some might say. To me this was never an issue. Why?

Because true revelation is playing this box completely from the beginning till the end, just the regular versions and everything, hearing the ups and downs of the band. It’s an awesome experience, reading the booklet and just getting into the songs. The amount of unreleased material never interfered.

Of course there’s no doubt a wealth of additional material they could have used for this box, complete Wicked Lester recordings, Phantom in the Park versions of “Beth” and “Rip &Destroy”, solo album material live in 1979, The Elder outtakes, “In Your Face”, re-recording of “Detroit Rock City” etc..

They have recorded three complete albums worth of material in 1981, 1989 and 1998. Now from those sessions we only get one single track. But I don’t mind. This obviously means there will be more retrospective releases coming from the band and that’s OK. It’s all about keeping the name alive (and making some cash on the side) and as long the new stuff comes I’ll get it. Maybe I’m insane..:D

To put it all together, this is a great box set and a worthwhile addition to every Kiss-fan’s collection, even with the ridiculous price tag!

Troubleshooter / 2002

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10 years after ALIVE 3 it’s time for another instalment to Kiss live saga. The original ALIVE and ALIVE 2 are arguably among the finest live rock releases ever, and even ALIVE 3 (although heavily overdubbed in the studio) was a decent enough release.

The first ALIVE 4 was recorded at the last Kiss show of the 20th century in Vancouver, Canada 31.12.1999 with the original reunited line-up Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley, Gene Simmons & Peter Criss. It was supposed to come out right before groups Farewell-tour which began in spring 2000. But the release was delayed and delayed, more tracks were being recorded throughout the tour and at some point even new studio material was worked for inclusion.

Farewell-tour continued on and on, Peter Criss left the band and came back later while Ace Frehley exited claiming he wanted no part of the money-milking machine anymore. Former guitar tech Tommy Thayer entered and took Ace’s place and make-up.

Finally ALIVE 4 had a cover (very good one) and was definetely going to come out in August 2002. Date came and went and a useless compilation THE VERY BEST OF KISS was released instead. This ended Kiss’ Mercury-era and the band was able to put out this symphony record through their own Kiss-records label.

Kiss Symphony was recorded (and filmed with DVD set to follow soon) in Melbourne, Australia 28.2.2003. First CD has just Kiss themselves playing 6 tracks and then joined by Melbourne ensemble for few acoustic numbers. The second CD has the full orchestra show.

ALIVE 4 opens with classic double attack of “Deuce” and “Strutter” - and instantly i’m amazed how good the current Kiss still sounds. Gone are Ace Frehley’s sloppy playing (some say it’s part of the Kiss sound, but personally i became irritated during the last few years to constantly hear him mess up the songs) and somewhat muddy sound of ALIVE 3. It’s not Kiss circa 1975, but not too far off either! Probably the best this band has sounded since the reunion tour ’96. Pointless “Let Me Go Rock’n’Roll” follows, and i’ve really grown tired of “Calling Dr.Love” (why not “Christine 16” or even “Ladies Room?”) But “Lick It Up” and “Psycho Circus” are excellent anthems and quickly return the show on right track.

The acoustic show is the low part IMO, “Goin Blind” and “Forever” rank among the worst Kiss songs ever. And i’m not a big fan of “Shandi” either. “Sure Know Something” is good, but i think a better version can be found on KISS UNPLUGGED. But at least now we can finally hear “Beth” backed up by the real orchestra in a live situation, so i guess it was worth it.

Then the second CD and main event. Opener “Detroit Rock City” sounds very impressive, as does “God Of Thunder” and “Black Diamond”. All perfect songs for this kind of treatment. Not a lot of surprises here. “Rock And Roll All Nite” obviously closes the album, this song has become a lot like “Smoke On The Water” and “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’” to me – you know it’s always going to be there, you get tired of it but still it’s sort of fits every time you hear it closing the show. There’s a children’s choir included on the first ever live rendition of “Great Expectations” – i haven’t yet decided if this is touching or simply ridiculous.

Speaking of individual performances, Paul Stanley leads the show and he could probably do this in his sleep by now. His in-between song banter is more stupid than ever. “Is this good or what?” “Are we cool?” “Some said we’re crazy to do this, but we are KISS!” But he sings his guts out and that’s what matters i guess. “I Was Made For Lovin’ You” and “Love Gun” sound tight and powerful. Not bad for a guy in his fifties.

Gene’s the usual Gene as well. He’s apparently lost some weight and without seeing the footage of the night seems to be in better shape than in 1999 for example when i saw them live. He looked like a parody of himself that night, so we’ll see from the DVD if his act has improved.

Tommy Thayer does good work with the songs. As evidenced on the PSYCHO CIRCUS album which had TT playing most of the solos, he has Ace’s sound pretty much nailed down. It’s clearly not Ace, but close enough to do the songs justice. And judging from his short vocal-part in “Shout It Out Loud,” Tommy’s just as bad on vocals as Ace ever was!

I’ve always respected Peter as a drummer and a vocalist. His sound was a big part of Kiss success in the early days. However, it’s clear he’s not the same guy who thundered behind his drumkit during the seventies. Most of the faster numbers are slowed down a notch, which is what they have done since about 1998 anyway. Peter does the best he can with the songs, but i wouldn’t compare “Lick It Up” to the version on ALIVE III. Luckily the man can still sing, and he proves it with excellent “Black Diamond.”

Overall this is an essential purchase for any Kiss fan. The acoustic part was a bit of a let-down for me and if Kiss is not your thing i doubt this album will change your mind.

Orchestra does fine work with the songs, arrangements are thought-out and there’s few clever changes made here and there. I only wish they would take more chances with the set-list. Yes, “Great Expectations” is there but rest of the set-list is very predictable. Of course these are all classic songs, but there’s a wealth of material from 1980’s suitable for current Kiss to play. And since they have made a point of playing whatever they like and not just stuff from the make-up era, why not bring out some true rarities?

While ALIVE IV mostly satisfied my expectations the question still remains, what now?
I don’t see any point in continuing endless US/Japan tours with the make-up unless there’s a new studio album coming. All original members are preparing solo records, so it seems now would be the perfect time to either do one more great album (and no session musicians this time, please) or finally call it a day. Unfortunately, i think they will just take the easy money and run. Plus there’s definitely a box set 2 coming at some point.

Oh, one major point i almost forgot about ALIVE IV, the sound is absolutely superb. Loud, clear and straight in your face. Sonically the best sounding of all ALIVE records IMO.

Troubleshooter / September 2003

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