Customer Reviews

Carnival Of Souls

5 star:		(60)
4 star:		(38)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(17)

 

 

Carnival of Souls takes the raw roots era KISS of REVENGE and updates it. "Hate" is the offspring of "Unholy" and "Spit" off of REVENGE, and "Jungle" is a darker version of "Who Wants To Be Lonely" from ASYLUM, only with a much better groove. In fact, almost every song on COS has a precedent in KISS' back catalog. "In My Head" is somewhat reminiscent of "Mr. Blackwell" from "the ELDER," and "It Never Goes Away" is a Black Sabbath style cruncher like "Strange Ways" from HOTTER THAN HELL. Other standouts inclue "Master And Slave," "Rain," and the Hendrix inspired "In The Mirror." The theme on COS is experimentation, but experimentation within the framework of what KISS has done before. The perfomances of Eric Singer and Bruce Kulick are excellent as well, particularly the performance of Eric Singer, who really brings this album to life. If you are willing to take a chance on a Darker, and Heavier version of KISS, you will not be disappointed by CARNIVAL OF SOULS.

While KISS certainly proved to be innovators and trendsetters with their classic early albums and shows, they have also proved to be trend followers as well. Since the late 70s, KISS has jumped on whatever bandwagon was the flavor of the month in order to stay relevant. In the late 70s it was disco-pop with "Dynasty" (1979) and "Unmasked" (1980). In the late 80s it was glossy pop-metal, with "Crazy Nights" (1987). So, what kind of album do you think KISS would make in the mid-90s? Yup, you guessed it, a grunge album.

Released in 1997, "Carnival of Souls" had been recorded two years earlier. The lineup for the CD includes Paul Stanley, (vocals, rhythm guitar) Gene Simmons, (vocals, bass) Bruce Kullick, (vocals, lead guitar) and Eric Singer (drums). "Carnival of Souls" had been intended for a 1995 release, with an accompanying tour to promote it. But those plans were cancelled when original KISS members Ace Frehley (guitar) and Peter Criss (drums) rejoined the band for their massively successful 1996 reunion tour. Kullick and Singer were dismissed from the band and "Carnival of Souls" was put in the can. Throughout KISS's reunion tour, bootleg copies of "Carnival of Souls" started to appear in various forms and quality. Sensing enough interest for an official release, "Carnival of Souls: The Final Sessions" was released in 1997.

KISS's longevity can be attributed to the fact that they have proved to be good musical chameleons over the years. Even if KISS does shamelessly follow musical trends, they can still, overall, do so with considerable success. If KISS can incorporate disco-pop into their sound with "I was made for lovin' you" and make it sound like KISS, then KISS can certainly make a grunge sounding album in a KISS mold as well.

"Carnival" is a grunge sounding album, but with a metallic edge. Many reviewers/fans/critics have correctly stated that the album sounds like "Badmoterfinger" (1991) era Soundgarden. The album overall is quite dark, and not of the celebratory nature of most KISS albums. "Carnival," also demonstrates the dark, cheerlessness of KISS's "Music from the Elder" (1981). But whereas "Elder" was a progressive concept album, "Carnival" is a more stripped-down, straight-forward affair. Indeed, "Carnival" shows the band going for a minimalist approach. The whole album sounds sparse and stripped-down. All-in-all, "Carnival of Souls" can therefore be seen as "Badmoterfinger" meets "Music from the Elder" meets "Led Zeppelin III" (1970).

The title of the album "Carnival of Souls: The Final Sessions," may lead one to conclude that it is a CD of demos from those '94-'95 sessions. Not so. The CD is a finished product and could have received an official release as is back in '95.

Stanley and Simmons each sing about half the album, with Bruce Kullick giving his first (and only) lead vocal performance with the closing "I walk alone." Stanley, Simmons, and Kullick co-wrote the album with Curt Cuomo, Scott Van Zenn, Jamie St. James, Ken Tamplin, and future KISS guitarist Tommy Thayer.

The opening sluggish "Hate," and the gloomy "Rain" sound like "Badmotorfinger's "Rusty Cage," and "Outshined" respectively. "Master and Slave" has the band stripped down to its bare-bones. Simmon's hammering bass over Stanley's eerie delivery before its melodic chorus is quite cool. "Childhood's End" is one of the album's strongest tracks. Simmon's cocky, defiant delivery, with its melodic, sing-along chorus, ultimately makes it a triumph. The album's shinning moment is the stunning semi-acoustic "I will be there." A tribute to a father-son bond, this is one of the finest songs that KISS has ever penned. It is somewhat reminiscent of "friends" and "Since I've been loving you" from "Led Zeppelin III". The melodic hard-hitting, "Jungle" is effective and keeps up the momentum. "In my Head," and "It never goes away" comes straight out of the "Badmoterfinger" playbook. While not bad, they're rather sluggish and never really get off the ground, putting a wrench in the albums momentum. The melodic mid-east flavored "Seduction of the innocent" gets the album back on track. "I Confess" is both menacing an aggressive. Stanley and Simmon's duet in the chorus works very nicely. "In the Mirror" has a cool Zeppelin-meets-Soundgarden like quality. The Bruce Kullick song "I Walk Alone" closes out the album. A celebration of the loner, this is one of the album's most memorable songs. It's a shame that Kullick was never afforded the opportunity to sing it live with KISS.

While "Carnival of Souls: The Final Sessions" will ultimately be just a footnote on KISS's legacy, it's still a memorable album. While it doesn't rank up there with such classics as "KISS," (1974) "Destroyer," (1976) and "Love Gun," (1977) it's still an excellent album that fans of the band should check out.

Prior to the reunion of the original line-up and seemingly endless tour that followed, KISS decided to show they could be as contemporary as the grungers of the period (1995). What could have been a cheap derivative in other bands' hands became the heaviest album KISS ever delivered, the Seattle influence present but not dominating. Riffs are more in the early Black Sabbath vein, but the chord work is definitely grungey in its downtuned guitars. Bruce Kulick saves the day, keeping his chops at the front, as if to say "I can play the dropped "D" tuning just like you flannel punks, but can you do this?" before burning off great soloes that know when to stop being vehicles for showing off and keeping the melody in mind.

Sales for this CD weren't exactly stellar, but judged on its own merits, "Carnival Of Souls" is a damn good riff heavy and smart album. I have no problem believing KISS could do whatever they set their minds to, judged by the evidence on this platter.

Kiss made their name in the early to mid 70's with their very creative live shows and fun, dare I say poppy, hard rock of the day. They continued putting out rock on the harder side but with a polished sound which made their music sound less hard rock than it could have. Their sound didn't change too much except for a song here and there (ex: Tears Are Falling with a disco sound).

In the mid-90's and their career moving along (as in not doing great but not doing bad) they decided to switch up the sound and try an album influenced by grunge which was very popular at the time. What resulted was 'Carinval of Souls' and their best ever. When you listen to Carnival of Souls you hear straight ahead in your face rock and roll like they'd never put out before and sadly will probably never put out again.

This album gets totally lost as they'd hardly released the album when they announced a reunion tour followed by retirement tours etc...To my knowledge they never toured on this album and I woudln't be surprised if they never played any of these songs live either since Ace Frehley and Peter Criss had nothing to do with them.

This is a great album and deserved to be promoted by touring and in my opinion, Bruce Kulick and Eric Singer deserved to make cash off it as well. It's also my opinion that Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley really owed it to Bruce Kulick, Eric Singer, the fans and the music of this album to promote it but the past is in the past. Luckily the music is still with us...

What an album! It's a shame that the album didn't get the promotion that it richly deserved. It's a shame that this version of the band split shortly after the album was released; what a way to go out. Let's go through each song on this great record.

1) Hate - Without a doubt the heaviest song in the Kiss catalog. Great screaming vocals by Gene. 5 Stars

2) Rain - A good simple riff by Bruce. Great vocals by Paul in one of his heaviest songs. 5 Stars

3) Master and Slave - Great Lyrics and awesome bass line. 5 stars

4) Chilhoods End - Probably the deepest song lyrically that Gene has ever written. The song is about his best friend committing suicide. The child chorus at the end of this song is a nice touch. One of the most moving songs I have ever heard. 5 Stars

5) I Will Be There - A nice song by Paul about his young son. A little bit of a let down from the first 4 songs but a good song never the less. 4 Stars

6) Jungle - This is the only single released from the album which is a shame because there are better songs on the CD. The Lyrics are so-so and the only thing that saves the song is Genes awesome bass line. 3 Stars

7) In My Head - This is probably the weakest song on the album. The song sounds disjointed and rushed. The lyrics suck! 2 Stars

8) Never Goes Away - A slow burner. Kind of bluesy with great pleading vocals from Paul. Strong lyrically. 5 Stars

9) Seduction of The Innocent - The Best Song on the album. This song is a blatent attack on the catholic religion primarliy and religion in general. "You kiss hand of the man of all seasons and you don't know why" has to refer to the Pope. Gene isn't big on any organized religion but it seems that he really has it bad for the Catholics. A song that makes you think. A classic! 5 Stars

10) I Confess - Another great song by Gene blasting the Catholic religion. "You wash your face with holy water but it keeps looking back at me" line deals with the hypocrasy of people thinking they can sin, go to church and ask for forgiveness, then sin again. The truth be told! 5 Stars

11) In the Mirror - A solid song by Paul. 4 Stars

12) I Walk Alone - The treat of the album; a song written by Gene sung by Bruce (first time ever). A great song about tackling life on your own with confidence. 5 Stars

And there you have it. Kiss and in particular Gene Simmons had things they wanted to say with this album. Every song on this album that's written by Gene is about something other than getting laid or partying. This album is his showcase with the exception of "In My Head". You get learn about the Gene Simmons the person, not Gene Simmons the "Demon". This album is a must have for any Kiss fan or for any hard rock fan who appreciates songs with strong lyrics and important subject matter.

this cd came out right when the reunion started so nobody really cared which is a shame because its probably their best since Lick It Up. This was the direction which Kiss was going in and i really thought it was cool. Unfortunately the reunion happened right after this was recorded and it just got lost in the mayhem. This cd is 100 times better than Psycho circus and it didnt even sell at all. It definately has a heavy vibe and some if it dark ala Alice in Chains. But its not commercial at all and the songs are really good. Bruce Kulick really shines here. its too bad that these songs will never ever be played live because theres no money in that. Too bad Kiss has become a tired oldies carnival act because this is where Kiss was really headed. Childhoods End is the best song on here and was cowritten with Tommy Thayer [kiss's new guitarist]. I like the overall sound and production which blows away the overproduced and horrible Psycho circus. Definately get this if you like your Kiss heavy.

... It's too heavy to be classified as grunge.

Objectively, this is a dark album that seems built on the vein of such songs as Unholy, and the Creatures of the Night CD. There's no campy pop metal here. This is not a typical Kiss album, and I recommend it to anyone who likes metal.

The first song on the CD, "Hate", moves almost at breakneak speed, with some killer drumming by Eric Singer. Both Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley finally put together a collection of heavy, well-written songs instead of one or two and then a bunch of filler. Lead guitarist Bruce Kulick (since gone solo), made his vocal debut with "I Walk Alone" and it also rocks.

As a fan of heavy metal music (I'm talking Ozzy, old Metallica - like "Master of Puppets" & "One", Black Sabbath (Ozzy years), Motorhead, and the like) I highly recommend this CD to all.

It's your problem if you don't like it.

The album Carnival of souls is a surprisingly good album.

The tone is easily the darkest I have ever seen on any of there albums - except maybe Revenge. Its amazing that none of these songs were performed on any of the recent tours.

Eric Singer is in top form on drums, its great that we can hear Bruce sing for a change.

The best song is the ballad 'I will be there'. A deep emotional ballad that has its place at the top of the Kiss catalog. Overall the album has a very dark tone to it. The intro songs 'Hate and Rain' have a distinctive, heavy feel - kinda like 'unholy' from revenge.

I a very impressed with this album. As a fan I liked the reunion tour and last years tour BUT this album shows that Kiss (i.e. the current lineup NOT ACE AND PETER) are more then capable of writing an album that is consistant with the time. (NOT stuck in the 70's as many die hards will only have it)

A great album and I would like to see a dark heavy follow up in the near future - with or without makeup.

Some people accuse KISS of following trends like the in the late 70's (disco), in the 80s (hair metal, glam) and now this one (grunge) but the bottom line is it isn't 1976 anymore! How can you be innovative if you're lost in time some 3 decades ago? You may say they're just trying to be like everyone else, but just listen to this album. It's got such a heavy and dark feel to it, but there's no doubt that it's KISS! Songs about sex, and partying, are no where to be found on this album, as they should be. 30 years worth "fun" rock, and it's about time they came out with something that has a little more soul, a little more meaning. I think it's an excellent album and it shows how KISS can keep up with the times WITHOUT sounding like anyone else. Pick this one up, you'll like it.

Something happened to Kiss before they re-donned the makeup in 1996 - they grew up.

The *Carnival Of Souls* album displays a ferocious maturity, unmatched by any Kiss album to date. A sweeping statement to be sure, especially pertaining to a band whose career has lasted longer than fully half their fan-base's lifetimes. But I choose my description carefully: "maturity" being the key word.

No more lyrics rooted in pawdying and pussying - Abandon All Innocence Ye Who Enter: evocative themes abound, as varied as lost youth and suicide, paternal dedication, false religion, concrete jungle nights, introspective emptiness... a regular carnival of soul!

Standout tracks include: the somehow-nostalgic "Childhood's End", Paul's dedication to his son, "I Will Be There", the rumbling, tumbling "Jungle", the doomsaying "It Never Goes Away", the cello-tinged, jagged-beaten "I Confess" - but seriously, they're *all* winners.

Simmons' and Stanley's songwriting is at a peak they will probably never attain again, ensconced as they now are in the "nostalgia" game, till world's end we presume. Eric Singer and Bruce Kulick are at long last entrenched musically as Band Members, and add volumes to Gene and Paul's dynamism, Kulick carving memorable Frehley-ish licks to Singer's succinct, whiplash pummeling (one of the few drummers who can pull off double-kick with taste and finesse!). A tragedy that these two musicians were lost to the makeup craze (- at least Singer is back in the fold, lending his awe-inspiring limbs to The Cat's prowess).

Of course I can appreciate the wild nostalgia of youth and the "magic" that certain periods in history evoke, but in putting this as simply as possible: this album's songwriting, performance and production are unequalled in the Kiss oeuvre. Sure, I'd be as inclined as the next Starchild to spin "Strutter" over "In The Mirror" - but the two songs should not even stand side by side on the above aspects, separated as they are by over two decades of personal growth, loss, career swoons and startling amounts of puss-in-boots.

Due to unfortunate circumstances of politics and marketing, though *Carnival Of Souls* was recorded in 1995, its release was staved off until 1997, when the Reunion momentum was well underway. It made Kiss look confused; it confused Kiss fans. And any shelved album always casts doubts on that album's intrinsic worth. I meet fans even today who are debating on whether to purchase this album.

Darker, deeper, more dangerous than any of the bands whose "modern" sounds Kiss emulated on this album, it intimates a bold, unapologetic direction they would have taken had the Reunion never been. Haphazardly packaged, unknown and unadvertised, this release is pure Black Diamond. Buy it - you've got Nothin' to Lose...