Customer Reviews

Gene Simmons: Speaking in Tongues

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

For about thirty years, Gene Simmons has been one of the most famous AND one of the most infamous men in America.He has gained a little bit of a good and a bad reputation, and has also been credited as one of most succesful and one of the best businnesmen of all time. Ever wonder what goes on in both the life and the mind of Gene Simmons? Then this DVD will do great for you;in a way,it is kind of an updated autobiography ever since Simmons released both of his autobiographies, "KISS and Make-Up" and "Sex,Money, KISS". Read on for my review of this:

This DVD shows Gene Simmons speaking in Australia for his lecture tour, which he usually does about every year. When Gene Simmons makes these speeches, he does not act like The Demon in KISS, nor does he act like John Kerry or Al Gore. He shows and talks about the side of him that gave him reasons for giving him somewhat of a good reputation. You get to see/hear Simmons talk about his life(childhood,pre and post KISS, as well as some of the things he has done during his spare time from KISS)and he discusses money, success,fame,KISS, as well as girls(supposedly his favorite topic of all time)and he shares what lead to him becoming a musician, some of the hard times in his childhood and how it got him to where he is today, and he even gives advice on dating-Gene,please don't become or try to become Dr. Phil,and some of the advice is obvious(smart people know not to cheat on their boyfriends/girlfriends or their husbands/wifes!)but the advice isn't bad, although I would make my dating decisions based on what I thoght would be the smart thing to do instead of what someone else thought I should do.

The rest of this DVD is pretty cool. You get a tour of Simmons' mansion in Beverly Hills, California, you will meet Shannon Tweed(his girlfriend), their two children(Nicholas and Sophie)and see how much Simmons has accomplished-he has a VERY cool house.As for the other things here,it also shows a behind the scenes look into the making of the "Firestarter" music video and the actual video itself,you get to see what the promo party supporting Gene's most recent solo album(...)was like, and there are came appearances by several different people, some of which include Poison guitaritst C.C. Deville, current KISS drummer Eric Singer and guitarist Tommy Thayer,John 5(Marilyn Manson's bass player, who attended Gene's promo party last year in L.A.)as well as (believe it or not)Ron Jeremy. Not really a surprise and maybe not even a stretch.

Overall, this is a very cool DVD, and if you are the die hard Gene Simmons fanatic that I am(I have been lucky enough to get his autograph PERSONALIZED more than once)then this DVD is for you. Some people are probably and have already been rolling their eyes at this DVD, but this is a really informative look at the life of Gene Simmons, and love him or hate him, you have to respect the facts that he has never touched drugs and that he is somewhat active in politics. Like I already said, this is kind of Gene's two autobiographies updated and revisited on DVD with a bunch of bonus material,which makes this an excellent package. Also, look for Gene's "Gene Simmons 100 box set" that will have 100 Simmons songs that have never been released,and some of those songs were included as background music for this DVD!

A treat for all KISS/Gene Simmons fans.

I actually went to the Melbourne part of Gene's tour and found it tedious, self absorbed and clearly unplanned. Surprising when you consider Simmon's attention to detail on so many other projects.

It's taken me years to finally have to courage to sit through this DVD...

It has been obviously heavily edited back to include endless "look at me with these girls" moments. The lecture bits are OK but his ideas are explained better in his books.

I must add that I also bought his Family Jewels series and really enjoyed it.

I cant avoid feel motivated and inspired by this amazing guy, he have very clear what he wants and the way to get it, he is very honest, excelent visionary , elegant gentleman and owns a fascinating personality, in this visual document tittled "speaking in tongues" we can take an intimate look into Mr. Simmons private and public life, he have a beautifull family, sucessfull versatile ways to make bussines such as record company, magazine, books, comics, cartoons, condoms, and all kind of items related to Kiss his legendary hard rock band, and the same as Mr Richard Branson (Virging companies owner and intelligent brittish enterpreneur) he is capable to mantain all his business sucessfull, he is also as i mentioned before one of the two front men of Kiss, number 1 rock and roll band in United States in record sales, how he can be sucessfull in everything he does? he explain; "you can make money doing what you love" that is the secret, "of the 7 days of the week you have to work 7 days", "keep your dayjob and the rest of the time do something extra you love and make money with it" , he also provides good advice in issues regarding honesty, love, marriage, life, personal goals and the way you have to manage with society and he does it all not in a totally serious way, he adds good humor in all the topics and makes you laugh , he is a complete public speaker and i consider he could easily become a professional at this and offer talks to bussines and marketing students, is like he mentioned his way to give back something he have received from his fans for making his life possible, i hope Mr Simmons keep on surprising and inspiring us for more years.
HM

This DVD predates 'Gene Simmons Family Jewels,' and it's sort of its prototype. But on "Tongues" Simmons is much more interested in promoting a more startling, or brash, persona than he does on 'Jewels,' and for me it's less interesting for that.

This DVD is much more obviously self-aggrandizing, if less can be said of anything Simmons produces -- for instance, his jokes before the live audiences are smile-worthy, but obviously not worth the BIG laughs he seemingly gets out of them; one suspects the laughter is heavily dubbed or edited-in.

There are genuinely interesting/thought-provoking tidbits here and there, but you get this better and more sincerely in 'Jewels,' which by the way I think is just great. I even have 75-year-old friends that I've gotten hooked on it, because it's so genuinely clever and lovable.

The video for 'Firestarter' is pretty fun, but overall this DVD is a step down from the high standard set by 'Family Jewels' IMO.

I have never been a huge Simmons fan ( more of a Stanley girl) however this DVD is great. As with all of his books and other works. He is a very honest man and he says what most think and don't have enough nerve to say. He is honest to himself and in this day and age that is very rare. It shows a wonderful family that seems to be filled with love and respect. I was very impressed with the whole DVD. I would personally love to see him speak live. Another score for Gene Simmons.

Worth your money... this is a great look at Gene & his life

This DVD is pretty boring and is an obvious attempt to cash in once more on die-hard KISS fans. Even when he tries to be funny, he just simply isn't. Also, I disagree with most of the things said. I'm not bashing the DVD for that, though, because his opinions are HIS opinions. I'm only giving it 2 stars because it just simply is not very entertaining, and he dosen't say much that I haven't already heard him say before. I immediately listed my copy for sale on Half dot com after viewing it. Stick with the music Gene.

Good quality fly on the wall DVideoD journal of Gene's whereabouts from Nov 2003 to Early 2004.

The candid - but not very well received - speaking tour was done in Australia (best ticket:Inner Sanctum was around AU$284.20, cheapest: was around AU$79.20). Now the cheapest ticket has been released and you have the best seat in the House.

Great footage of Gene away from home "acting" as a modern day businessman. It's upfront & personal as he answers questions about his life, KISS, Women, etc. Other footage is reminiscent of Ozzy Osbourne at home, recording studio, etc.

Menu: Play Video, Chapter Selections, Play "Firestarter", Web Link.
1. Luckiest Guy in the World [3:16]
2. Melbourne [6:58]
3. Somewhere in Hollywood [5:26]
4. Mothers [3:26]
5. Video Shoot [4:04]
6. Honesty [6:41]
7. Astonishing [4:49]
8. Business [5:09]
9. Cash [4:13]
10. Sydney [7:03]
11. Barely Working [8:17]
12. Solo Album [6:10]
13. Credits [2:56]

Another of Gene Simmons products that seems to be throw together in five minutes. Some parts suffer from really bad picture quality, the editing is not very good and graphic effects seems to be done by a five year old. You don't really get to see that much from the lectures in Australia (and it's probably just as well) and most of his house we have seen already on MTV Cribs. Cribs at least did not portray him as a meglomaniac.

As a Kiss fan since 1978 it's really hard and sad to see how Gene "whores himself" these days. Instead of consentrating on the only thing he has been successfull with, KISS. Most of his business ventures since the 80's have more or less been complete failures.

I'l give it one extra star just because I find the demos that are used as background music interesting.

If you are a fan of Gene's book "Sex,Money,Kiss" then this Dvd is for you. Gene has some very applicable and motivating advice on relationships, money, marriage, and life in general. Like Tony Robbins, Gene's advice is positive, uplifting, and an injection of truth. Well worth the money.