New Recordings: Jigoku Retsuden [Import]

Kiss | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 23, 2008)
• Original Release Date: August 22, 2008
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Sony Bmg Europe
• ASIN: B001C18K2Q
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #89,079 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Deuce

2. Detroit Rock City

3. Shout It out Loud

4. Hotter Than Hell

5. Calling Dr. Love

6. Love Gun

7. I Was Made for Lovin' You

8. Heaven's on Fire

9. Lick It Up

10. I Love It Loud

11. Forever

12. Christine Sixteen

13. So You Love Me

14. Black Diamond

15. Rock and Roll All Nite

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Save Your Money, August 18, 2009

By 

30 Year Fan (Middle America) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: New Recordings: Jigoku Retsuden (Audio CD)

Save your money. This CD is scheduled to be released as part of the new Kiss Album "SONIC BOOM" on October 6th, 2009 at Wal mart and Sam's Club. In addition to this re-recorded Greatest Hits CD and new Sonic Boom CD -- the package will also include a DVD containing several songs from the band's recent 2009 performance in Argentina. Price - $12 for the two CDs, single DVD and multi-page booklet!

15 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Re-recorded Kiss Classics, November 8, 2008

By 

James Choma - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: New Recordings: Jigoku Retsuden (Audio CD)

Over the last 20 or so years Kiss (Gene Simmons & Paul Stanley, for all intents and purposes) have been content to relegate themselves as imitators rather than the innovators they started out as. Taking note of Journey's success with Generations, they attempted to do the same here on KISSology with 15 of their popular tracks. Journey did it with some success because their new singer, Arnel Pineda, gave many of the "standard" songs new life. He could also hit the high notes. I'll always be biased with Steve Perry's versions, but the re-recorded versions with Pineda (arguably) worked. To me, it was interesting hearing how some of these versions were updated over the years and interpreted by a new vocalist.

With KISSology, we still have the Gene and Paul, but we find more often than not that they're not able to hit the high notes as they once did. And boy do their voices sound strained. Paul's inability to hit the notes like he once did are most apparent on "Forever," "I Was made for Lovin' You," and "Lick it Up." It was cringe-worthy for me to listen to these, as I love the originals.

Gene actually sounds better than Paul. "Deuce is pretty good, as is "I Love it Loud," but hearing "Christine Sixteen" sung by a 60-year old sounds more creepy than cool thirty years after the fact.

Eric Singer, who did do a stint with Kiss through the 90's, does a fairly good job with "Black Diamond." He's an excellent drummer, and he's done a great job filling in for Peter Criss during his stint with Kiss in the 2000's, but he's really not contributing here; rather, he's just... filling in.

The same goes for Tommy Thayer. Tommy's a great guitarist, and he plays Ace Frehley, Vinnie Vincent, Mark St. John, and Bruce Kulick's parts note-for-note, but that's it. In his previous band, Black n' Blue, he was a major contributor; in this version of Kiss, he's just a sideman going through the motions and collecting a paycheck. There are no lead vocal contributions from Tommy on KISSology. I have heard him sing Ace's "Shock Me" in concert, but it's inclusion here would have been a really, really bad idea.

I agree with the many of the other reviewers: Why? I suspect one of the comments I saw might have hit the nail on the head. By re-recording these old chestnuts, Stanley and Simmons no longer have to share the residuals to these songs with Frehley, Criss, and Vincent in the event the songs are used for commercial purposes. Ozzy did this when he re-recorded the bass and drum parts for "Blizzard of Ozz" and "Diary of a Madman" to spite Bob Daisley and Lee Kerslake and cut them out of residual profits. And that went over with fans like a led balloon.

So in summary, what you get with KISSology is a collection of re-recorded, almost note-for-note, Kiss songs with Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, and the stand in members: Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer, playing the parts of Peter and Ace. If this is what you're after, than KISSology is for you. If you're looking for a comprehensive greatest hits collection from Kiss, this is probably not what you want.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars good news/bad news, February 12, 2009

By 

C. Murazane (Hilo, HI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: New Recordings: Jigoku Retsuden (Audio CD)

First the good news- this is the first new studio recordings in about 10-11 years since 1998's Pycho Circus.
It's not another record company's rereleasing the same old thing. We get to hear Tommy and Eric S. play on a studio cd and I'm sure they are happy getting paid. We all know the songs.
Now the bad news- Can you say Kiss Karaoke? They tried to make their songs sound like the original studio recordings, some are pretty good, but others like I Love It Loud doesn't have the thunder sound that Eric Carr's version did.
Paul can't hit all the high notes, Gene sounds about the same and some are too polished and don't have the raw/roughness to it. Shout It Out Loud's chorus sounds like they are "sing" it out loud- too polished. Eric Singer does a great job on Black Diamond, but I think it faded out too fast.
Also bad is it's only in Japan and so cost an arm and a leg.
Final thoughts-Kiss will do a new album this year so consider this a warm up.
We fans all love Kiss, but we also know now days it's all about the $$$.
That's why they did this album (see what other people wrote on this page).