New Recordings/KISSology [IMPORT]

Kiss (Artist)

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 16, 2008)
• Original Release Date: September 16, 2008
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Import
• Label: Sony Bmg Europe
• ASIN: B001C18K2G
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #342,192 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Current KISS line-up does KISS karaoke, September 16, 2008

By	Mel Zorro - See all my reviews

The decision of the current KISS line-up to go back into the studio and re-record some of the band's classic tunes was a great opportunity of which they did not take full advantage.

Everyone knows KISS is better live than in studio and we have 4 Alive! albums and 3 DVD sets to prove it. What makes the live songs great is the different musical arrangments and tempos which give the tracks more energy and flash, unfortunately KISS decided to completely copy the studio versions from each album, which makes the performances sound like KISS karaoke.

I was able to order the album from a Japanese music site and have been listening to it for about 2 weeks with mixed feelings.

What I was hoping for on this album was a studio version of the more rockin' live arrangment of "I Was Made for Lovin' You", instead I got a cheesy recreation of the Dynasty disco sound effects and Paul's "sultry" vocals in place of his commanding rock and roll preacher voice.

This is the problem with most of the tracks, while faithful to the original studio recordings, the production value is not as high and the band does not throw in any variation to make them seem unique. On "Do You Love Me", they could have at least added the outro ending they use when they play it live, but no dice.

The only songs that benefit from the re-recording are "Deuce" which does manage to capture the energy and tempo of a live performance right down to Gene's primal scream: "YEEEEEAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" and "Hotter Than Hell" whose album of the same name suffered from terrible production values to begin with.

As always, Tommy Thayer faithfully stands in for Ace, playing his leads and solos note for note and Eric Singer provides a great back beat as well as adding so-so vocals to this album's version of "Black Diamond" akin to Eric Carr re-recording "Beth" on "Smashes, Thrashes and Hits".

In the end it's a unique, if unsatisying experiment, but better than another greatest hits package. I wouldn't say it is worth the import price, but if you search online under the Japanese name of the album ("Jigoku Retsuden") you may find it on the site I ordered it from for half the price.

Gene and Paul: How about next time you guys re-record the entire "Hotter Than Hell" album? Just an idea.

3.0 out of 5 stars An Interesting Aside..., June 14, 2009

By	Darren Mckeirnan "Angry Dwarf 1975" (Australia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I thought this was a rather odd choice of songs. As a lifelong KISS fan, i love everything they do and some songs on this album had merit just for the extra balls that Eric Singer's drums add (Detroit Rock City & Heaven's On Fire inparticular). It was great to hear some of the oldies brought back from the wilderness (Hotter Than Hell especially) however i thought that songs like Forever & I Was Made 4 Lovin' You were a bit of an unnecessary choice given the catalogue they have to choose from.
All in all, worth a few listens just to see how the band have evolved stylewise but i don't think i'm alone in saying that the time could have been much better spent jammin away at some new demos for a bonus disc.

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Recordings, but some are copycats., September 24, 2008

By	Carlos Velazquez "Rolisyock" (Maracaibo, Zulia Venezuela) - See all my reviews

I really enjoy this recording. I am waiting for Amazon to send me my physical Cd, since apparently there's a delay in the shipment. Anyway, i downloaded the tracks somewhere, since i couldn't wait to listen to it. I'll do it track by track, since nobody has posted the track listing:

1.- Deuce - Classic track from Kiss' first album. Gene On Vocals. I like this version, since it represents the live Kiss force on this one.

2.- Detroit Rock City - From Destroyer 1976. Paul On Vocals. This version is very rockin', but of course is shorter than the original, since they eliminated the intro with the radio broadcast. This is one of the reasons it lost a star. But of course, more reasons come later.

3.- Shout It Out Loud - From Destroyer 1976. Paul And Gene On Vocals. Some Kiss websites have said that this new version is much better than the original, and I have to agree. This version actually rocks.

4.- Hotter Than Hell - From Hotter Than Hell 1974. Paul on Vocals. This is my favorite track from this compilation. Remember Hotter Than Hell sounded like crap. I have to agree that this album should be re-recorded with the new lineup, it will do justice for the crappy 1974 production.

5.- Calling Dr. Love - From Rock And Roll Over 1976. Gene On Vocals. Great re-recording. Other of my favorites.

6.- Love Gun - From Love Gun 1977. Paul On Vocals. Other rockin' version, but sounds too much like the original.

7.- I was made for loving you. From Dynasty 1979. Paul On Vocals. The most dissapointing cover, being basically a copycat of the original. It should have more rockin' going on, since this is the disco version from the original album, and not the heavier live version.

8.- Heaven's On Fire. From Animalize 1984. Paul On Vocals. Great re-recording, but again, too much like the original. They should have done the live arrangement.

9.- Lick it Up. From Lick It Up 1983. Paul On Vocals. Same opinion as Heaven's On Fire.

10.- I Love It Loud. From Creatures Of The Night 1982. Gene On Vocals. I really loved this version. Gene vocals are much better than the 1982 original.

11.- Forever. From Hot In The Shade 1989. Paul On Vocals. Not much to say about this one, i would have prefered another song from the 70's.

12.- Christine Sixteen. From Love Gun 1977. Gene On Vocals. Great Rockin' Version of this classic Gene Song.

13.- Do You Love Me. From Destroyer 1976. Paul On Vocals. Great, but again they should have done the live arrangenment.

14.- Black Diamond. From Kiss 1974. Eric Singer On Vocals. Great interesting version with Eric Singer singing. The Most interesting version.

15.- Rock And Roll All Nite. From Dressed To Kill 1975. Gene On Vocals. Basically the most dissapoiting track of this compilation along with I Was Made For Lovin' You. Is a copycat from the studio version. Why they didn't do the live version in the studio?

Overall, is a great compilation. It loses one start because of I Was Made For Loving You And Rock And Roll All Nite basically. The Idea of re-recording Hotter Than Hell is great. Hope they do it next year.