Customer Reviews

You Wanted the Best You Got the Best

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This CD was relased at the height of the reunion frenzy. Gene being the business man he is released anything he could to capitalize on the newfound interest in the band. This CD was no exception and if it's live recordings you're after, please stick with Alive and Alive2. But, this isn't to say there isn't any justification to this album. Aside from the useless Jay Leno interview, it contains 4 un-released live tracks. 'Two Timer', 'Room Service'and 'Let me Know' were probably all taken from the same show, definitely the same time period. Kinda weak but these songs sound tight. The one track that does it for me however is 'Take Me', probably taken from the Love Gun tour. Great song. The production is a little down but it's cool to have. What Kiss SHOULD have done is followed in Cheap Trick's footsteps when they re-released their Budokan set as a double album of the WHOLE SHOW. Anyone who knows about KISS bootlegs will know that during the alive 2 period, 'take me', 'hooligan', 'Do you love me', 'black diamond', 'firehouse', and 'rock n'roll all night' were all in the set. Or perhaps Kiss has that in mind, but they just want to get your money any way they can? Kiss, you're the best!

This album is a rip-off.
The 4 "newly discovered" tracks are not vintage recordings, but new ones done when the band reunited. No one really knows if the original four are playing in them, since Kiss has been lying to their fans since 1976' Destroyer by not giving credit to outside musicians on their albums.

If you listen closely to Paul's vocals you'll notice they sound kinda shot, "ala '96" style. Also, the drum sound is recent, check it out. And oh those added crowd noises!!! They sound SO fake it's disturbing.

If you only want the four unreleased tracks, then borrow it from a friend. That'd be the smartest thing to do.

I can't remember the last time I was so disappointed as when this tripe came out. Sure I bought it to complete the collection, but all You Wanted The Best, You Got The Best!! is is 8 songs taken from Alive! and Alive II mixed with "previously unreleased" live versions of Room Service, Two Timer, Let Me Know, and Take Me. Then, as an added bonus, a decent, 17 1/2 minute interview called "KISS Tells All" with (unfortunately) the most annoying and unfunny "comedian" today, Jay Leno. The tone of the band in this interview is uplifting and shows that the boys are really happy being together again. The songs are all great here (after all, most of them came from 2 of KISS' best albums) and being that they are the hits, what more can you ask for? The cover of You Wanted The Best, You Got The Best!! is the highlight of the album though. I would have to rank it as one of KISS' better covers and certainly the best since the comic strip cover of 1980's Unmasked (NOTE: I like it so much in fact that I got a variation of it tattooed on my left upper arm last year). Great photos inside, too! Polygram had to be trying to get back some of the money they lost with the last few KISS albums that sold poorly because this is a blatant consumer rip-off. Instead of releasing a whole new collection, why didn't they add these "new" versions of the songs on to the 1997 Remastered releases of Alive! and Alive II as bonus songs? It's a simple answer--$$. This trend would continue with the 1997 release of Greatest KISS. I could give this album a good rating because the material is good (even though the majority of it is available elsewhere), but I can't overlook the motives behind releasing You Wanted The Best, You Got The Best!! and this really hampers my rating.

I think Kiss has put out five live albums not counting this one of the boxed det, The 4 Alives and Unplugged. When I got this album I felt really jipped because the new tracks weren't very good and I had heard Alive! and Alive II so many times already. The interview was ok but anyone who doesn't have enoguh access to a Kiss interview either on TV or on the internet is a sad person. The tracks on it were very good and if you don't want to spend the money buying each seperatly then this album is a good buy but if you buy this you'll probably want the other two anyway. Kiss dieheard fans buy this for new material but they aren't worth it. Rock and Roll all Nite is one of the most successful live songs of all time but it's been released more times than the original version. Calling Dr. Love and Beth are brilliant on this album but get them on Alive II. Kiss has enoguh money that you don't need to support this album or you can download the unreleased tracks.

This is a compilation of stuff from "Alive" and "Alive II", plus some previously unreleased stuff. But above all, skip the Interview track at the end. Kiss sat down with Jay Leno (why, I don't know) to record this interview, and most of what you will learn from it is that Leno loves the sound of his own voice and is less interested in holding an interview than in being the so-so stand-up comic he is. The band doesn't seem to be enjoying the interview either. What a waste of 15 minutes of disc space that could have been used for more music.

This was a complitation disc with four new songs. Like everyone else I believe it should have been all unreleased live tracks. Still you do get to have four or five new songs. (if you got the japanese one it had a extra one. That came out on the boxset later anyways) In 1996 the band was the hottest in the world again and they need product , still Anyone could have gone back and created a live disc with all unlreleased songs on it. They should have. That being said it's cool to have the new songs they sound great and prove that kiss always sounds great live. The rest of the songs you would already have live. So noone was deluded as the reviewer said here we knew what we were getting , we just wanted more! Someone still needs to go back and put on a cd all those live tracks that never made it to cd but exist back in the vaults. These days people mainly want to download things but you don't own music unless it's on a cd with artwork. You have the real deal and not just a song on a hardrive.

The difficulty in getting any collection together as a "best of" selection is that it is subjective as to what comprises the classic ( in the literal sense of most representative of this class) form of the band. I personally view ROCK AND ROLL OVER as the definitive iteration of the band, so anything done in that vein by the band is the most representative of the band.
This definition would, I suggest, automatically mean that DARK LIGHT ( from THE ELDER) would fit this category.
This is one of the few 90s compilations that I find to be totally agreeable. Definitely the 80s version of the band past 1984 pre-Revenge, is to me very vapid, however, they still retained the visual acuity of the band thanks to Gene, and Paul. Drummers such as Eric Carr, and especially Eric Singer, added a much needed edge. And Eric Carr's skill can be vividly seen and heard in the DVD "ANIMALISE" as well as on any selection from the GLOBO footage from the 1983 tour with Vinnie Vincent.
Highly recommended disc.

Yes, it's another compilation of some of KISS' Greatest Hits, but, there's also three songs that have never been released as Live recordings, namely Two Timer, Let Me Know, and Take Me. If you love KISS and you like live Rock-n-Roll, you'll love this CD. But this CD is not totally music, there is a 17 minute and 33 second interview with the band where they discuss a number of things including why they decided to reunite. Ace and Peter, Paul and Gene, are all on the interview and if you are a True KISS fan, you will find it very entertaining. Except for the previously unreleased songs, it appears all they done was take some songs from Alive and Alive II and put them on this CD. As you can see from the picture of the cover, it's an attractive CD. Also, if you're a KISS collector, you know that if they put out a 100 compilations, you still need to collect each one to have a complete set. It's worth the money for me because I get to hear some of my favorites from Alive and Alive II without having to switch CD's.

This is a troubling release for Kiss fans.Some accuse Gene and Paul of wanting to rip off fans by rehashing ALIVE 1/2 tracks with four "leftovers" and a boring interview with Jay Leno.I,on the other hand think that this album is perfect to introduce new fans to great live Kiss.So what if they did not include DEUCE or DETROIT ROCK CITY! Those tracks had already been on live releases twice(DEUCE was on ALIVE3;DETROIT was on ANIMALIZE UNCENSORED).I was glad to hear the four new live tracks;they sounded better than their studio counterparts(although some claim that the tracks were recorded just before the reunion with audience response doctored in).The Leno interview was witty and it pulled no punches(especially Peter's comments on playing at clubs and bars).It shows that the reunion was not simply a cash cow exercise.If you are cynical,then this release is worthless.If not,just let the power of vintage Kiss take you front row center.It's up to the individual Kiss fan;you all know who you are.

This album, which was released to coincide with the Reunion Tour of 1996, makes this Kiss fan smell "contractual obligation and money." Sure, the unreleased live tracks are great, but THEY DON'T PLAY THEM IN CONCERT. The first three weren't included on "Alive!" because they didn't make the cut. And, for all that's good and holy, how many more times do we have to hear "Rock N Roll All Nite?" Die-Hards only, please.