Smashes, Thrashes & Hits

Kiss

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Original Release Date: November 14, 1988
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Island / Mercury
• ASIN: B000001FPE
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #16,833 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Compact KISS time capsule for Gen X-ers., August 23, 2002

By	Daniel J. Hamlow (Narita, Japan) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Of the three new songs "Let's Put The X" is another hot song by the foursome, with Bruce Kulick's guitars echoing Ace's. The woman in the song is another teaser in the same vein as the vixens in Animalize's "Murder In High Heels" and Asylum's "Secretly Cruel." As another line in the song says, "You're begging for an eyeful but you only get a peak." Tipper Gore would definitely "love" this song. "You Make Me Rock Hard" is okay, but more refined and smooth. Both lack the loud, sometimes overdone production Crazy Nights, but it's harder than anything on Hot In The Shade, their next studio album.

Eric Carr sings solo for the first time and he does not ruin "Beth," listed here as the Carr vocal version. His voice is considerably smoother than Peter Criss's rough but lovely vocals. Fans will have considerable debate on whether Eric Carr ruined a great song or did proper tribute to it. I like both versions, so that puts me on the fence as I find myself on many occasions.

This is the second official greatest hits compilation after Double Platinum, which comprised everything from KISS to Love Gun. S,T&H is pared down in term of representative hits, one or two key tracks from nearly each album. Here's a breakdown:

KISS "Deuce", "Strutter"
Dressed to Kill "Rock And Roll All Nite"
Destroyer "Detroit Rock City", "Shout It Out Loud"
Rock And Roll Over "Calling Dr. Love"
Love Gun "Love Gun"
Dynasty "I Was Made For Lovin' You"
Creatures/Night "I Love It Loud"
Lick It Up "Lick It Up"
Animalize "Heaven's On Fire"
Asylum "Tears Are Falling"

As one can see, tracks from albums considered lesser, such as Hotter Than Hell, Unmasked, and The Elder, as well as the solo albums, have been omitted. What, "Reason To Live" from Crazy Nights wasn't considered good enough to be included?

As for the older songs, "Detroit Rock City" is the radio edit version, minus the opening diner sounds and radio and the crumpling kerrang of metal that leads to "King Of The Night Time World" on Destroyer. "Shout It Out Loud" has a sudden ending, not the gradual fade of the original. KISS and Destroyer have two songs each, justified considering the importance of the songs.

So what does this selection imply? My theory is as follows: KISS was five years without makeup and the post-makeup songs stress the importance of the present. However, there wouldn't have been a present without a past, hence the need for the classics. The song ratio is 8:7 makeup, non-makeup (I count Beth '88 as non-makeup). As Double Platinum was "the story so far" aimed for late-Boomers, this compilation was for MTV era Generation X-ers, who grew up with Lick It Up through Crazy Nights and who now had an opportunity to go back in time and get the other albums--hey, that's what I did.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Here's a greatest hits album, (As well as some new songs), May 29, 2002

By	"mrdramatic9" (United States) - See all my reviews

Greastest hits albums shouldn't have new/unreleased material on them. It should be considered a crime, since all the band is essentially doing is taking money from their fans to basically re-purchase many songs that they already own.
No one in rock 'n' roll is better at doing such things as Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley. Here on 'Smashes' (at least their 3rd G.H. package at this point) they prove this, 'cause in this package are two new songs, as well as the inclusion of "Beth" featuring drummer Eric Carr on lead vocals.
Included as well are the typical hits "Rock and roll all night", "I was made for lovin' you", & "Shout it out loud", as well as some not so hits, but good songs anyways such as "I love it loud" and "Strutter".
I think that "Let's put the X in sex" (one of the new songs featured on the album) is one of Paul Stanley's best songs of the 80's, even though it sounds a bit dated now, and the lyrical topic isn't the most sophisticated, the song has a great opening hook, a great chorus, and some awsome licks being played by guitarist Bruce Kulick.
I personally love Eric Carr's version of "Beth". Even though it's disappointing that this was Carr's first lead vocal on a KISS album, and it was done in such a way that it positioned Eric as the 'replacement' drummer, his vocals are very heart felt, as well as pleasant to hear and unique, he didn't just try to re-do the original, he did it with his own style, which adds another dimension to the song.
All in all fans are basically forced to purchase this album, but as far as anyone curious about KISS, purchase 'Double Platinum' or 'Greatest KISS'. Even though neither album feature songs during the 80's or later, these would probably be the best ones to get.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good intro to the band, April 9, 2000

By	Joe Eversole (Lexington, KY USA) - See all my reviews

If you don't own ANY Kiss recordings, this isn't a bad place to start. Why not 5 stars? I don't like the remixed versions of the songs, and the two 'new' tracks were easily forgotten. Regardless, Eric Carr's version of Beth is a nice change of pace and it contains an excellent mix of songs.