Post by rtbuck on Sept 26, 2007 15:37:14 GMT -5
Kiss
Kissology the Ultimate Collection Volume 2 1978-1991
VH1 Classics
Review by Bucky for Rock N Roll Universe
As I unwrapped Kissology Volume 2, the brand new scent of this 3 DVD set brought me back to Christmas Day 1977 when I opened my newly released copy of ‘Kiss Alive 2’.The new Kissology starts where the first Kissology left off, 1978.
January 10,1978 was just 15 days before my first concert which featured Kiss with special guests the Rockets. Also on this day, at 10:00 PM was a special on NBC called ‘The Land of Hype & Glory’ featuring Kiss. A 4 minute excerpt from this show leads off 'Kissology Volume 2', and features host Edwin Newman narrating and interviewing almost in disbelief that Kiss is making millions of dollars with the Kiss empire. The problem was that Newman came off boring, and was probably just tuned out by the viewers who were more awestruck by the live clips of Kiss that were playing while Newman spoke. In October of ’78 NBC aired ‘Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park’.
Included on disc 1 of the set is the European version of the movie called ‘Attack of the Phantoms’, which is a little different than the American version. The main difference is that ‘Attack of the Phantoms’ features songs from the band’s 4 solo albums as a background throughout the movie. The songs featured throughout the movie are “Fractured Mirror”(Ace),”Easy Thing”(Peter), “Mr. Make Believe”(Gene), “Hold Me Touch Me”(Paul),”Radioactive”(Gene), “Man of 1000 Faces”(Gene),”NY Groove”(Ace),”That’s the Kind of Sugar Papa Likes” (Peter),”Love In Chains”(Paul) and “Hooked On R & R” (Peter). Disc 1 closes with a 10 minute excerpt from the infamous appearance of Kiss on Tom Snyder’s ‘Tomorrow Show’ in which Ace was blitzed out of his mind. Ace totally took over the show as Gene watched in disgust.
Disc 2 opens with the final appearance of Peter Criss as he agreed to appear in one last video which was “Shandi” from the ‘Unmasked’ album. Next is a short interview excerpt from CNN in 1980 with Peter Criss who felt held back in Kiss. Countdown features Ace, Paul and Gene clowning around in front of the camera while introducing Eric Carr into the band. Rock Pop German TV features the band squeezed onto a small stage while lip-syncing “She’s So European” and “Talk to Me”. A full concert on 11/22/1980 from Sydney, Australia is featured next and it's phenomenal footage. Ace Frehley gets the spotlight throughout the show as he performs three of his songs as well as singing a verse of “Cold Gin”. During the Kiss anthem “Rock & Roll All Nite”, Paul Stanley adds a chapter from the live version of “!00,000 Years” as he asks the audience “Do You Feel Alright ?”. “Black Diamond” features Eric Carr taking over the vocals. Next on disc 2 is Kiss performing live on the TV show ‘Friday’s’ from 1982. On this clip Kiss is promoting their latest album ‘The Elder’, and the band performs “The Oath”,”A World Without Heroes” and “I”. This footage is great and is one of the best parts of the whole set. Disc 2 closes with a video from Top Pop where the band performs “I Love It Loud” which was one of Ace’s last appearances with the band.
The final concert of Kiss wearing their make-up in 1983 from Brazil opens the 3rd disc as Kiss along with hired hand guitarist Vinnie Vincent rock their way through 8 songs. Once again this is really great footage to see. With the band about to release their latest album ‘Lick It Up’ Kiss decided it was time to unmask. MTV hosted Kiss as they appeared with VJ J.J. Jackson for the 1st time on TV without their make-up. There is some cool footage of Kiss from Portugal where they are shown performing 2 songs live, ”Creatures of the Night” and “Detroit Rock City”. This footage is kind of unique because they were advertised with their make-up on for the concert but performed without their war paint. Next on disc 3 are 5 songs from Philadelphia 1987 which is really crisp quality. The final concert that appears on disc 3 is probably my favorite part of all 3 discs as Kiss kick ass through an awesome setlist of 21 songs recorded live from Detroit 1990. The disc closes with the Day in Rock 11/25/1991 on MTV where the death of Eric Carr is announced, followed by the final video of Eric Carr, ”God Gave Rock & Roll To You”. At the very end of the disc after the credits, a video of Carr in the hospital after his open heart surgery appears and Eric really seems full of life. The bonus disc I received was a phenomenal show from Largo 1979 which featured the 4 original band members.
Overall I’d highly recommend this set for any Kiss fan. The show from Detroit 1990 alone is worth the cost of the set. On a scale of 1-10 this set goes to 11!