Post by rtbuck on Dec 19, 2007 15:54:18 GMT -5
Kissology the Ultimate Kiss Collection Volume 3 1992 – 2000 DVD
Label : VH1 Classic Records
Review by Bucky for Rock n Roll Universe
In 1995 I was ecstatic when I found out the original members of Kiss were reuniting on MTV’s Unplugged to perform a few tunes with the then current Kiss Lineup of Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Bruce Kulick, & Eric Singer. In 1996 I was even more ecstatic that the original Kiss was going to tour & they were coming to Buffalo, NY. I was at that show & it was one hell of a show. If mistakes were made or the band was sloppy that night I couldn’t tell you, as I (along with almost 20,000 other screaming fans) was caught up in the momentum of an adrenaline rush I hadn’t felt since 1/25/78 when I witnessed Kiss live for the first time. This past year Kiss released 2 monster DVD collections spanning their career from 1974 – 1991.The year is just about over & Kissology is back once again with a new set spanning 1992 – 2000. The 4 disc set covers a lot of ground & even includes a 43 minute set from the Coventry in Queens, NY 1973.
Disc 1 :
Disc 1 of Kissology Vol. 3 Kicks off with an awesome show from Detroit, MI 11/27/1992 as Kiss was touring supporting their “Revenge” album. The show was amazing as Kiss rock their way through 17 Kiss classics spanning their career even bringing back a couple of tunes Kiss hadn’t played live since the mid 70’s
(“ Watchin’ You” & “Parasite” both from 1974’s ‘Hotter than Hell’ album). The stage looks great & a huge Statue of Liberty is located behind the drums. Surprisingly, ”Shout It Out Loud” isn’t included in this show but that’s no problem as it appears 4 other times on this DVD collection. The band sounds extremely tight & Bruce Kulick is continuing coming out into his own with some exceptional guitar work throughout the show. One of the many highlights is by Eric Singer
who starts off playing “Oh Susanna” on a harmonica & then leads into a drum solo complete with laser effects. The beat picks up & the band launch into “War Machine” featuring some wild pyrotechnics that make you feel as you’re descending down to hell. When the smoke filled stage finally clears the Statue of Liberty’s face has now become a skull & the band is continuing on with even more fire & fury. One of the final songs at a Kiss concert is always their rock & roll national anthem “Rock & Roll All Nite” but not at this show, instead it is performed in the middle of the show. “Take It Off” features 4 females performing a striptease down to their bikini tops & thongs while even seducing the band members at times. Fourteen songs in Kiss closes their set before the encores with “Detroit Rock City” & at the end of the motor city rocker the Statue is no longer holding a torch. Instead our 1866 friend that was given to us from France
is holding up her middle finger to the audience. For the encores the band performs “God Gave Rock & Roll to You II”,”Love Gun”, & a phenomenal instrumental of “The Star Spangled Banner” which leads into a grand finale of fireworks that make it seem like it’s the 4th of July. God Bless America & Kiss too!
Also on disc 1 is the classic 1995 MTV Unplugged concert that brought the 4 original members back together on one stage for the first time since 1979 as Ace & Peter join the current Kiss line-up for the final 4 songs of the show.The show features some rare Kiss songs including “Coming Home”, “Plaster Caster”, “Going Blind”, ”World Without Heroes”,”See You Tonight”(from Gene’s 1st solo album), & a country version of “God of Thunder”.Preceding the Unplugged show is a well put together documentary of events leading up to the MTV special featuring footage from various unplugged convention performances.
Disc 2 :
Disc starts with the original band’s first reunion show at Tiger Stadium in Detroit on 6/28/96.The set list is great as it covers 17 Kiss tunes between 1973 – 1977 including a bit of a surprise during “Cold Gin” as Ace Frehley takes over lead vocals on the second verse. The video for this show is shot kind of strange as there is never a full stage camera shot & all you see are close-ups of each of the members. Occasionally, you get Paul & Ace together in one shot but it seems that it is recorded by 4 cameras(one for each member).The special effects used on the recording are throwbacks from the 70’s & in between each song the screen fades to black while Paul is doing his stage raps to the audience. The band sounds a bit sloppy in the performance but that could be overlooked by just the thought of this reunion & explosive set list.
On 9/04/96 the original Kiss performed “Rock & Roll All Nite” on the Video Music Awards live from underneath the Brooklyn Bridge in NY. On this disc the whole set is included & besides the Rock & Roll national anthem the band performs : “”NY Groove”, ”Deuce”, ”Calling Dr. Love ”, & “Love Gun”. This footage is crystal clear & the band is in top form.
In my opinion the best performance on this 4 disc set is up next which is the original Kiss performing at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, CA 1998 supporting their newly released ‘Psycho Circus’ album. The band is incredibly tight & full of energy which makes this show is a huge difference from the previous Tiger Stadium 1996 show. Disc 2 includes the first 11 of 22 songs from the show & the rest are continued on Disc 3. The show opens with the title track from ‘Psycho Circus’ & continues with all the classics from the 70’s once again. This time the band brings back “She” & even adds their 1979 hit “I Was Made for Loving You” to the explosive set.
Disc 3
The third disc continues with the final 11 songs from the 1998 Dodger Stadium show starting with Ace’s contribution to the ‘Psycho Circus’ album, ”Into the Void”
followed by the Ace Frehley smoking guitar solo. Paul Stanley glides through the air by a wire to a platform at the back of the venue to sing the 1977 classic “Love Gun” & Gene spits blood & flies to a platform at the top of the stage to perform the Paul Stanley penned “God of Thunder”. Peter does a fine job singing Beth & the band closes the show with “Black Diamond” & “Rock & Roll All Nite”. This is definitely a 5 star performance.
The disc continues with an unbelievable crystal clear set from Los Angeles 8/09/1999 from the premiere of the movie, “Detroit Rock City” where Kiss perform “Detroit Rock City”, “Shout It Out Loud”, “Cold Gin”, & “Rock & Roll All Nite” to perfection.
The final segment of Disc 3 is entitled “The Last Kiss” from East Rutherford, NJ on 6/27/2000 & features the original band together one more (last?) time with yet another crystal clear production job. The show features 14 songs spanning their career & even paying tribute to 80’s Kiss with the inclusion of “Heaven’s On Fire”.
The show is great & I must add that Ace really looks in great shape on this performance. After the credits roll by there’s footage of Peter Criss totally trashing his drum kit onstage at the end of the performance.
Disc 4
Disc 4 is somewhat of a “Holy Grail” for all Kiss fans as it features a 43 minute set of Kiss performing at the Coventry in Queens, NY 12/22/73 marking this the earliest known video footage of Kiss performing live. The show is shot from one camera & it’s a full stage view filmed in black & white. The stage is small but the performance is big as the band is full of energy especially Peter who I think really stands out. The band still used their same choreography during “Deuce” that they still use to this day. The band rocks through 9 songs including “Let Me Know” which sounds great. Paul Stanley steps up to the mic & says “This song’s a hot little love song for teenage girls…it’s called Firehouse!” & the band launches into their early crowd pleaser featuring Gene spewing to huge flames into the air. Paul tells the crowd that the next song is for all astronaut lovers & “100,000 Years” kicks in featuring a phenomenal guitar solo by Ace . The band closes with Black Diamond & returns with an early version of “Let Me Go Rock & Roll” for an encore (this is the only song that sounded pretty sloppy but it is still awesome footage.
Overall, this is another great DVD collection from the Hottest band in the world & is well worth the price. I love the fact that while performing “Cold Gin” on the reunions with the original 4 members that Ace sang the 2nd verse. There are a couple of hidden “Easter Eggs” in the DVD set: On Disc One is some video footage from the ‘Carnival of Souls’ sessions, on Disc 2 is a sound check of the band performing “Love Gun” from 9/96,& on the third disc is Kiss performing “2000 Man” at the Millennium show from Vancouver, BC 2000.
Bucky