Compilation albums
DOUBLE
PLATINUM (1978, 1997) CASABLANCA/MERCURY
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KISS celebrated their 5th year by releasing this double best-of compilation (or at least that was the excuse the record company came up with). Pretty meaningless release if you have all their other albums up until this one. According to KISSFAQ several of the songs have been slightly alered, but I don't notice much, other then the re-recorded version of "Strutter". This was supposed to give KISS another hit in times when disco was the big thing. But it doesn't differ much from the original version. Not listed is the acoustic intro from "Rock Bottom" appearing in the beginning of "She". This CD only belongs to my collection to make it complete. The cover art was also done differently on the remastered series. The original had a shiny platinum artwork, with the title and logos embossed, but the remastered version is bland and boring.
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Line-up (on the new tracks): Paul Stanley - Rhythm, acoustic guitar, bass on 1, 2, 8, Lead vocals, Back-up vocals Gene Simmons -
Bass on 6 , Back-up vocals |
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With 'The Elder' flopping totally, the record company thought it would be best to release a best of-compilation. 'KISS Killers' was not released world-wide, and has not been included in the remastered series. It contains 4 new songs, originally written for the previous record, before Bob Ezrin revealed his grand idea that ended up as '(Music From) The Elder'. I don't care much for any of these new songs, and this record is probably one of the original KISS-record I listen the least to (next after 'Double Platinum'). But it is also instrumental in by Kiss-fandom in the first place, at it was a pretty new release when I first started to listen to heavy metal, and I think it might have been one of the first 3 Kiss albums in our house. 'Kiss Killers' is noticeable for the inclusion of Bob Kulick though. Here he replaced Ace Frehley once again, but on this compilation album Bob played using his own style, rather then tryins to copy Ace.
SMASHES,
THRASHES & HITS (1988) VERTIGO
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Another compilation album, with 2 new tracks. "Let's Put The X In Sex" and "(You Make Me) Rock Hard" are typical 80's KISS, and nothing to loose hard earned cash for, but are you a collector, then it's a must. The horrible new recorded version of "Beth", with Eric Carr on vocals, is at best a bad idea. Eric was very reluctant about doing it, and I believe I have read that he called Peter Criss to tell him that Gene and Paul forced him to do so.
YOU
WANTED THE BEST, YOU GOT THE BEST (1996) MERCURY
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The original four members were reunited, and celebrated it by releasing this live compilation. It's supposed to be a 'best of' 'Alive!' & 'Alive II', with four previously unreleased tracks on top (*). The interview segment is recorded at 'The Tonight Show' with Jay Leno. An album released clearly only to cash in on the reunion. The coolest thing here must be the cover!
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During 1996/1997 KISS were on their most successful tour, EVER! And why not put out another meaningless compilation album, to cash-in a little more! Actually I have listened a lot to this one, as it contains 99% KISS-classics. With remastered sound, and a killer song-list, it makes for a good compilation to listen to every now and then. I can't, by the life of me, understand why they put "God Gave Rock n' Roll To You II" on it though.
THE
VERY BEST OF KISS (2002) ISLAND/MERCURY
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Just what we've all been waiting for: ANOTHER COMPILATION!!!! I was hoping for 'Alive IV', but I guess they had to fulfill some contractual stuff or something. The sticker on the cover boasts that this compilation spans their entire career, but where are the tracks from the mid-80's? And there is nothing here from 'Carnival Of Souls' or 'Psycho Circus'. It seems they have done a little effort not to repeat most of the tracks off of 'Greatest Kiss', so it's not all bad. Nevertheless, this is a completely unnecessary release, without even a good booklet. I swore I wouldn't buy this, but ended up picking it up at a gas-station! Aaarrrghhh, the collector in me just couldn't say no.
The
Best Of Kiss: 20th Century Masters The Millennium Collection (2003)
mercury
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The '20 Century Masters The Millennium Collection' was a series of compilation album Universal Canada released during the early stages of the new millennium. Every band imaginable, and their mother, were featured. While most other bands/artist, like Mötle˙ Crüe, ABBA, Cinderella, Johnny Cash, L.A. Guns, Asia & The Osmonds, to name just a handful, had 1 compilation CD released in this series, Kiss wound up getting 3!
The cool thing with this series is that it attempts to do more of a chronological collection of songs. This, the first in the series, concentrates on the hits from the '70's, meaning the years 1974-1979. These songs have seen the playing side of a CD more often than a concert stage by this time, making this compilation rather unnecessary. Still, if one should own just one collection of Kiss songs from the '70's, this is perhaps the best one. I also like the vintage photos in the booklet.
The
Best Of Kiss VOLUME 2: 20th Century Masters The Millennium Collection (2004)
mercury
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The second Kiss compilation in the '20th Century Masters The Millennium Collection' was released in 2004, a year after the first one. It tackles the years from 1982-1989. Why they chose to omit song from 'Unmasked' and '(Music From) The Elder' is unknown to me, but I guess they reflect the least successful area of the band. Still, if you're trying to deliver something representative for the bands entire career, these albums should not have been neglected.
The '80's took Kiss to a new level. Removing the make-up turned out to be just the thing Kiss needed to stay current. I'm sure it didn't exactly hurt to come up with songs like "I Love It Loud", "Lick It Up" or "Heaven's On fire" either! The band also went through 3 different lead guitarists during his era, and it's nice to see pictures of all the members and line-up in the booklet, including an awesome picture with Vinnie Vincent and Eric Carr in make-up!
Sure, there is nothing on this CD any die-hard Kiss fan doesn't already own, but I still say this is one of the better compilation albums they've released.
Kiss also appear on:
V/A - 'Hear 'n Aid: Stars'
V/A - 'Pondus - Flat Fuzzpedal'
Index page | The CD Collection | Box sets & Collector's items
KISS
KILLERS (1982) MERCURY
GREATEST
KISS (1996) MERCURY
