KISS: The Songs 1974-2012

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by GodShifter, Feb 7, 2017.

  1. SizzleVonSizzleton

    SizzleVonSizzleton The Last Yeti

    I hear ya. It's the vocal harmonies that begin and end the song that are quite the rip. I was just dancing between shorthand and laziness. Kinda like Gene himself!:D
     
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  2. Jason W

    Jason W Forum Resident

    Location:
    Mill Valley, CA
    Fellow SF KISS fan here. I wish they would schedule some shows nearby! I wonder if the band hasn't done as well in the Bay area? I think the most recent (kind of close) was Reno? But surely San Jose or Sacramento would be great locations for KISS. I came to the band late, so still waiting for my chance to see them.
     
  3. npgchris

    npgchris Forum Resident

    You didn't care for the song itself?

    On a semi-related note, do you like the band King's X? (Or are you even familiar with them?). This song definitely has a strong King's X vibe. They're such a cool band, and they are some kind of mythical middle ground between The Beatles, Black Sabbath, and James Brown. With some gospel and Hendrix thrown in. And Rush. And Sly Stone. And Metallica. And... :laugh:

    And Gene's a fan, by the way! :thumbsup:
     
  4. William Smart

    William Smart 21st Century Schizoid Man

    Location:
    North Haven, CT
    That was the wine of choice. Except hippie freaks drank Boone's Farm a lot. Mateus! Wow haven't seen that in ages.
     
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  5. npgchris

    npgchris Forum Resident

    Cool! You're in Marin County, and I'm just north of you in Sonoma County. Cheers!

    I think that Reno show was part of a "Lost Cities" tour, which basically represented a bunch of smaller markets they hadn't played since the extension of the Reunion Tour, way back in 96/97. That tour did not include stops in larger markets within geographic vicinity of the schedule; the whole point was to play cities they hadn't visited in a long time.

    As far as I know, they do reasonably well in the San Francisco market. Even at the low points in their history (attendance wise), when they were playing smaller venues, they'd play mid-sized venues when they came here.

    I think they've saturated the U.S. market a bit in recent years, which is why they play gigs here and there, and at odd times and places. Until and unless they announce a for real/genuine "Farewell Tour" (preferably with some special guests), I can't see them being able to mount a large-scale, playing-every-city type of tour again, unless they were co-billed with another big name act. They're kind of at that point where a lot of veteran bands are, where you go out on 2- and 3-band packages during the summer. The problem for KISS is, unlike those other bands, who can always go and do theater-sized shows on their own if they wish to, the cost of mounting KISS' show is so high, that they need to play larger venues, with higher ticket prices, to finance their operation. Other bands don't have that problem.

    I think Paul & Gene are probably just too old to have the desire to do this, at this point in time, but to me, the coolest tour they could put on right now would be to go out with no makeup or theatrics, and just play a deep cuts kind of show for the diehards. The venues would be much smaller, of course, but the ticket prices could remain somewhat high, because the diehards would pay to see the band play stuff they don't normally do, nor would they care about the makeup. It would actually be really cool. Get creative with the set list, and take the necessary steps to deal with Paul's vocal issues (again, set list), and I think you'd have a killer show. The overhead costs would be low, and the diehard fans would dig it. The reaction that the Kulick Brothers got on the KISS Kruise to playing rarely-performed songs supports this. But do P&G still have it in them to go out on the road under those circumstances, without the gargantuan gate receipts coming in? Probably not. And I'm not saying I necessarily blame them. But I bet just getting up on stage with normal clothing and shoes would probably be kinda refreshing for them!

    Anyway, all of my rambling probably doesn't address your concerns, anyway, as it sounds like you've never seen them! So you want the whole "flashbomb and confetti" experience, which I understand!
    :cheers:
     
  6. dave9199

    dave9199 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Durham, NC
    A number of people have ranked the albums. I don't know if I could do that. I also couldn't rank the post makeup stuff as I don't know it as well. I would say my favorite is a tie between Alive and Destroyer. I remember when my band was going into to record our first album in 1993. I really didn't know what production was. For some reason I pulled out Destroyer and heard it completely different. I've really loved it ever since. I like the studio albums rather than Alive II and like Alive rather than those studio albums. I love the solo albums with Peter only being a like. I think of Dynasty and Unmasked together and The Elder and Creatures the same. Lick It Up came later and goes with the two before it. I do have favorite songs on each so I'll share those.

    Kiss - Deuce, Love Theme, 100,000 Years
    HTH - Parasite, Goin' Blind
    DTK - Love Her All I Can
    Destroyer - King Of The Night Time World, God Of Thunder, Flaming Youth, Sweet Pain
    RARO - Calling Dr Love, Baby Driver
    Love Gun - Almost Human, Then She Kissed Me
    Paul - Ain't Quite Right, Wouldn't You Like To Know Me, Goodbye
    Gene - Burning Up With Fever, See You Tonight, Man Of 1000 Faces, Mr Make Believe
    Ace - Rip It Out, What's On Your Mind
    Peter - Kiss The Girl Goodbye
    Dynasty - Save Your Love
    Unmasked - Is That You, Shandi, You're All That I Want
    The Elder - Odyssey
    COTN - War Machine
    LIU - Lick It Up

    Albums like Dynasty, Elder, COTN & LIU I can't say I have a favorite but those songs stand out more to me. Those all feel like albums I like rather than have favorite songs. RARO feels like that also.
     
  7. @GodShifter - you’ve done a great thing by keeping this thread thriving. Many thanks to you for your efforts and enthusiasm. I also thank the regular participants to this thread (you know who you are)- The collective passion is inspiring and it’s been a great ride. You’re all amazing.
     
  8. SizzleVonSizzleton

    SizzleVonSizzleton The Last Yeti

    I listened to Hand of Fate twice but I can't say it really stuck with me. Assuming it's still up I'll give it a few more listens and give an opinion. My initial impression was it was pretty decent (especially given it's a demo) musically but the lyrics were no great shakes. Again I realize it's a demo, although with Gene if they'd re-recorded it there's nothing to suggest he'd have put any more work into the lyrics.

    King's X. You know I've heard of them for decades but I don't think I've ever heard them. Give me five song titles (preferably songs that are on youtube) and I'll report back.
     
  9. The Slug Man

    The Slug Man Forum Resident

    Location:
    North Carolina
    For better or for worse, this kind of describes the unplugged shows they sometimes do on the KISS Cruise.
     
  10. npgchris

    npgchris Forum Resident

    Sorta, but their unplugged shows seem to always feature the same 15-20 songs. I'm talking about an electric show, with cool stuff they haven't played in a long time. I realize that the people on a KISS Kruise are the diehards of the diehards, but the reaction to the deep cuts the Kulicks played (and even "hits" like "Who Wants To Be Lonely" and "Domino", which are deep cuts at this point!) shows there's a pent-up demand for this kind of stuff. Some of those people were losing their minds, and even Bruce and Bob were a bit taken aback by the reaction. There's a bit of "same old, same old" when it comes to KISS' show, and my idea (while probably too far fetched for P&G at this stage of the game) would shake things up and get some excitement back amongst the rank and file.

    Yeah, I know. To quote Paul toward the end of the PSYCHO CIRCUS album, "I am only dreamin'..."
     
  11. vamborules

    vamborules Forum Resident

    Location:
    CT
    Gene got into some big confrontation with a heckler in Providence. He actually got off the stage and got in the guy's face, then dared the guy to swing at him 'so I can take you out'.
     
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  12. The Slug Man

    The Slug Man Forum Resident

    Location:
    North Carolina
    Kind of like how years ago, Paul really showed that guy who flashed the laser pointer at Peter Criss' eye? I still think that was "staged" to make him look tough.
     
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  13. npgchris

    npgchris Forum Resident


    Some songs

    Over My Head
    It's Love
    Dogman
    Fade
    King

    (all of the above have promo videos)


    Pleiades
    Groove Machine
    Goldilox
    Lost In Germany
    Cigarettes


    There's a playlist set up at YouTube called "King's X Top Tracks" that seems to do a decent job covering them.
     
  14. vamborules

    vamborules Forum Resident

    Location:
    CT
  15. William Smart

    William Smart 21st Century Schizoid Man

    Location:
    North Haven, CT
    why do old men think they can be tough!
    yeah I know I'm an old man but I Know I'm tough:D
     
  16. Combination

    Combination Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Orleans
    The audio of the complete conversation is massively awkward, so I cannot imagine what it was like being in that balcony!
     
    Last edited: Nov 15, 2017
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  17. ejluther

    ejluther Forum Resident

    Location:
    Newtown, CT
    All hail @GodShifter! :righton::edthumbs::shtiphat:

    And I, for one, would like to see him back as ringmaster of this very thread if and when new KISS music is released...deal?
     
  18. GodShifter

    GodShifter Forum Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Dallas, TX, USA
    :righton:

    Absolutely!
     
  19. bartels76

    bartels76 Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    CT
    At the same show...this 15 year old kid tears it up with Gene for a few songs.
     
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  20. Combination

    Combination Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Orleans
    I just cannot believe that a politician giving him a key to the city (that I don't think Kiss has ever even mentioned in an interview) was part of the show! It could have been done before the band started, if it was somehow monumentally necessary.

    And of course it means the world to GS - of course it does.
     
  21. BluesOvertookMe

    BluesOvertookMe Forum Resident

    Location:
    Houston, TX, USA
    That was decent. I've heard a few Wicked Lester cuts, and that's the best I've heard so far.
     
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  22. bartels76

    bartels76 Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    CT
    Gene still did a complete show from what the setlist looked like. It was just interuptted by all the key to the city and vault nonsense. The heckler just wasted more time yelling at Gene and the mayor.
     
  23. Combination

    Combination Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Orleans
    There was a guy who actually audio recorded the...upstairs conversation. It's not on YouTube, far as I can tell.
     
  24. SizzleVonSizzleton

    SizzleVonSizzleton The Last Yeti

    "The fans wanted us to play
    we hear and we obey!!!".........

    ....right after this infomercial and I accept this key to the city.

    Heckling is bad manners but I can't be the only one who wouldn't mind seeing Gene get knocked on his pompous ass.
     
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  25. vamborules

    vamborules Forum Resident

    Location:
    CT
    It really is unbelievable. I don't agree with heckling but I do think this guy had a point. All he was really saying was play some songs.

    Also, having that kid up there for four songs is way too much. One is cool but four is...people don't pay to hear that. They pay to hear Gene and the band. Same thing for when he has people come up to sing gang vocals on Do You Love Me or Rock and Roll All Nite. It's fun for the people onstage but half the audience is up there and it looks terrible.

    The band is really good but Gene's attitude with these shows is kind of weird. It seems like he doesn't take them all that seriously like they're not 'real' shows . Probably because they're cheaper and in smaller venues. He acts like it's just a casual get together or something. But the people coming to see it want a show. The want to hear the songs. They don't want vault infomercials, they don't want audience members onstage half the show, and they don't want to watch Gene get his plaque from the city council.
     

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