Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Strutter (demo)
2. Deuce (demo)
3. Keep Me Waiting - Wicked Lester
4. She - Wicked Lester
5. Love Her All I Can - Wicked Lester
6. Let Me Know (Bell Sound Studios demo)
7. 100,000 Years (Bell Sound Studios demo)
8. Stop, Look To Listen (Paul Stanley demo)
9. Leeta (Gene Simmons demo)
10. Let Me go, Rock 'N' Roll (Bell Sound Studios demo)
11. Acrobat (Live at The Daisy)
12. Firehouse (Bell Sound Studios demo)
13. Nothin' to Lose
14. Black Diamond
15. Hotter Than Hell
16. Strange Ways
17. Parasite
18. Goin' Blind
19. Anything For My Baby
20. Ladies In Waiting
21. Rock and Roll All Nite

Disc 2:

1. C'mon And Love Me (Live)
2. Rock Bottom (Live)
3. Cold Gin (Live)
4. Watchin' You (Live)
5. Doncha Hesitate (demo)
6. Mad Dog (demo)
7. God of Thunder (demo)
8. Great Expectations
9. Beth
10. Do You Love Me
11. Bad, Bad Lovin' (demo)
12. Calling Dr. Love
13. Mr. Speed (demo)
14. Christine Sixteen
15. Hard Luck Woman
16. Shock Me
17. I Stole Your Love
18. I Want You (Soundcheck recording)
19. Love Gun (demo)
20. Love Is Blind (demo)

Disc 3:

1. Detroit Rock City
2. King of the Night Time World (Live)
3. Larger Than Life
4. Rocket Ride
5. Tonight You Belong To Me
6. New York Groove
7. Radioactive (demo)
8. Don't You Let Me Down
9. I Was Made For Lovin' You
10. Sure Know Something
11. Shandi
12. You're All That I Want, You're All That I Need (demo)
13. Talk To Me (Live)
14. A World Without Heroes
15. The Oath
16. Nowhere To Run
17. Creatures Of The Night
18. War Machine
19. I Love It Loud

Disc 4:

1. Lick It Up
2. All Hell's Breaking Loose
3. Heaven's On Fire
4. Get All You Can Take
5. Thrills In The Night
6. Tears Are Falling
7. Uh! All Night
8. Time Traveller (demo)
9. Hell Or High Water
10. Crazy, Crazy Nights
11. Reason To Live
12. Let's Put The X In Sex
13. Hide Your Heart
14. Ain't That Peculiar (demo)
15. Silver Spoon
16. Forever (single version)

Disc 5:

1. God Gave Rock 'N' Roll To You II
2. Unholy
3. Domino (demo)
4. Every Time I Look At You
5. Comin' Home (live unplugged)
6. Got To Choose (live unplugged)
7. I Still Love You (live unplugged)
8. Nothin' To Lose (live unplugged)
9. Childhood's End (with coda)
10. I Will Be There
11. Psycho Circus
12. Into The Void
13. Within
14. I Pledge Allegiance To The State of Rock & Roll
15. Nothing Can Keep Me From You
16. It's My Life (original version)
17. Shout It Out Loud (live)
18. Rock And Roll All Night (Kiss Alive IV)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #22359 in Music
• Brand: KiSS
• Published on: 2001
• Released on: 2001-11-20
• Number of discs: 5
• Formats: Box set, Original recording remastered
• Dimensions: 2.81 pounds

Amazon.com
Set aside the makeup, pyrotechnics, and coffin sales, and all that's left of "the hottest band in the world" is the music. Fortunately, in the case of Kiss, the music is their strongest suit. This five-CD box set blends previously released recordings, demos, and unreleased live material. Rarities come in large part from the band's halcyon makeup period and include unheard songs from an assortment of demos. Among the curios are the Wicked Lester versions of "She" and "Love Her All I Can," replete with horn kicks and hand percussion. No less intriguing is the previously unreleased Destroyer-era, Slade-inspired stomper "Doncha Hesitate" and Paul Stanley's disco-influenced "God of Thunder." Other demos give insight into the band's proclivity for cannibalizing early material for portions of soon-to-be hits. Though most fans recognize the 1970s as Kiss's heyday, the 1980s material such as Creatures of the Night's "War Machine" and Asylum's "Tears Are Falling" holds up surprisingly well. The fifth CD, which consists of 1990s output, falls flat, though some sparks are rekindled with the rewrite of Argent's "God Gave Rock & Roll to You." The box includes a thick, full-color booklet with rare photos and insightful song-by-song commentary from the band. --Kelly Minnis

Customer Reviews

Another greatest hits package...why????
If you do not own a single KISS album - this is a great starter kit for you. You get a fair sampling of the entire history of this great band. All of the different stages are represented here. So, if you have been thinking about giving KISS a try - go for it!

For the die-hard KISS fans, this is a true dissapointment. Why do this to the fans? Simply put - if you are that big of a fan you already have all of these songs!! Is it really worth (money) to hear some demos? The live stuff isn't new either. There are simply a few scattered songs that may peak your interest but to drop a lot of money on this would be a waste if you have the albums already. KISS always brags that they have miles of archived material (live shows - demos from Ace and Peter). Well, why aren't they here? Why wasn't Alive 4 part of this set? You have to give the fans a real hook to entice them to buy a box set. So, a new book in here with new photos? Pics are great - but wasn't that what people were buying Kisstory 1 and 2 for? You could easily burn these tracks yourself from the albums you already own to make your own box set. We want new/unreleased material!

Where is the video footage that should be accompanying this set? KISS is a live band and they are meant to be seen as well as heard. This is sorely missing from the box set.

The 5 stars are for the mind blowing first two discs!
Here we go KISS fans (and I'm referring to the ONLY Kiss, 1973-1979)... I want to tell you to buy this box immediately! Discs 1 & 2 will blow you away! A friend of mine was allowed to purchase an advance copy and we listened to it this past Sunday.

I've been a KISS fan since March of 1975(age 9) and I've got to tell you that the excitement level from the material on discs one and two, had me feeling like I was 9 again; that sweet, life changing moment, when I first saw the "Dressed To Kill" album cover; filled with thrilling adrenalin, I was (and to have this kind of *feeling* in the age of "the KISS Kasket" ...well, ain't easy!)

As we listened to the BELL SOUND STUDIO demos(thank you endlessly, KEN SHARP), this excitement and adrenalin couldn't have been at a higher level! The "FIREHOUSE" and "100,000 YEARS" demos were especially JAW DROPPING for us KISS originals. They are much different than the studio versions that we're used to. They have expended sections: some similar to the "ALIVE!" versions, some totally NEW! Also, the playing is outstanding for demos(Kiss sounds like a cohesive machine here.) Alot of times, you get superfluous demos on box sets...not the case here!

Look out for "DONCHA HESITATE" (a previously unreleased, Dressed To Kill era "fun rocker" that'll getcha dancin'.)

"MAD DOG", which features the slowed down riff of "FLAMING YOUTH"(one of the band's most underrated songs), is totally engaging and unique, as it's an ACE & GENE collaboration(with ONLY ACE & GENE performing the song!)

The WICKED LESTER tracks are excellently remastered, as is the OVERALL remastering of the entire box (top-notch!)

The GOD OF THUNDER demo almost makes you giggle a bit with it's up tempo, HI HAT driven, dance feel ( a KISS crew member, who obviously had more than a few KC & The Sunshine Band records in his collection, sat in for the absent Peter Criss on this demo.) Also, as most fans know, Paul Stanley (who wrote the song), handles the vocals(as opposed to Gene Simmons), making this "THUNDER" demo an exciting inclusion on the box.

You also get one track, "ACROBAT"(which is actually an expanded 'Love Theme From Kiss') from the legendary DAISY show, August 25, 1973. The sound is a bit thin here but the "documaent" of it is priceless! I only wish there was more of the show included.

And on that note, let me say that there IS MUCH MORE where all of this came from. This box was supposed to be the "MOTHER of all boxed sets"(as stated by the ever boastful Gene Simmons), so should've included many more delicious demos and unreleased tracks (i.e. "Stanley The Parrot", "Ain't None Of Your Business", etc.) BUT...because of the truly awesome material on discs 1 & 2, it's still very much worth the price.

Disc 4 is just a load of dung (the pathetic 80's era, 84-90, that is only worthy here as a document of how THE HOTTEST BAND IN THE LAND disintegrated into a useless, commercially glossed hair band in the mid eighties. BUT, if you're an actual "KISS" fan (1973-1979), you must buy this box for the fantastic, unearthed material on the first two discs. BTW, disc 3 is good as well.

Believe me, if you WERE THERE in the 70's, you'll be floored by this material (especially the BELL SOUND STUDIO DEMOS from 1973.)

One last thing: The packaging of the "regular" box is excellent. There's nothing different about the "guitar case" version (except for the "guitar case" box, the SAME book but "hard cover" and a "letter" from KISS.) If YOU want to spend another ...for that, more power to ya, but in my book the REGULAR box is all you need.

M.L.

p.s. More "unreleased" PICTURES should've been used for the book. It's a great book but most of the pictures are already available in KISSTORY or elsewhere. There ARE a couple of pictoral beauties though, and the song-by-song
commentary from the band is priceless.

An essential
This KISS box set is a panorama of the KISS tapestry. Five discs give you songs from before KISS was official to the packing up of the costumes. An enclosed book has many photos (which seem familiar rather than new), song titles with credits, and brief commentary from the band.

The book helps with the creative perspective rather than the historical. There are brief comments on what was happening at the time (like Eric Carr's cancer and Ace's dissatisfaction with the band). Most of the comments, from either Paul or Gene with some by Ace or Peter, are about the development of the songs and the influences. It is interesting, but may not mean anything to the average fan (chords, bridges, and keys mean little to me).

Disc one covers 1966-1975. Not all songs are from KISS, but are from Wicked Lester with Gene and Paul. This disc lets you hear a young band experimenting with the sounds of their time. For instance, "She" sounds like something from Jethro Tull, "Stop, Look to Listen" like The Who, and "Leeta" from the Monkees or the Association. I found myself surprised with early incarnations of songs like "Love Her All I Can."

Disc two consists of demos, live versions, and studio sets. Some of the demos, like "Doncha Hesitate," "Mad Dog," "Bad Bad Lovin," and "Love is Blind," never made it to an album, but parts were used later in other songs. "Love is Blind" sounds more like the Eagles than KISS. Again, you see the band is experimenting.

Disc three has many of the classics, but I am still not sure why "Shandi" makes this cut. Again there are songs here which did not appear on another album (like Ace Frehley singing "Talk To Me" in Australia). Here, Paul discusses the many different songs and styles. He states, "However, it is all part of the big painting or the big tapestry that is KISS." That statement puts the whole box set into perspective for me.

Disc four covers the interlude where only Gene and Paul remained from the original band. The notes are confusing in some spots like for "Heaven's on Fire" which lists Mark St. John on lead guitar, but Paul mentions in the notes that he played all the guitars. This may be a bit of bad editing, but it is a puzzler.

The final disc, 1992-1999, ends the disc perfectly. The songs were well chosen to finish a body of work covering over thirty years. It includes songs from the "Unplugged" album and ends with the anthems "Shout It Out Loud" and "Rock and Roll All Nite."

I would heartily recommend this set for KISS fans everywhere. For many of us, this set was a part of our growing up. Thank you, KISS!