Kissology Volume II 1978-1991

You wanted the best, you got the best…or at least one of the most loaded DVD collections available! It can’t be any surprise that Kissology Volume II 1978-1991 is as big and boisterous as the band bearing its name. But really this four-DVD set — listed as a three-DVD set with a ‘bonus’ disc featuring a 1988 concert from the Ritz in NYC — is only part of the often wonderful, often wacky, always entertaining Kiss DVD treasure trove on the market (Volume 1 1974 – 1977 came out in 2006; Volume 3 1992 - 2000 is set for release Kissmas 2007).

When interviewed about these releases, Gene Simmons expounded about how, during early days of Kiss, he was very careful not to sign over rights of the band’s live video. The ‘demon’ bass player had an inclining (but no real legal knowledge) to be ever mindful of these rights, and lucky for us he had this forethought. The stuff Kiss is releasing here, while appealing, for the most part, to only the most-hardened Kiss fan, was personally chosen by the band members themselves.

Disc One opens with a great ‘news’ item about Kiss, a TV excerpt from something called “Land of Hype” from January 1978. It shows some good live footage and a bewildered Edwin Newman interviewing the boys. Then there is the often-ridiculed (for good reason) “Attack of the Phantoms" TV movie (this version is the international theatrical cut of “Kiss Meets The Phantom of The Park,” with extra special effects and concert footage). The film is in great shape; it looks and sounds pristine, featuring Kiss songs, of course. In fact, there is a great acoustic version of “Beth” here.

Aside from the terrible visual effects and absolutely terrifying dialogue, “Phantom” is a must-have if you’re a Kiss fan. As Paul Stanley says in the accompanying DVD booklet: “It was pretty much sold to us as A Hard Day’s Night meets Star Wars.” These guys who had grown up idolizing the Beatles and horror movies felt they couldn’t miss with their own film. The disc concludes with another excerpt, this time from Kiss’s 1979 Halloween appearance on The Tomorrow Show, with the band in silly costumes and a very drunk Ace Frehley.

Disc Two starts with the “Shandi” music video from 1980 — pretty poppy stuff from Kiss, and the last-ever appearance (until the reunion) of Peter Criss. According to the DVD’s liner notes, “Shandi” was a big hit in Australia. With that, this disc centers around Criss’ departure and the 1980 Australia tour. The next snippet is from a CNN interview with the departing drummer from the same year. This is followed by a quick Australian promo (and outtakes with a drunken Ace again trying to introduce new drummer Eric Carr to the world), a clip from Rockpop, a German TV music show, with lip sync performances of two songs (with new drummer Carr), and more pieces of the group’s Australian invasion. The disc ends with nearly a full concert of the ‘new’ 1980 version of Kiss in Australia. The concert footage is what you’d expect as the band sail through songs like “Cold Gin,” “Strutter,” “Shandi” and “I Was Made For Loving You.” This is definitely the period I feel is the most lackluster in the Kiss oeuvre. In my view (and loathe as they would be to admit it), it’s apparent the band missed Criss at this point, although Carr was a fantastic drummer. However, the ‘newer’ songs are not as goodtime rock and roll as the band’s older stuff. Still, it is great to see this footage, especially the stuff from Australia.

The third disc offers the widest variety. There are eight songs from a 1983 concert in Brazil, featuring Carr’s famous drum turret riser and Vinnie Vincent taking over for Frehley. As Simmons says in the booklet, the addition of Vincent was “a mistake,” but the band had committed to a tour and Frehley was clearly out at this point. This footage definitely smokes, even more than the Australia, especially on songs like “I Love It Loud” and “War Machine.” There’s no denying that Vincent was more on the ball than Frehley at this point. The infamous MTV Unmasking special from 1983 also made it to this disc. Then there are two songs from a concert in Portugal — the first Kiss concert without the band in make-up. It’s pretty rough stuff visually, looking like it was filmed for a news program instead of a professionally shot concert film.

Five songs from the 1987’s “Crazy Nights” tour at the Spectrum in Philadelphia are next. This is the tour that featured the band in full MTV-influenced songs and outfits. “Crazy Crazy Nights” is a perfect example of how poppy Kiss was becoming, but the band is definitely playing well, the footage is fantastically shot and even though Stanley’s voice has sounded better the addition of new guitarist Bruce Kulick, arguably the very best lead guitar to have ever been in Kiss, makes this a great show. More footage from the 1990 “Hot In The Shade” tour follows. Again the band is in pure MTV mode, but with this 21 song set, the viewer gets a nice selection of the band’s music from all phases of their colorful career.

After an MTV Day In Rock news report of Eric Carr’s death is the video for “God Gave Rock and Roll To You” from 1984. This last bit is especially poignant when one learns that Carr was very sick at this point. Stanley says in the set’s booklet: “Eric was wearing a wig at this point. He was very, very weak but it was more than pride that pushed him through it. It was his love of Kiss and his love of the fans that made this such a great final performance.”

The bonus disc is an intimate performance at the Ritz in New York City from the “Crazy Nights” tour. It looks like it was shot by a fan from the back of the small club, complete with some cheesy post-production effects, but it functions as good piece of history, one of the few times in later years that the group played a club. This is not a great show (Simmons and Stanley have never sounded worse vocally), but oldies like “Black Diamond” “Cold Gin” and “Deuce” make it worthwhile.

Kissology Volume II 1978-1991 is a big and bad collection for the biggest and baddest Kiss fan you know. It really is chockfull of goodies — aside from the DVDs, the booklet features insightful comments from the band members. Like other volumes, it shows how the group’s visual aspect is, 30 years running, still pretty startling stuff.

~ Ralph Greco, Jr.