Kiss - Gold 19741982 SoundVision WDvd (68 tracks) +Album Reviews

You Wanted The Best From Kiss - You Finally Got It!

highway_star | Hallandale, Florida United States | 01/20/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Finally, Universal releases the most comprehensive Kiss collection (not including the 4-cd "Kiss Box Set") to date. Those who already own the individual Kiss remastered cd's will no doubt have no need for this collection, so this is mostly for those who want the "cream of the crop" of Kiss material on two discs without buying the individual cd's. Surpassing all other collections (including 1978's "Kiss Double Platinum" album) this 2-cd set covers the best of Kiss from 1974 to 1982. Some gems included on this superb 40 track collection are "Strutter" (the original, not the '78 version), "Deuce", "Black Diamond" (the full length album version), "Firehouse", "Parasite", "Hotter Than Hell", "C'mon And Love Me", "She", "Anything For My Baby", "Rock Bottom" (From "Kiss Alive"), "Cold Gin" (From "Kiss Alive"), "Rock And Roll All Nite" (From "Kiss Alive"), "Detroit Rock City", "Shout It Out Loud", "Beth", "King Of The Night Time World", "Do You Love Me?", "I Want You", "Calling Dr. Love", "Hard Luck Woman", "I Stole Your Love", "Love Gun", "Christine Sixteen", "God Of Thunder (From "Kiss Alive II"), "Makin' Love" (From "Kiss Alive II"), "I Was Made For Loving You", "Sure Know Something", "Shandi", "A World Without Heros" plus more. You even get one song from each of Gene, Peter, Paul and Ace's solo albums that were released in 1978. The remastering is excellent with crisp highs, increased midrange, bass and extended output. This Kiss compilation would be a nice addition to any classic rock lover's cd collection."

Nobody Wanted It, But They Got The Best!!

"The Woj" | Downers Grove, IL | 02/15/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Another greatest package? Yes and cynical old me has finally broken down. If you can't beat 'em (and for flat out rock & roll no one can) join 'em. After and endless stream of "greatest" packages, someone finally got it right.

If you need to purchase one, not all 20, just one Kiss "greatest", "best of", "ultimate", etc., etc. collection, this one right here is the one to lay your money on. The sound is suberb and track selection unmatched on any of the previous compilations. This is Kiss, the original line-up through the entire 2 disc set. I purchased "Gold" for playing in my car (I was too lazy to compile my own disc from the original album cds). This 30 year plus Kiss fan is way impressed and ultrahappy over this purchase. Add this to cart now & I swear on my vinyl copy of ALIVE! (poster included) you will not be disappointed!

****December 2006 Update: can't go wrong with the price on zShops! Still wondering why they didn't include "2000 Man" in place of Ace's solo stuff. Also, get the "Alive! Box Set"; 4 discs for an outstanding price. Great sound too!!!!****"

The best of SO MANY compilations featuring the original 4 me

R. Gorham | 04/03/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"THE BAND: Paul Stanley (guitar, vocals), Gene Simmons (bass, vocals), Ace Frehley (guitar, vocals), Peter Criss (drums, percussion, vocals).

THE DISC: (2005) 2-disc set containing 40 tracks and clocking in at approximately 151 minutes combined (77+ minutes on disc 1, 74+ minutes on disc 2). Digitally remastered sound. Included is an 18-page booklet containing a brief 3-page intro, several band pictures, song titles and credits, and which songs came from what albums along and the date released. Label - Mercury.

ALBUM REPRESENTATION: Kiss (5), Hotter Than Hell (3), Dressed To Kill (3), Alive! (4), Destroyer (5), Rock & Roll Over (3), Love Gun (4), Alive-2 (2), Solo albums (1 each), Dynasty (2), Unmasked (2), Music From The Elder (1), Killers (2).

COMMENTS: As of this release, I believe this to be the 9th 'best of' compilation from KISS. (I have to say) How much is enough? However, regardless of the numbers, this is the best package out there from the original 4 members (not counting the 4-disc "Box" set). Perhaps a 3-disc compilation is in the works down the road encompassing their entire career... but I haven't seen it as of 2006. For the casual fan looking for highlights, I believe this disc along with the "Millennium Collection - Vol. 2" (a great sampling of their best 80's material) would be the way to go. It's nice to see the inclusion of their 4 solo albums from '78 included here. Ace's "New York Groove" was a huge hit for him and deserving to be here, but I sorely missed his rocker "Rip It Out". Same with Paul's song "Tonight You Belong To Me"... great tune, but I missed his upbeat "It's Alright". As good as this "Gold" collection is, it's not with fault... it's a crime that there are some classic tunes missing; "Mr. Speed", "Take Me", "Watchin' You", "100,000 Years", "Room Service", "Goin' Blind", "Got Love For Sale", "Flaming Youth", "Sweet Pain", "All American Man", etc. The only other disappointment is when I read it was 1974-82, I had to assume there would be tunes from "Creatures Of The Night" (1982) on it. The only thing I can think of is that it had too many players (not all 4 original members) on too many different songs and was thus not included. Footnote - not all songs (excluding the solo albums) feature only the original 4 members... Anton Fig played drums on the selected tracks from "Dynasty" and "Unmasked"; Eric Carr played drums on tracks from "The Elder" and "Killers"; Bob Kulick played guitar in place of Ace on tracks from "Killers". I know that with any compilation you'll have hits and misses, but this disc is for the most part dead on accurate. For casual fans this would be the place to start. For die hard fans, I think this would be essential only to have so many great songs (with remastered crisp sound) from so many albums all in one place. Great pair of discs (4.5 stars)."

Universal Exploit The Fans Again

Sampson Simpson | Canada | 09/07/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"At this point, you can't blame Gene. The last four KISS hits CDs ("Very Best Of", "20th Century Masters 1", "2oth Century Masters 2", and this one) have been released by the record company independant of the band, because KISS themselves are no longer on this record label. "Alive IV", the last KISS CD released by the band, was on EMI. Of those four albums, not one presented the fans with any material they did not already own. The last KISS hits CD released by the band was "Greatest KISS" in 1996, on which the loyal fans received one (heavily overdubbed) new live recording.This particular version of KISS "Gold" comes with a bonus DVD. Unfortunately, someone at Universal felt that this was enough reason for this package to come DVD-sized instead of in a CD jewel case. Worse, that DVD is just the Kiss "eXposed" program, which the fans already had on DVD. No bonus features either, of course.There is some light shining through the clouds. First off, unlike every hits album released before it (including "Greatest KISS") this one actually has liner notes. Not bad liner notes either! Some common errors have been corrected in them (Anton Fig is being listed on drums for the disco albums). Not all the errors have been corrected, unfortunately, and I believe all lineup information has been taken directly from the liner notes of the KISS monster box set.Second, the track listing really is superb even if offering few surprises. The ground covered is the "makeup years" 1974-1982...yet for unknown reasons the entire (excellent) "Creatures Of The Night" album is absent. Instead Universal ends this compilation with two tracks from KISS "Killers", a pleasant inclusion. The liner notes end here as well, glossing over the entire last two decades of the band.Lastly, there are a total of 40 tracks on two CDs, a very generous slice of rock n' roll indeed. This allowed Universal to include no less than five tracks from the first album! Five tracks are included from "Destroyer", four from "Alive!", and each solo record is given one track as well! Even the KISS box set didn't have anything from Gene's (although it included an unreleased demo). The disco albums are given a total of four tracks combined, and "(Music From) The Elder" is not ignored either.The strange thing is that the compilation was assembled by Bill Levenson, who also compiled the previous three hits records. I suppose in this day and age, a band of KISS' age does need a number of hits albums. You need a good, full-length single disc for the people who want that. You need a double-disc version for the people who want a little more (and "Gold" fits the bill). And now in the 2000's you also need a budget-priced 10 track hits compilation like 20th Century Masters, so Universal has given us two, one for each era of the band. Actually, when you think about it, it all makes sense.With that in mind, I would love to be able to give more than three stars for KISS "GOLD". However, since Universal do know that KISS fans will buy anything and everything that the band releases, be it a disco album or the umpteenth live album, they really should have put something on here for the diehards who already have all this material several times over. The "eXposed" DVD just doesn't cut it. (Also, "eXposed" really tended to concentrate on the albums after Ace & Peter left the band, which does not fit in with the concept of KISS "Gold". It really has very little justification being here.)To the newbies: Of all the KISS compilations available, this one is the best value for the money. You can grab the second "20th Century Masters" disc for a dip into the non makeup years if you like, but this is a good starting place.To the diehards: You know that you're buying this out of duty, and there's nothing I can do to change your mind. Nor do I want to change your minds. I bought this too, I am listening to it as I write this, and I am enjoying it. However, I will always be dissapointed that the KISS catalogue is being so heavy on hits and live records. KISS "Gold" is merely the latest in what is sure to be a long line of them."

Classic & Convienient

Da Man | Pekin, IL | 04/05/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Universal keeps knocking them out of the ballpark with their Gold series, and KISS is no exception.

If you also like the post-makeup music as well, pick up "The Millennium Collection Vol. 2" and you will have the ultimate 3-disc KISS set, as it picks up with "Creatures Of The Night", which is the album right after "Killers", where this set leaves off."

Search - Kiss :: Gold: 1974-1982 - Sound+Vision (W/Dvd)

CD Details

Synopsis

Similar CDs

CD Reviews