KISS - Off the Soundboard: Tokyo 2001

Let’s get one thing out of the way: KISS is my favorite band of all-time. Then, now, and they always will be. There’s a certain magic and mystique about the comic book look/vibe and genuine rock n’ roll sound they have that I will never tire of. I have so many fond memories of listening to them growing up in the late ‘70s, throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s, listening to them on tape and CD, seeing their various incarnations and lineups live on stage and on VHS/DVD/Blu-ray at different junctures of my life, from being a kid to a full-grown man. I have KISS CDs, DVDs, toys, comic books, books, T-shirts, collectibles, and all that good stuff. As much of a huge Black Sabbath and Pink Floyd fan that I am, KISS will forever be my desert island band, my go-to if I only had to pick one band to listen to for the rest of my days.

That being said, I haven’t been excited for a good number of years to see them either in concert or to buy anything they’ve released. I didn’t even go see them for their “End of the Road Tour” at either of the two stops they made in my town back in 2019. Paul Stanley, as much as I love him, doesn’t have the pipes he once had. And rightfully so—the man is 69 years old and has been singing for the vast majority of his life almost on a daily basis. My favorite band member has always been Ace Frehley, followed closely by Paul Stanley. I never cared for Peter Criss as a drummer; to me, Eric Singer—their drummer for the past 20 years—is my favorite of the three drummers they’ve had over the years (I really liked Eric Carr as well). As I said, I haven’t been looking forward to anything KISS-related in a while—that is, until word spread around that they were going to start releasing a series of official bootlegs of some vintage concerts, titled Off the Soundboard. When it was announced that the first release would be of their 2001 Tokyo show featuring an as-of-yet officially undocumented lineup of Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley, and Eric Singer, I was absolutely stoked! This lineup only existed for about 14 months and has got to be in my top three lineups to hear KISS play live. Add to that the fact that we’re getting a full concert, no studio overdubs and polish-up jobs the way the Alive releases were given, giving us KISS at their raw best, and you’ve got yourself the potential for something truly special. And special it is, my friends; this 2 CD/3 LP/Digital release is a bona fide gem!

Let’s go back in time a bit and explain what led to this lineup for those of you who lost track of who was in KISS at that time. Back in 1996, the original KISS lineup (Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley, and Peter Criss) reunited during a special MTV Unplugged. From that point forward, KISS put the makeup back on and went on tour for almost two years. In 1998 they recorded and released Psycho Circus, their first album of new material with the original band since 1980. Then began the Farewell Tour—every band/artist does one and it’s never really the end; case in point, they’re doing another final tour 20 years later! Anyhow, in January 2001 of this Farewell Tour, Peter Criss leaves the band. Eric Singer, who’d been with KISS since 1991 until the reformed original lineup, returns behind the drums. So now we have a very cool lineup which is what we have on this fantastic live double CD/triple LP. This lineup would only last until March 2002 when this time it would be Ace who would depart to be replaced by Tommy Thayer (who also happens to be KISS’s current lead guitarist). Strangely enough, Peter Criss would return briefly for KISS Symphony: Alive IV in Melbourne, Australia only to quit after a little over a year for good this time. The current lineup of KISS with Paul Stanley on vocals/rhythm guitar, Gene Simmons on vocals/bass, Tommy Thayer on lead guitar/vocals, and Eric Singer on drums/vocals is the longest running lineup and have been playing together since February 2004.

I won’t be doing a track by track review; instead I’ll point out what were the highlights of the album for me and talk about the setlist a bit. The band is in rare form and plays very tight together, Ace is on fire with his guitar solos, and this is back when Paul still had that iconic voice of his and could pull off his magic on the mic. “Alright, Tokyo! You wanted the best, you got the best. The hottest band in the world: KISS!” With these words, the fiery concert of March 13th, 2001 in the Tokyo Dome begins. They kick it off with a high energy version of “Detroit Rock City”. It’s followed by superb renditions of “Deuce” and ‘Shout It Out Loud”, two staples of classic KISS. Next up is a stellar performance of Ace’s “Talk To Me”, which is awesome to hear Ace on vocals on a song that just isn’t the same when Tommy Thayer sings it (or when KISS does it at all these days since it’s an Ace song). We’re treated to decent to amazing versions of classics like “I Love It Loud”, “Firehouse”, “Do You Love Me”, “Calling Dr. Love”, to a particularly solid rendition of “Heaven’s on Fire”—a fun song to hear Ace play on since he wasn’t on the 1984 Animalize album from which it comes from. We get a standard performance of “Let Me Go, Rock ‘n’ Roll” followed by a killer “Shock Me” with Ace on vocals again, segueing into a fantastic 10-minute guitar solo; truly one of the highlights of the album. Disk one ends with the excellent “Psycho Circus”, which to me always fits really well alongside their ‘70s material and sounds awesome here. 

Disk two starts with a really fun performance of “Lick It Up”, another cool song to hear Ace do his guitar thing on since he didn’t play on its studio counterpart, followed by a bit of a boring Gene solo—maybe it’s just me but I never find his solos particularly interesting unless I have visuals to go along with them or that I’m actually in the crowd at a show. “God of Thunder” is pretty great, sounding ominous as ever, followed by Eric Singer banging the drums for a solo. Peter Criss was never as powerful or imposing a presence as Eric Singer on the drums, in my personal opinion. Then we get to “Cold Gin”, one of my top three favorite KISS songs of all-time, and it’s a fantastic, live reference version we’re treated to here. It’s followed up by an equally phenomenal interpretation of “100,000 Years”. And the hits keep on coming with “Love Gun”, probably my fave KISS track of them all, with Paul’s usual flying to get up close with the crowd. Next up is a very special treat in the form of “I Still Love You”, from 1982’s Creatures of the Night (one of their top three albums in my humble opinion). This is a song that’s rarely performed live and it’s done here stripped, with only Paul singing and playing guitar by himself. It’s not the full song either, but it’s just perfect the way it is. It segues into the always brilliant “Black Diamond”, with Eric Singer doing a terrific job on vocals. The show winds down with a stellar performance of “I Was Made for Lovin’ You”, a song still hated by many hardcore KISS fans, but one that I’ve cherished since I first heard it when I was a wee boy of six years old. Things wrap up as usual with “Rock and Roll All Nite”, which honestly, I could care less if I never heard it again. They do a good job of it, but at this point, to me this song is the only song that’s been played too many times, whether it’s used for TV commercials, in movies, when KISS performs at events or are guests on TV shows; it’s overkill. I wish they’d have shelved it for a while and unearthed it after a number of years.

The verdict, as you can already tell if you’ve read this far, speaks for itself: this is one of the all-time best live releases from KISS and a must-own album if you consider yourself a KISS fan in any way, shape or form. It ranks up there with the first Alive, as blasphemous as some of you might think me for saying this. Look, it’s a fantastic lineup, they’re on fire, the song selection is diverse with some nice little-heard gems squeezed into the setlist, and it’s a full-length concert, warts and all. In terms of bootlegs, for those of you who collect such things, it’s on the level of the outstanding New Zealand 1980 boot taken from the final night of the Unmasked Tour. In terms of official releases, this show is a very good portrait of an almost undocumented era of KISS and just as important in the scheme of things as, say, their Dodger Stadium show of Halloween 1998 (another bootleg I’d love to see released officially, although the video version appears in full on the third KISSology DVD set). I’ll be revisiting this album quite often in the days/weeks/years to come and I’m eagerly awaiting the announcement of the next volume in the Off the Soundboard series.

Visit KISS’s Off the Soundboard Shop

Harbinger’s Killer Picks – February 2025

The Harbinger’s Killer Picks is back in your life! Issue number 2 is here. This month was filled with an overload of great albums and I couldn’t narrow it down to only five, so I have a whopping nine picks for the LPs I listened to and enjoyed the most for February and March releases, in chronological release order.

Before I get started though, I’d just like to take a moment to say that I’ve left Twitter about three weeks ago, and that goes for both of my accounts (Harbinger of Doom and my Alan Draven author account). I refuse to continue to contribute anything to a platform that is owned by the dangerous, evil, megalomaniac Elon Musk. I don’t usually mix serious issues/politics with my work/art, but this is where I draw the line. The two accounts are still live and I won’t delete them (you never know if one day he doesn’t decide to sell the platform), but don’t look for me there anymore as I’ve logged out. Instead, you can find me on Bluesky (where I’ve been for the past three months) under my author name Alan Draven. This is my only Bluesky account and it will serve for both my author and Harbinger of Doom needs. Feel free to follow me there: @alandraven.bsky.social

Now that that’s out of the way, on to the albums. First, long-time readers of this blog are well aware by now that KISS is my favourite band of all-time. So, when a new project or release that’s KISS-related surfaces, you can bet it’ll get my attention. Such is the case when Kenn Nardi, of the outstanding KISS-centric franKENstein Creations YouTube channel, released on February 7^th an expanded musical theater version of KISS’s Music from The Elder, retitling it A World Without Heroes. The Elder has always been one of my Top 5 favourite KISS LPs and Kenn just made it even better! This, ladies and gents, is a work of art! Expanded to 26 songs, adding Elder-era tracks like “Nowhere to Run”, “Take Me Away (Together As One)”, and “I’m a Legend Tonight”, as well as Psycho Circus’ “Journey of 1,000 Years”—trust me, those songs all fit perfectly within this new narrative Kenn has spun—this 1hr45mins double LP deserves to be heard by every KISS fan, even those who hate The Elder (and Lord knows there’re a lot of you!). This is the true KISS concept album we’ve always wanted.

Kenn is like a mad scientist; as he did with KISS’s Hotter Than Hell a few months ago, he took very specific existing guitar/drum/bass parts from original KISS tunes and reconstructed the songs to some extent. He tweaked and rearranged some tracks, sometimes altering the lyrics slightly with Gene/Paul’s actual vocals to make them fit this new storyline. You can read about Kenn’s process in the video description on his YouTube channel and even listen to him talk about it at length with Mike Brandvold and Mark Cicchini on this week’s episode of the awesome KISS Podcast Three Sides of the Coin (links below). Kenn also made a gorgeous 30-page program to follow along as you’re playing the album. It really immerses the listener into a full-blown musical in two acts. It allows you to experience the story in great depth with details on the setting of each scene, who the characters are, the song lyrics, and more. The best part of all this is that it’s absolutely FREE!! I encourage you all to follow Kenn’s YouTube channel and share your thoughts on his work. He’s a super passionate KISS fanatic who puts a lot of time and effort into his reworkings of KISS songs and albums. His channel truly is a treasure trove of cool KISS remixes. While A World Without Heroes may be geared toward the more hardcore KISS fans, the rest of his channel’s content is bound to please even casual KISS and hard rock music enthusiasts.

franKENstein Creations’ YouTube Page for A World Without Heroes (MP3 download link in the video’s description) 

Three Sides of the Coin’s Interview with Kenn

Second, iconic prog metal giants Dream Theater returned with their 16^th album, Parasomnia, on February 7^th. I must admit that I’m a casual Dream Theater fan, so I really can’t tell how this new LP stacks up against the rest of their catalogue. I was introduced to them back in 1997 by a buddy of mine. I proceeded to pick up their Images & Words and A Change of Seasons albums on CD. I love both dearly but for whatever reason, I never followed their career after that and have only heard a handful of their songs since. Fast forward to Parasomnia for which I’d heard the first three singles and enjoyed at least two of them. For me, “Midnight Messiah”, while a straightforward tune, is the catchiest song on here and is my favourite track of the LP, followed closely by “Night Terror”, the first single. Clocking in at 71 minutes, which isn’t out of the norm for DT, the album flows harmoniously like a river with intermittent waves and rocky undercurrents. From the opening cut, “In the Arms of Morpheus”, an eclectic roller coaster instrumental which serves as a good sampler for what follows leading up to the epic nearly 20-minute closer, “The Shadow Man Incident”, which could be construed as the flipside to the opener, it’s a solid and diverse record. Another track worthy of mention is the almost poppy, at times Pink Floydesque “Bend the Clock”, a terrific song showcasing LaBrie’s vocals and the band’s musicianship in all its glory. I have a feeling Parasomnia will end up on many Dream Theater and prog metal fans’ Top Albums of the Year list at the end of 2025. Will it be on mine? Probably not, but I do believe it’s a strong release that is every bit worthy of the quality associated with the Dream Theater brand that fans have come to expect.

Inside Out Music’s Bandcamp Page for Dream Theater

Third, Houston's occult rock quartet Warlung released their fifth album, The Poison Touch, on February 14^th via Heavy Psych Sounds Records. A follow-up to their excellent 2022 outing, Vulture’s Paradise, this latest record is their most accomplished yet. It’s got a cool ‘70s vibe throughout and that always scores brownie points with me. It feels like a concept album of sorts. The highlights for me are the second single, “White Light Seeker”, which is probably the catchiest track on here; the ambitious centerpiece, the epic nine-minute long “Spell Speaker” featuring a splendid guitar solo; the slower-paced “The Sleeping Prophet”; and the first single, “29th Scroll, 6th Verse”, which ebbs and flows like a tidal wave with its slick retro sound. Warlung fans rejoice! The boys are back and better than ever. The Poison Touch is stacked with great tunes from beginning to end. If you’re new to the band, The Poison Touch is a great way to get acquainted with them.

Heavy Psych Sounds Records’ Bandcamp Page for Warlung

Fourth, Blackie Lawless and his winged assassins, W.A.S.P., put out a surprise digital release of their Bonus Tracks and B-Sides CD on Valentine’s Day. Taken from their gorgeous 7 Savage: 1984-1992 CD Boxset that came out in January, the release contains 15 tracks culled mostly from the bonus tracks featured on the deluxe editions of their first four LPs. For some reason, W.A.S.P. always flew under my radar and I wasn’t exposed to their music growing up in the ‘80s. Aside from their big hits “I Wanna Be Somebody” and “Animal (Fuck Like a Beast)”, and their reputation for shocking live shows back in the day, I wasn’t that familiar with their music. That all changed last summer when I stumbled upon clips of their Album One Alive Tour. I liked what I heard so I proceeded to purchase their 1984 debut LP, their 1992 masterpiece The Crimson Idol, and their most recent album of new material, 2015’s Golgotha. Blackie Lawless is such an underrated singer and songwriter; he truly is one of the best in the business and I find he’s gotten even better with age. I instantly fell in love with the band and Golgotha, particularly, shot straight to my Top 30 favourite metal albums of all-time. If you haven’t heard it, I urge you to give it a spin, it’s absolutely phenomenal and very moving at times. The 7 Savage Boxset was a little too pricey for my budget so I skipped it, but I’m thrilled that this bonus tracks CD has now been released digitally. I picked it up without hesitating and I also purchased their 1987 Live…In the Raw album on the same occasion. That’s another must-have release, by the way.

Anyhow, back to this Bonus Tracks and B-Sides release. It features the afore-mentioned anthem, “Animal (Fuck Like a Beast)”, a dazzling cover of the Stones’ perennial hit “Paint It Black”, a thunderous rendition of Led Zep’s “When the Levee Breaks”, and a stunning take on Mountain’s “Mississippi Queen” which surpasses the original, in my humble opinion. Other tunes like “Savage”, “Lake of Fools”, and “War Cry” showcase the band’s diversity and Blackie’s ability to sing a wide range of musical styles. Bonus Tracks and B-Sides is a great companion to your W.A.S.P. album collection and a terrific old school metal LP from top to bottom. W.A.S.P. and non-W.A.S.P. fans will find something to cheer about in this eclectic collection of songs spanning their early years before the band sang less about partying and focused on more serious and mature issues. If anything, it’s a great way to get warmed up with Blackie & company before delving into their back catalogue. Do yourself a favour and pick this one up and grab one or two more of their LPs while you’re at it, you won’t regret it! MadfishMusic’s Bandcamp has a lot of their older albums while W.A.S.P.’s official Bandcamp has a handful of their more recent releases, including Golgotha.

MadfishMusic’s Bandcamp Page for Bonus Tracks and B-Sides

W.A.S.P. on Bandcamp

Fifth, Swedish heavy rock quartet Temple of Discord are set to release their debut LP, In the Ashes, via the mighty Ripple Music label on February 21^st. When I first heard that a new band fronted by Wytch guitarist Mattias Marklund was formed, I got instantly excited. Wytch’s 2021 Exordium LP is one of my favourite records of the last five years and, in my humble opinion, one of the best LPs ever released on the Ripple Music label. Marklund handles both guitar and vocal duties this time around and Temple of Discord’s music is more in the vein of heavy rock than the occult rock we were treated to with Wytch. The highlights for me are the second single, “Black Out the Sun”, which is also my favourite track and the catchiest tune of the LP; “Razor Me”, a song reminiscent of Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds; the kick-ass, punky “All Their Lies”, and the closing track, the meditative “Rails”. While this LP isn’t on the same level as Wytch’s, it’s still a solid effort that will tide us over until Wytch release their sophomore album. Fans of that band owe it to themselves to check out In the Ashes and heavy rock aficionados are sure to find something they’ll like as well.

Ripple Music’s Bandcamp Page for Temple of Discord

Sixth, veteran German metal band Brainstorm will unleash their 14^th LP, Plague of Rats, via Reigning Phoenix Music on February 28^th. I hadn’t heard any of the quartet’s albums prior to Plague of Rats, but this was a great discovery for me. The second single, “Beyond Enemy Lines”, opens the album in classic metal fashion with a jolt of vigour. The first single, “Garuda (Eater of Snakes)”, follows and it’s one of the catchiest tunes on the LP. Other highlights for me include the ballady duet “Your Soul That Lingers in Me”; the high-energy “Masquerade Conspiracy”; the melodic earworm that is “The Dark of Night”, and the sing-along rock metal of “Crawling” which may very well be my fave track of the LP. Brainstorm delivers the metal goods aplenty. Plague of Rats is a fine album and while it doesn’t reinvent the wheel, it’s consistent throughout and should satisfy Brainstorm fans as well as old school metal enthusiasts.

Reigning Phoenix Music’s Page for Brainstorm

Seventh, Dirkschneider, former Accept frontman Udo Dirkschneider’s band, will unleash a reimagined version of Accept’s seminal 1983 LP titled Balls to the Wall RELOADED on February 28^th via powerhouse metal label Reigning Phoenix Music. I used to have the title cut on a metal compilation many moons ago on tape in the ‘80s during my teenage years. Apart from that, I have to confess that I’d never listened—to my knowledge, at least—to any other song from Accept until a few weeks ago. So, I went and sought out Accept’s original Balls to the Wall LP on YouTube to take it for a spin. I gotta say, it’s pretty good and it allowed me to appreciate a little more what Dirkschneider and friends did with this reloaded iteration. To be fair, I much prefer Accept’s original version of the songs, but that’s not to say these new renditions don’t stand on their own for modern audiences or even for fans of Accept or Udo Dirkschneider. For one thing, this is a duets album, meaning each of the ten tracks features Udo and a well-known metal legend collaborating together on the songs. The title track features Joakim Brodén of Sabaton; “London Leatherboys" has Saxon’s Biff Byford singing along, and we also get a star-studded cast of singers on subsequent tracks such as Mille Petrozza of Kreator, Nils Molin of Amaranthe, Michael Kiske of Helloween, Ylva Eriksson of Brothers of Metal, Danko Jones, Dee Snider of Twisted Sister, Tim “Ripper” Owens of Judas Priest & KK’s Priest, and the lovely Doro Pesch on “Winter Dreams”, which is one of the highlights of the album for me. Balls to the Wall RELOADED is chock-full of catchy metal riffs, arena anthems, fiery guitar solos, and reinvigorated rock ‘n’ roll classics. While I’m sure this LP won’t become the go-to release to listen to this vintage set of Accept tunes, Balls to the Wall RELOADED does reignite a spark to some old classic songs with a fresh approach. Old school metal fans everywhere should give this energetic new take to Balls to the Wall a listen; it’s a record that is as relevant as ever that’s been given a new lease on life.

Reigning Phoenix Music’s Page for Dirkschneider

Eighth, Swedish prog rock quartet Nebula Nine are getting ready for takeoff with their debut EP, The Last Sky Piercer, to be released on February 28^th. This four-track EP is a thing of beauty! From the gentle, melodic opener “Sky Piercer”; the superb traditional prog number “Terminal” with its nod to classic ‘70s prog with a modern edge; the hypnotic and heavy first single, “Blood Red Eyes”; to the meditative, drifting-in-space mood of “Maroons” as a closing track. The Last Sky Piercer is a multi-layered, highly-textured sonic experience that fully puts the musicianship of its band members on display. It’s a short, sci-fi concept album with a theme of a hopeful future for mankind. Fans of Yes, King Crimson, and Pink Floyd will find a lot to like here. Nebula Nine has a promising future in our universe and I, for one, am looking forward to hearing more from them.

Nebula Nine on Spotify

Ninth, Lordi, the legendary Finnish rock/metal band will return with their 19^th studio album, Limited Deadition, on March 21^st via Reigning Phoenix Music. This record is a ton of fun, folks. Lordi first came to my attention in 2006 with their now classic song “Hard Rock Hallelujah” when they won the Eurovision Song Contest that year. I bought their The Arockalypse (2006) album back then, but I sort of lost track of them in the years that followed, only hearing/seeing some of their songs pop up on YouTube over the course of the last fifteen years. And then Limited Deadition landed in my inbox about a month and a half ago and I gave it a spin. It instantly rekindled my interest for this wild and crazy band. This album is ten shades of awesome and features some of the best songs I’ve ever heard from Lordi. With a theme of ‘80s toys and the usual tongue-in-cheek horror references, it’s jam-packed with energetic, synth-driven hard rock earworms.

Some of the highlights for me include the catchy “Legends Are Made of Clichés”; the excellent 1^st single, “Syntax Terror”; the proggy “Killharmonic Orchestra”; the ode to horror flicks and horror magazine “Fangoria”; the 3^rd single, the clever “Hellizabeth”; and the super fun closing track, “You Might Be Deceased”. Limited Deadition contains sixteen tracks, including five cool humoristic adverts, and clocks in at 45 minutes. It’s hard to tell if long-time fans will dig this LP as much as I did since I haven’t kept in touch with the monster band’s output over the course of the last decade. I can at least promise that you’ll have a good time listening to this record. It’s infectious and it is proof that Lordi are still relevant today, well over thirty years since their inception. Newcomers to the band who’ve never had a chance to sample the band’s weird brand of rock/metal will most likely get a big kick out of Limited Deadition as it’s a very accessible record and one that goes down easy like a cold beer on a hot summer day. In any case, I declare Limited Deadition my album of the month and certainly a worthy contender for the Top Ten Albums of the Year list.

Reigning Phoenix Music’s Page for Lordi

And that’s all she wrote for the year's second, massive issue of HKP, folks! The March issue of the Harbinger’s Killer Picks will drop on March 29^th. Until then, stay safe and crank up the tunes! 

Musings: KISS - Off the Soundboard – Live in Des Moines 1977

For their fourth Off the Soundboard release, KISS decided to give fans a show from their beloved Alive II tour in Des Moines, Iowa, recorded on November 29, 1977. This tour follows up the Love Gun tour from earlier the same year. This set features KISS at the absolute peak of their career with Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley, and Peter Criss. The original lineup shines on this single disc of 17 songs, running at a tight hour and sixteen minutes.

Here is the official tracklist:

1. I Stole Your Love

2. King of the Night Time World

3. Ladies Room

4. Firehouse

5. Love Gun

6. Let Me Go, Rock 'N Roll

7. Makin' Love

8. Christine Sixteen

9. Shock Me

10. I Want You

11. Calling Dr. Love

12. Shout It Out Loud

13. God of Thunder

14. Rock and Roll All Nite

15. Detroit Rock City

16. Beth

17. Black Diamond

This is a monumental show in KISS’s storied career and can finally replace the actual Alive II record which had been edited to only feature songs that weren’t included on the legendary Alive! record. I always felt Alive II was a bit of a letdown for that reason, not giving us a full show of what they actually played on tour in 1977. This release rectifies that and then some. The sound quality and the band’s energy are second to none here. This is KISS when they were on top of the world. The previous entry in the series, Live in Donington 1996, featured the band’s reunion and was a stellar show, but this one slightly edges it to become the very best of the four volumes in this celebrated series of “bootleg” releases. Now all we need is an actual Off the Soundboard from 1975 to replace the landmark Alive! record for a true full show, pure, without any studio tampering.

This is back when KISS played their songs slightly faster live, so it makes for a more frenetic experience. The song selection is fantastic and plays like a greatest hits from the makeup era. The show kicks off with the energetic “I Stole Your Love”; the sound quality for the first minute or so shows some of the weakness of its source from a tape recording, but it gets progressively better as the song moves along and the rest of the album sounds outstanding considering its age. It’s great to hear a terrific rendition of “Ladies Room”, a song that is seldom performed (if ever) nowadays. Some of the highlights include “Firehouse”, “Love Gun”, “Shock Me” complete with Ace’s lengthy guitar solo, “God of Thunder” featuring Gene’s blood-spitting, fire-breathing bass solo, and Peter’s thunderous drum solo, the always kick-ass “Detroit Rock City”, and Peter singing a heartfelt version of “Beth” just before the closer “Black Diamond”, a personal favorite of mine.

I’ve said this with two of the previous Off the Soundboard releases, but if you’re gonna buy only one KISS record, be it live or studio, THIS is the one to get. It’s a perfect snapshot of the band at the height of their powers at a time when music was truly special and not everything had been seen or heard before. If you’re already a die-hard KISS fan, then you probably already own this and if not, what the hell are you waiting for? It’s a great time to be a KISS fan. Who would have thought that almost fifty years in, KISS would still be releasing relevant material! This is the third soundboard release this year and I have a feeling there’s another one on the horizon. Please make it a 1975 show to come full circle with the original lineup. This is easily one of the best records I’ve heard all year—I might be biased as KISS is my all-time favorite band—but nonetheless, this is a phenomenal live album regardless of whether you like their music or not. If you enjoy rock ‘n’ roll/classic rock, you owe it to yourself to give Live in Des Moines at least a spin. It’ll remind you why KISS was once one of the best live bands in the world.

KISS – Off the Soundboard - Live in Des Moines at the KISS Shop 

Review: KISS - Off the Soundboard: Virginia Beach 2004

KISS, a band that needs no introduction—and my favorite band of all-time—have just released the second volume of their Off the Soundboard series dedicated to putting out authorized bootleg concerts in their entirety from various eras of the band’s storied career. This time around, we go back to July 25, 2004 in Virginia Beach for their Rock the Nation Tour. The first official live bootleg KISS release, Off the Soundboard: Tokyo 2001, which I’ve reviewed here, was phenomenal and one of the band’s best live releases ever. It even wound up in my top five albums of 2021. This one isn’t as outstanding, but it’s still very much a worthwhile release.

Off the Soundboard: Virginia Beach 2004 consists of KISS’s current lineup of Paul Stanley on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Gene Simmons on bass and lead vocals, Tommy Thayer on lead guitar and vocals, and Eric Singer on drums and vocals. This lineup has been together for nearly twenty years at this point and they form a very cohesive unit. To all the disgruntled KISS fans out there still moaning about Ace and Peter being gone and that it’s not KISS without them, give it a rest already; this is the longest running lineup the band has had. I love Ace to death, but Tommy does a great job on guitars and is a hell of a nice guy. But I digress. Back to the review. This show served as the basis for one of the two concerts filmed/recorded for KISS’s Rock the Nation Live! DVD from 2005. The DVD showcased footage from the Virginia Beach set as well as the Washington, DC concert. If you’re wondering what differs in the setlist from the DVD versus the Soundboard CDs/vinyl, only two songs have been swapped. On the DVD you have “Love Her All I Can” and “Parasite” which have made way for “King of the Night Time World” and “Psycho Circus” on this release. “King” is one of my personal favorites so I’m thrilled to have it here, while I miss not having “Love Her All I Can” which the band doesn’t perform that often live. The order of the setlist differs slightly between the Soundboard release and the DVD from 2005. The setlist is as follows:

Disk 1:

1.     Love Gun

2.     Deuce

3.     Makin’ Love

4.     Lick It Up

5.     Christine Sixteen

6.     Tears Are Falling

7.     She

8.     Got to Choose

9.     I Love It Loud

10.  I Want You

Disk 2:

1.     Psycho Circus

2.     King of the Night Time World

3.     War Machine

4.     100,000 Years

5.     Unholy

6.     Shout It Out Loud

7.     I Was Made for Lovin’ You

8.     Detroit Rock City

9.     God Gave Rock ‘N’ Roll to You II

10.  Rock and Roll All Nite

I won’t do a track by track rundown, I’ll just give you my overall impressions. Right off the bat, you can tell Paul’s voice is strained and raspy but he manages to pull it off and he actually does sound better as the show progresses. The vocals are in the front of the mix and the crowd noise doesn’t sound as present as on Tokyo 2001. The instruments sound crisp and clear, and it rarely feels like anyone is getting buried in the mix. The song selection is pretty great and covers all eras—happy to hear some tracks off of Revenge with “Unholy” and “God Gave Rock ‘N’ Roll to You.” In the end, it does look a lot like the kind of setlist that’s currently being played during their End of the Road Tour, but KISS is known to have become creatures of habit in their latter days in terms of shaking things up and they do prefer to stick to a winning formula of hits the fans love spanning four decades of music. I’m not complaining, I think this is a terrific show that paints a pretty accurate snapshot of what it was like to be at a KISS concert eighteen years ago, warts and all. That’s the beauty of these Soundboard releases: they sound genuine and raw, not re-recorded and polished to perfection in the studio. At an hour and forty-nine minutes long, it’s twenty minutes shorter than Tokyo 2001 with only one song less. I actually appreciate the fact that there aren’t as many lengthy solos on this release.

Bottom line, if you’re a KISS fan, you know you need to have this CD/vinyl set. Sure, the packaging may be lacking, but it’s a good replica of what a bootleg live album should look like. I do hope that KISS ventures into other unreleased eras of the band for this Off the Soundboard series and that they won’t go to the Alive 35 Tour of 2008 next or subsequent tours as their next picks. Give us the 1980 New Zealand from the Unmasked Tour. Or something from the excellent ‘80s lineup of Bruce Kulick and Eric Carr. Or the awesome Psycho Circus Halloween show of 1998 at Dodger Stadium with Ace and Peter. I’ll be writing an article about my favorite KISS live bootlegs soon where I’ll discuss my wish list of concerts I’d love to see released for this series. In the meantime, until the next volume—in nine months time perhaps—the Virginia Beach 2004 show remains an amazing concert, whether you’re a die-hard KISS fan or were born on the other side of the 21^st century and have only just begun enjoying what this awesome band has to offer. After all, the best way to experience KISS is live!

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Review: KISS - Off the Soundboard - Live in Donington 1996

KISS returns with another Off the Soundboard release. This third volume sees the band absolutely destroying Donington back in August of 1996 for the Alive Worldwide/Reunion Tour. By now, if you’ve followed this blog even a little bit, you’re aware of my love for KISS. I’ve seen them many times in concert over the years and the Reunion Tour was very special. It saw the band reenergized, playing classic songs that had been absent from their setlists for over a decade. Every song on this double CD/triple vinyl set is from the classic makeup era and dates prior to 1977. This show might as well have taken place during their Alive II tour back when they were at the top of their game. Make no mistake though, this Donington concert is a showcase of KISS in rare form during the short period of time when the magic was back among the original lineup.

Here is the official tracklist:

Disc 1:

1. Deuce

2. King of the Night Time World

3. Do You Love Me?

4. Calling Dr. Love

5. Cold Gin

6. Let Me Go, Rock 'N' Roll

7. Shout It Out Loud

8. Watchin' You

9. Firehouse

10. Shock Me/Guitar Solo

Disc 2:

1. Strutter

2. God of Thunder

3. Love Gun

4. 100,000 Years

5. Black Diamond

6. Detroit Rock City

7. Rock and Roll All Nite

I won’t do a track by track rundown. If you’ve read this far, you know the songs and all I’ll say is that there isn’t a dud on this live set. It’s a superb setlist covering the key ‘70s albums from KISS to Love Gun. It’s awesome to get a full show from the Reunion Tour on vinyl and CD at last. The mix is clear, a little bass-heavy at times, but it feels quite balanced for the most part. Paul Stanley’s vocals are powerful throughout, Ace Frehley does wonders on guitar and we’re treated to one of his flashy solos on “Shock Me”, Gene Simmons does a great job on bass and sharing vocal duties, while Peter Criss sounds terrific on drums.

This is the best of the three Off the Soundboard albums this far, topping even the Tokyo 2001 set which I found to be phenomenal. Donington is a near-perfect show that features KISS at the height of their powers. Even if you’re just a casual KISS fan, this is a must-have album. If you’re new to the band and want to get only one album from KISS, I’d advise spending your hard-earned cash on this one. The song selection is amazing and KISS in their prime live is the best way to experience the hottest band in the world. It was just announced that the next volume in the series would be going back to 1977 for a show in Des Moines, Iowa. I couldn’t be more thrilled! The setlist is similar to this release but it’ll focus on the quartet when they were much younger, playing raw, fast and furious rock ‘n’ roll. It’s an exciting time to be a KISS fan!

KISS – Off the Soundboard Live in Donington at the KISS Shop 

Musings: KISS - Off the Soundboard: Poughkeepsie, NY 1984

KISS returns with the 5^th entry in their fantastic Off the Soundboard series, this time Live in Poughkeepsie, NY 1984 for the Animalize Tour. What’s special about this show is that it’s the only known soundboard recording featuring guitarist Mark St. John who only played with the band on one album, Animalize, and only played a handful of shows with them. The rest of the lineup comprises Paul Stanley on vocals/guitar, Gene Simmons on bass/vocals, and the late, great Eric Carr on drums/vocals—who also happens to be my favourite KISS drummer. The show runs an hour and twenty minutes and features 18 songs.

Here is the setlist:

1. Detroit Rock City

2. Cold Gin

3. Creatures of the Night

4. Fits Like a Glove

5. Heaven's on Fire

6. Guitar Solo

7. Under the Gun

8. War Machine

9. Drum Solo

10. Young and Wasted (Incomplete)

11. Bass Solo

12. I Love It Loud

13. I Still Love You

14. Love Gun

15. Black Diamond

16. Oh! Susanna

17. Lick It Up

18. Rock and Roll All Nite (Incomplete)

As readers of this blog know by now, KISS is my favourite band of all-time. Nevertheless, to me this is the release we didn’t ask for. Of all the shows they’ve done over the past five decades, surely, Gene and Paul could’ve picked something fans wanted more. Maybe it’s because it’s from a tour for one of the albums I like the least in KISS’s catalogue, but I really didn’t care to have a show featuring Mark St. John on guitar. If you were gonna put out a performance from the Animalize tour, at least give us one with the great Bruce Kulick on guitar! The good thing is we finally get a live release with Eric Carr on drums. Anyway, it’s KISS and I needed to add this volume of the Off the Soundboard series to my collection, so I picked it up. I put on my headphones, hit the play button, and I was still very excited to listen to it, having just gotten back from the mall to purchase the CD in a record store, something I only do about a couple of times a year—whenever KISS releases a new OTS record actually. Colour me surprised, it exceeded my expectations and I had a real good time with it.

KISS in the mid-eighties played their songs live much faster, so it’s interesting to have these versions of classics from the makeup era. Highlights of the record for me include an energetic version of “Detroit Rock City”, a stellar rendition of “Cold Gin”, the headbanger “Fits Like a Glove”, a solid performance of “I Love It Loud”, the superb “I Still Love You”, a kick-ass “Love Gun”, and a phenomenal interpretation of “Black Diamond” with Carr on vocals. As noted above, two tracks are incomplete: “Young and Wasted”, unfortunately, with Carr on vocals, cutting off at the beginning and resuming just before the guitar solo, and “Rock and Roll All Nite” which fades out, missing only about its last minute or so, and truth be told, we’ve all heard that song a zillion times, so it’s really no biggie. All in all, it’s a good set and I was a little surprised that they decided to play more songs from their previous album, Lick it Up (“Fits Like a Glove”, “Young and Wasted, “Lick it Up”) than their current touring album, Animalize (“Heaven’s on Fire”, “Under the Gun”). Maybe they knew from the get-go that it wasn’t as strong an album as Lick it Up. In any case, we get four songs from Creatures of the Night and five tracks from the makeup era, which is easily their most beloved period. It makes for a diverse setlist spanning their first decade. It’s crazy to look back on it now and realize that KISS was still very much only at the beginning of the road back in 1984.

Eric Carr, Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Mark St. John

Off the Soundboard: Live in Poughkeepsie, NY 1984 has a clear sound overall, feels raw as a soundboard release should, and delivers what a fan of that era of KISS would want. I’m happier about owning it than I initially thought I would be. In spite of that, for the casual KISS fan, I’d recommend any of the other four OTS releases over this one. If I were to rank them, I’d put Des Moines 1977 at the top of the list, followed by Tokyo 2001, Donington 1996, and Virginia Beach 2004. I’m afraid this one is for completists only. I look forward to the next one; I’d love an official release of the final night from their New Zealand 1980 Unmasked Tour with Ace on guitar and Carr on drums.

KISS Online: https://www.kissonline.com/welcome