SOUNDTRACK: KISS-KISSology: The Ultimate Kiss Collection, Vol. 1: 1974-1977 DVD (2006).
I have just received a used copy of this DVD set and I’m delighted with it. It made me wonder why I never got it in the first place. And a little investigation led me to this realization: Kiss released this (and two other) box sets with a different bonus disc depending on which location you bought it from. So, if you wanted all three bonus discs you had to get three complete sets. I knew that Gene Simmons was a money grubbing guy, I mean he admits it in every interview he does. But I can’t get over that he tries to screw over his fans so much. I mean, only die hard fans will care about the bonus discs, so the most die hard will track down all three sets to get these various shows. Thanks for all your support, Kiss Army! What a jerk.
So, obviously, I’m not tracking down all the bonus discs, although it’s somewhat hard to decide which bonus disc to get. (Actually, I ordered Volume 2 used and I don’t think there was a bonus disc at all. Whoops).
But on to the set. I have only watched disc 1 so far. But I have to say that I’m thrilled to see Kiss in full concert mode right from the start. Gene always said that he wanted to put on an amazing show. And they did, right from the start. Full makeup (which is certainly silly, but it was very different back then). Pyrotechnics, Gene spitting blood and breathing fire, even Peter’s drum set rising in the air. They also had this fun synchronization on stage: all three of them rocking left right left (or sometimes Ace going right left right) they must have spent a lot of time practicing). That’s quite a show 30 years ago.
Some funny things: The story is that Gene has a super long tongue. I had no idea it was out of his mouth so much in the show. When he sings a line, he flicks his tongue after every verse. When he’s not singing it’s pretty much always flapping around. Frankly, it’s pretty weird. Paul shakes his head back and forth constantly while singing. It’s like a hyperactive primping.
On the plus side: I had more or less forgotten that Kiss was actually a band. They are such a commodity, that I tend to overlook the actual music-playing part these days. So it’s cool to see them actually playing guitar and bass (and to hear Gene screw up from time to time). There’s a great spot in the final show of disc 1 where Gene actually sings the wrong words to a song. Its the third encore and he clearly thinks he’s playing “Rock and Roll All Nite” instead of “Let Me Go, Rock n Roll.” I’m delighted that they left it in! And it’s nice to see Peter and Ace actually having fun on stage. Ace sits on the drum riser and Peter pokes him with a drumstick. Like a bunch of kids rather than a corporation!
It was also great to see Kiss in their heyday in Michigan, being treated as rock gods. As a super fan back at the time, I would have probably peed my pants at the opportunity to see them that close (of course I was 8, but you know).
Sarah commented, how many time are they going to play “Firehouse” a song she’d never heard before. (The answer is 6).
A couple minor quibbles: I can’t believe that Paul has been saying the exact same between-song banter for the past 30 years! I’m also surprised during the early shows that they end a vocal line early (this is most obvious in “She” when they both sing the line “She’s so co-old” but they sing it like “She’s so co–” and they back off. It’s just weird. Oh, and when they first started playing, Peter was a maniac, singing really loud and often off key with all kinds of screaming. He almost ruins “”Black Diamond” in the early shows. Later on, he calms down a bit and sounds great again.
I’m looking forward to the rest of the discs in the series, to see what they change, if anything, during the Love Gun years.
[READ: January 18, 2009] “Peckerwood”
I actually read this because I thought it was by Harlan Ellison. I didn’t realize this was Invisible Man Ralph Ellison.
And I have to say I was rather disappointed in this story. Of course, now, re-reading the opening blurb, I see that this is an excerpt from a soon to be published posthumous novel. So that makes a LOT more sense.
There are two sections of this story. The first is of a white man introducing himself to a black woman in Harlem. He informs the woman that he intends to marry her daughter. The woman is outraged at this and forces him to leave the house at gunpoint.
While he is speaking to the woman, he flashes back to a scene from his childhood in which his mother has him pull down his pants to show her friends his newly circumcised penis. The implication is that this was the first they had ever seen.
And that is more or less the whole story.
As a short story this didn’t work at all. While the two sections were well written and interesting, they didn’t connect. However, knowing it is from a longer work called Three Days Before the Shooting makes me think that this would be an excellent novel with a lot of interesting aspects.
This turns out to be the circumcision issue for Harper’s as there was another piece about a man who, inspired by religious fanatics, circumcised himself and his 4 year-old son [with a sharpened stone!] (and was subsequently arrested for criminal negligence). And, yes, eeeeeeewwwwww!!!
I Just Read About That... 
To the contrary, I thought Peckerwood, as presented in Harper’s, is great! I definitely would like to read the book now. What was found to be a missing connection just inspired me to get the bigger picture which might explain it. However, I like readings with missing connections – I’d say that’s how we are. At any rate, the drama is superb, palpable, Laura’s pain perfectly imaginable. 5 out of 5 stars from me. Wish I could write like that.
Nick,
I think you are indeed correct. And re-reading my comments I realized I was overly harsh, primarily because I thought it was a complete work–and the left out part was just a little too much. Reading it as excerpts makes a lot more sense and is, in fact a compelling narrative.