Cheap Kiss: Kissology Volume II 1978-1991 (DVD) Price

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Customer Reviews of Kiss: Kissology Volume II 1978-1991

Where are the film-clips?
The first Kiss Kissology was fantastic in that it included just about everything you would want to see. Unlike a lot of fans I have never seen the point in buying bootleg stuff with shaky camera work and dodgy sound so any concert footage is pretty much new to me other than individual film-clips that have been shown on the various videos/DVD's to date. I have an old video taped off the TV with all those old promo clips (Hard Luck Woman.etc.) so was rapt to get them in proper DVD form and expected the same thing with Volume 2. Maybe we were spoiled by Volume 1 but apart from "Shandi" and "God Gave Rock and Roll" there are no film clips whatsoever. From "I Was Made" right through to "Forever" this is a glaring ommission, especially as there is no evidence of the period between '83 and '87 at all. If there was to be no concert or promo footage featuring Mark St.John they could have at least included the clips of "Heaven's on Fire" or "Thrills in the Night" simply to acknowledge that the band was still going during those years. Any suggestion the band (or Gene and Paul) are embarrassed by the fashions of the time (as one fan has suggested) is ridiculous. You can't hide from the past so you might as well embrace it. I personally think their look from "The Elder" days was more ridiculous and surely Gene should be more embarrassed with his "Family Jewels" program anyway. Given that the band did very little between '92 and '96 and then not too much after the hype of the reformation and the Symphony concert (which I was at), one wonders why they didn't leave this collection at around the "Crazy Nights" era and included material from the years I mentioned earlier. Of course if they're saving the film-clips for a Greatest Kiss DVD then I can understand the lack of clips in this package. Having said that I hope we don't have to wait ten years for a DVD such as this. Now,I know I'll probably come off as one of those fans who will never be satisfied but that really isn't the case. The stuff that is included is pretty cool and the Tom Snyder interview is hysterical for Ace's humour and Gene being quietly pissed off on the other side. Just as funny is Paul wanting to laugh at Ace but not wanting to piss Gene off more. If there is more to this interview they really should've included it. The bonus disc from the "Crazy Nights" tour is cool too albeit a bit short and all the other concert footage is fascinating for someone who has never seen it. All in all it's brilliant that Kiss have released both DVD's. A lot of bands (eg.Bon Jovi) should take a leaf out of their book and give the fans more stuff like this instead of releasing an edited live concert once every five years or self-indulgent crap that fans only buy in order to keep their collection complete. I just wish they had included those missing film-clips.

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ALMOST GREAT BUT NOT QUITE RIGHT
I'm one of those rare dinosaurs that saw kiss in small clubs like Joint In The Woods in 73, was an instant fan, ran the first KISS fanzine "Kisser" with a friend (Hi Randy), maintained a COMPLETE collection, met the band, and followed them fervently till 1980, when the merchandising simply burned me out. My point being, I have credentials. <
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>The history on much of this DVD material is as follows. Kiss ex-manager Bill Aucoin had all the Kiss stuff in a big warehouse. Circa 1987, for reasons personal, he needed money, and speaking with Ace, offered it all for $100,000. Ace didn't want it, and since he was not particularly fond of Gene and Paul, he didn't mention it to them. Enter two fans that met Ace, Al and Gary. They mortgaged a house, paid Aucoin, rented two tractor trailers, and picked up all the stuff. They then hosted numerous killer Kiss conventions. THAT's the source of all the copies of the material on this DVD, which was eventually copied ad nauseum. Well, Gene & Paul eventually found out, had the cops raid an Al/Gary convention, and confiscated everything as "stolen merchandise". Kiss then sponsored it's own conventions, ultimately auctioned all the costumes, and have now funneled the video stuff to be included in Kissology DVD's. THAT's why this material is not new to real fans. <
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>So, anyway, the actual material. The upside is, you get a first generation, clean copy, of some really great Kiss video. The downside, <
>there are some NASTY cuts. Land Of Hype And Glory is only an excerpt. Too bad cause it was a great show. But the biggest SIN, is that the Tom Snyder show appearance is CUT IN HALF. Any fan will tell you that the single most entertaining piece of Kiss video is the Tom Syder show. This is the one video that even non-Kiss fans appreciate. Ace is a riot! He was drunk and tripping, laughing hysterically, abducted Tom's mascot teddy bear, and put his costume pieces on the bear. Hilarious, but you won't see it, cause it's in the half they cut. It's confounding. So, if you're a big fan, yes this is a great DVD, but don't think you can toss your old VHS bootlegs. Sadly, not yet. <
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>Visually, Kiss can't be topped. Historically, they saw Alice Cooper in 72 and said "If one guy in makeup is this big, what if all four of us wore makeup". Kiss pioneered flames, explosions, and moving stage pieces. Today, these things are staples with metal bands and the like, but Kiss literally started it. In the early days, Kiss were quite the underground cult band. Greasepaint, leather, and flames, wrapped in mystery. Nobody knew their true identity for several years. The teenybopper stuff only started with the Destroyer tour in 76. <
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>Musically, nobody does straight ahead hard rock better than Kiss. I'm not talking metal, or thrash, but plain old crunchy driving hard rock. <
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>And another thing, attitudinally, Gene and Paul were always in one camp, and Ace & Peter in another. Historically, the two camps always fought, and both sides had valid points. Originally each band member contractually "owned a letter" in KISS. Eventually, Ace & Peter sold their letters to Gene and Paul. First Peter, which left Ace to be out-voted on band conflicts, eventually causing Ace to quit as well. Since then, Gene & Paul have been petty about making sure they get majority coverage, and looking best, in everything Kiss, marginalizing Ace & Peter, and sometimes showing them in unfavorable light. I love KISS, all of the original four (and Eric, he's earned it), but I sure wish Gene & Paul could check their ego some, and represent the whole band equally, for the sake of the fans. Gene! Paul! The real fans know the score. And we talk about it. There's a consensus. We want you guys to all play nice, get along, and share the spotlight equally. Ya, Ace & Peter have issues, but so do you. Kiss is too good to be sullied by petty infighting, egos, money, and other BS. <
>KISS ROCKS ! <
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A Great Memorial to Eric Carr
I've been a KISS fan for many many years. Most of the material that's included in this set I've seen before, and many times. However, its so awesome to have it all on one DVD, officially released, and remastered. The sound and picture quality are mostly really good (considering some of the source material). The performances are really enjoyable as well. I'm really bummed that only half the Tom Snyder interview is included as that is one of the klassic KISS moments. I was so looking forward to seeing Space Bear again. I would also have liked a little more footage of Vinnie, and it would have been really terrific if there was any live footage at all with Mark St. John (especially as he has now passed on as well). <
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>However, there are many inclusions here that I'm excited about, like the performance of the three ELDER songs on "Fridays", the complete Syndey concert, etc. <
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>The best thing about this collection, though, is that it follows the career of drummer Eric Carr from the time he joined the band up 'til his death in 1991. For Carr fans, this truly is a visaul and aural feast. We see him getting introduced by the band to the Australian audience, we see him on various tours with the band (both with make up and without), and best of all we get complete drum solos (well, nearly complete; read the featured reviews for that explanation) from both his first and his final tour with KISS, showing his growth as a drummer and the evolution in his approach to soloing over the 11 years he was in the band. The package is capped off with MTV's announcement of his passing and the video of "God Gave Rock'n'Roll To You", his final performance with the band. <
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>One of the best surprises on the set comes in one of the menus. Each of the menus and sub-menus includes video footage not available anyhwere else. One of the sub-menus on Disk Two features performance footage of Eric in his original "fox" make up -- not the familiar design that's seen on the cover of CREATURES OF THE NIGHT, but the original design which was only seen in a very few photos, including the first batch of press photos the band did with Carr. <
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>The most shocking and heartbreaking thing that got included in this set -- its not listed in the menu, its at the end of the credits on Disk 3 -- is a video that Eric made in his hospital bed a couple of days after his open heart surgery. Oh man....I cried the first time I saw that. I didn't even know anything like that existed. Its actually rather spooky and kind of creepy to watch this short vid. Even though his mood is upbeat and he's joking around in true Carr fashion, there's a sadness to it. Be prepared when you watch it .... but do watch it. <
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>I was a huge Eric fan right from day one. When the first photos of him with the band were released, I wrote him a letter. Couple months later, I got a hand-written letter back from him from Frankfurt, where KISS was touring. I later met him once in FL. When you hear people say or read in these reviews what a great, nice guy Eric was....that's no exaggeration. Eric Carr was a super guy, a really warm, loving human being who really loved his fans, and his fans loved him. I was devastated when he passed away three days after my birthday (and on the same day as Freddie Mercury, god what a horrible day). I will always miss him and will always be his fan. <
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>Thanks to KISS for making this second volume of KISSOLOGY such a treat for Eric's fans. What a great package....it not only chronicles KISS's career throughout the 80s, but also the career of my favourite drummer. Long live Eric Carr.