Description
Double album on smokey vinyls with gatefold cover and insert. Limited 250 numbered copies
Kiss learned alot throughout the 80’s, they redefined themselves as a band in the decade without make up, yet seemed to struggle in the live arena largely due to their commitment to the newer music. Towards the end of the decade, during the Hot In The Shade tour, the band would start by playing longer sets and much to the delight of their fans, feature more of their 70’s output live, and to no surprise they found their attendances go up. For the hard core fans the band would really return to form with 1992’s Revenge release, while the music was more or less the same, the band shed the glam look that was popular in the 80’s and adopted the all black leather look. The member who was able to best utilize this look was Gene Simmons, with his jet black hair and facial hair he looked at home….The Demon was back! While the Revenge record and tour failed to equal the record and ticket sales of Hot In The Shade, it was an obvious step forward. The concert featured on this album comes from the band’s third date on their UK tour, Sheffield 18thof May 1992. The set list features a great balance between the 70’s and 80’s output plus a few new songs to boot. I Stole Your Love is a great opener and the band is playing with guts. Eric Singer is a standout, he brought in a harder edge to the band similar to Eric Carr but perhaps a bit harder hitting. Deuce follows hot on its heels, Bruce Kulick plays a great solo, while he is not Ace he leaves his own stamp on the song making for a very strong opening salvo of songs. Heaven’s On Fire keeps the momentum going for the band to go deep for a block of 70’s classics starting with a very tight (almost too tight) version of Parasite. Paul gives a bit of the tour background prior to introducing Strutter, glad to hear this song back in the set and the band play a very strong version that leads directly into Calling Dr. Love. Bruce plays a great solo on the latter, far from emulating the Space Man his playing sounds confident and assured. Paul gives an introduction about people wanting the next song back in the set and we are treated to a heavy version of I Was Made For Loving You, his vocals are passionate and the band dove into a rhythmic groove that makes this song really work. The first new song is Unholy, the intro is mega heavy and sounds like the Thunder God stirring deep in the depths, it reeks of evil in the best possible way, musically, vocals, and Bruce’s wild solo makes for an incredible version. Gene gets the lead into 100,000 Years, damn I love this song, the drums are very important to it and Eric does an excellent job and while there is no one who could play this song like Peter, Singer definitely puts his stamp on it. Heck we even get and old school call and response from Paul. Paul’s intro to the song is what we would expect. A no solo version of God Of Thunder follows, I prefer these versions and it should have followed 100,000 Years as that would have been perfect to have the three heaviest songs in a row. The stripped down nature of the music really gives the spotlight to the music, the hits just keep coming with a very strong rendition of Tears Are Falling and I Love It Loud. Even Love Gun has a to-the-point intro and not your typical Paul going to the doctor and through airport security. Cowbell reigns supreme for an excellent version of Cold Gin and Detroit Rock City ends the show proper with a bit of pyro thrown in for good measure. For the encores, Paul introduces Eric Singer to the audience and he gets a nice ovation that is quickly silenced by Paul’s introduction to I Want You, Paul invites the audience to sing along so he starts with “In the morning I raise my head”…they do the rest. The Paul and Eric portion of the song does get a bit tedious and the audience seems a bit tired, we do get a nice mini solo from Singer. The band do a bit snippet of The Who’s Pinball Wizard that leads into God Gave Rock And Roll To You II and the obligatory Rock And Roll All Nite ends a most enjoyable concert proper. The album artwork with black and white photos tied in with the dark look of the record perfectly.
Track list:
1. Intro
2. I Stole Your Love
3. Deuce
4. Heaven’s On Fire
5. Parasite
6. Shout It Out Loud
7. Strutter
8. Calling Dr. Love
9. I Was Made For Lovin’ You
10. Unholy
11. 100.000 Years
12. Take It Off
13. God Of Thunder
14. Lick It Up
15. Firehouse
16. Tears Are Falling
17. I Love It Loud
18. Love Gun
19. Detroit Rock City
20. I Want You
21. God Gave Rock And Roll To You
22. Rock And Roll All Nite