You wanted the best… you got Kiss! The hard rock band have been both adored and maligned for fifty years as Kiss set the bar higher and higher for what it meant to be a band with a huge stage presence and live show. This year has Kiss delivering ‘Live in Virginia Beach’, their 2004 live show as part of an ongoing ‘Off the Soundboard’ series.
To be brutally honest, this is a collection for major, hardcore, dress up like your favourite member of Kiss fan. There is a lot here that those fans will enjoy but when I say this is Kiss at their most raw… this is Kiss so raw that they’re wandering the streets in droves looking for brains. If you’re thinking about ‘Alive!’ or ‘Alive II’ then forget it, this isn’t tinkered in the studio, this is a warts n’ all live show that at times borders on painful as Paul Stanley flatly squawks through Kiss hit after hit. However, the tracks sung by Gene Simmons are actually sung very well and make it borderline listenable with Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer, as always, are solid throughout.
There are a lot of enjoyable moments here, the explosions and crowd interaction show Kiss still have it in that respect, but at times, it can be very grim indeed. This is not for the passing Kiss fan, stick to ‘Alive!’ or your greatest hits compilation, but for the hardcore Kiss Army, they’ll gobble this up with their Kiss Mug, Kiss Knife and Fork on their Kiss Plate and Kiss Table.
