Finally a "best of" MINUS the greasepaint (almost)...
Scott Pistner | St. Marys, PA USA | 06/18/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Being a long time KISS fan, and a fan of ALL eras of this band, I was patiently waiting for a 80's best of. FINALLY it's here! It's essentially a tribute to the often over-looked, under appreciated, non-make up period (with the exception of songs from "Creatures Of The Night", the last of the make up albums for a while). Although a bit short at 12 songs, it is still a GREAT representation of where the band was at during the 80's. Three key tracks come to mind that were omited (Who Wants To Be Lonely, Turn On The Night, and Rise To It - all of which were big MTV hits). Also, a few tracks from their 1992 release "Revenge" would have made this a steller compilation in my book. No points lost though... this is still the "best of" that I'll be playing over and over!"
Kiss without makeup were still producing great songs.
Y2bjs Reviews | Melbourne Australia | 09/11/2006
(4 out of 5 stars)
"There is some pretty good songs here.These wre the days when good old Eric Carr was at the skins.Man did he thump those bongo's to a T.When he was there Kiss had a different sound,and it gave what i think was new life,and a different energetic sound to this band.I quite liked Kiss in the 80's,but i'm as diehard as you get.These days there is nothing new,but reflecting on there old music,its realy good to hear this era of Kiss.
I would of given this Cd 5 stars if it had of had more than 12 songs.
There is lots of songs i could of added to this collection from the same era.They picked 2 songs from each of the albums from Creatures through to Hot In The Shade.
It was a realy good era for music from this band,which battled back after Ace and Peter left as well as removing the make-up.
It appeared that their careers were on the line,but creativity stepped in and this is a partial reflection."
Okay CD, good for starters
KISS 70's | 02/20/2006
(3 out of 5 stars)
"In my opinion the 20th Century masters were not really masters at finding good KISS songs. But I think people who are just getting into the 80's KISS era would like this one. I like to think of it as a demo, because there should've been more songs"
80s kiss
Tommy Morais | New Brunswick, Canada | 12/01/2005
(3 out of 5 stars)
"This compilation is not getting the attention it should because of so many kiss compilation.first of all this is the only 80s kiss compilation exept the ones released by the band so its a valuable compilation .Second point the compilation is at a very low price 6.99-8$ at wal-mart so its not hurting your wallet and what do you have to lose?The compilation covers from
creatures of the night to hot in the shade,unmasked is not included.It has lick it up,heaven s on fire,hide your heart and more, the 80s kiss is underrated but should be given a try because it aint as bad as somme says .finaly this is a worty compilation the only 80s so give it a chance but,of course you could not like this album or have different opinions hey i just say what i think!
creatures of the night;creatures of the night and i love it loud,(war machine should also be there)
lick it up;lick it up the title track,and all hell`s breaking loose.
anismalize`heaven`s on fire and thrills in the night.
assylium;tears are falling and uh!all night.
crazy nights;crazy crazy nights,and reasons to live.
hot in the shade;hide your heart and the smash hit forever.
missing;songs from unmasked,killers,and the 88 compilation.
go on and give it a try just to hear what 8os kiss sounds like."
Great songs, but could have held a lot more!
Trevor B. Portz | Brooklyn, NY United States | 11/17/2005
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I really don't get why so many people knock 80's and 90's KISS. Perhaps they are jaded having grown up with the original incarnation, but to me 80's KISS has always been superior. The song writing was much more evolved, playing was infinitely better (Carr,Kulick and Singer really pushed Paul and Gene in to becoming better musicians), and if anything, the focus was finally put more on the music than the image. I love all of the early stuff as well, but feel KISS hit their stride with Creatures.
As for this comp- it's nice to see a collection that focuses on the 80's output, but there certainly could have been more squeezed onto this disc. Why not some of the zillions of unreleased demos and what not from this period? If anything, it would be nice to have the live version of "Heaven's on Fire" from the Tears are Fallin' single on cd. Oh well, I suppose the record company would rather churn out something cheap and easy than something for the fans.
Overall- glad they haven't forgotten the 80's, but it's too bad they've forgotten the fans."