Posted on: September 19, 2007 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Kiss – Kissology Volume 2 / 2007 VH1 Classics / 407 Minutes / http://www.kissonline.com / http://www.vh1classic.com /
I find it harder and harder for record labels and bands to keep individuals interested when subsequent volumes of material are issued. The best case in point that I can come up with has to be the third volume of Van Morrison’s greatest hits, which had none of the hits that even my mother, a dedicated Van Morrison fan, actually was familiar with. When it comes to footage and documentaries about a band, it is hard to include other material that was important and yet not covered by the first iteration of the film. This set, “Kissology Volume 2”, is one of those rare collections that is still something that individuals can pull valuable footage of.
The first DVD has a few pieces on Kiss from the shows of the time; a 1978 piece with Edwin Newman, a piece from the Tomorrow Show (with Tom Snyder), and a cut of the Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park movie. For my tastes, however, the later discs seem to be much more strong. This means that the second disc has a music video for “Shandi”, and a number of live shows from both an 1980 edition of Rockpop and a number of cuts from Kiss invades Australia. The footage, despite being in many cases over a quarter century old, is still sharp and very watchable. The audio footage of the live shows is strong in much of the same way, being taken from broadcast copies of the footage present rather than from second and third generation copies.
Disc 3 has to be the most interesting one of the set as it shows the band evolving throughout the eighties. This means that there is a four year jump in the coverage, which ends with the band’s October 1983 set in Portugal and starts back up with their show at the Spectrum in December 1987. My own bias is showing through, but they even include Kiss’s stellar contribution to the second Bill and Ted movie’s soundtrack in their cover of Argent’s “God Gave Rock N Roll To You”. Simply put, individuals that are fans of Kiss as well as casual listeners alike will be able to pull a number of solid songs, performances, and other material from this volume of Kissology. The price of the set is sufficiently low that individuals will not have to save their pennies for it; the over six hours of footage ensures individuals will be in front of the tube for a while to come.
Rating: 7.7/10

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