Review Summary: 483rd time's the charm.
I know what you’re thinking. “Oh, God, not another KISS compilation!?” I mean, yeah, we’ve only just had the box set, and before that there was
Greatest KISS – certainly another one is overkill?! Well…no. Not really.
For you see,
Very Best of KISS is good. Not
real good, but definitely the best of however many compilations the group put out. It is the perfect mix of megahits and a few pleasant surprises that come way out of left field for our enjoyment. In fact, its tracklist is so good than in a first moment I was all set to 4.5 the hell out of it. And while subsequent listens diminished my overall impression a bit, the record still held its own good enough for a solid, merited 4.0.
Forgetting for a minute how the Best-of compilations far outnumbered the original albums in KISS’s 1990-2000 stretch,
Very Best of KISS is definitely a worthy addition to the canon. In fact, as a stand-alone record, it is very good, and succeeds in giving any clueless new listener a decent overview of the band’s career up to and including 1992’s
Revenge. Why latter years were left out, I don’t know, but it’s not like
Carnival of Souls or
Psycho Circus had any long-impact songs anyway Well, maybe
Childhood’s End or
Raise Your Glasses, but whatever – what is here is good, and mostly makes sense in a best-of context. But it’s not perfect.
You see,
Greatest KISS devotes far too much attention to the 70’s, with the tracks being disposed in meticulous chronological order up until 1979. After that, the 80’s are quickly glossed over with
I Love It Loud, Lick It Up and
Forever, and the 90’s get a sole representative in
God Gave Rock’n’Roll To You II. But while mourning the neglect of two whole, somewhat important decades, one must avow that the track selection borders on perfection.
And I say “borders” because, as we all know, a perfect setlist is impossible to assemble – perfection is mostly subjective. I, for example, would have put in
Heaven’s On Fire, Crazy Crazy Nights, Unholy, Domino and
Every Time I Look At You in place of
C’Mon And Love Me, Hotter Than Hell, I Want You, New York Groove (just because of how awkwardly it fits on here) and
Forever. Another fan may have a different opinion. But all subjectivity aside, there is no denying that 90% of what is here does indeed represent the
Very Best Of KISS. Plus, we don’t even have to put up with the usual disco-era monstrosities being pushed down our throats – that one stupid song is there, being seemingly inescapable, but that’s it for that chapter.
Of course, by this point, the main issue with KISS compilations was what offbeat tracks each would include, and here the group outdid themselves. We get Ace Frehley’s funky
New York Groove (a welcome addition, regardless of how ill-fitting it seems) and
Got. To. Choose. YES.
Got To Choose. The original version. It’s like getting back together with your high-school girlfriend, and every bit as rewarding.
Aside from that song, which instantly earns bonus points just for being here, the standouts are the usual bunch.
Detroit Rock City. Hard Luck Woman. I Stole Your Love. Love Gun. I Love It Loud. Really, you pretty much know what you’re going to get diving into this type of compilation, and it’s not much use to waste lines expositing about it yet again.
What I will mention, and I like, is the fact that there are no frills about this one. No “demo versions”, “special remixes” or fan-baiting live inserts. Just the studio/album versions of each song, nothing more, nothing less. The one concession made to such cheap tactics is the inclusion of a live
Rock and Roll All Nite, which irks me a little. While I’m aware that the
Alive! version of the song is considered superior to the studio version, I just dislike live tracks inserted into studio compilations. It makes your record sound cheap and bootlegish. Here, it is no different, although the damage is minimal.
However, these few minor issues – tracklist faux-pas, mostly – eventually end up detracting a little from the album. After I was done geeking out, I started to notice these details more and more, and they started to bother me a bit. Still, I will take back what I said on my review for
Smashes, Thrashes and Hits and apply it to this one: if you only get one KISS compilation, make damn sure it’s this one. And for real this time, you hear?
Recommended Tracks
Got To Choose
Detroit Rock City
Hard Luck Woman
I Stole Your Love
I Love It Loud
