SYMPHONY: ALIVE IV
Alright, let me get out some lube and get rid of these pesky pants. I know I'm occasionally a smartass and toss out a wise-crack every so often, but I'm not even going to PRETEND to be a snob after hearing an advance copy of
KISS Symphony: Alive IV; I'm just going to start rubbing and cream all over this double-disc masterpiece.
KISS was originally
supposed to release Alive IV two or three years ago; right around the time the band was gearing up for their
(ahem, yeah...sure) "Farewell Tour". The release of
Alive IV was hindered after getting "tangled in a lot of red tape and bureaucracy" according to frontman Paul Stanley. Rumors circulated that Mercury records had dropped the band entirely, or that the label just didn't want to spend too much promoting the disc because the label was being sold in that big-ass Universal merger that took place a few years ago (just TRY and get money out of a record label while they're in the process of being sold). Whatever the case, the original
Alive IV was aborted and shelved.
After a massively successful performance, KISS decided to release their
concert with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra on February 28th, 2003 as a double-CD and live DVD. They eventually announced that they would call the release
KISS Symphony: Alive IV.
First off, Kiss now consists of Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Peter Criss...and NO Ace Frehley. Guitarist Ace Frehley is nowhere to be seen or heard on this disc. Kiss performed with the 60-piece Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, and Ace didn't want any part of it. His reasons for not participating are his own (those close to Ace will tell you that he wasn't into it because he felt that the 'Farewell Tour' should have been a FAREWELL tour...and that meant NO MORE TOURING...honorable enough, but let's face it - As long as Gene Simmons has a hand in the money-making monster that is KISS, he's not turning off the money faucet anytime soon). Ace's abscense didn't stop the band from putting Tommy Thayer (Former guitarist in BLACK & BLUE, and Kiss' road manager) in Ace's makeup and making him part of the band. They did the same when Peter Criss opted out of the Australian and Japanese leg of the Farewell Tour. He asked for too much money, and Eric Singer (Kiss drummer in the early 1990's) put on the makeup and Catman suit. I know Ace is the original axeman, but honestly... Tommy Thayer plays Ace's solos just as well, if not better than a stumbling, mumbling Ace Frehley could, and the audience really doesn't seem to mind.
The band plays the following tracks by themselves first:
1. Deuce
2. Strutter
3. Let Me Go Rock & Roll
4. Lick It Up
5. Calling Dr. Love
6. Psycho Circus
They bring in the The Melbourne Symphony Ensemble and conductor David Campbell (wearing kiss makeup and a sequined Kiss T-shirt and white tuxedo) for the next few slower songs:
7. Beth
8. Forever
9. Goin' Blind
10. Sure Know Something
11. Shandi
You get a little taste of where
KISS Symphony: Alive IV is going with these five tracks. The strings don't overpower the songs; They simply augment what's already there. A good song is a good song no matter how many bells and whistles (or violins and cellos) are added to it. Peter's voice sounds a little raspier than usual on "Beth", but the guy IS pushing sixty, so I won't smack his nuts too hard if he can't hit the high notes as well as he did when he was in his thirties. If you're wondering why the band chose to play "Forever" and "Shandi", well, they both lend themselves to orchestration very well, AND they both did well as singles in Australia (some songs do better than others in overseas markets)
After a short break, the band returns with the full-blown SIXTY-PIECE Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, all wearing Kiss makeup to perform the following songs on disc 2:
1. Detroit Rock City
2. King Of The Night Time World
3. Do You Love Me
4. Great Expectations (with the Australian Children's Choir)
5. Shout It Out Loud
6. God Of Thunder
7. Love Gun
8. I Was Made For Lovin' You
9. Black Diamond
10. Rock And Roll All Nite
Like I said before, the orchestra doesn't overpower the band. They just beef it up significantly. When done well, these Rock/Symphony combinations sound incredible. METALLICA and conductor Michael Kamen pulled it off with
S&M, and believe it or not, the SCORPIONS and the Berlin Philharmonic sound In-Fucking-Credible on
Moment of Glory: The Scorpions with the Berlin Philharmonic. The orchestra is there to improve, but not overpower the band...and that's just what the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra does with Kiss classics like "Detroit Rock City", "God Of Thunder", and "Rock and Roll All Nite". I was shocked at how fantastic "Black Diamond" sounded with the orchestra, and despite its disco-awfulness, "I Was Made For Lovin' You" sounds punchier than ever (although if you REALLY want to hear a great version of that song, check out the live version they did with Eric Singer playing drums on
Alive III... Singer's kick ...or the way it was mixed really makes it less homo-gay-fag than the original).
I've now listened to the entire double-disc set three times all the way through, and I'm still enamored with it. I'll fully admit that we do more than our share of Kiss-bashing (Hell, the
ball-busting sessions we give Gene alone could fill a fifty-gallon drum), and I've even gotten into a face-to-face debate with Gene (not that he'd remember) about his somewhat skewed views on relationships and commitment, but I have got to give credit where credit is due.
KISS Symphony: Alive IV is the
BEST thing this band has done in ages. Purists are going to argue that rock bands and orchestras don't mix. I whole-heartedly disagree. When done properly, they DO mix...and mix well.
OK, enough masturbating for one review. I'm sure I have some
smut laying around somewhere to review.... I'm sure I can counter all of this gushing with some good old-fashioned
porno-chick mockery.
