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Kiss Unplugged

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Kiss Unplugged
Live album by
Kiss
ReleasedMarch 12, 1996
RecordedAugust 9, 1995
VenueSony Music Studios, New York City, New York
GenreHard rock, acoustic rock
Length56:07
LabelMercury
ProducerAlex Coletti
Kiss chronology
Alive III
(1993) 		Kiss Unplugged
(1996) 		You Wanted the Best, You Got the Best!!
(1996)
Singles from Kiss Unplugged
  1. "Rock and Roll All Nite"
    Released: 1996
Kiss Unplugged
Video by
Kiss
ReleasedMarch 12, 1996
RecordedAugust 9, 1995
VenueSony Music Studios, New York City, New York
GenreHard rock, acoustic rock
Length85 min.
LabelPolyGram Video
DirectorJoe Perota
ProducerAlex Coletti
Kiss chronology
Kiss My Ass: The Video
(1994) 		Kiss Unplugged
(1996) 		Psycho Circus 3-D Video
(1998)

Kiss Unplugged is a live album by the American rock band Kiss, released in 1996. It was recorded in studio for the television program MTV Unplugged and released as part of a series of live and video albums. It is the first Kiss live album that is not part of the Alive! series.

Overview

On August 9, 1995, the band performed at Sony Music Studios in New York City for the TV show MTV Unplugged. Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons contacted former members Peter Criss and Ace Frehley and invited them to participate. It marked the only time the original lineup performed publicly without their trademark makeup and was also the only time Frehley and Criss shared a stage with Eric Singer and Bruce Kulick. It was the first time Singer had part of a lead vocal on an album (shared with Criss on "Nothin' to Lose").

Fan reaction to Criss and Frehley at the show was so positive that, in 1996, the original lineup of Kiss reunited, with all four original members together for the first time since 1979.

"The sound was deafening: the sound of rock 'n' roll history coming full circle in a TV studio", wrote Kerrang!'s Don Kaye in a review of the taping at New York's Sony Music Studios. "Complete pandemonium ensued as they struck the opening chords to '2,000 Man', and it continued when Ace's voice rang out in the clear, sardonic manner we all know and love.[1]

Release

On March 12, 1996, the concert was released on CD. The LP version of the album includes a poster and some were pressed on yellow marbled vinyl.[2]

A stand-alone VHS and DVD documentary were produced around the same time as the CD release, with archival footage of the band's rehearsal sessions at SIR Studios in New York. It also shows the first "KISS Konvention" appearance earlier in the year, with Criss joining the touring members on stage to sing a few tunes. According to Criss, this invite gave Simmons the idea of reaching out to both him and Frehley to be a part of the Unplugged taping in an unannounced reunion. Because of the contentious split, the worldwide fan base never thought this would happen, and it was kept a closely held secret until the day of the event.[citation needed]

On December 18, 2007, the performance appeared as part of the Kissology Volume Three: 1992–2000 DVD set. This included the original DVD release of the concert plus five previously unreleased songs: "Hard Luck Woman" (with Stanley on vocals), "Heaven's on Fire", "Spit" (mostly sung by the audience), "C'mon and Love Me", and a country version of "God of Thunder". An overseas release of the album on two DVDs features outtakes from the show that were edited out of every other release, such as Gene forgetting the lyrics to a song or Paul breaking a string on his guitar in the middle of a song, plus some banter between the band and the audience while they were changing the stage for Ace and Peter to come out. "Got To Choose" also appeared much earlier in the album, right after "Domino".

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal7/10[4]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[5]
Melodic.net[6]
Q[7]
Rock Hard6.0/10[8]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[9]

Contemporary reviews were mixed. Rolling Stone defined the show "one of the most pointless MTV Unplugged segments imaginable",[9] while Rock Hard called Unplugged "the weakest output of the entire KISStory", saved only by a few classic songs.[8] On the other hand, Danny Eccleston in Q observed that "cheatingly, the ambience is muscularly electro-acoustic, but the tunes happily hail from the classic slap period, throwing the simply great pop of 'Goin' Blind' and the Beatley 'Sure Know Something' into pin-sharp focus."[7]

Modern reviews are more positive. AllMusic reviewer stated that the musicians "exceeded expectations and, given their newfound energy, charisma, and love for the music, their performance provided the catalyst for the beginning of a successful world reunion tour."[3] Canadian journalist Martin Popoff remarked how many tracks "sound campfire comfy done this way, the unplugged format exposing the no-brains all-heart pop craft of these songs".[4]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalsLength
1."Comin' Home"Ace Frehley, Paul StanleyStanley2:51
2."Plaster Caster"Gene SimmonsSimmons3:17
3."Goin' Blind"Simmons, Stephen CoronelSimmons3:37
4."Do You Love Me?"Stanley, Bob Ezrin, Kim FowleyStanley3:13
5."Domino"SimmonsSimmons3:46
6."Sure Know Something"Stanley, Vini PonciaStanley4:14
7."A World Without Heroes"Stanley, Simmons, Ezrin, Lou ReedSimmons2:57
8."Rock Bottom"Frehley, StanleyStanley3:20
9."See You Tonite"SimmonsSimmons2:26
10."I Still Love You"Stanley, Vinnie VincentStanley6:09
11."Every Time I Look at You"Stanley, EzrinStanley4:43
12."2,000 Man" (The Rolling Stones cover)Mick Jagger, Keith RichardsFrehley5:12
13."Beth"Peter Criss, Ezrin, Stan PenridgeCriss2:50
14."Nothin' to Lose"SimmonsEric Singer, Criss3:42
15."Rock and Roll All Nite"Stanley, SimmonsSimmons, Frehley, Criss4:20
16."Got to Choose" (Japanese release)StanleyStanley4:01

Personnel

Kiss
Additional musicians
  • Ace Frehley – acoustic guitar (12–15), lead vocals (12, 15), backing vocals (14–15)
  • Peter Criss – drums (12, 14–15), lead vocals (13–15), backing vocals (14–15)
  • Phillip Ashley – piano on "Every Time I Look at You"
  • Jon Grindstaff – conductor, string arrangements on "Every Time I Look at You"
Production
  • Alex Coletti – producer
  • Joe Perota – director
  • Randy Ezratty – engineer
  • James 'Jimbo' Barton – mixing
  • Ralph Patlan, Tat – mastering at Precision Mastering, Hollywood
  • Stephen Marcussen, Don C. Tyler – mastering assistants
  • Susan McEowen – design
  • Tim Rozner, Tommy Thayer – production coordinators

Charts

Album
Chart (1996) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[10] 4
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[11] 16
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[12] 20
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[13] 32
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[14] 18
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[15] 47
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[16] 60
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[17] 9
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[18] 5
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[19] 35
UK Albums (OCC)[20] 74
US Billboard 200[21] 15
Singles
Single Chart (1996) Position
"Rock and Roll All Nite" US Mainstream Rock Tracks[22] 13

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Argentina (CAPIF)[23] Gold 30,000^
United States (RIAA)[24] Gold 500,000^
United States (RIAA)[25]
Video 		Gold 50,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ Kaye, Don (September 23, 1995). Kerrang!. No. 564. Wasted Talent Ltd. {{cite magazine}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. ^ "Kiss - MTV Unplugged". Discogs. 1996. Retrieved August 9, 2023.
  3. ^ a b Haney, Shawn M. "Kiss - MTV Unplugged review". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
  4. ^ a b Popoff, Martin (August 1, 2007). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 3: The Nineties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 229. ISBN 978-1-894959-62-9.
  5. ^ Larkin, Colin (2006). Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 4 (4 ed.). Muze. p. 875. ISBN 978-0-19-531373-4.
  6. ^ Roth, Kaj. "Kiss - MTV Unplugged". Melodic.net. Archived from the original on October 11, 2012. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
  7. ^ a b Eccleston, Danny (April 1996). "Kiss - MTV Unplugged". Q. No. 115. Bauer Media Group.
  8. ^ a b Jaedike, Jan (1996). "Review Album : Kiss - MTV Unplugged". Rock Hard (in German). No. 107. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
  9. ^ a b Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian David (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-0-7432-0169-8. Archived from the original on June 27, 2011.
  10. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Kiss – MTV Unplugged". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  11. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Kiss – Kiss Unplugged" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  12. ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 2925". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  13. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Kiss – MTV Unplugged" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  14. ^ "Kiss: MTV Unplugged" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  15. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Kiss – MTV Unplugged" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  16. ^ Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005 (in Japanese). Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
  17. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Kiss – MTV Unplugged". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  18. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Kiss – MTV Unplugged". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  19. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Kiss – MTV Unplugged". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  20. ^ "Kiss | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved April 22, 2018.
  21. ^ "Kiss Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  22. ^ "Billboard chart history-Kiss singles". Retrieved February 13, 2009.
  23. ^ "Argentinian album certifications – Kiss – Unplugged". Argentine Chamber of Phonograms and Videograms Producers.
  24. ^ "American album certifications – Kiss – Unplugged". Recording Industry Association of America.
  25. ^ "American video certifications – Kiss – Unplugged". Recording Industry Association of America.
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