Onto the item at hand. I was asked if I had any interest in writing a review for the newest entry in the Kissology franchise: Vol. 3, I said sure as I like them, all scruples aside. So arrives in my box a 4 DVD set of nearly 10 hours of live Kiss. Most of it 90's Kiss with Singer, Kulick and Carr, sometimes made up and sometimes not but hey, a Kiss is a Kiss.

It has taken me almost two months to get through, and here are my thoughts, beginning with packaging. This is a very well designed and executed package, very sharp.

Disc One begins with a show from 1992 in Detroit and 18 Kiss tunes delivered amid the pyrotechnical stage ferocity they've been delivering for nearly 35 years. The rest of this disc is made up of MTV Unplugged behind the scenes material and the episode itself with extra footage not originally broadcast. While Criss' delivery of the classic "Beth" is my favorite moment, I am sure a thousand Kiss Army veterans were overstimulated by the every living member jamfest on "Rock & Roll All Nite," probably to the point of self abuse.

Next! Disc two gives us another Detroit show from '96, a seventeen song time capsule of mostly early material; "Cold Gin," "Christine Sixteen," and what seems to be the show ender of every single gig: "Rock & Roll All Nite." This is followed by the famous MTV VMA performance from under the Brooklyn Bridge which laid the way for later "reunion" tours. This one pinches it off with part one of a Dodger's Stadium show taped in '98. (This show concludes on the beginning of dvd 3 which made me think of the old 8 tracks and how they broke songs in half-(click, click). Those of you under the age of 35 can pretend you never read that as you have no idea what I mean anyway.)

We get a small loose set from the Detroit Rock City premiere party taped in L.A. in '99 once the conclusion of the stadium show has ended. After which we get our "Last Kiss" show from Jersey where they do an outstanding rendition of my favorite Kiss song of all time, "Black Diamond." After sitting through almost half a day of Kiss (that's a tough thing to do and I even like them!) I must say they give their all every performance, which at their ages must not be easy.

Disc 4 ends the "regular" versions of the set and contains a single performance albeit an important one to Kisstorians-the first ever recorded Kiss concert performed in full make up from 1973. This was what I remembered from broadcasts as a child. This is worth the price of this set alone. This is how Kiss fans see their band even after all these years. I also got in my review pack a bonus disc which sadly I didn't yet view, I nearly OD'd on Kiss and felt one more minute of watching them might cause bad things to happen to me or those around me.

So what does this all mean: If you like Kiss, dig the songs on the radio and own a few cds then this may be a bit much for you. If you breathe Kiss merch and want all your money to go for Gene's next facial rebuild buy it and wear a bib because this set is a pot of gold to a Kiss fan.

written by John Boden

Playing time: 568 min