It’s hard to say goodbye and walk away from things you love. So many good memories filter through your mind, you start to second guess your decision, but somewhere in your heart you know it’s time. And KISS decided it’s time to say farewell. KISS is wrapping up their 45-year career with one final tour this year. They made the announcement on NBC’s America’s Got Talent on September 20, 2018. The End of the Road Tour kicks off on January 31st in Vancouver, BC, Canada and goes through April 13th before taking a break. They get back on the road on August 6th in Sunrise, FL before wrapping up on September 16th in Oakland, CA.
Along with the final tour, the band released on January 25th another compilation album titled ‘KISSWORLD – The Best of KISS’. The album releases close to the anniversary of the band’s very first show ever, which took place on January 30, 1973, at Popcorns in New York City. There were 10 people at most at that show. The album contains 20 of KISS’ best-loved tracks from their catalog of 20 studio albums and is available now digitally and on CD. The album will also be released on vinyl on March 29th.
The track selection has some of the most well-known KISS songs listed including “Rock And Roll All Nite”, “Detroit Rock City” and “Beth”. Even the non-KISS fan will probably know at least one of these three songs. The album also includes some of my favorite 70s tracks including “Love Gun”, my favorite KISS song to sing at karaoke, “Calling Dr. Love”, and “I Was Made For Lovin’ You”. “Shout It Out Loud” is on the list and I was pleased to see they included “Hard Luck Woman”. From the 80s era we get “Crazy Crazy Nights”, “Tears Are Falling”, and “Lick It Up”. Their selection for the 90s era includes “God Gave Rock And Roll To You II”, a cover song that was originally released on the soundtrack for Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey, “Unholy”, and “Pyscho Circus”. From the 2000s they choose “Heaven’s on Fire”, “Modern Day Delilah”, and “Hell Or Hallejulah”. The remaining tracks include “Christine Sixteen”, “Shandi”, and “I Am A Legend Tonight”. The sound quality of the album is great especially for those songs from the 70s and 80s.
The hardest part reviewing this is was when I compared ‘KISSWORLD – The Best of KISS’ to other KISS greatest hits collections. For example, ‘KISS 40’ released in 2014 was celebrating the band’s 40th anniversary. ‘KISS 40’ is 41 tracks compared to the 20 here. The majority of the tracks here are also on ‘KISS 40’, with the exception of “Love Gun” and “I Am A Legend Tonight”. Also, ‘KISS 40’ was made up of both studio and live tracks, while ‘KISSWORLD – The Best of KISS’ are studio tracks only. I was sad to see songs such as “Deuce”, “God of Thunder” and “Strutter” not make the cut for the album considering they did make it for other KISS compilation albums. Also, there are no new songs included, where prior greatest hits albums had included new material.
Overall, it’s a good greatest hits album. I’ve already listened to it multiple times over and enjoyed having my kids getting to hear some of their songs for the first time. For those who’ve heard KISS songs, but never picked up any of the albums, I’d highly recommend it since it provides a good range of their music over their 45 years. If you’re a KISS fan in any way, from the hardcore KISS Army to the casual, you’ll enjoy it, so add this one to your collection as well.