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List Price: $31.97 | | Label: Msi/Pgd
Salesrank: 1374195
Released: September 2, 1997 |
| Our Price: $89.98 |
| Used Price: $22.99 |
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| Media: Audio CD |
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Editorial Review:
2005 Japanese pressing of 1997 original release, comes packaged in a standard jewel case. Mercury.
Description of Carnival of Soul:
Shortly before Kiss embarked on its nostalgic, highly profitable reunion tour of 1996, Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley seemed to be planning a more contemporary route to world domination. Their album Carnival of Souls was recorded in 1995, prior to original Kissmen Ace Frehley's and Peter Criss's reentry into the band, and it sounds more like Seattle revisited than "Detroit Rock City." The album's lumbering rhythms, and ex-guitarist Bruce Kulick's quavering string bends, are reminiscent of Badmotorfinger-era Soundgarden, and Stanley's vocals wobble and wail, stopping just short of rocketing into a high-pitch falsetto. As derivative as it is, however, Carnival of Souls is pretty gripping. Sure, the ballads are clunkers, but many of the other tracks are undeniably compelling, alternating between atmospheric verses and bracing, teen-spirited choruses. It's just a shame that Kiss's renewed emphasis on recapturing the box office with 20-year-old material will probably prevent the band from growing and evolving even further. --Jon Wiederhorn
Carnival of Soul Reviews:
Tell me what's the bottom line... 
2009-11-27 - KISS did the unexpected in 1995, they made a modern sounding heavy rock album. The problem was the band was in a state of turmoil and they were about to embark on their record setting reunion tour with Ace Frehley and Peter Criss so `Carnival of Souls' was shelved for two years. When the LP finally got a release the band that recorded it did not exist. That was unfortunate because `Carnival' was probably the last piece of relevant music that the band would ever do. Kulick and Singer were arguably more talented and creative than Criss and Ace could ever be but the box office did not care; the public wanted the original KISS and that's what Paul and Gene gave them. KISS long ago gave up the ghost of being relevant in the music marketplace as their constant touring and playing of music from their Seventies heyday would attest. `Carnival' was a brave attempt to show that KISS could be musical chameleon and mimic the Seattle bands at their own game with Alice In Chains and Soundgarden being the most obvious influences on the record. "Jungle" was the grunge epic from the LP and was a darker and more sophisticated song than any in KISS' rather large catalog. "Hate", "Rain" and "Master and Slave" lead off the album and prove to be a challenge to the ardent KISS fan who never expected this type of joyous sound from a band who always......oh man I hate this phrase..."rock n' roll all nite and party every day". "Childhood's End" and "I Walk Alone" (which features the lead vocals of Bruce Kulick, his only KISS vocal) are two other notables. I would caution any casual KISS fan that this album may not be for you for many of the reasons I have stressed previously but the patient listener may be rewarded. I would never consider `Carnival of Souls' a favorite but it was a worthwhile attempt at the modernization of a band that too many times had been shall we say complacent??
KISS gets deep...Real Deep (No pun intended). 
2009-11-06 - If you are considering getting Carnival of Souls, you probably have a lot of KISS's other works and are looking to complete your collection. That being said, should you buy COS? That depends. If you are looking for more party music to cheer you up, well, this isn't the album for you. A lot of people criticize KISS for doing songs that mostly focus on sex and partying, and frankly, that's what they excel at, in a loud, fun and hard rockin' way. I really don't have a problem with that because they are very talented at it, and quite frankly, there are a lot worse topics that a person could sing about. Most times that I listen to music, I'm looking for an escape from the mundane problems and dramas of reality. So, KISS fills that void for me perfectly. But when I finally got around to buying COS and listened to it, I was floored by how really good it is. Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Eric Singer, and Bruce Kulick really made a touching and beautiful album when they recorded these songs. The playing by all is amazingly good, and the range of singing by Gene, and especially Paul are outstanding. So if you are ready to listen to something more mature and moody from KISS, look no further, this is the album for you.
Now we'll never know what could've been
2009-08-23 - This album was shrouded in one of those never meant to be albums. Supposedly it was to be released in 1994 to coincide with the release of "Kiss My A**", but somehow someone offered them alot of money to regroup, and put on the make-up, and do a reunion tour. While "Revenge" was a good album let's face it the big hair metal bands were becoming a thing of the past. Warrant was trying to do thrash metal, Ratt broke up, Motley Crue's 1994 release was less glam, and more hard rock from the 70's. Kiss saw the writing on the wall, and wanted to try their hand at the latest craze which was grunge. They apparently did their homework as it comes close to sounding like Seattle, but still comes off sounding like NYC. Some of the highlights are: "Hate", "Jungle", "Seduction Of The Innocent", and "I Walk Alone". Mind you Kiss may have waited too long to go grunge as grunge by April 8, 1994 was starting to die off after Kurt Cobain's death. However, all is not lost here, in fact it sounds like what "Rock and Roll Over" should've sounded like in 1976. Now we'll never know what Kiss was capable of doing with grunge let along alternative music in general. Once the reunion tour was off and running they never looked back. I will have to play "Psycho Circus" to see if they went alternative, or no. Otherwise this is what could've been the "NEW" Kiss. I have no idea what Eric Singer is up to these days, but I know Bruce Kulick went on to play with Grand Funk Railroad. I haven't decided yet if I will buy this, or not. It does sound appealling.
Phenomenal!
2009-08-04 - I bought this cd when it came out and I think it's still in my cd changer. This disc is so good that I'm still made about the reunion tour 13 years ago that broke up this lineup. As much as I love Gene and Paul, I wish they would just think about the music instead of the money for a change.
carnival
2009-06-16 - the carnival was better than the circus imo. "jungle" has to be one of the best paul stanley songs ever and should be played live
