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List Price: $13.98 | | Label: Island / Mercury
Salesrank: 1914
Released: August 27, 2002 |
| Our Price: $7.11 |
| Used Price: $4.45 |
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| Media: Audio CD |
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The Very Best of Kiss Track Listing:
1. Strutter
2. Deuce
3. Got To Choose
4. Hotter Than Hell
5. C'Mon And Love Me
6. Rock And Roll All Nite (live)
7. Detroit Rock City
8. Shout It Out Loud
9. Beth
10. I Want You
11. Calling Dr. Love
12. Hard Luck Woman
13. I Stole Your Love
14. Christine Sixteen
15. Love Gun
16. New York Groove
17. I Was Made For Loving You
18. I Love It Loud
19. Lick It Up
20. Forever
21. God Gave Rock 'N' Roll To You II
Editorial Review:
Japan exclusive 'Memorial Edition' of 2002 compilation featuring 21 tracks. Details TBA. Mercury. 2004.
Description of The Very Best of Kiss:
Sure, Detroit had the MC5 and the Stooges, but Long Island's Kiss threw down their own gauntlet. Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley, and Peter Criss cleaved a spot between glam, punk, waning Woodstock rock, and adult-oriented pop and became a phenomenon in the process. Kiss kept their music simple and, of course, sexual, with the likes of "Hotter than Hell," "Love Gun," and "Calling Dr. Love," paving the way for the waves of pop-metal sexpot wannabes and winning fans in such quantities that they launched the so-called Kiss Army. Their magnetism permeates this 21-song set, with Criss sounding so lonesome he could cry on "Beth," and the fire-breathing, blood-spitting Simmons unfailingly serving up a comical mix of menace and lasciviousness. The version of "Rock & Roll All Nite" comes from 1975's crowd-noise drenched Alive!, cut at the time when live albums were de rigueur. This collection was made smartly enough that only four songs come from the band's post-Dynasty period, making The Very Best of Kiss an essential primer on 1970s rock grandeur. --Andrew Bartlett
The Very Best of Kiss Reviews:
You wanted the best, You got the good. 
2009-09-02 - It is hard to knock a Kiss compilation and that is not my intention. But it is a disk heavily slanted toward the earliest KISS wit a few of the more recent charting songs. No real inspired picks here.
At this point in their career Kiss should have been more adventurous considering this is the 10th compilation disk (including Live stuff). Classics Like the Peter Criss voiced "Baby Driver", the under appreciated "Thrills in the Night". More adventurous Gene Simmons songs like "Naked City", "Charisma" or the classic metal thunder of "Young and Wasted" would be preferable to yet another pressing of Strutter.
In the end of it all, KISS will be remembered for the lavish stage shows, but this is a shallow dip into what was probably one of the most adventurous and variety filled rock bands of all time. The problem is that a lot of the songs don't fit into the mold of the visual representation of KISS. The Disco themed classic chart buster that was "I Was Made for Lovin' You". The trippy 70's psychedelic adventure of Ace Frehely's "Ozone". Peter Criss's soulful rendition of the classic "Tossin' and Turnin'" or the exquisitely dramatic piano ballad "I Can't Stop the Rain" which puts "Beth' to shame and exposes it as the simplistic predecessor that it is.
I may be nit picking as this is an appropriate intro for new listeners, but maybe the rest of us deserve more than a contract filler disk after almost 30 years.
One of the only good classic rock bands! 
2009-05-30 - Face it folks, classic rock is classic crap. Bands like The Who, Pink Floyd, Led Zepplin, The Beetles and The Rolling Stones were all a bunch of groupie-loving drug addicted cringe inducing untalented mongs. "Dark Side of the Moon" is probably the most boring album ever created. Thankfully, KISS made up for all of this with their awesome music! They created heavy metal which was copied by poor imitators like Black Sabbith. Songs like "Love Gun" contained both awesome musicianship and poetry. The only other good classic rock artists are The Darkness, The White Stripes, Elton John's "Victim of Love" album and Bush. If you're new to classic rock, you got to listen to this album. It pwns all that Rush and King Crimson n00b stuff.
An Amazing Collection
2008-07-27 - This is one of the most amazing collections of songs I've ever had the pleasure of listening to. I highly reccomend it to all music fans, KISS fan or not. I give this CD a 10/10. Truly a great collection.
the very best of kiss
2008-02-08 - this cd was in excellent condition and plays constantly in my car. i would recommend this seller highly. thank you!
fine KISS retrospective, especially for the casual fans...
2007-10-05 - KISS created awesome rock and roll music during the 1970s and beyond; this album proves it. Their sound appeals to many and their CDs still sell rather well today.
The track set offers many hits. "Strutter" has great electric guitar and drums for starters; and they perform this number to perfection! "Strutter" explores the experience a man has with a woman who looks attractive but who isn't exactly all that nice. "Got To Choose" also has that great electric guitar from the start and the guitars, drums and percussion carry the bulk of the melody. "Got To Choose" rocks hard as the song explores the story of a lady who has to choose between two men.
We get a fantastic live cut of "Rock And Roll All Night," which was easily one of KISS's greatest hits. They play and sing flawlessly and the tune rocks hard; this is only fitting as the song is about people who want to party all the time! "Rock And Roll All Night" encourages people to celebrate life by partying and having a good time--can't fight them on that score! Great electric guitar, too.
"Beth" is a much softer love ballad about a lonely man who wants a woman he can't have--at least for now. The strings, piano and backup vocals enhance the natural beauty of "Beth." I predict that you will like "Beth" very much. "Calling Dr. Love" runs along the same lines as "Beth," only for "Calling Dr. Love" they rock hard and now it's the man's turn to be the one pursued by the woman. "Calling Dr. Love" is one hit tune!
"I Was Made For Lovin' You" rocks hard from the start with great electric guitar, backup vocals, drums and percussion. They harmonize to perfection and nobody misses a note on "I Was Made For Lovin' You." I especially like the chorus on "I Was Made For Lovin' You." In addition, "Forever" features some more great guitar and this great song deals with a love affair.
The liner notes give us the song credits and the artwork impresses me.
KISS gave us some of the best rock from the 1970s; and their more recent music is pretty remarkable, too. I highly recommend this album for new fans of KISS or casual KISS fans. Diehard KISS fans will already have the tracks on this CD; and I would encourage them to look for a more complete retrospective instead of this one.
Great job, guys! Rock on!
