Kiss - Symphony: The DVD

Rating:
Summary: KISS May Be Crazy, But This Is A Hell Of A Show
Review: Symphony was one of the best concerts put on DVD that I have ever seen. Not only were the special effects awesome, the combination of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and the members of KISS playing music together on the same stage and sounding good at the same time was something that does not happen very often.

The pyrotechnics were sychronised with the beat of all the songs. For example in the song "Lick It Up," fireworks would go off every time the band said the line 'lick it up'.

The Austrailian Children's Choir was also on stage singing on the chorous for the song "Great Expectations". The kids as well as the orchestra joined in with the members of KISS in putting on make-up. So not only were Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Peter Criss and Tommy Thayer in full make-up, all the members of the MSO (Melbourne Symphony Orchestra) and the members of the Austrailian Childrens Choir and the counducter, David Campbell all had their faces to look like one of the members of KISS.

This DVD is a definite must for any KISS fan, DVD collecter, or for anyone who likes concerts taht have a lot of fance special effects.

I didn't really think all that much of KISS until I heard the song "Lick It Up". After I saw the DVD and listened to the CD KISS Symphony (Alive IV) I was hooked. I am now a die-hard KISS fan.

Even if someone who dosen't like KISS, if they sit down to watch this DVD with someone they are related to, they will have to admit that KISS knows how to put on a show, but then again they have been doing what they do for the past 30 years.

Rating:
Summary: Symphony Rocks
Review: After reading a lot of reviews on the Amazon and Kiss-online websites I was a little concerned. Luckily I had a credit for my CD store so I bought it hoping the best. Yes the editing is fast but you do get used to it. At times it seems to kind of follow the beat of the music. If you get used to that fact and tune in to it the editing is more bearable.During Act 2 - the unplugged segment it is a lot better, focusing longer on one person or at worst changing angle but staying on that same person. I noticed that any time the camera showed a large crowd shot though that the red t-shirts etc. in the crowd seemed to go distorted and thats a little off putting. Apart from (and my comment further down) that the clarity of the DVD is amazing. You sometimes get the feeling that you are there seeing it with your own eyes.

The main highlights for me are how awesome the stage looks, how great the unplugged songs sound with the band's harmonies (especially Forever) and of course KISS being great as always.

I found the behind the scenes footage to be blurry, I'm assuming its on a home-video type camera. It is a little off putting because I feel if it was filmed as sharply as the concert it would be better.

AT first I agreed with some fans that if the editing was a bit better this would be the perfect KISS live DVD. But the more I watch it the editing makes it a little different and conveys the excitement of the show and seperates it from being just another live KISS show.

Rating:
Summary: KISS RULES!!!
Review: Don't listen to all the moronic reveiws that are going around on Amazon. The editing is not bad. In fact it is awesome. It captures all the excitement, and thrills that a KISS concert has to offer. The sound and the power rock and for those who don't like the editing maybe you should go back to listening to your Celine Dion. That's a little slower paced for your wimpy taste. If you are a KISS lover you'll love this DVD. The fast editing is only a plus, and shows the crowd, the band, and the orchestra in full detail. Rock on...

Rating:
Summary: Truly Dizzying! to Watch
Review: This is an incredible show for sure. An overdue and welcome departure in setlist from the now overly predictable 1996-to-now shows. New here are Shandi, Great Expectations, and the return of Forever. Something that is fresh is seeing Peter singing Beth alongside a REAL live orchestra rather than singing to a tape. This show was practiced and performed with the Melbourne Orchestra in extremely tight musical fashion. All good! All good!

However.... the editing, as most reviews here have agreed, is terrible. Oh the visuals and audio are superb. But the camera/editing NEVER ONCE fixes on an image long enough for you to enjoy it. It's a dizzying ride of constantly constantly constantly changing camera angles and shots. The moment you see an image you'd like to watch for a minute, it's gone!! Just like that. Next shot, next shot, next shot, next shot, and on and on and on. I needed to lie down and take an aspirin after the first viewing of the DVD.

Again, the show was truly phenomenal. The arrangements and choreography were phenomenal. I do recommend buying this, but just make sure you're ready to hold your own equilibrium before you press "play".

Rating:
Summary: Just awful to watch!!!
Review: This was a fantastic concert. One of the best I had ever been to.
I was beyond myself when I heard that it was to be recorded for a DVD.
I've watched it a few times now. The concert is still fantastic. The crowd is great, the orchestra are kicking and our boys are at their peak!!! I have never experienced a concert DVD that doesn't bring you into the show, make you feel like you are there. I just didn't feel connected to what I loved the most - KISS!!!! The editing is atrocious. All that hard work!!!! All that preparation - for what!! Some wino in an editing room who wanted his ego stroked. Well mate, the Kiss world would have been better without you. Your mother may be happy with your work, but I tell you, not many poeple here are. The camera men and women's pictures are beautiful, so full of colour and clear, Kiss were in top form, everything was perfect for a great DVD - except the editor loser!!! Look Mr Editor - its Kiss for God's sake, with a full on show, with 40,000+ people going crazy, with a full ORCHESTRA!!!! We don't need you to add anything to it. Its already roaring to go!!!! This so called "expert" has totally ruined what would have been the greatest rock concert DVD out there. I have over 200 DVD's most of them music concert ones. This is just sad, that one person can ruin so much hard work from so many people.
It may be fine over 1 or perhaps 2 songs, but believe me when I say, you will not be able to watch this DVD in its entirity without skipping ahead or getting dizzy. Stick to the basics.
I wouldn't say don't buy it, but I would say buyer beware!!

Rating:
Summary: You wanted the best, but you got the worst...editing...
Review: I've read many of the other reviews of this DVD here and I have to agree about the editing. It's horrid. If you've ever seen the "Shout It Out Loud" video from YOU WANTED THE BEST, then you'll get the idea of this entire DVD from an editing standpoint:

Shot of man sticking tongue out (1 second)
Shot of Tommy walking across the stage (1.5 seconds)
Shot of random half-naked woman (2 seconds)
Shot of Peter smiling and hitting a cymbal (1.5 seconds)
Pan over entire crowd (3 seconds)

Shot of singing half-naked woman (1.5 seconds)
Shot of Paul shaking his butt (1.5 seconds)
Shot of half-naked woman sticking her tongue out (2 seconds)
Ad nauseum.

However, the music as presented here is fantastic. Sure, there's obviously some overdubbing and "fixing" going on in the vocal and music mix, but note-for-note it sounds pretty damn good. On my rather modest home theater system, the sound was great. (A little light on the bass, but very crisp sounding.)

The song selection is OK. Leaning heavily on the previously-orchestrated DESTROYER, there are few surprises. However, the inclusion of "Psycho Circus" (in the electric Act 1) and "Forever" and "Shandi" (in the unplugged Act II) are welcome additions to the usually pretty predictible (by now) songlist.

Tommy Thayer does an impressive job of staying true to Ace Frehley's lead breaks while not necessarily playing them note-for-note. Peter Criss, however, is the musician that surprised me the most (aside from any of the symphony members, that is.) He's really enjoying himself AND playing very well. He's not the drummer that Eric Carr was or that Eric Singer is, but he's definitely better now than when he rejoined the band in 1996.

The members of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra seem to be very good sports during this whole shebang and that comes through in the included rehearsal footage and the shots of them coming off the stage during the credits. They're having fun and smiling during the performance too.

In fact, everyone looks to be having fun during the performance. Due to the camera being trained on every individual female in the audience for at least five complete minutes each (albeit 1 second at a time), I'm pretty sure each one enjoyed herself. The musicians certainly appear to be having fun. But since you seem to see them as often as you see certain audience members, you're certainly going to be disappointed if you want to use this video to learn how to play any KISS songs.

Overall, this is a definite must buy for hardcore KISS fans. It's not something I can recommend to a casual fan because the editing is headache-inducing. Who knows? Maybe Gene intentionally allowed this DVD to look so bad so he can release the KISS Symphony Director's Cut edition next year to continue to line his wallet with KISS fan's cash.

Rating:
Summary: Better than the CD
Review: When I first heard about this idea, I hated it. I hated the CD even more when I heard it. But the music of Kiss has to be seen AND heard in order to be effective. Kiss Symphony proves to be no exception.

Most of what Gene Simmoms says should be taken with a grain of salt. However, he may have had a point when he bad-mouthed Ace Freeley. In this man's opinion, the Farewell Tour often sounded horrible (I saw it three times). Now that Ace is gone, Kiss's sound has actually improved. Kiss loyalists have been upset about this fact, but I have to say that (soundwise at least) they are better off without him.

Kiss symphony delivers all of the great stuff that you would expect from a Kiss show. However, there is still a very real risk that the guys may still end their careers as a washed up joke. Their shot at going our with dignity is slowly fading, maybe without their knowledge.

Rating:
Summary: Even bad DVD editing can't ruin a GREAT Concert...
Review: Considering itfs been almost 20 years since KISS released a full concert on video, I think I can forgive the few shortcomings of this disk. Especially since they are far outweighed by the quality of the performance itself.

Sure, the music is mostly (actually, with the sole exception of "Psycho Circus"), a rehash of the live stuff that made them the kings of the stadium shows in the 70's and 80's...but it has never been captured quite like this.

First off, the sound on the DVD is absolutely incredible, whether it be 5.1 surround, or 2 channel stereo. And it is far superior to that of the CD (which I still donft understand, considering they used the same masters). The boys in the band have never sounded better (hard to believe that Simmons is 54 and Stanley is 51, with the way they were belting it out!), and the full out gnormalh performance of Act 1 shows that they havenft lost anything along the way. The Melbourne Symphony Ensemble adds just the right amount of feeling to the acoustic set of Act 2, and the full frontal impact of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra really comes through in Act 3, adding previously unknown feeling and depth to the songs in which they participated. The balance between band and orchestra is perfect, putting all the details of the performance right where you can hear and appreciate them.

This DVD truly captures the KISS concert experience... and then some. Although the quality of the video footage is absolutely awesome, the editing (as noted in many reviews) could have definitely been done differently. It seems that the AVID Editor for the concert (you can find his name in the credits), the likely culprit, was more concerned with the quick cutting, music video look (you know, the look that can hold the 2.7 second attention span of your average MTV junkie) rather than providing a smoother, fuller concert performance look. And someone needs to have a talk with the gcontinuity guyh as well, although that probably falls to the AVID Editor as well, because it is painfully obvious that multiple takes of some songs (and from the reviews Ifve read by folks who went to the concert, possibly from different shows as well) were edited together with little thought of how it would look. Ifm cool with the editing...I just feel you should just make sure that the musicians are in the same positions, or that the same guitars are being used, or that they are singing the same song, all the way through the song edits to add credibility to the video. And for crying out loud, did he have to use gbabe-camh footage for so much of the show (enough is enough already!). HOWEVER, after youfve watched the concert a couple of times, you get used to the editing, and although it never quite feels right, you can live with it.

The gmaking of...h documentary is interesting and informative, but could have certainly been longer than the 30 minutes it takes up. Act 3 is contained on both disks (taking up time that could have been used for more documentary or special features), but I can see where the documentary just flows into it naturally on disk 1, and where it maintains the overall continuity of the performance on disk 2. The only other gspecialh feature is the groupfs appearance on ROVE(live), an Australian music show. Again, interesting, but very short.

This concert has some of the best live performances of these songs ever captured on any media, most notably "Let Me Go Rock & Roll", "God Of Thunder", and "Black Diamond". There are also some songs that have never been released live (on legitimate media) before..."Psycho Circus", "Shandi", and "Great Expectations" (which lends itself incredibly well to this format, aided by the voices of the Australian Childrenfs Choir), so there is a trace of uniqueness to this particular live set. And although a few of the songs don't sound as good with full orchestration, a good double handful of them sound absolutely incredible (far better than the originals), especially "Beth", "God Of Thunder", "Shout It Out Loud", "I Was Made For Lovin' You" (I HATED the studio version), and "Black Diamond" (speaking of which, if you like this, check out Yoshiki's (X-Japan) piano version on the "KISS My Ass" tribute album). And I thought that "King Of The Night Time World" wouldn't rock with strings...WRONG! Although it appeared to me that the members of the MSO were a bit uptight at the start of their segments, by the end of the show, they were rocking their socks off, and having a great time. gRock gNh Roll All Nighth never sounded so full of life!

So what if Ace Frehley isn't playing with the band? Tommy Thayer fills his shoes perfectly. And, right, wrong, gspacemanh makeup arguments, or otherwise, you really canft tell the difference between the two anywhere but the close-ups. No, itfs not truly the goriginalh KISS, but I guess itfs close enough to sell some concert tickets, CDfs and DVDfs.

Overall, this DVD is an excellent live collection of material from KISS. Yes, the songs have been overplayed (c'mon...6 live albums, and no fewer than 5 greatest hits collections), and the editing and special features could have been better, but it will still make a decent addition to your video concert library, because nobody puts on a concert like KISS. And that makes this DVD well worth the price of admission.

Rating:
Summary: Pull the plug...KISS is dead
Review: Didn't these guys have a farewell tour a couple of years ago? Didn't they say they wanted to end KISS before it got ridiculous? Well maybe they should have quit before 'Music from the Elder' was released. KISS is an embarrassment, to rock n roll, to it's devoted fans, and to musicians everywhere.

The biggest complaint here is the absence of Ace. OK OK we all know Ace's story, he's a drunken, lazy, bum who could have had a great career without KISS, but just has way too many problems and deserves little of the credit he gets. Sure back in the 70's he was great, young and hungry, now he's a pathetic bum. He may keep promising a solo record to be released soon, but Ace fans have heard this way to much to believe. It's not 1989 anymore, and Trouble Walkin' is ancient history.

OK as for this DVD. Ho-hum KISS with an orchestra. Gee here's a new idea that's never been done (ha ha ha ha!) As if Metallica's butchery of classic material wasn't raked through the mud on S&M. Now we have KISS performing in front of an orchestra wearing KISS makeup. Oh what goes through Gene's mind sometimes is baffling. Put a KISS logo on anything, no matter how stupid, and watch the sheep spend their money.

I said goodbye at the farewell tour. It was a great ride, but now this band needs to be put out to pasture. It's gotten to the point of ridiculous. This DVD is nothing more than a home movie for Gene to expand his already overly bloated ego. How much of this film concentrates on the audience? Far too much I'm afraid. Between the orchestra and the crowd, there is KISS, which gets the smallest amount of camera time.

The set list has the classics, but is missing anything having to do with Ace. (No Cold Gin, Parasite, New York Groove, Shock Me, or Rocket Ride). Who wouldn't have loved to have seen Ace perform on this and shoot rockets out from behind the orchestra? But again, Ace being gone may only prove how ridiculous Gene has become. Peter is only remaining with the band, because without KISS he is nobody in the music world. Like Gene he's only in it for the money. But while Peter needs it, Gene does not.

KISS ALIVE IV is by far the worst of KISS live albums and God knows how much over-dubbing was done on this project. I mean let's face it. Fans of the band know that none of the ALIVE! Albums are that live. ALIVE II being the most obvious.

No no no. KISS is done and this only proves it. What the heck will Gene think of next. It wouldn't surprise me a bit to hear that Gene is planning for KISS to be the first band to perform on the moon.

Rating:
Summary: Half of what I wanted
Review: If you are thinking of this DVD to learn more about how the concept came together, buy it. If you are interested in hearing Kiss in the best concert mix ever, buy it. If you are interested in seeing Kiss in concert, DON'T BUY IT! This is without a doubt the most frustrating concert footage I have ever seen. The director must have thought that buyers of this video were more interested in seeing the fans and the orchestra than members of the band. The frustrating part comes in when you realize that the actual pictures are incredible. The boys have never looked better, and the film is beautiful. But, the hyper cutting will drive you insane! Save for some off axis shots, there are no scenes of the band together playing. And you never are allowed to focus on them individually, before the next cut. I don't expect static shots, but I would think that for at least some of the time, you would like to see the most theatric rock band in history strutting their stuff in digital glory. Even during solos, when you would like to see them play, you are treated to more hyperactive cutting. I'm glad I have the Vid, simply for the 5/1 mix, but in truth, this is one that goes down in the "what might have been" catagory.