Kiss – Vengeance Is Ours 1992-1995 A Visual KISStory (Apocalypse Sound AS 206)

Total Playing Time; 2 hours 46 minutes of pure KISS

At the beginning of 1992 KISS was at a cross roads of sorts. They had finished a successful tour the year before in support of Hot In The Shade but the music business was changing, the glam party style of the mid to late 80’s was giving way to the harder edge grunge movement from Seattle. To make the situation worse long time drummer Eric Carr was stricken with cancer and unable to record. KISS forged on, they recruited Bob Ezrin, who produced their biggest achievement on Detroyer and also  their biggest flop Music From The Elder,  to produce God Gave Rock N Roll To You II and also tapped former Black Sabbath and current Alice Cooper drummer Eric Singer to play on the session. Singer fit right in having completed a Paul Stanley solo tour prior and Ezrin was back in the game, the band felt so strongly that they went ahead and recorded what became one of the heaviest and best records since the early 80’s. Revenge was released in May 1992 and was a return to form for KISS and specifically Gene Simmons, he had a darker look, longer hair and a goatee and often wore black with a skull T Shirt, the demon was back. The band hit the road and ended up recording dates in Detroit and Cleveland for the Alive III record and although the sales were not as high as the previous record the unity within the band was stronger that it had been in years.

This new release focuses on the Revenge tour through the KISS Konvetions that would lead to the Unplugged record and can be considered a sequel to the two KISSOLOGY Companions Apocalypse Sound released years ago. Value for the money is evident, there is a nice chronological flow to the DVD and is a fun watching experience so let’s get started.

Unholy; Official Video.  I remember seeing this on MTV and instantly liking the song, a great evil sounding riff. Video and audio both excellent

Love Gun, Cold Gin; Troubadour, Los Angeles California USA April 25, 1992 (MTV). Single camera footage from the short club tour . The band get down to business and rips into a great aggressive Love Gun, the playing is tight and the vocals are on the mark. Video very good, Audio is excellent

I Stole Your Love, Deuce; Wembley Arena London England, UK. May 21, 1992. Pro shot from the UK, the beginning has the intro music , interesting to note that the band was using the Hot In The Shade set for the tour, the Statue of Liberty set did not make its debut until the American tour months later. Very dramatic as the band takes the stage with the lasers overhead illuminating the pyramid head. Single camera footage from the soundboard the band is playing with gusto, love the synchronized moves at the end of Deuce.  Video very good, audio is excellent.

I Just Wanna; Official video, Video and audio both excellent

God Gave Rock N Roll To You II,  Unholy; Countdown (Veronica) t Spant, Bussen The Netherlands May 31, 1992. TV appearance Lip sync but very cool, starts off with the band and the announcer, video and audio are both excellent.

Domino, Official video, Video and audio both excellent

Creatures Of The Night, I Just Wanna; Revenge Dress Rehearsals (MTV) Bethlehem, Pa. USA September 30, 1992. Paul is master of ceremonies for a dress rehearsal, the American tour would start the next night at the same venue. not sure how big the audience was, but even though it was small cannot stop the performer inside and gets into it. A very metal looking stage, fake speaker cabinets all over and of course the Statue of Liberty stage set up. Pro shot footage, Video and audio both excellent.

Every Time I Look At You, Official video, Video and audio both excellent

Hotter Than Hell, Firehouse, I Want You, Forever, Strutter, Shout It Out Loud; The Palace Of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills (Detroit) Mi. USA. November 27, 1992. Pro Shot, the songs left off from KISSOLOGY Vol. 3 for some unknown reason. Multi camera footage, the band was recording for the Alive II record this night, cool to see the Hotter Than Hell > Firehouse combo. Video and audio both excellent

Detroit Rock City, Deuce; Arsenio Hall Show 1993. Late night TV appearance has the band lip syncing but a cool watch. Video and audio both excellent

Rock N Roll All Nite, Makin’ Love; Dick Clark’s Rockin’ New Years Eve, Disney Pleasure Island Orlando, Fl. USA December 12, 1993. Cold night in Florida has the band recording for the New Years Eve Show, an outdoor gig, for a minute I thought I saw Bun E Carlos from Cheap Trick in the crowd. Video and audio both excellent

Going Blind; MTV Most Wanted London England UK  1994 (Gene and Paul Unplugged). Great piece of footage, Gene sings beautifully with just acoustic guitar and bass coupled with a feel of a small coffee house somewhere. Video and audio both excellent

KISS My A** TV Ad, Hard Luck Woman; The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,  KISS with Garth Brooks. The TV Add is very cool, lots of cool make up clips and a couple snippets from the record followed by the band performing with Garth Brooks. Strangely the paring works and damn Jay Leno looks young. Video and audio both excellent

Take It Off; Sao Paulo, Brasil August 27, 1994. Pro shot multi camera footage featuring some of Sao Paulos finest, large stadium gig billed as Monsters Of rock Video and audio both excellent

Parasite; Program Livre, Brasil 1994. Killer footage of the band playing to a rowdy audience and looking very cool in their shades. Paul says they will be playing for two hours the next night, the band is smoking and play a superb version of the song. Video and audio both excellent

Black Diamond; Santiago De Chile, Chile. September 1, 1994 (alternate angles). Pro shot footage, lots of different angle give a real cool section of views you don’t normally see. I am guessing the show was recorded for TV use or was for large video screens. The show two days latter was recorded and good video circulates along with the press conference, I am guessing KISS got a lot of news coverage during the short tour. Video and audio both excellent

Heavens On Fire, I Was Made For Loving You; Ritmo de la Noche, Argentina 1994. The stage looks like it’s from a kids show, lots of bright colors and shapes, the crowd is into it jumping in the stands. Video and audio both excellent

New York City Convention Report With Conan O’Brien, Coming Home, Going Blind, Hard Luck Woman, Nothing To Lose, Every Time I Look At You; Planete Rock (KISS Unplugged) Montreal Canada, July 26, 1995. The NYC Convention segment is great, Conan goes behind the scenes. The Doug Henning joke was hilarious and even shows a couple tying the knot along with fan interviews. The Montreal footage is for a TV show and is great, up front performance in front of a small crowd, a great version of Every Time I Look At You. NYC Footage is very good video and excellent quality, the Montreal footage is Video and audio both excellent.

Hardcopy Australia 1995 With Strippers Report. A TV news report about groupies, Hard Copy goes back stage in Australia, although they try their hardest to make it scandalous there not a lot there except girls in skimpy outfits. Video and audio both excellent.

The packaging is typical Apocalypse Sound, cardboard trifold cover housing adorned with pictures from the era, the DVD has a simple to navigate menu. The early 90’s era of KISS was sadly not represented on the KISSOLOGY Vol. 3, this release more than makes up for it, it gives a great overview of an almost forgotten time some 20 years ago. Highly recommended for the KISS fan !