Kiss: Rock the Nation - Live

I received this for Christmas 2005. At first glance, I was elated because KISS is my all time favorite rock band. However, as soon as I inserted disk one, I was in for my first Christmas let-down.

The camera work and editing were superb; better than the headache inducing editing of the KISS Symphony DVD. The sound was great. BUT it turned out to be a great production of tired and old Gene and Paul trying to recapture what was once the greatest rock band in the world. They were slow on stage and the songs were toned way down. It had the markings of a very loud PBS special. Even the camera shots of the women in the audience were not very appetizing. I felt like I was watching my grandmother strut her stuff one last time before she headed out to the nursing home.

Gene completely screws up all the verses to "I Love It Loud", completely wrong order. Actually far worse than any other tune I've ever seen him screw up before; even "Domino"!

Gene and Paul really struggle to sing many of the songs as well.

They took advantage of new DVD technology and offered what they called "Power Vision". This allows the viewer to pick which member they would prefer to follow through certain songs.

Technology-wise, I'll give it a nine.

Is this DVD a classic? Not on your life. Queen On Fire: Live at the Bowl, that's a classic. The Zeppelin DVD, that's also a classic. If you are and/or have been KISS fan over the years, well, you probably already have this. It is far and away the best job they've done of filming anything, although I have what I believe are some much better performances on boot.

Wait until you can buy it from the bargain bin at your favorite record store.