Being a die hard KISS fan for almost 30 years now, this new release posed some challenges to my loyalties. I've read the comments ranging from the tunnel visioned "The greatest album ever!", to the equally closed minded "They sucked then, they suck now" routine. I really believe the answer lies somewhere in the middle. Yes, I know this is the 6th collection of live material from "The Masters Of Bombastic Musical Theatrics" (if you count "Unplugged" and "You Wanted The Best..."), but face it...that's what these boys do best...Perform Live. In my book, it's just plusses and minuses as to how good (or bad) this album is.

MINUS: This is, for the most part (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...and that they have continued to exploit for the last 7 years with nothing new or original to be seen anywhere in the near future.

PLUS: This collection has some of the best live recordings of these songs ever released, most notably "Let Me Go Rock & Roll", "God Of Thunder", and "Black Diamond". There are also some songs that have never been released live before..."Psycho Circus", "Shandi", and "Great Expectations" (which lends itself incredibly well to this format), so there is a trace of uniqueness to this particular live set.

MINUS: Some of the songs don't sound as good with full orchestration.

PLUS: Some of the songs sound absolutely incredible (far better than the originals) with full orchestration, especially "Beth", "God Of Thunder", "Shout It Out Loud", "Great Expectations" (a pleasant surprise), "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!

MINUS: Ace Frehley isn't playing with the band.

PLUS: Tommy Thayer is playing with the band. And he can hold his own. But I agree with some of the critics that the band should have given him his own character, as they did with Eric Carr, and Vinnie Vincent. Ace was and always will be the Spaceman, and it isn't fair to Tommy or the fans to keep him in Ace's makeup for the sake of BIG BUSINESS. Tommy is an excellent guitar player, and deserves to be recognized...as himself. This isn't as obvious in a strictly audio production, but once the DVD comes out...

MINUS: The concert is heavily edited, and the recording uses only 96 of the 140 or so available CD minutes.

PLUS: Although not really a plus for the CD itself, the whole shebang will be out on DVD soon, and should contain the entire concert, uncut. As was the case with McCartney's "Back In The USA", the DVD and CD will compliment each other (although, in Mac's case, the CD had more tunes), and besides, this gives the group a chance to capitalize on the extra material (a plus for them rather than us).

TOTAL: So, maybe it all balances out in the end. Overall, this CD is an excellent live collection of what have obviously been overplayed songs (c'mon...6 live albums, and no fewer than 5 greatest hits collections). I think it would have been in the band's best future interests to have included 4 or 5 more different (previously unreleased live) songs to really make this set a gem, but they didn't... So, it all comes down to what you value in your musical selections. If you value originality, this CD isn't for you. If you are a diehard fan, it is a "must have". But if you listen before you make a judgment, enjoy good "in your face" rock and roll with a slightly different twist, and don't care if you've heard the songs before, then I believe you will find that this CD will make an interesting and worthwhile addition to your collection.

So Alive IV finally came out after being promised to the KISS Army for, what, two or three years now? This KISS Symphony is waaaaaaaaaay better than what the original incarnation of ALive IV was supposed to be (the Millenium New Year's show in Vancouver). And who can blame KISS for taking the opportunity to fix their old record label's mistake (delay after delay of Alive IV and finally missing the boat completely when KISS left to start their own label) by finding something that they had never done yet - play with an orchestra. Tommy Thayer shines through as the Space Man of Right Now, Peter is back behind the kit where he belongs (E. Singer is great, but No), Gene keeps things tight on the bass, and Paul is, well, hard to shut up between songs. The biggest treat for KISS fans are the performances of Lick It Up, Forever, Shandi, and Great Expectations, all songs never recorded live in make-up. This version of Lick It Up is also the best version I've ever heard played. The show-stopper is God of Thunder with the orchestra adding even more ominous tones to an all ready dark arrangement - Gene had to be happy to with getting the top draw.

Overall it's not fair to compare this to the other three Alive albums, this one plays by its own rules. 4 out of 5 stars since Ace didn't show up to play.

I've always been a Kiss fan but ever since the reunion of the original line-up in 1996 their (old) songs have been rehashed and repackaged too often. The DVD version of Symphony is AWESOME and the sales figures of it say it all: Kiss is an audio-visual spectacle, hence the excellent sales of the DVD. On double CD -especially the 'limited' (ahum...) edition digi-pack - the band rocks equally fantastic but the general audience didn't buy the album so saleswise the CD version failed miserable. Let me make clear that this album deserved to be #1 but this cheaply repackaged single disc.... what a joke !!! The beautiful digi-pack double CD only costs some $ 4 more than this sh**ty CD and who oh who is gonna buy it then ??? If you want this CD, spend the $ 4 extra and get the digi-pack double CD.

Let me start out by saying that I'm as big a KISS fan as anybody can attest to - 30 years of amassed albums, memorabilia. etc... That being said... this album deserves a collective YAWN... It's not REALLY KISS - Ace Frehley bailed out...

I swear I'll never buy another KISS album that's just a retread of everything else, a bunch of the same stuff in different wrapping, and that's all this is. Sure they added an orchestra - unless somebody told you it was there, I'm not sure you'd realize it on most of the songs, and where you can hear it, adds no real value, anyways. I'm sick of the same ol' renditions of Detroit Rock City, Shout it Out Loud, R&R All Night, Duece, blah, blah, blah... Shandi was a nice touch, but stuck to the studio sound...

Don't waste your money - there's nothing ear-catching about this CD...

NOTE TO KISS - How about either hitting the studio for something new, or digging into the vault a little bit for something new and different...

Kiss's live sound has always managed to dwarf its studio sound. The arena just seems to bring their music to life in a way that the studio never has. For their 4th (and perhaps final) live albumn, one would expect to hear them doing what they do best; playing live and raw.

On Alive IV, the guys demonstrate that they have mentally slipped over the edge. They are ending their careers in a way they promised not to: as old, washed up rockers going out with a wimper. The Farewell Tour provided the band with a chance to end with dignity. This opportunity has officially been hijacked, and now Kiss's already shaky legacy seems doomed to become a joke. Several factors have led to this, not the least of which is the departure of Ace Freely. Their solution? To dress up another guitar player to look like him.

In addition, the band has regressed back to wearing ALIVE I era costumes, their cheapest looking and least impressive duds. Rather than looking like a warrior, Gene Simmons now looks like a fashion victim from an S & M shop. Pathetic. This albumn represents a sad, pathetic ending that should never have been.

I am not a critic. I am a one time devoted fan who simply can't spin the sad truth. As a one time devoted fan, I'm sad and dissapointed that this has happened. The guys haven't done the fans a favor by coming out of retirement; they have let us down. It didn't have to end this way, but it has, and its a shame.