KISSOLOGY 2 was a good follow up to one of the greatest Music DVD releases ever. It was, however, flawed by edited and shortened concerts. Some unavoidable due to source material being incomplete (like the Rio '83 concert), but mostly due to editorial decisions. It wasn't a popular move, but the set was still very good and what was on there was great.

Now with KISSOLOGY 3 they have again included an incomplete concert or two due to editorial decisions. This is unfortunate, because some of the songs missing are some of the highlights of those particular shows!

The Detroit 1992 show from the Revenge Tour SHOULD have been included in its entirety. Many fans feel that the Revenge era was the high point of the bands' career, and that tour featured some fantastic performances of both classic and more recent material. MIA from that show, inexplicably, are "Hotter Than Hell," "Firehouse," "I Want You," "Strutter," "Forever," and "Shout it out Loud." Even more perplexing is the fact that the bonus disc of the Sao Paulo show from 1994 is (possibly) complete! While that IS a great development (the first bonus disc with just about a complete concert - this one is only missing, if anything, the final encore of "Rock and Roll All Night," and according to sources they may not have even played it at that show), it is also disappointing since they didn't give that treatment to the Detroit '92 show on the main DVD set. (Unfortunately, the version with the Sao Paulo bonus disc will not be available through Amazon...)

Also missing are a handful of songs from the Tiger Stadium show from '96, as well as some great TV appearances that should have been locks to be included (Arsenio Hall 1993 and Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve 1993 being the two big omissions).

However, on the other end of the spectrum, we're FINALLY going to get an official DVD release of (just about) the complete Unplugged set - including the goofing around. So for this show we're actually getting and EXPANDED version. This was a great show, as the band shows just how solid their songs are, still sounding great in a stripped down setting. Eric Singer gives one of the best, most nuanced performances of his career, and Bruce is as solid as a rock playing electric songs on an acoustic guitar - not always an easy thing to do.

The Dodger Stadium show from 1998 (the kickoff to the Psycho Circus tour) was a great show (I was there), and will be included here in its entirety with a new audio and video edit (they went back to the raw feeds and re-edited the video and remixed the audio). This is something long overdue for release on DVD. This was a show teased on TV, but never officially shown in its complete form.

With the majority of Detroit '92 (GREAT show) and Detroit '96 (rough show on all counts, notably the band's peroformance and how the show is presented on the disc - clearly video footage for the giant screens at the stadium, it doesn't work very well as a home video release) both included, the expanded Unplugged performance included, and the complete Dodger Stadium '98, and a (heavily edited) concert from the 2000 "Farewell" tour this set has a TON of great stuff. The Brooklyn Bridge set, while short, is GREAT! The band is tight and energetic, and the sound is good.

But, wait - there's more! If you buy it on the first pressing you will be able to get a fourth disc. One WAY out of chronological order, but perhaps the prized jewel of the entire series. It's the COMPLETE Coventry show from December 1973 that they teased on the first KISSOLOGY set (with the "easter egg" of "Deuce" from that show). The earliest known KISS live footage. It's a one camera from the back of the room recording, but it's still a great bit of KISStory.

Overall, KISSOLOGY 3 looks like another very good entry in the series - one only marred by missing songs and a couple missing TV performances. Still, this is definitely a, "Must Have," for any KISS fan.

I love love this series so much, It's such a damn shame it ends here. I am very pleased with this Kissology trilogy. Now, onto the review.

Disk 1:

Palace of Auburn Hills, Detroit MI 1992 (Revenge Tour)- Surely, there were better concerts from this tour, than this concert. There still are intense performances on here. Overall: 7.5/10

Unplugged Behind the Scenes: Nice little treat looking back at the Convention and rehearsals. I love when Gene says "Hiya Pete" and Peter says Geno. I love it when Gene says "Frehley" to Ace. Overall: 8.5/10

MTV Unplugged: Every momment of this is pure magic, I love it. Overall: 10/10

Disk 2:

Tiger Stadium, Detroit MI 1996 (Reunion Tour): What can i say, I really don't like this concert. There were way better concerts than this, that's for sure. The sourced video is a screen feed, it was meant for who were there watching it, not a home viewing audience. Overall: 5.5/10

MTV Vma Performance, Brooklyn Bridge NY 1996: Great great performances on this. I love the intensity. Overall: 10/10

Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles CA 1998 Psycho Circus tour)- Great video & sound quality. It's probably one of the better concerts from this tour. Overall: 10/10

Disk 3:

Dodger Stadium Part 2: Same review as above

Detroit Rock City premiere party, Los Angeles CA 1999: great little gig hyped for the movie. Overall: 9.5/10

"The Last Kiss" Continental Arena, East Rutherford NJ 2000 (Farewell tour): Outstanding, outstanding video & sound quality, and one of the better concerts from this tour. Overall: 10/10

Disk 4:

Coventry, Queens NYC 1973: not the best quality, but a great & historical gig that had to be on here. It sounds terrible on Surround Sound though, but I love this concert. Overall: 10/10

Bonus Disk:

Madison Square Garden, NYC 1996 (Reunion Tour): My absolute favorite out of this whole volume. Great performances, and the band sounds tight. This should have been included on the main set instead of TS. Overall: 100/10

The entire KISSOLOGY series is, in my view, the greatest release in the long history of the band. The value for money is astounding, as is the obvious amount of time and dedication that must have gone into putting this all together in such an attractive and comprehensive set. Volume 1 is simply awesome, covering 4 complete concerts from the pinnacle of the band's career in the '70's. Volume 2 covers the 1978-1991 period brilliantly with highlights for me being the fabulous widescreen "Attack of the Phantoms", comprehensive coverage of the 1980-Unmasked period, and a great concert from the HITS tour.

Volume 3 was always going to be the least exciting of the sets, given that it covers the 1992-2000 period, but overall, given the incredible value for money, I believe it would be totally unfair not to award this set 5 stars.

What do you get ?

1992 Palace of Aubern Hills Detroit "Revenge" Concert. This is one of three concerts that was filmed for the home video "KISS Konfidential" and put to the music of Alive III. On KISSOLOGY we are seeing for the first time the show for itself, with "real" audio. The visuals are also very different as the Konfidential release had a grainy "film" look to it (done by transferring the original video to film) whereas this release is the original video. As such the picture quality is much brighter and crisper than the more "classic" look they were trying to achieve on Konfidential. The main problem I have with this concert is that the vocals are down way too low in the mix. I assume this is because they always expected to use the "Alive III" audio as soundtrack for Konfidential and for whatever reason, this "video crew" recording doesn't effectively capture the vocals in the mix. My initial reaction was that this concert was going to be unwatchable, but then I found myself glued to the TV for the next several tracks, transfixed by a stunning performance. KISS is so tight, mean and hungry at this show that it makes it absolutely compelling. I was expecting it to have dated - but it has not - this was the makeup-era at it's absolute peak. Just a shame about the vocal mix.

MTV Unplugged - Behind The Scenes. Good documentary - similar but not the same as the one on the Unplugged VHS.

1995 MTV Unplugged. Brilliant. Fabulous "complete" concert in top quality containing several songs not previously released on either the CD or VHS. Highlights here are a hilarious hill-billy version of "God of Thunder" and a very groovy take of "Spit". Top notch.

1996 Tiger Stadium Detroit. This recording is for me the biggest disappointment in the KISSOLOGY series. What was probably the most important gig in the band's history, the historic reunion gig at the massive Tiger Stadium, was not filmed for home viewing - this is the video that was shot on the night to feed the giant video screen. As such the focus is on close-up shots of band members, with hardly any shots of the audience or of the complete stage. Making matters worse the band is still seemingly a little nervy, or rusty, and there are several mistakes. The mix is pretty bad too with the drums too loud ! Finally the video of the between-songs banter is blacked-out, so although you get to hear Mr. Stanley's raps, you don't get to see them. Very frustrating and in fact I stopped watching after the first 5 or so songs. As an aside, the 1996 Madison Square Garden concert (available as bonus disc from certain retailers) is much better with the band very tight and Frehley particularly in blistering form. I can only assume they chose to put the Tiger Stadium gig on the main set, for it's historic significance.

1996 MTV Video Music Awards Performance - Shot near the Brooklyn Bridge in NY, KISS plays five classics, including "New York Groove". Great band performance, very well shot.

1998 Dodger Stadium LA. This is a great quality complete concert from the Psycho Circus Tour. Only gripe is that they were unable to locate the video from the camera covering Peter Criss, so for much of the show, you only get the occasional glimpse of the catman. His solo is well covered though. Includes Into The Void, Within and the title track from the PC album. Great lighting.

1999 Detroit Rock City Premier Party LA. Four songs, well shot - much the same as the Dodger Stadium performance really.

2000 Continental Arena, New Jersey. From the Farewell tour - best stage set of all the reunion period, this was a pay-per-view TV special at the time. As such, great audio and video document of the farewell tour.

1973 Coventry Queens, NY. This is the first film footage ever taken of KISS while they were still playing clubs before the release of their debut album. Shot in black and white by Bill Aucoin on a single camera at the back of the club, the video quality is very poor, but the audio is quite acceptable given the age. Great historical document, but I must admit I was literally falling asleep by this time. Very much a hardcore bonus.

Easter Eggs. There are 3 Easter eggs; one on each of the first 3 discs. First is a compelling mini-documentary (about 5 mins) on the making of Carnival of Souls. I don't like the album, but this is a little nugget. The second is a non-makeup sound check performance from the MTV awards gig - playing Love Gun. Quite fun. Third is a performance of 2000 Man played at the turn of the new millennium in Vancouver.

Overall, exceptional value for money, great audio and video and packaging, with just a couple of flaws (Vocal mix on the Revenge concert and the all round weak Tiger Stadium show). But more than worth the price for just the great MTV Unplugged and Dodger Stadium shows alone.

A fitting end to the Trilogy. If you can, look out for the version which has the Madison Square Garden bonus disc - which is a better document of the Reunion Tour than Tiger Stadium.

Gene has now said there will be 10 volumes in the KISSOLOGY series. Let's hope they keep it going with some more unreleased 70's concerts like Anaheim or Houston '76. Also I'd love the complete Largo 1977 show that was partly released as a bonus disc on Vol 1.

I really cant complain too much here - its another killer set of live KISS shows, and the best looking of the 3 sets thanks to improved stage and video technology. And how many bands would sell 5 DVD's when most bands would only sell you 1 or 2 of just one show for the same price?

But there are some things that annoy me about this set. I really disliked the commentary this time around. Paul and Gene sound like a bunch of lawyers here, dour and very unhappy talking about how the reunion with Ace and Peter ended up in the end. It's not much fun to hear if you're a fan of those two. Yeah they both had serious problems but they didn't deserve to be bashed again. And for history's sake since this set is going to be in fans collections for years, Peter and Ace could have been interviewed for their side of the story.

The Auburn Hills show has the vocals mixed too low on the 2:1 mix. And this was a show they were doing for Alive III.. ah what happened here? I really wish there was more stuff on Kissology 2 and 3 from the non-makeup era. To me KISS was just as great a band without the makeup. There was more concentration on the music with no annoying pandering to the teenyboppers. (and Paul and Gene could move around better on-stage without high heels) This era shouldn't be glossed over.

Loved the MTV Unplugged show, it's even more fun now. I agree with others that the in-between parts are worth watching. And with all the hype and build-up the Tiger Stadium show got, you'd think the band would have sprung for a full camera crew to fully document this major event. I saw some great footage on the "Second Coming" VHS that looked great, its a shame those cameramen didn't film the whole show. I got the Wallyworld edition (Xmas gift card) so I have the MSG '96 performance, which is a much better looking show video-wise. The band has really loosened up a month later on the road and having fun back in NYC. It still has some blackouts here and there, and the sound quality is a little noisy.

MTV VMA's looked great like it did on TV, too bad it wasn't a full show. The Dodger stadium show wound up being a lot better than what I remember seeing on FOX TV. The Last KISS is a OK performance though the video footage is the best recorded of the box. The fire Ace and especially Peter had at the beginning of the reunion tour just isn't here anymore the third time around. It reminded me of the show I saw during this tour at the Dallas Smirnoff (aka Starplex) where the band just went through the motions.

On the other hand, I loved the Coventry NY performance. It's raw and unpolished but lots of fun to see the band in it's earliest days.

If you have the first two Kissologies, get this one.

Merry Kissmas everyone. I too was hoping that the Tiger Stadium show would be similar to the "Shout it out loud" video that is from that concert. Be that as it may, it is a great deal for $22.99. I would have paid that amount for Unplugged alone. Sure there are better shows, better recordings, better tours...but for the money you can't beat it. What other band is putting out stuff like this. Maybe they will take a hint from KISS and put out some Van Halen, Black Sabbath, Cheap Trick, Aerosmith, etc.... I thing we would have the right to complain if it was more money. Remember how excited we were when we saw little snippets on the other KISS DVD releases like KISS Konfidential and KISS my A$$. Here we are getting a lot for our dollar. Bottom line, Buy it, Play it, Enjoy it, Relive the memories!!