Hot on the heels of the best selling Kissology Volume One: 1974 - 1977 comes the second three disc collection of vintage Kiss television appearances and live performances, this time covering the years between 1978 and 1991. The band went through a lot of change during these years. Ace and Peter both left the band, Vinnie Vincent joined and left to be replaced by Bruce Kulick and Eric Carr joined only to tragically pass away from cancer at the age of forty-one. The eighties saw record sales start to drop off and the band members reinvented themselves by taking off the famous make up and before that they saw their concept album, The Elder, fail commercially and critically. By the time the nineties were creeping up, however, Kiss were back in fine form churning out a few decent albums and on the verge of the make up reunion tour that would take place in the years that follow those covered in this collection (according to the insert booklet, Volume III is coming soon).

Here's a look at what's on each of the three discs in the collection:

Disc 1: 1978 - 1979

Land Of Hype And Glory With Edwin Newman - January 10, 1978: This excerpt from a 1978 interview runs for just shy of four minutes. Gene and Paul note in the commentary that they're being talked down to by Newman, though some good live clips are included here. Newman describes the band as heavy on style over substance, and then discusses their alter egos and gimmicks. Newman at one point asks Paul Stanley if Kiss bludgeon's rock to death. The band take it all in stride.

Kiss In Attack Of The Phantoms (a.k.a. Kiss Meets The Phantom Of The Park -European Theatrical Cut) - 1979: This is the European cut of the Hanna-Barbara made for TV movie in which Kiss play a live show at the Magic Mountain amusement park in Valencia, California. Unfortunately, a mad scientist makes some evil animatronic Kiss cyborgs that cruise around and cause trouble. Of course, the real Kiss has to show up and save the day, and then treat the fans to a rock and roll show. The whole film is ridiculous but it does play a little better in this alternate version that uses a lot of music from the four solo albums in place of the more common classic Kiss songs and other bits and pieces of music that are in the TV version. The film is also edited quite a bit differently and it's got some alternate scenes in it giving it a tighter pace and a slightly more coherent plot.

The Tomorrow Show With Tom Snyder - October 31, 1979: This segment cuts to commercial at roughly eleven minutes, meaning that there's a fair amount of material from the interview missing here. That said, it's amusing to see Snyder, who appears to be having fun with the interview, talk to a very obviously inebriated Ace Frehley while a rather pissed off looking Gene Simmons glares at him. Paul looks a little goofy in his sequined purple renaissance fair shirt, and Gene's molten lava armor makes him look like something out of He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe.

Disc 2: 1980 - 1982

Shandi (Music Video) - 1980: This promotional music video from 1980 more or less features the band doing their live thing, rocking out to this mid-tempo ballad - not a career highlight. Paul's sporting a nice purple headband and Gene just looks annoyed. This puppy runs for three and a half minutes and at the end we get to see Kiss put on street clothes.

CNN Interview With Peter Criss - September 24, 1980: Peter's got his back to the camera for this interview where he talks about his decision to leave Kiss. He says it wasn't fair to himself or the band to keep on playing when he was hurting as an artist and wanting to try his own thing rather than stay with Kiss and now have his heart in it.

Countdown - September 21, 1980: This clip shows Kiss introducing Eric Carr to their Australian fans on television. Ace might be drunk again, he's definitely goofier than usual. Eric comes out in his fox suit and gives a quick interview, talking about what it's like to be the new drummer for Kiss.

Rockpop - September 13, 1980:
This performance has either been overdubbed or it's the band lip-synching. Either way, they look cool bopping around to the disco infused first song with the keyboards wailing away in the background. Eric fits in well behind the drum set. The audience is made up of very proper looking clean cut people who sit down and applaud politely.

1. She's So European
2. Talk To Me

KISS Invades Australia - Sydney Showground: Sydney, Australia - November 22, 1980:
This full show starts off with some Australian fans talking about what they like about the band and naming their favorite members. The narrator discusses the Kiss phenomena, and we see the band address the audience after meeting the mayor. Paul hams it up and tells everyone Kiss loves them and then we see clips of the band visiting sick children in the hospital. From there it's press conference time, and some photo ops. From there the disc heads into the live show where the band plays some killer versions of:

1. Detroit Rock City
2. Cold Gin
3. Strutter
4. Shandi
5. Calling Dr. Love
6. Firehouse
7. Talk To Me
8. Is That You
9. 2000 Man
10. I Was Made For Lovin' You
11. New York Groove
12. Love Gun
13. God Of Thunder
14. Rock And Roll All Nite
15. Shout It Out Loud
16. King Of The Night Time World
17. Black Diamond

Fridays - January 15, 1982:
These two tracks, performed live in front of a studio audience, feature the band in their Elder costumes. The album continues to divide Kiss fans to this day and it's not one of their more popular efforts but seeing the band tear into a few tracks here definitely puts a bit more 'oomph' into the music as they play pretty aggressively even if the costumes are even more ridiculous than normal. Say what you will about the album, it's nice to at least see it partially represented on this set and there are some cool pyro effects at the end. Oddly enough, the set looks like it was leftover from Hee-Haw.

1. The Oath
2. A World Without Heroes
3. I

Top Pop - November 1982:
This television appearance features the band doing a version of I Love It Loud, and it too is either a lip-synch or it's been dubbed. Paul looks ridiculous pumping his fists in the air wearing a glittery metallic belly shirt but there's no denying the fact that the band look absolutely pumped up here. There's a lot of energy and enthusiasm to their movements.

Disc 3:

Maracana Stadium: Rio De Janeiro, Brazil July 18, 1983:
One of the last make-up shows features Gene just going nuts during the opening song, thrashing around on stage like a maniac. Vinnie Vincent is playing in Ace's place here and he's not quite as energetic as Mr. Frehley was but Gene and Paul more than make up for it by delivering an insanely high-energy performance. It's cool to see the tank up on stage built around the drum kit as well. It suits the band, particularly when they shoot it off at the end of Black Diamond to close the show.

1. Creatures Of The Night
2. Cold Gin
3. Calling Dr. Love
4. Firehouse
5. I Love It Loud
6. War Machine
7. Black Diamond
8. Rock And Roll All Nite

MTV Special: KISS Unmasking -September 18, 1983: This is it, the very first time that Kiss appeared in public without their make up on. Vinnie goes first, then Eric, then Paul and then finally Gene. They talk about how it feels good to have the make up off and how at times they would walk out into the crowd without their make up on to get a feel for the crowd. The band are in good spirits and seem excited to be reinventing themselves this time around and the chat candidly about the event.

Cascais Hall: Lisbon, Portugal - October 11, 1983:
Two tracks from the very first live show without make up on. The quality of the picture is rough, shot from far away using a camcorder, but the band has got some good energy. The tank is still on stage and Paul's voice sounds a little strained in spots but they're obviously giving 100% on stage and it shows.

1. Creatures Of The Night
2. Detroit Rock City

The Spectrum: Philadelphia, PA - December 18, 1987:
With Vinnie Vincent gone and Bruce Kulick in the band, they're sounding better than ever and Paul is a man possessed here, jumping around and wiggling like crazy in that special Paul Stanley way. Bruce doesn't move very much, he's a little more rigid than the other members of the band, but he plays really well. Paul's intro to Bang, Bang, You is stage banter gold. Gene plays much of the set with a black bra hanging off of his bass and Paul Stanley's pants are simply amazing in their awfulness.

1. Love Gun
2. Bang Bang You
3. Crazy Crazy Nights
4. Reason To Live
5. No, No, No

The Palace At Auburn Hills: Detroit, MI - October 14, 1990:
The Hot In The Shade Tour is nicely represented with this full set, one of Eric Carr's last shows with the band. The band is in great shape and delivers a very solid performance here, in one of their favorite American cities. Gene looks out of place in a Misfits shirt but it's nifty to see him playing a bass with his face painted on the body. Bruce moves more this time around and seems considerably more comfortable with the band and with himself as a musician. He still doesn't have the energy that Ace did in the glory days but he's much improved. Paul's his usual talkative self, doing his best to get the audience amped up in between songs and encouraging everyone to sing along and clap their hands. They cruise through a nice selection of classics and throw in a few song that were ,at the time of the show, more recent hits.

1. I Stole Your Love
2. Deuce
3. Heaven's On Fire
4. Crazy Crazy Nights
5. Black Diamond
6. Shout It Out Loud
7. Strutter
8. Calling Dr. Love
9. I Was Made For Lovin' You
10. Fits Like A Glove
11. Hide Your Heart
12. Lick It Up
13. God Of Thunder
14. Forever
15. Cold Gin
16. Tears Are Falling
17. I Love It Loud
18. Love Gun
19. Detroit Rock City
20. I Want You
21. Rock And Roll All Nite

Day In Rock - November 25, 1991: MTV News Excerpt: This is an archival clip from the broadcast in which MTV reported Carr's death from a cancer at the age of 41.

Music Video - God Gave Rock 'N' Roll To You II: This is exactly what the title says, it's the promotional video for the song of the same name and, in a fitting way to end the third and final disc in the set, it's the last thing the band did with Eric Carr before he died.

Video:

With the exception of Kiss In Attack Of The Phantoms (which is presented 2.35.1 widescreen) everything in this set is fullframe. Picture quality differs from one clip to the next and the newer material looks better than the older stuff does for the most part but by and large, things look good here. There aren't any problems with mpeg compression artifacts and while some print damage shows up from time to time, it's never overpowering. Some of the older video clips are blurry and fuzzy looking but that's unfortunately got everything to do with the source material, not the transfers. Kiss In Attack Of The Phantoms has a few scratches here and there and looks a little tight in 2.35.1 but it's definitely in better shape here than on the various bootlegs that have been making the rounds over the years. Thankfully the widescreen presentation is also anamorphic.