From the other side of most Kiss fans’ coin….I myself LOVE THIS FUCKING RECORD!!!!! I first got it as a bootleg in probably 1996-ish….so admittedly, wasn’t big on that bootleg upon first listen….it grew exponentially upon further listening. First song I gravitated towards was Tell Me (Master & Slave)….next was Rain, It Never Goes Away, Jungle, Seduction of the Innocent….great stuff. But, I have to backtrack and say, I’m a HUGE Bruce Kulick fan. Met him for the first time in Merrillville, Indiana in April 1994….OMG!!!! 30 fucking years!!!! Anyway, Once this was FINALLY released, I was thrilled!!!! I Walk Alone was my personal anthem for years….and then the Union records….LOVE THEM!!!! In short, Bruce Kulick is a god and Carnival of Souls is a masterpiece!!!!!

I enjoyed this episode and your opinions. I love"CoS". Most of all Paul. He🎤performs the "apocalyptic" mood of depression. Not everyone can bear the depressive singing. But this is exactly what's so heavy, metal dark 🌑 metal heavy, threatening. Paul is right. He is honest, bipolar on "CoS". Very authentic, the way how he🎤feels "weak" and then finds his way out to an amazingly powerful🔥 vocal performance. This is KISS 💋 energy💥

Love this album. My first go with this, my buddy found the album online and downloaded a really bad version of it song by song. I questioned if it was really kiss at first until I heard Paul’s voice . I remember reading the song titles in mags and the possibility of if and when the album would come out. I remember seeing the possible album cover on the “kiss my ass” video and in the huge kiss book. I remember seeing other song titles like “ crown of thorns”, “blister”, “ closed doors welcome no one” and trying to find those. I still have my version of the bootleg on cassette. And after the concert stages of the sphinx and stair of liberty , I’d think the natural progression would have been that big head on stage with fire blazing out the top. That would have been awesome. And I’ll disagree with these guys that Paul sounds bad on this album. However I do agree that it’s not a regular Paul sound. Gene could have sang all of these as a solo album and it would be great. And I’d love an extended version of this album with the Bruce song “ change is coming” genes “ carnival of souls , and if they had done a cos version of one of Paul’s songs “live to win”, “ lift”, or “ wake up screaming” it would be great . Here’s my ranking 1. Hate 2. Master and slave ( great riff) 3. In my head 4. Never goes away- Paul singing a Black Sabbath song. Is a great mix in my book 5. The jungle 6. I walk alone 7. In the mirror 8. Childhoods end 9. Seduction of the innocent 10. Rain 11. I will be there 12 I confess No bad songs and Bruce kills it on this album. I wanna hear his band play the whole album, maybe with Gene singing it, and of course Eric on drums .

Some points regarding the album: The album was _technically_ mixed and mastered, but not really. The extent of the mixing was what was done in the studio by the producer, and was mastered more or less as/is, which was why it had that "live in the studio" vibe. The only real overdubs on the album were those that Bruce laid down while Gene & Paul were busy with prep for the reunion tour. They pretty much left the album to him to finish, which was why he was all over every track. Gene and Paul had no intention of releasing the album, so as to not impede the reunion tour. They owed Mercury one more studio album on that contract, or alternately, three secondaries (live albums or compilations.) They chose to release three secondaries in lieu of a studio album, in order to fulfill that contract and negotiate a new (better) contract with the reformed lineup. The secondaries they released were _Unplugged,_ _Greatest Kiss,_ and _You Wanted The Best, You Got The Best._ Someone hired a PR firm to compile a report showing how many bootleg/internet copies of _Carnival of Souls_ were in circulation, and once Gene & Paul were shown that they were literally leaving money on the table by not releasing it, they acquiesced. They could have sold it at the merch tables on tour, but again, the focus was all on the original lineup. Mercury released "Jungle" as a single and it went to #27 with absolutely zero promotion from the band or label, just from the sheer momentum of the hype surrounding the original lineup reforming. The cover photo was an afterthought. Gene & Paul wanted it to come in a plain white label with a stamped title and serial number, a'la the Beatles White Album (itself an homage to the Bob Dylan _Great White Wonder_ bootleg series) in order to go along with the whole "bootleg" vibe. Mercury used a photo instead that was meant for the back of the CD jewelcase. The band later revisited the concept of "official bootleg" packaging with the _Off The Soundboard_ series.

Grumpy Starchild!

Barnacle of Trolls: The Final Depression is the result of a cataclysmic event that ripped a hole in space time fabric. It seemed that Gene Simmons took part in a cherry pie eating contest, not realizing real cherry pies were involved instead of women. When he finished, he was so bloated, he let out a fart so massive the earth shook, the moon bounced, and this album dropped out of the sky, contaminating record stores everywhere.

Bruce Kulick is to Carnival of Souls what Steve Brown is to 10,000 Volts.

I always thought Paul looked very cool on the cover. It was never meant to be the cover.

This album could easily be either Hotter Than Hell Part 2 OR The Elder Part 2....OR Revenge Part 2

havent played this since year i bought it !!! the music sounds real heavy but once paul (someone pissed in my carrot juice ) stanley starts singing its not worth it. william duvall and jerry cantrell remake this album

I had just recently gotten married and my wife and I went to Walmart and came across COS. I had know idea KISS was releasing anything.

KISS' heaviest album. It would have a different fate if released with the original "flaming head cover". But the cover was sold and used as a Queen Latifah album after COS was shelved

Zeus is talking nonsense. Tom is right, there will be no input from Paul n Gene, if there was we would've seen a 50th anniversary box set, just sayin. Btw i have been a fan since i was 9, saw them at vfl park in 1980 when i was 15....

Zeus is wrong. Pophouse owns it. They don't need input to do anything. And why would they need to ask Tommy and Eric anything?

@RockandrollNegro

4 ай бұрын

Pophouse owns _Monster_ and _Sonic Boom,_ they don't own the Casablanca/Polygram/Mercury catalog.

I wanted to like it since the day one We all had bootleg copies way before it's actual release date....I have tried many times again and again....but sorry 😢...I freaking do not like a single song on that disc....to me a total failure.....imho. you're welcome. This one , Monster and Sonic Boom are unlistenable.

@iancocks9408

4 ай бұрын

Cos tfs is awful, so is sonic boom, I really like monster