FROM THE CRYPTS - CELEBRATING PAST ALBUM RELEASES in the HISTORY of HARD ROCK & HEAVY METAL…
On November 20, 2001, KIϟϟ released The Box Set via Mercury/Universal Records.
Background:
With KIϟϟ supposedly set to retire by early 2001, the band released the career-encompassing collection entitled simply The Box Set, which is a five-CD collection of recordings drawn from the KIϟϟ archives reportedly selected by the band. The Box Set includes 94 tracks, including 30 previously unreleased band and solo demos, outtakes, live recordings, and a 120-page color booklet with track-by-track commentary by band members Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley, and Peter Criss, detailed track information, photos and essays. A limited number of the set were released in a guitar case-shaped box.
Performance & Critical Reception:
The Box Set peaked at No. 128 on the Billboard 200 and was certified gold by the The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on December 18, 2001.
In a review for AllMusic, Greg Prato writes;
“Longtime KIϟϟ fans have come to expect things done on a grand scale by their masked heroes, and everyone's favorite Rock & Roll merchandising machine doesn't disappoint with their 2001 anthology, The Box Set. Clocking in at a hefty six hours (that's a 94-song track listing of demos, rarities, hits, album tracks, and live material crammed onto five discs), the set comes in three different configurations, the first being a modestly priced, standard seven-by-11-inch box, the second a replica guitar case version, and the third (and most costly) gold premium edition, which features a larger case and additional gadgets. All three sets come with a 120-page color book, including track-by-track commentary mostly by Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley (a little more insight from Ace Frehley and Peter Criss wouldn't have hurt) and a biography by Jeff Kitts. While some fans voiced displeasure about the absence of certain rarities (most notably the holy grail of all KIϟϟ collectors, several songs that Eddie and Alex Van Halen demoed with Gene Simmons back in 1977) and that this is the umpteenth time the group has recycled their renowned anthems for a compilation, Box Set ultimately delivers. For the most part (give or take a track or two), each disc chronicles a certain time period of the band. Disc one features the pre-KIϟϟyears up to 1975, disc two features 1975-1977, disc three features 1977-1982, disc four features 1983-1990, and disc five features 1991-2000. Included are demos of such KIϟϟ classics as Strutter, Deuce, God of Thunder, and Love Gun, as well as demos of tracks that never made it to any of their albums: Doncha Hesitate, Mad Dog, and Love Is Blind, among others. But it doesn't end there; you'll also find tracks by the pre-KIϟϟ group Wicked Lester (including an almost unrecognizable version of She, a song KIϟϟ would later re-record themselves) and a live take of the oft-overlooked Ace Frehley gem Talk to Me, plus an unreleased KIϟϟ version of It's My Life (the song was only previously available on an obscure Wendy O. Williams solo album) from their studio album, 1998's Psycho Circus. The balance between the obscure and the well-known is tempered out with the inclusion of such scream-along arena rockers as Black Diamond, Do You Love Me, Detroit Rock City, Rock and Roll All Nite, and I Love it Loud, as well as spotlighting such underrated album tracks as Strange Ways, Parasite, Goin' Blind, Larger Than Life, Sure Know Something, and War Machine. Although the quality of the material begins to dip on the last two discs (both focus primarily on the group's wishy-washy unmasked era, when Simmons and Stanley were the only two original members left), there's a little something for each KIϟϟ fan to sink their teeth into on Box Set.”
Note: The reviews shared here are for historical reference. The views and opinions expressed within are not always supported (in full or in part) by Into the Wells. — E.N. Wells
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