SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: KISS – ROCK AND ROLL OVER (50th ANNIVERSARY EDITION)

KISS
ROCK AND ROLL OVER (50th ANNIVERSARY EDITION)
UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP

The latest from KISS in their never-ending run of re-issues is Rock and Roll Over (50th Anniversary Edition). This time around the technology (and perhaps with the help of AI), is pushing the boundaries to clear up all the unnecessary hiss. We are at pinnacle stage in recording development where any more improvement moving forward must be mindful when cleaning up these classic recordings because we need the integrity to be intact. Fans want to hear the warts and all without the aid of a recording correction process. The remixing and remastering method on this 50th Anniversary release feels very similar to what Giles Martin recently did with The Beatles recordings by taking away and cleaning up without inserting additional out of date old school alteration methods.

This new 6LP (180-gram black vinyl) + Blu-ray Audio Box Set and 4CD + Blu-ray Audio Box Set are remastered by Bernie Grundman. His stereo remaster is not as important as are the original 1976 masters once in the careful hands of the legendary Eddie Kramer in 2026. His remixes are the crème de la crème of the box set and fulfill expectations for all audiences. Your ears are greeted with fabulous fidelity delivery in maximum positioning. This brings me back to my point that advancement can only do so much until it starts to taint the integrity of the music. This moment in time feels like a good passage we currently and collectively all must embrace because it feels like Rock and Roll Over (50th Anniversary Edition) is sounding better than the band’s previous effort from earlier that year, the immaculate Bob Ezrin-produced Destroyer. Eddie Kramer is known for recording at Electric Lady Studios, a recording studio of mythical status, but KISS instead was positioned in a theatre setting in Nanuet, New York for the recording sessions that gave us Rock and Roll Over (50th Anniversary Edition).

The major staple in this release is the Paul Stanley-penned single “Hard Luck Woman.” The original plan was to give it to Rod Stewart, but it turned out to be a much better idea to have their own raspy voiced drummer, Peter Criss sing it instead. “Calling Doctor Love” is the other released single from the record and has an original start as a decent demo called “High And Low,” featuring Gene Simmons on lead guitar. Another piece from these sessions is the instrumental “Daily Planet” and the piano driving “Dreamer,” featuring once again Simmons doing everything. “I Want You” opens with a soft acoustic approach before ripping into arena rock vengeance, and for the first time the song doesn’t sound like it was recorded in two different studios, separating the first 14 seconds from the rest of the song. This time the song feels more cohesive and together, much like most of the package presented here including outtakes and demos that have that same clean-up advanced technology applied.

Some songs like “Makin’ Love” sound like they were sped up or perhaps tightened up to match the song’s original key pitch. The instrumental “Queen For A Day” has been sought after for some time and now the fans get to hear Gene Simmons tell the late Ace Frehley to stop a riff and he will “tell him later” how everything fits. For those of you who are craving one last good concert of KISS in their heyday, this need is met in a set of shows found here at The Nippon Budokan, Japan, in early April of 1977, a time when KISS was to the ‘70s what The Beatles were to the 60s. A new space in time is extended here with a sonic uplift in Rock and Roll Over (50th Anniversary Edition) like KISS never had before and probably never will again.

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