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Kiss forever

From page 5 of Classic Rock Magazine October 2003

Cover of October 2003 issue.

Jon Hotten’s review of ‘Kiss Symphony: Alive IV’ (September issue) was a disgrace.

Hotten mentioned the fact that some of the songs have been on previous live Kiss albums. This is because they are classic songs, simple as that. And Hotten doesn’t mention the fact that out of the four live albums Kiss have released they have been recorded by three different line-ups of the band.

Throughout the review, Hotten kept going on about how much money Kiss have earned. Well, I have been a fan of the band for 25 years and I know how they – in particular Gene Simmons – love the lure of the dollar. But that doesn’t stop me and many others from loving their music. If I wanted an article on money, I would have bought the Financial Times.

I was hoping for a genuine review of the album, which I think is awesome, but Hotten completely failed to deliver. And, by the way, ‘Forever’ isn’t a Michael Bolton song, it was co-written by Paul Stanley and Michael Bolton.

Having said all that, I was very pleased to see the feature on Karnataka in the July issue. Their ‘Delicate Flame Of Desire’ album is an awesome creation; it manages to combine immediate listenability with a depth of arrangement and production that reveals more each time you play it. It is, I believe, one of the best albums to emerge over the past 10 years.

It’s sad that the members of the general public, their senses dulled by Pop Idol and other such monstrosities, know very little about this sort of music. Well done for giving Karnataka a look in.

Andrew Weave