20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Kiss
The 20th Century Masters series is the best-selling single-artist line in music history and is being re-released by Universal Music Enterprises (UMe) in its ground-breaking, environmentally-friendly packaging format. A first for the music industry, the standard package (both sleeve and tray) will be completely paper-recyclable, continuing the company’s long-standing commitment to being “green.”To further reduce the amount of paper in the Eco-Pack, the CD booklet will no longer b [Read More...]
Buy 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Kiss at Amazon
What else is on my mind today: What do you think is the Best Song Ever? See if it is on the list…
It sure seems like people have an axe to grind with these 20th Century Masters “Best Of” collections. The common complaints are usually with the song selection and the album length. No matter what songs appear on a “best of” or “greatest hits” package, there’s always going to be a track that gets left off that you think is one of the band’s better tracks. As to the album length - while it’s true they left room for another 30 minutes worth of material, this compilation is not supposed to be some all encompassing anthology. The 20th Century Masters series serves as an introduction to the artist and their most noteworthy material. Typically that means 10-12 tracks, which obviously won’t fill the entire disc.
I am exactly the type of consumer that this compilation is targeting. I’m not a serious KISS fan, but I like some of their songs. I wanted a compilation that had a good song selection and decent sound quality. There were plenty of collections to choose from, but the 20th Century Masters series provided exactly what I was looking for, and at a very reasonable price. They split the material well, so between this disc and Volume 2 (sold separately) you get a good overview of what KISS was all about. Volume 1, which covers the band’s early days, features the band’s best known material, digitally remastered, at about half the cost of the average CD.
For those of you die-hard KISS fans bemoaning the fact that there is yet another KISS “best of” album on the market, the answer is simple - don’t buy it. Gene will no doubt survive if you don’t add this disc to your collection. The Best of KISS: 20th Century Masters (volume 1) is meant as an overview for casual fans and those unfamiliar with KISS’s music, and it serves that purpose well.
NOTE: This compilation is also available in eco-friendly packaging (recycled paper sleeves and trays, liner notes posted online rather than including a CD booklet), for those who prefer a “greener” approach to CD buying.