''You Wanted the Best, You Got the Best!!'' is a live compilation album released by American

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

band

Kiss A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...

. The album was issued to coincide with the group's 1996–97

Alive/Worldwide Tour The Alive/Worldwide Tour (also known as the Reunion Tour) was a concert tour by American heavy metal band Kiss which began on June 28, 1996 in Detroit, United States and concluded on July 5, 1997 in London, England. It was the first tour wi ...

. All of the songs on the album are live versions, with most taken from '' Alive!'' (1975) or ''

Alive II ''Alive II'' is the second live album by American hard rock band Kiss, released on October 14, 1977, by Casablanca Records. The band had released three albums (''Destroyer'', ''Rock and Roll Over'', and ''Love Gun'') since the previous live out ...

'' (1977). Four recordings had been previously unreleased, with the liner notes stating that the tracks are

outtake An outtake is a portion of a work (usually a film or music recording) that is removed in the editing process and not included in the work's final, publicly released version. In the digital era, significant outtakes have been appended to CD and DV ...

s from ''Alive!'' and ''Alive II''-era recordings. The final track is an interview with the reunited group, conducted by

Jay Leno James Douglas Muir Leno (; born April 28, 1950) is an American television host, comedian, writer, and actor. After doing stand-up comedy for years, he became the host of NBC's ''The Tonight Show'' from 1992 to 2009. Beginning in September 2009 ...

Reception

The album received mixed reviews.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, occ ...

gave the album one star out of five and said, "It's a

rip-off ''Rip Off'' is a multidirectional shooter with black and white vector graphics written by Tim Skelly and released in arcades by Cinematronics in 1980. It was the first shooter with cooperative gameplay and an early game to exhibit flocking b ...

album, pure and simple... There is simply no reason for this to exist... you may have wanted the best, but you didn't get it – you just got exploited." ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' 1996 review was also negative, calling it a "shameless reunion-promotion biscuit". However, the 2004 album guide by the same magazine gave the album three stars out of five. The album was

certified Certification is the provision by an independent body of written assurance (a certificate) that the product, service or system in question meets specific requirements. It is the formal attestation or confirmation of certain characteristics of a ...

gold by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

on May 21, 1997.

Track listing

The Japanese CD and US vinyl releases had another live track ("

New York Groove "New York Groove" is a song written by English musician and producer Russ Ballard. The song was covered by rock band Hello (band), Hello in 1975 and later by Ace Frehley (formerly of Kiss (band), Kiss) for his Ace Frehley (album), 1978 solo al ...

"), featuring

Eric Carr Paul Charles Caravello (July 12, 1950 – November 24, 1991), better known professionally as Eric Carr, was an American musician who was the drummer for the rock band Kiss from 1980 to 1991. Caravello was selected as the new Kiss drummer after ...

on drums rather than

Peter Criss George Peter John Criscuola (born December 20, 1945), better known by his stage name Peter Criss, is a retired American musician, best known as a co-founder, original drummer, and vocalist of the hard rock band Kiss (band), Kiss. Criss establi ...

, which was also released as a promotional single at

Blockbuster Blockbuster or Block Buster may refer to: *Blockbuster (entertainment) a term coined for an extremely successful movie, from which most other uses are derived. Corporations * Blockbuster (retailer), a defunct video and game rental chain ** Bl ...

. The track is also available on the

Apple Music Apple Music is a music, audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users select music to stream to their device on-demand, or they can listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the Internet radio stations Apple M ...

version of the album.

Personnel

;Kiss *

Paul Stanley Paul Stanley (born Stanley Bert Eisen; January 20, 1952) is an American musician who is the co-founder, frontman, rhythm guitarist and co-lead vocalist of the hard rock band Kiss. He is the writer or co-writer of many of the band's most popular ...

– rhythm guitar, vocals *

Gene Simmons Gene Simmons (born Chaim Witz; he, חיים ויץ, ; born August 25, 1949) is an Israeli-American musician. Also known by his stage persona The Demon, he is the bassist and co-lead singer of Kiss, the hard rock band he co-founded with Paul ...

– bass guitar, vocals *

Ace Frehley Paul Daniel "Ace" Frehley (; born April 27, 1951) is an American musician, best known as the original lead guitarist and co-founding member of the hard rock band Kiss. He invented the persona of The Spaceman (a.k.a. Space Ace) and played wit ...

– lead guitar, vocals on "New York Groove" *

– drums, vocals on "Beth" *

– drums on "New York Groove"

Charts

Album

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1996 live albums Kiss (band) compilation albums Kiss (band) live albums Mercury Records compilation albums 1996 compilation albums