In Brief

KISS’ strong suit is stage spectacle, not musical substance, and these tracks, recorded and shelved prior to the group’s 1996 reunion mega-tour, offer no evidence to the contrary. The strongest borrow heavily from early Black Sabbath; the worst are attempts at Beatle-esque pop and Zeppelin-ish folk rock that clunk along awkwardly. These ghastly apparitions should have stayed in the vault.

*

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor) to four stars (excellent).

*

Hear the Music

* Excerpts from these albums and other recent releases are available on The Times’ World Wide Web site. Point your browser to: http://pyxis.nohib.com/soundclips