all you have to do is look on this page and you'll see a thread for Kissology Vol. 2, which is coming out tomorrow. Say what you want about Gene and Paul as businessmen, but the Kissology sets are freaking brilliant. Taking oft-bootlegged concerts, rare tv appearences and other goodies and releasing them for an affordable price, they are making a killing by giving the consumers what they want.

Since Kissology vol. 1 was one of the most successful music DVD's of 2006, and Kissology Vol. 2 will likely repeat the success (I know a few people who didn't buy 1 and are getting 2 for Phantom Of The Park alone). What's keeping other artists from doing the same?

There are tons of artists I could imagine similar releases coming out for that would do extremely well also. Just offhand, I could see similar releases for The Beatles, Elvis, The Rolling Stones (hell, with the sheer number of tours and time they've been together, they could do at least 7 volumes with the fans still wanting more), Madonna, Prince, Michael Jackson, Bob Dylan and others following suit. Can you even imagine what a "Beatlesology Vol. 1: 1962-1964" would sell?

I wish more legendary artists and/or the people who own the rights would tap into the bootleg/rare TV appearences archive similar to what KISS is doing. Among all artist fan circles, trading rare performances and the sort is a popular commodity, and even the onslaught of YouTube hasn't diminished it. I think that Kiss found a strategy that is working for them and should easily be just as successful if other widely legendary acts followed the same routine.

What do you guys think?

I like music DVDs but I don't have a TV somewhere where I can have it as background noise and honestly I find it hard to sit down and actually watch an entire music DVD.

I agree that fans would eat this stuff up. Particularly in instances where not a lot has been made available. When Led Zeppelin did theirs it was the number one selling music dvd ever(at that point anyway). Prior to this the only official release had been The Song Remains The Same. The 8mm footage shot by fans is great. Probably a lot of time and money has to go into cleaning up audio sources and matching audio to the various bootleg/fan video. In an interview at the time Zep talked about the "tricky" negotiations with the holders of the "illegal" material. I could make a list 10 miles long of stuff I know is out there I'd like to have. Dozens of King Biscuit Flower Hours, all the Westwood One Radio live broadcasts, Pay-Per-View broadcasts. And all this stuff is good quality. Some tv stuff has been put out but I'd love to have Alvin Lee joining Humble Pie for "I Don't Need No Doctor" on The Midnight Special in '73. The 1984 David Gilmour tour, a 1977 Zep performance, 70s ZZ Top, 75 Stones Tour. A good, complete Long Run tour concert from Eagles with all the Walsh songs they play(Rocky Mountain Way, Turn To Stone, Walk Away, Funk 49). The list is endless.

Iron Maiden did a bit of this with their early years DVD. Still waiting for another set.

Me too. I wish Maiden's newer concert dvds wouldn't do the rapid fire editing wherever every other second they are changing shots between band members.

Cheap Trick fans have been clamoring for a release of this type. The Ramones have a compilation of live stuff coming out on 2 DVDs, supposedly by the end of the year (you can see a listing of the tracks and their recording dates on their official message board). I'd also like to see a compilation of videos from Billy Idol (his stuff goes for a premium price on eBay on VHS).

Iron Maiden's Early Years DVD is arguably better than KISSology Vol. 1 as it has a brand new 2 hour documentary - plus concerts, rare footage, etc.

But both are great. Maiden's just got to get to it and put Vol. 2 out of their DVD series.

Apparently, the deal they made with Don Felder in their lawsuit settlement includes provision for releases of stuff like this so he can have income.

However, I have something you might be interested in on this front. PM/email me.

Also, the difference between KISS and other bands on this front is that Gene & Paul were shrewd enough to claim ownership to almost all of their footage and stuff so that makes it much easier for them to release these.

Oh, and I'll add to my list....Van Halen w/DLR. Everything from the first six albums/tours. Then put one out with Sammy, and see it sell much less.

Van Halen's got to have some early club footage that fans would love to see...

Well, Gene and Paul prety much ran KISS as a brand from day one, so this makes total sense.

The Kissolgy sets are pure genius. Despite all the criticsism Gene gets for his greed (which is mostly justified.) these sets are loaded and pack a lot of bang for the buck. Most concert DVDs sell for $20 each. The Kissology sets sell for $20-$35 with several concerts and a ton of goodies. Every established band should put out sets like this.

Yeah, that Iron Maiden The Early years set was great.

I'd also say that it is superior to the KISS set in that it combined concerts, promotional videos, and a documentary into a pretty comprehensive history of the band up to that point. (And I really wish they'd get off of their asses and release more volumes AND Live After Death.)

KISSology just seems like a hodge-podge of odds and ends. I mean, yeah, it's kind of cool to have those old interviews and stuff, but I would've preferred something that felt more like a complete package.

yes

No doubt

The one artist that I would want to do this - Prince - can't even be bothered to put out ANY concert DVDs (even though he records every.friggin.show). And the two that he did put out (Las Vegas & 1999) sucked!

Hell, the same thing goes for audio releases too. He's only put out one show (One Nite Alone....) and, man, was that a terrible show.

I want part two with 'Live After Death', it's long overdue.

I would totally eat up Princeology shows. He has so many tours and aftershows and everything that he could release 15 3 DVD sets and it'd just be covering the bare minimum. I would buy all of them

It is a hodge-podge of odds-n-ends...odds-n-ends that fans have been clamoring for (and buying directly from bootleggers) for decades. It's the ULTIMATE set(s) for the fan who has all the other legit stuff already (which includes all the music videos, and comprehensive history). There is no comparison to any other music DVD set ....KISS has won any possible competition hands down already, and Vol 3 isn't even out yet.

Took the words right out of my mouth.