Can We Agree To Disagree?
By: David P Neel

Can we agree to disagree? When one KISS fan says his ultimate complaint is not hearing "Mr. Speed" live on the Psycho Circus tour, or that "Dreaming" was the best cut off that same album, I just shake my head. So much of this "Sound Off" equates to subjective opinion, it's hard to keep things in perspective from a KISS fan's perspective. Let's face it, most of us have such strong feelings about the band that don't necessarily reflect the masses. Would including "Mr. Speed" in the recent set-list have filled arenas? Doubtful.

I do have my own opinions, of course, on the recent debacles pulled off by the management and decision-makers on behalf of KISS. Let's roll the calendar back one year. The KISS Army was preparing for the events to come. The FOX triple-play (Millenium, Mad-TV, and Dodger Stadium special) was an embarrasment on all fronts and began the overexposure.

Meanwhile, Mercury Records wasn't helping their own cause. "Psycho Circus" was garnering KISS the most rock radio airplay in years and the follow-up single was key in continuing the momentum and gaining radio's confidence (along with MTV, whose decision not to air the PC video was the nail in the "cool" coffin). In my opinion, the choice of "Within"\"You Wanted the Best" was very poor, and given the opportunity "We Are One" or "Raise Your Glasses" would have done much better. Whoever made the decision (record company or Gene) needs to take the blame for the eventual downfall. A successful second single would've re-energized PC (much as "Beth" did for Destroyer), and probably pushed it to platinum and sold more seats on the tour.

Agreed, the merchandise has gotten out of control and 3-D was a joke, but I believe that the poor choice for a follow-up single put the death knell on this stage of KISSstory.

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