You Wanted the Best, You Got the Best!! |
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Live album by Kiss | ||||
Released | June 25, 1996 | |||
Recorded | 1975–1996 | |||
Genre | Hard rock | |||
Length | 59:16 | |||
Label | Mercury | |||
Producer | Various | |||
Kiss chronology | ||||
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Professional ratings | |
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Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
Allmusic | |
Rolling Stone |
You Wanted the Best, You Got the Best!! is a live hits album released by American hard rock band Kiss. The album was issued to coincide with the group's 1996–97 Alive/Worldwide Tour. All of the songs on the album are live versions. Most were taken from Alive! or Alive II but four recordings had been previously unreleased. The liner notes report the tracks are outtakes from Alive! and Alive II-era recordings, although there is some speculation to whether or not this is actually the case; in an interview with Latent Image magazine in 1998, Bruce Kulick stated that he had participated in some aspects of this album in the studio, although he did not comment on the extent of his involvement. The final track is an interview of the reunited group conducted by Jay Leno.
The album received generally negative reviews. Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave the album one star out of five and said, "It's a rip-off 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's 1996 review was also negative, calling it a "shameless reunion-promotion biscuit". The 2004 album guide by the same magazine gave the album three stars out of five.
The album was certified gold by the RIAA on May 21, 1997.
The Japanese CD/ US vinyl release had another live track ("New York Groove"), featuring Eric Carr on drums rather than Peter Criss, which was also released as a promotional single at Blockbuster.