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Carnival of Souls: The Final Sessions (also simply known as Carnival of Souls) is the seventeenth studio album by American rock band Kiss, released in 1997. It is the band's final album with lead guitarist Bruce Kulick, and their last album with drummer Eric Singer until 2009's Sonic Boom. The album is a departure from the band's classic hard rock style, favoring a dark and dense grunge-oriented sound.[1] It is also the band's last album of their unmasked era.

Carnival of Souls: The Final Sessions
Studio album by Kiss
Released	October 28, 1997 (1997-10-28)
Recorded	November 1995 – February 1996
Studio	Music Grinder, Hollywood, California
Genre	Grunge heavy metal alternative rock
Length	60:11
Label	Mercury
Producer	Toby Wright Gene Simmons Paul Stanley
Kiss chronology
Greatest Kiss (1997) Carnival of Souls: The Final Sessions (1997) Psycho Circus (1998)
Singles from Carnival of Souls: The Final Sessions
"Jungle" Released: 1997

Overview

The album was recorded between late 1995 and early 1996, but Kiss cancelled its release after committing to a reunion tour with the band's original lineup. Bootleg copies were circulated by fans, prompting the band to officially release the material in 1997 under the title Carnival of Souls: The Final Sessions. According to guitarist Bruce Kulick, the bootleg versions in distribution lacked songs that were part of the official release. There was no accompanying tour to support the album, and none of the songs on Carnival of Souls have ever been performed live by Kiss, though the album's closing track "I Walk Alone" has occasionally been performed live by Eric Singer and Kulick in the Eric Singer Project. "Jungle" and "I Walk Alone" were also performed live by Kulick's former band, Union.

Two former members of the band Black 'N Blue co-wrote songs on Carnival of Souls; vocalist Jaime St. James co-wrote "In My Head", and guitarist Tommy Thayer collaborated on "Childhood's End". Thayer would join Kiss as the band's permanent lead guitarist in 2002. Bruce Kulick provides his first and only lead vocal with the band on "I Walk Alone". Carnival of Souls is the band's longest album, clocking in at 60 minutes and 11 seconds.

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal	8/10[3]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[4]
Metal Rules	4.0/5[5]
Rock Hard	8.0/10[6]

Guitarist Bruce Kulick wrote on his official website that Carnival of Souls had "people equally vocal about it being their favorite Kiss CD or thinking it's the worst Kiss album ever".[7] The album reached No. 27 on the US Billboard 200 chart and the only single released from the album, "Jungle", made No. 8 on the US Mainstream Rock chart.[8] No music video was made to promote the single, which later won a 1997 Metal Edge Readers' Choice Award for Song of the Year.[9]

Track listing

Personnel

Kiss

• Paul Stanley – vocals, rhythm guitar, 12-string acoustic guitar and ukulele on track 5, co-producer
• Gene Simmons – vocals, bass, co-producer
• Bruce Kulick – vocals, lead guitar; all guitars on tracks 7, 9 and 10, bass and acoustic guitar solo on track 5, all guitars and bass on tracks 2, 6, 8, 11 and 12
• Eric Singer – drums, percussion, backing vocals

With

• Carole Keiser - choir management on track 4, string arrangement on tracks 5 and 10
• The Crossroads Boys Choir - backing vocals on track 4
• Nick Simmons - backing vocals on track 4

Production

• Toby Wright – co-producer, engineer, mixing
• David Bryant – assistant engineer
• Stephen Marcussen – mastering at Precision Mastering, Hollywood

Charts

Album

Chart (1997)	Peak position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[10]	37
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[11]	32
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[12]	66
European Albums Charts[13]	84
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[14]	17
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[15]	36
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[16]	23
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[17]	29
US Billboard 200[18]	27

Singles

Year	Chart	Single	Position
1997	Mainstream Rock Tracks (US)[8]	"Jungle"	8

References

External links

• Carnival of Souls: The Final Sessions at Discogs (list of releases)

На других языках

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[de] Carnival of Souls (Album)

Carnival of Souls ist das 17. Studioalbum der US-amerikanischen Hard-Rock-Band Kiss. Es wurde bereits 1995 produziert, das Label brachte die CD jedoch erst 1997 auf den Markt. Die Auskopplung Jungle gelangte in die US-amerikanischen Top Ten. Das Album gehört jedoch zu den beiden von insgesamt 20 Studioalben, die weder den Platin- noch den Goldstatus erreichten.

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- [en] Carnival of Souls: The Final Sessions

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[es] Carnival of Souls: The Final Sessions

Carnival of Souls: The Final Sessions es el décimo séptimo álbum de estudio de la banda estadounidense de rock Kiss, publicado el 28 de octubre de 1997 a través de Mercury Records. Este trabajo supuso la última contribución del batería Eric Singer, hasta el lanzamiento de Sonic Boom (2009), y del guitarrista Bruce Kulick, quien además debutó como vocalista en este disco. Su grabación se realizó entre 1995 y 1996, aunque debido a la reunión de su formación original su lanzamiento se canceló; sin embargo, el hecho de que varias copias piratas circularan entre los aficionados provocó que Kiss tomara la decisión de publicarlo de manera oficial.

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[ru] Carnival of Souls: The Final Sessions

Carnival of Souls: The Final Sessions (с англ. — «Карнавал Душ: Финальные Сессии») — семнадцатый студийный альбом американской рок-группы Kiss, вышедший в 1997 году.

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