1 1/2 stars KISS, "Carnival of Souls," Mercury.
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. -- Sandy Masuo

The Los Angeles times has a web site at: http://www.latimes.com
Email: calendar.letters@latimes.com