There are 12 songs (13 if you get it on iTunes). Too many? IMO, yes. I've listened to them at least four times today... it did just come out today, after all. Here's how I rate them.

1 - Hell or Hallelujah... 10 out of 10... it's been around long enough now to know that it sounds as good now as it did the first listen.

2 - Wall Of Sound... 9 out of 10... my only complaint is that it isn't long enough of a song... for being so good! Great riff! Tommy's guitar solo rocks!

3 - Freak... 10 out of 10... if this was rated out of 20, I'd give it a 20. The chorus is super-infectious. The melody at the 1:52 mark is an unexpected, but rewarding turn. The same thing goes for the "pledge allegiance to the state of... independence" (no, not "rock & roll"). Yeah, yeah, yeah!

4 - Back To The Stone Age... 9 out of 10... I love the drum roll and yell at the beginning of this song... great start... and it doesn't stop. Great Gene vocal again! Another infectious chorus... "I like it!" This is only the third song in KISS' history to be written by all four of the current members (and no one else)... along with "Love Theme From KISS" and "All Hell's Breakin' Loose".

5 - Shout Mercy... 6 out of 10... I've heard people compare this song to that of a Revenge song. I don't hear it. This is probably one of my least favourite songs from this album. I loved Revenge, so the comparison doesn't make sense to me.

6 - Long Way Down... 9.9 out of 10... the first few times I heard this song on KISS' website a few days before release, I couldn't understand why this would be the second single, but after a few listens, you realize how killer a song this is! It seems to not quite reach the apex you expect its momentum to take it... which is why it doesn't get a 10 from me.

7 - Eat Your Heart Out... 5 out 10... so far, I hate this song. This is a Gene cliche song... so many lyrical snippets that he has used too many times from past KISS songs. This song feels like it belongs on Sonic Boom... which is not really a compliment. It does have an interesting guitar solo from Tommy though... it's saving grace.

8 - The Devil Is Me... 7 out of 10... this is no "Unholy", "God Of Thunder"... or even an "I'm An Animal". It's okay. It does have an interesting sound though. This song, more than any other, does have the potential to grow on me though.

9 - Outta This World... 5.1 out of 10... I like it better than "Eat Your Heart Out" by the smallest of margins. I don't care for Tommy's singing on this song... When Lightning Strikes was better. The lyrics to this song are so overdone for the (not THE) Spaceman. I don't think this song needs to be on this album. Tommy's writing contributions were more than enough from him.

10 - All For The Love Of Rock & Roll... 10 out of 10... This is the second vocal and the second "All For The" title song sung by Eric Singer. Just like his Sonic Boom contribution, this song is one of the best on the album... no kidding. I could easily hear Peter singing this song too. This is a definite "sing along" song. Kudos to Paul for writing a song on which Eric could show his true chops!

11 - Take Me Down Below... 9 out of 10... I always love KISS songs where Paul and Gene exchange vocals. This one is much better than "Stand" from SB. Great guitar work again from Tommy!

12 - Last Chance... 9 out of 10... I love the bass at the start... reminds me of Gene's Love Gun songs. A great closer to the album. Even better than Say Yeah was for Sonic Boom. I don't even mind the "ah ah ah"s either!

I love the background vocals on this album... even more than what was on Sonic Boom. Eric's drumming is perfect and Tommy's guitar work is stellar. The more I listen to this, the better it gets. However, I loved Psycho Circus when it first came out and nowadays, I consider it to be one of their bottom three albums of all time. I don't think Monster will drop that far, but it definitely won't pass Creatures Of The Night, Lick It Up, Revenge, or Love Gun for me. I never considered Destroyer to be one of their best ALBUMS (despite it having some of their best SONGS), but Monster is a better ALBUM than Destroyer. Well done Paul!

I remember when I heard that Hot In The Shade would have 15 songs... what a bonus! Not so much. If you took away 5 or 6 of those songs, what a great album that would have been. Coincidentally, it was also an album produced by Paul Stanley. I think if you took away three songs from this album (Shout Mercy, Eat Your Heart Out, and Outta This World) and replaced them with the iTunes song "Right Here Right Now", this would be one of their top three albums of all time.

Still, this is their best studio album in 20 years (not much competition in that 20 years, but still).

There are some great acting performances in this movie. It is easily one of Judd Nelson's best acting roles.

Just buy it... it's worth every penny.

It has been over a year since I read this book, but I know that it is ESSENTIAL reading for EVERYONE because more than any other book (Economics related or not) I have ever read, the material presented in this book still sits in my memory banks and has proven invaluable in recognizing future patterns that WILL occur again and how best to avoid the trappings of them.

This book is so easy to read and understand. At first, though, I will admit that I began to believe he was repeating information too many times, but that later proved to be the genius method by which I was able to retain what I learned from his presentation of the FACTs.

The title of this book could be construed as misleading in that it has nothing to do with religion. However, I'll let that completely slide, because this book is a true treasure and should be part of every school's curriculum.

Buy it, read it, and then lend it to those who need it... which is everyone. Just make sure you get it back because you will definitely want to read it again!

There are basically four criteria by which I judge an Elvis movie: the songs and how they relate to the movie's story; Elvis' acting performance; Elvis' co-stars' performance; and the story itself.

The songs used in Clambake (especially the title song itself) are not well-written. In fact, they are so forgettable that I can't recall any of them as stand-outs. The best one is probably the one (title?) he sings on the beach. The song he co-sings while riding a motorbike in the movie is relatable to the story and it does look like Elvis is "into" the song. However, I think that speaks more to Elvis' charm as a musical performer. Although if you have ever seen Harum Scarum (and if you have not... I do NOT recommend you do), you will see Elvis at his most UNenthusiastic when it comes to singing the movie's songs. The song he sings to/with the children at the park playground is way too long and seemingly filler material... having little of anything to do with the story.

As for Elvis' acting performance, I've seen him give worse performances (Harum Scarum definitely tops the list of other Elvis movies I have seen), but I have also seen better (Loving You, Jailhouse Rock, Viva Las Vegas, to name just three). He definitely held his own in this movie. I'll leave it at that. I don't recall any fight scenes in this movie, which I find/found a refreshing change (it's been a few days since I watched it and have watched other Elvis movies since then).

Shelley Fabares (if you remember her from the 80s/90s TV show "Coach") was likable as the leading lady in this film. Bill Bixby (later most familiar as David Banner from "The Incredible Hulk") played the protagonist well because I didn't like him... which was intentional. Will Hutchins (maybe known from his earlier role in another Elvis movie, "Spinout") plays Tom Wilson, the waterski instructor whose identity Elvis' character (Scott Heyward) assumes in the movie... is adequate.

As for the story itself, it has (for me) two elements I have enjoyed in my own life (motorcycle riding and waterskiing), so I'm probably being more generous about this movie's appeal then I would be otherwise... but that is why all opinions are biased.

Instead of outlining the plot, I will just summarize that visually, this movie is more attractive to the eye than many of Elvis' other movies (that have too many studio sets instead of using outdoor shots). Although most of this film was shot in California than Florida, they pulled it off.

Elvis' movies, for the most part were "make you feel good" movies, so to judge this as anything more than that would be doing Elvis a disservice. This film did mark the beginning of the end for Elvis in a number of ways. It was the last film for which he received a guaranteed million dollar salary. He also began overeating prior to this movie and had to take diet pills to reverse the direction his weight was heading. No more needs to be said.

If you are like me and either have only a few Elvis movie DVDs in your collection (I have about 10 of his 31) and are wondering which ones are more enjoyable than others, I can only give you a general guideline and that is that most of his better movies were from the FIRST third of the 31. I don't think you can go wrong at all by picking any of his first five (Love Me Tender, Loving You, Jailhouse Rock, King Creole, and GI Blues) as well as Viva Las Vegas, Blue Hawaii, It Happened At The World's Fair, Roustabout, and Follow That Dream. I think these movies do a better job of showcasing Elvis' untapped acting potential. I wrote "untapped" because you could see if he was given better scripts (especially after his first five movies), he could have shown so much more of what he had to offer. Thanks a lot Hal Wallis!

Overall, I don't recommend this movie for purchase unless you have to have every movie in which Elvis has appeared.

The 3 paragraphs below were my initial review before receiving the DVD set. After that is my updated review. You only get one review per product, so I have to add to my previous review, which I had given 3 stars.

This is not (yet) a true review of the packaging itself (nor of the episodes). I do already have the original four DVD sets from year's past, but as we all know, they don't cover the entire 3+ seasons of the show. As most others, I got excited to see a series collection of Wiseguy in one DVD package. However, again just like so many others, I became somewhat disappointed after realizing that the Dead Dog Records arc is to be omitted due to high costs of music rights. I've already somewhat gotten over the omission of "Nights In White Satin" from the Steelgrave arc's final episode... I just mute it and play the song from a secondary source while watching it.

Still, there are many episodes included in this package that are not part of the original 4 DVD sets mentioned above. Unlike most fans, I still enjoyed Season 4, despite the absence of Vinnie and I will therefore look forward to seeing those episodes again (including 3 that never aired during the final season's run( and have only appeared on syndication runs on late night TV maybe once or twice). Also, there were one or maybe two of the stand-alone episodes from the last DVD set that had commentary put over top (rather than added on as a bonus feature), so being able to listen to the dialogue will be an added bonus. Further, even though the Lynchboro arc and the Toxic Waste arc were sub-standard for Wiseguy arcs, I haven't seen them since they originally aired about 20 years ago and look forward to something with a "new" feeling to it.

I mentioned in the title that I'm skeptical. I see that Amazon.com (from the US) states that it is 3060 minutes and 13 discs in length, but this Canadian version on Amazon.ca states it as being 60 minutes in length without any disc total. Yet they want about $35 for it. For the reasons mentioned earlier, I'm still going to take a chance and buy it in hopes that I'll be getting the same product as advertised on Amazon.com. Whatever I get though, I'll be sure to post another review after I've had a chance to review it.
*****
Well, I got it and as usual very quickly!

The first thing I have to state is that I did in fact get the 67 episode set; not some "best of" 60-minute overview I was worried I would get.

The next thing is to confirm that the video and audio quality is flawless (so far anyway... I just got it yesterday and have only viewed episodes from two of the 13 discs.)

The final thing is to ask "what are they thinking?" By "they" I mean all these Wiseguy 'fans' who are writing all these whiny reviews about how they are being ripped-off with the release of this set! The nerve!

They all want the "Dead Dog" arc episodes to be included. Some of them are saying it was the best arc. Nonsense! The two arcs from Season One are far superior. I might even say the Washington Economics arc was better too (due to the emotional acting of Ken Wahl in it).

I can agree with the sentiment that it's a shame that Dead Dog isn't included because that was a very entertaining arc... but mostly due to the myriad of supporting actors that were part of that arc. Some of those actors were famous during the day and some went on to become famous later on. Anyone who has seen "Californication" might recognize the character Marcy as once being Tanya Medley from Wiseguy. I was amazed to discover she also is the voice of Bobby Hill on the animated series "King Of The Hill".

Anyways, I digress. The point is the that the music used in the filming of that arc is not for sale... or at least at a price that can be recovered through the sale of the DVD featuring the arc. That's business and anyone outside (mainly all these 'fans') can conjecture all they want. The basic point is that, at least at this time, the Dead Dog arc will not be made available for release.

What erks me is that these 'fans' believe that they can send a message to all those in charge (supposedly including Stephen J. Cannell, but I don't know) by not buying this 67 episode release! Yes, 67 episodes! There are only 7 Dead Dog episodes and one stand-alone episode (about Lifeguard and his daughter and son-in-law) missing.

Who, with any business sense, would contemplate releasing the Dead Dog arc and then look at the sales of this 67 episode DVD set and say "well, it didn't sell well at all due to all these 'hold out' fans, but I think we should release it anyway"? No one in the entertainment business would stay in that business for long if they made decisions that ignored meager sales projections or past sales figures!

Take a look at all the TV series that never made it past the first season's DVD release.. and then try and tell me that meager sales of that first season didn't have a bearing on the decision to end the idea of any future releases!

The fact is, if you are a fan of Wiseguy, then buy this set... whether you already own the previously-released four sets (by a different company) - which I do - or not.

If you don't have any previously-released sets, then buying this set gives you 67 episodes for $36... that's less than 54 cents per episode... you can't get that price anywhere on iTunes for anything! If you have all 4 of the previous sets (49 episodes - but only 48 of those that are on this larger set), then you are getting 19 episodes never released before... that's still $36 for 19 episodes... less than $2 per episode!!!

Sure, the Lynchboro arc is not visually-stellar like other arcs and the fourth season episodes don't even star Ken Wahl, but Wiseguy was not just Ken Wahl (despite how great an actor he was). Frank McPike and Lifeguard added a lot to the show too. As did all the many other supporting actors - including those that were part of the Dead Dog arc.

Now, I gave this set 4 stars rather than 5 for a couple of reasons. The discs are in paper envelopes and they stack over each other, so the access isn't like you have in most other formats. Also, there are no chapters within episodes (very minor); just episode divisions. There is no commentary either. There is no paper insert with table of contents or additional write-ups. Obviously, there are 8 episodes missing.

Bottom line is you can't go wrong buying this set... you'll love it and you'll be happy you bought it! Also, if you hold any hope of ever seeing the Dead Dog arc released on DVD, you won't help matters by not buying this set, you'll only confirm that the idea isn't worth pursuing.

Agent 4587 out.

If you're thinking of getting this DVD because you are curious about the show - and don't want to invest
the higher price for the previously released "arc" DVDs - then you probably can't go wrong with the $10 asking price. I haven't received my copy of this DVD yet, so my review of this first season is only a review of the show itself.

This first season is the best of the three seasons (starring Ken Wahl, as opposed to Steven Bauer in the shortened fourth season - although from what I remember, I liked that season too). The first season is basically two different story lines covering two separate undercover cases involving Ken Wahl as an undercover operative for the OCB (Organized Crime Bureau) and Frank McPike and "Uncle Mike" (or "Lifeguard" as he is known as by Vinnie (Ken Wahl)), Vinnie's support system.

The first case involves bringing down the Steelgrave empire and the related crime bosses to Sonny (and Dave) Steelgrave. There is fantastic acting by almost everyone from major to very minor characters. If you're from or have been to Vancouver, BC, then you'll love identifying the various landmarks that the producers try to pass off as New Jersey. The most notable aspect of this first arc is the tenuous relationship between Vinnie and Frank as they almost appear more as adversaries than cohorts at the beginning. Their relationship is definitely solidified by the end though.

The second case of Vinnie's time with the OCB involves a much larger organized crime base. This one involves the brother/sister-run drug and ammunitions syndicate and again offers up some great acting and more faces you recognize today, thanks in large part to the start each got from being on Wiseguy.

Kevin Spacey (as Mel Profit) basically got his screen start on this show and although he is really only in about five episodes, his presence can not be overlooked in the slightest. The same can definitely be said for the very beautiful Joan Severance as Susan Profit. Her presence won't be ignored... even by Vinnie himself! Further evidence of an undercover operative's life is exposed in this arc... not only for Vinnie, but Frank and Lifeguard themselves.

This story arc actually does not try to make Vancouver into anything else (at least initially) as the story actually begins in Vancouver, BC, on one of the Profit's yachts. "Roger" is another character you love to root for too. I can't say too much about his character without risking spoiling the show for first time viewers.

Overall, the first season of Wiseguy has to rank up there with the best "first seasons" of many top TV shows, IMO anyway.

Based on the many other fans of the show who have also become very disappointed with the decision of the "powers who be" to not release the last two of six DVD packages from the series, the release of this "first season" package gives us all hope that, at the very least, they will release Season Two (in its entirety) so we can all once again enjoy the very entertaining arc of "Dead Dog Records"!

Agent 4587 out!