I became a KISS fan in 1977 and got the ELDER the day it was released back in November of 1981. I had already gotten the 45 of "A World Without heroes" and "Dark Light" and had seen the photos of their new "look" in 16 Magazine. Unlike a lot of fans, I knew I was fascinated and excited about this "new" KISS and fell in love with the album. It grew to be almost an obsession of mine over the years and the ELDER has always been a favorite (not just KISS) album. It's a shame it was released at a time when KISS was at their lowest point because I think it is a great collection of songs with superb musicianship even if it always had an "unfinished" feel to it. I even named my very first band back in 1982 ODYSSEY after the song on this album. It is a tragedy that the band does not recognize the fantastic music that fills this album. It adds so much depth to their overall amazing catalog and should be celebrated. This version is more of a straight-forward mix with none of the extra re-worked demos, guest vocalist, altered lyrics, etc for anyone who'd like a less "theatrical" version. I chose the original U.S. version because IMO, it is the far superior running order. Story aside, which is pretty vague anyway, this was "my" Elder from 1981 until 1997 when the remastered version was released, and I personally believe the record company made the right call. Musically speaking it is perfectly balanced, and I see it as "The Oath" setting the scene then the rest going back to tell the backstory before wrapping things up. "The Oath" is arguably the strongest opener since DRC opened Destroyer and the remastered version just feels extremely lopsided with so much of the heavier songs lumped together in the 2nd half. There are some changes aside from the remix itself like a couple hard-endings instead of fades, and some slight drums additions/changes in a couple spots ("Just A Boy" for example), but most things here are like the original album. Either way, I've uploaded it in single song clips so you can pretty easily make a playlist in whichever order you prefer. I also decided to include the "Prologue" I constructed for the expanded version just to help set it up. it is easily skippable if you'd rather go straight to "the Oath" You can download this version here. drive.google.com/drive/folders/1E5xf3DanqjrBuvo6eX…