ALIVE

Kiss is a band that has been around for almost 30 years. From their classic rock days in the 70's to their more, updated metal sound in the 80's and 90's, there isn't a person on this earth that hasn't been influenced by Kiss in one way or another. Love them or hate them, they are legends who many of today's artists try to copy and emulate. I chose to review Kiss ALIVE as my first for this site since it's an album that is responsible for much of the music I listen to today. I was in the 4th grade back in 1975, when this album was released. My sister, next-door neighbor and myself would break out the tennis racquets and jam to this air guitar style. Kiss ALIVE was their 4th record; an important one for the band in that they really needed something to boost their reputation and sales. The album's live set was compiled from tracks off of their first three albums; Kiss, Hotter Than Hell and Dressed To Kill. To release a two record set in those days was commercial suicide. But in Kiss's case, it paid off in a big way. This album did not disappoint. The first five songs are a perfect album side (in record LP format). Deuce opens up the record, right after the opening introduction, "you wanted the best, you got the best, the hottest band in the land…KISS". Gene Simmons telling you to "Get up, and get your grandma outta here!". This song sets the pace for the entire record. Pure hard rock at it's best. Electric, tight and flawless. All versions of these songs just sound heavier, faster and fuller in production than the originals. Strutter and Got To Choose follow, both sung by Paul Stanley. The next song, Hotter Than Hell, the title track from the album of the same name, runs right into Firehouse. The best are the sirens at the end of the song to close out the first side. Sides two and three give us tracks like Nothin To Lose, with Peter Criss helping out on vocals. She with a flanging Ace Frehely guitar solo. 100,000 Years, the longest track on the album, has a drum solo with Paul Stanley asking the crowd questions while Peter Criss seems to "count" with his drums . Side four is a great closer. Rock Bottom kicks things into high gear, first starting off with a mellow guitar intro, to be followed by some power chords. Cold Gin is definitely one of the highlights on this album, with Paul Stanley teasing the audience with a descriptive variety of alcoholic beverages. The party anthem Rock N Roll All Nite contains a guitar solo, which was never recorded on the studio version. A much more completed song in the live sense. Let Me Go, Rock N Roll finishes the album, with Kiss just jamming away at the end. You feel like you are there! Sometimes live albums by bands have made me buy the studio releases after the fact. Other times it's the other way around. Sometimes the live versions of songs are better than the originals. Other times it's the other way around. In this case, the live versions are more preferable. If you do decide to buy this album I highly recommend the re-mastered cd. I had the original CD and there was a lot of screeching distortion and noise on some of the songs. We don't quote Live albums, but this would be a 100/100 as you no doubt have guessed. UPDATED 4/27/03: A recent special on VH1 called "Ultimate Albums" recently profiled the Kiss "ALIVE!" album. I learned some interesting things that I felt I had to add to this review. First off, the album was pulled from a series of concerts recorded during the summer of 1975 in Davenport, IA., Wildwood, NJ., Cleavland, OH. and Detroit, MI. Over the years there have been many rumors as to the authenticity of the actual live recordings. Kiss was at a very critical stage in their career where their first three studio albums didn't sell as well as exepected and because they were better known as a live act, the songs just didn't translate as well in the studio. So a live album was a last ditch effort to make it or break it. Most of the performances during the summer had many flaws: missed notes both in playing and singing, mis cues, dropped mics, etc. All of this was recorded, but Kiss did in fact go back into the studio to fix these mistakes and overdubbed where necessary. Producer Eddie Kramer was a master at pulling this feat off. Paul Stanley has said that they wanted to keep the creative integrity of the performance aside from something note for note. Kiss is a theatrical act and this approach to recording is almost movie like. In the end the performance did what it was supposed to do. Make you feel like you were there. Does this revelation ruin the image that this was a perfect concert? Sure. But many other artists like Peter Frampton, Cheap Trick, Aerosmith and Ted Nugent would soon follow suit. And many live albums these days have overdubs. Very few bands can pull off one concert without any flaws. I've seen Kiss live and can say that despite their motives for "ALIVE!", they are the greatest live act in the world. They been doing live performances for so long now that they can do it in their sleep!