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From the Vault...
09/30/2001
#753 |
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info
Kiss
"Alive!"
© Casablanca Records
Rating:
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track listing
Deuce
Strutter
Got To Choose
Hotter Than Hell
Firehouse
Nothin' To Lose
C'mon And Love Me
Parasite
She
Watchin' You
100,000 Years
Black Diamond
Rock Bottom
Cold Gin
Rock And Roll All Nite
Let Me Go Rock 'N Roll
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Kiss
"Alive!"
It's October, 2001, and with Halloween at the end of this month, the timing
is superb for this week's group -- KISS. Kiss has released 3 Alive!
albums in their career, and many still say that their first one was their best.
Granted that they only had 3 studio albums released before their first live
album was released, Kiss proved to be more of an entertaining band live, and
capturing their live performances had Kiss fans grabbing their Alive!
release. Especially for those who had seen Kiss live, (I never did, by the
way...) but for those who didn't, we could easily hear how entertaining they
were... live.
"Deuce" and "Strutter" (originally from their debut
Kiss release) starts out the crowd in roaring form, and when announced
that "we're gonna have a rock 'n roll party!" that statement states the whole
concert is meant to be great, hard-rocking fun.
"Got To Choose" (originally from Hotter Than Hell) is not
as fast and hard rocking as the first two songs, yet it's Kiss, in their rare
form in performing hard rock at its best. The title track of their second
album (Hotter Than Hell) is here, and where most live performances may
not be as great as the original studio hit, the studio release of "Hotter
Than Hell" gets the nod of approval here.
"Hotter Than Hell" merges into another song from their first album,
"Firehouse", as the opening guitar riffs seem to be familar with a band
that would appear in the 1980s, Poison. Yet, still, listening to the sound as
a whole, it's definitely KISS.
Having a mix of hard rock and pop, "Nothin' To Lose" (originally
from Kiss), has a somewhat happy-go-lucky rock sound. "C'mon And
Love Me (from Dressed To Kill) simply rocks as hard as the opening
two tunes. Likewise, "Parasite" (from Hotter Than Hell) will
have you playing air guitar to the grinding hard rock.
Very impressive is "She"; the guitars are outstanding, and not
really familar with this tune, studiowise, it makes me want to listen to the
original version on Dressed To Kill. Hotter Than Hell's
"Watchin' You" is just as impressive. It's another great hard rocker,
and another grasp on the original Hotter Than Hell to listen to.
"100,000 Years" (originally from Kiss) has the influence of
many bands that came after Kiss, especially 1980s hair-bands. It features two
absolute ingredients in being a very successful live band: An extended drum
solo (Peter Criss), and a showman interacting with the audience -- Paul Stanley
getting the crowd to chant "ROCK AND ROLL!" With these extended "ingredients,"
this song lasts over 10 minutes in length. Also, the famous "ROCK AND ROLL!"
is heard in this song, and NOT at the end of "Rock And Roll All Nite"
as released on the 45 single in the 1970s.
The hard rock slows down, yet kicks into another hard rocker in "Black
Diamond" (Kiss). And for those of you who are familar with the
original studio version, the ending is incredible, as the music is constantly
dropped octavely, ending in a very eerie atmosphere; great for Halloween, by
the way. It's hard to capture this same sound live, so it wasn't used on the
live version.
It seems that "Black Diamond" was supposedly the last song of the
concert, yet as always, the crowd calls back for more. "Rock Bottom"
starts the encore (originally from Dressed To Kill). Starting out
slowly, like "Black Diamond," it kicks into another Kiss hard-rocker.
Paul Stanley gets the crowd going again, with his speech on partying with
alcohol, as they kick into another great hard-rocker, Kiss' "Cold
Gin."
Originally from Dressed To Kill, "Rock And Roll All Nite"
proved to be more successful live, than the studio version. And yes, I have to
agree, that the live version is definitely much better than the studio version
in this case. It created an anthem for Kiss, as "Rock And Roll All Nite"
proved to be the most remembered hit by Kiss. Yet there are many other Kiss
songs that were overlooked throughout their career -- "Black Diamond"
(the original studio version) is definitely one of those.
Also Note: If you're familiar with the 45 single version of "Rock And
Roll All Nite," it is different than that on Alive! -- yet it is the
same version, like many album versions, there is an extended guitar solo, and
the famous "ROCK AND ROLL!" is NOT heard at the end of this song on Alive!
The album closes with another "could-of-been" anthem -- "Let Me Go Rock
'N Roll" (from Hotter Than Hell). It's just as great a rocker as
"Rock And Roll All Nite," with its outstanding guitar solos, and hard-rock
Kiss style.
Alive! by Kiss is a great live album. Yet many claim that some bands
are better in the studio, where the studio tricks does all the work that would
not be recaptured in a live performance, Kiss overrules that. Delivering hard-rock
in the best way they can, Paul Stanley also proves in being an entertaining
frontman showman for the audience. Not only does the music get played great,
Paul Stanley gets the audience in a great frame of mind as well.
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Review or any portion may not be reproduced
without written permission. Cover art is the
intellectual property of
Casablanca Records
and is used for reference purposes only.
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