Classic Rock Bottom

ALBUM OF THE WEEK # 13 KISS - ALIVE! (1975) AUDIO EXCELLENCE BY THE DECADE (PART TWO)




Side One:
 
1. Deuce
2. Strutter
3. Got To Choose
4. Hotter Than Hell
5. Firehouse
 
Side Two:
 
1. Nothin' To Lose
2. C'mon And Love Me
3. Parasite
4. She
 
Side Three:
 
1. Watchin' You
2. 100,000 Years
3. Black Diamond
 
Side Four:
 
1. Rock Bottom
2. Cold Gin
3. Rock And Roll All Nite
4. Let Me Go, Rock 'n' Roll

Well, like I said last week, this week we'll travel to 1975 for the ultimate live experience.  Or was it live?  The album is titled Kiss
Alive!
 It's touted as one of the best live albums ever.  But, although
most parties involved in creating the album have admitted that some
overdubs were done to correct some mistakes such as bad notes or broken
strings, who really knows how much of the album is truly live and how
much is overdubbed in the studio?  Well, honestly, I don't really care
about the answer to that question.  It is a great concert experience to
me.  When I listen to it I find myself back in 1975, feeling like I'm
right in the middle of the concert.  There are so many explosions,
perfectly executed stage raps, blazing guitar and drum solos that you
have to feel like you are inside Cobo Hall.  Not to mention the kick-ass
set list
that was
performed.  This band had only been recording professionally for a
little over a year and had released 3 studio albums before this live
album.  The set list was culled from those three albums and many of the
songs have gone on to be Kiss Klassics as well as just plain classics.

I'm not gonna talk about every song, but I must say that the now famous intro of "You wanted the best/ You got the best, the hottest band in the
world/ Kiss!!!" followed by the one-two gut kicking punch of Deuce and
Strutter just make this album bust out of the gate.  Although Kiss has
had quite a few awesome show openers (Detroit Rock City/King Of The
Night Time World
for example), this is probably the absolute best
combination.  C'mon And Love Me makes an appearance on side two.  I
mention it because it's always been one of my favorite Kiss tunes and I
think it's vastly underrated.  The
final track on side two,
She, contains Ace Frehley's solo.  It's not anything particularly earth
shattering, but at least it's not overly long.  And you know, I'd say
Jimmy Page and Led Zeppelin are definitely kings of the almighty riff,
but Kiss has quite a few awesome riffs as well, with Deuce and Parasite
heading that list.

Side three contains the epic 100,000 Years.  Kiss has never been or never will be known for long songs, but they turned this song into  a 12 plus
minute entertainment piece, incorporating some superb stage rapping from
Paul Stanley and a mammoth drum solo by Peter Criss that continues
throughout the final 3/4 of the song by.  Pete has been called the weak
link within the four originals, but you'd never think that listening to
this solo.  While no one would confuse Pete with Neil Peart, this solo
kicks ass.  The funniest thing about the stage rap is that Paul
glorifies getting high, which
he and Gene supposedly refrain from.  Anyway, I don't want to forget to
mention the blazing guitar solo for this song by Ace.  It's actually
better than his spotlight solo at the end of She.  And the side is
closed out with a true classic, Black Diamond.  This is where the
regular show ends.

Next up would be the encores.  Rock Bottom is the song that this site is named after.  I absolutely love this song and the live version rocks.
 Gene does some nice bass playing on this song.  Another classic stage
rap by Paul, again glorifying the consumption of alcohol while, later on
at least, condemning Ace Frehley for his battles with it.  But that
sets up another riff-tastic Ace penned tune named Cold Gin.  At this
point, although Ace was a wonderful contributor to the band song wise,
he was to scared to sing, so he gave his songs to anyone else that would
sing them
(usually Peter, but in
this case, Gene).  The show is wrapped up with the classic Rock And
Roll All Nite
.  This song is probably what kept Kiss afloat long enough
to actually break big with Destroyer.  And the live version just blows
the studio version completely out of the water.  What a great solo that
should have been on the studio version.  And finally, another great
guitar piece for Ace, Let Me Go, Rock 'N' Roll closes out the concert.

As far as the artwork goes, this album excelled.  The front cover is a great shot of the band, even though it's not an actual live shot.  You
certainly can't tell that by looking at the picture.  But when you open
up the double album, the inside is mega-cool.  On one side you have
letters written by each member of Kiss to their fans, while the other
side has pictures of the 3 studio albums.  Kiss, with the makeup, is
such a visual band, so this
works really good.  The back cover looks great as well, with the tracks
listed at the top and a great picture of the concert crowd and two fans
in particular holding up a home made Kiss sign with each member's
likeness on it.  And I read somewhere one of those fans that can be seen
there would eventually become one of the member's of the Red Hot Chili
Peppers
.  I can't remember which one.  And finally, the booklet that was
included had some superb photos of each band member as well as a photo
collage in the middle of the booklet.  I'll include several pics after you scroll past the music player.

So, I think you can tell that I love this album.  It's easy to find on Amazon and not very expensive, but I'm sure everyone reading this owns
it, just like they own last weeks Led Zeppelin album, right? Well, not Jon, because he only likes Music From The Elder, which is probably not true either.  His loss.  

P.S. No hidden gem pick this week due to this being a live album.  Oh, what the hell, let's pick one anyway.  I'll go with Rock Bottom

Next Week:

Next  week we'll move along to 1987 and one of the best selling albums ever.  Can you guess what it is?  You only get one guess.




Back Cover:


Gatefold:



From Booklet:





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Replies to This Discussion

Wait a second!!! Was'nt it "The hottest band in the land" on Alive! and then "The hottest band in the world" on Alive II ???
When I got Alive II in jan. 1978 I thought, when I heard the intro, "Man, now they are the hottest band in the whole WORLD"!!

I agree, that Peter Criss's solo is great. I've allway preferred (is that a word?) his drumming in KISS.

My guess on next week's album: The Joshus Tree.
I'm going to break the "only one pick" stipulation because I'm a rat bastard and, knowing Rjhog, it's either "Hysteria" or "Appetite For Destruction".

Oh, and have never heard this album.
All 3 of those are excellent guesses. You guys are just too good. But I'm not saying if one of you are correct or not...

And Jon, Do you not have any comments on the album itself? I'm so surprised.

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