Kiss
Alive!

THE REVIEW

As a wild fifteen-year-old rocker, I realized not long ago that those devils the Kiss had released a nice live record just 2 years after their birth! What courage! a live album after only 3 albums... well, I guess things were going bad in that distant 1975 for them. They saved their face with that half-stadium hit, "Rock n' roll all nite," pleasant to listen to but perhaps too repetitive, indeed, because the masterpiece called "Destroyer" was yet to come! But it was thanks to this album that the four madmen, Ace, Gene, Paul, and Peter, broke through even across the Channel, selling 1 million copies in just one month, a real scream considering they had sold just over forty thousand with all three debut albums.

The thunderous album, recorded at the Cobo Arena in Detroit, kicks off with their self-introduction: "You Wanted The Best..." and flows into the initial riff of "Deuce," which is much more beautiful than that monotonous studio version. The continuous screams of the audience make it sound like a bootleg, which fortunately it isn't! The second track is "Strutter," which begins with that drumming from the genius Criss. The song ends among the audience's screams, and the attack of "Got To Choose"  is one of the most beautiful on the album: I'd like to point out that this is a very underrated song, but I personally enjoy it a lot! Now you tell me what you think....!!!! Stanley introduces "Hotter Than Hell," which I skip because it is very similar to the studio version. GET THE FIREHOUSE!! It's time for Gene to put on the firefighter hat, precisely during "Firehouse," where Peter Criss stands out with his rolls behind the skins. His performance here is really beautiful! Then comes the most engaging track of the album, "Come on and love me!" which stands out because it is very fast and especially wonderful. Another underrated track, namely "Parasite," whose intro confuses it with "Kill The King" by the legendary Rainbow, which flows into the instrumental version of "She," where Gene gifts us with a masterful solo! That's how the first album ends.

The second album begins with "Watchin' You," a very fast song that showcases Stanley and his Gibson's abilities, and after a brief introductory speech, "100,000 years" starts, whose musical part lasts only 2 minutes before leaving room for Criss's great masterful drum solo, where he showcases his entire repertoire. In the middle of the solo, Paul entertains the audience with piercing screams that are reciprocated. This goes on for a quarter of an hour until "Black Diamond" starts, one of the group's most beautiful ballads, in which the audience is also involved, which quiets down for the masterful attack of "Cold Gin": it's not a song I like very much, but the Kiss almost always included it in their tours and so... and so ROCK N' ROLL ALL NITE AND PARTY EVERY DAY! Yes indeed, this song has the air of a commercial hit, but I can't help but move during this performance, where the background choruses of the spectators are also heard in unison. The four masked men leave us with the frantic "Let me go rock n' roll," which, unlike the others, I prefer the studio version. The concert ends with Paul wishing the audience good night!

For a band like the Kiss, I consider it a spectacular album, even though it still lacks that refined rock that will come with the subsequent albums! Rating 7+!

See you soon, Debaserians, bye!