alive!

Kiss hit rock bottom and had nothing to lose when they recorded this wild and crazy double-live album and saved their record company.    The sales of their first three studio albums (Kiss, Hotter Than Hell, and Dressed to Kill)  were disappointing and the band felt that they failed to tap into the energy of their onstage performances.  To make matters worse,  Casablanca Records was overextended by printing too many copies of a Johnny Carson monologue album.  The solution was to record a live album, which would be cheaper than the studio and would finally capture their dynamic live sound.  

'Alive!' was culled from shows at Detroit, Michigan; Cleveland, Ohio; Wildwood, New Jersey; and Davenport, Iowa  with  Paul Stanley on rhythm guitar and vocals;   Ace Frehley on lead guitar and backing vocals;   Gene Simmons on bass guitar and vocals;  and  Peter Criss on drums and vocals;    with  introduction by JR Smalling.     Eddie Kramer produced the album and oversaw the studio overdubs that were used to fix errors in the performances and accentuate the sound of the audience.  

'Alive!' went to number fifty-six in Japan, forty-nine in the UK, thirty-one in Norway, twenty-two in Sweden, thirteen in Australia, nine in the US, and three in Canada.  It spent over two years on the Billboard album chart.  







http://www.kissonline.com/








"Rock and Roll All Nite"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIB6-BCXdxo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFMD7Usflbg




VH1 Ultimate Albums documentary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTDLwoeRBpU



Midnight Special
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5ZxJ5jJG-g





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYeo8am2iyc


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwBhWs4C6PI






'Alive!' 
full album:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLg6tYYDm8NjkBqFaJeBgSrkWk4X_PLoGm





Side one
1. "Deuce"   (Gene Simmons) lead vocals:  Simmons 3:56
2. "Strutter"   (Paul Stanley, Simmons)  lead vocals:  Stanley 3:22
3. "Got to Choose"   (Stanley) lead vocals:  Stanley 3:40
4. "Hotter Than Hell"   (Stanley) lead vocals:  Stanley 3:30
5. "Firehouse"   (Stanley) lead vocals:  Stanley 3:50
Side two
6. "Nothin' to Lose"   (Simmons) lead vocals:  Simmons, Peter Criss 3:33
7. "C'mon and Love Me"   (Stanley) lead vocals:  Stanley 3:05
8. "Parasite"   (Frehley) lead vocals:  Simmons 3:34
9. "She"   (Simmons, Stephen Coronel) lead vocals:  Simmons, Stanley 6:56
Side three
10. "Watchin' You"   (Simmons) lead vocals:  Simmons 3:49
11. "100,000 Years"   (Stanley, Simmons) lead vocals:  Stanley 12:12
12. "Black Diamond"   (Stanley) lead vocals:  Criss, intro by Stanley 6:16
Side four
13. "Rock Bottom"   (Frehley, Stanley) lead vocals:  Stanley 3:21
14. "Cold Gin"   (Frehley) lead vocals:  Simmons 7:16
15. "Rock and Roll All Nite"   (Stanley, Simmons) lead vocals:  Simmons 3:59
16. "Let Me Go, Rock 'n' Roll"   (Stanley, Simmons) lead vocals:  Simmons 5:45






Cobo Hall 1/26/1976
full show
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XauUeYaU5Pc



Winterland, San Fransisco 1/31/1975
full show
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btcjTsUsTDM