Great video... I once asked Ace why Eddie Kramer didn’t produce the first three KISS albums after he had recorded their original demos... his answer? Money ... Neil Bogart didn’t want to pay Eddies asking price and that is why Neil got his buddies, Kerner and Wise, to produce the first two KISS albums while Neil took over production of Dressed To Kill.
@@terrylandess6072 The other one is Thin Lizzy's "Live And Dangerous", but I must tell you: I've never given the Foghat album a proper listening. I will correct that.
To fully get it, you'd have to be in that golden age range, between 10-13 when this album hit. I was 10. My sister who was 13 got the album for Christmas, listened to it a few times and filed it away. Wasn't even aware it existed for a few weeks, but at some point my eyes caught that album cover and it was like a magnet. Would listen every day after school on a shitty turntable combo. I can vividly recall how the album and pull out bookle smelled. That new Kiss album smell. Who's with me on that?
This is awesome...I bought it a few months after it came out! Rode my bike up to K-mart...bought it, snuck it in the house under my jacket! My parents did not want me listening to it at the time. I think I was 12 or 13 haha.. I totally agree, still the best Live album of all time. My #2 is Thin Lizzy Live and Dangerous & #3. Humble Pie Rockin the Fillmore...great video dude!
What a killer review, as a fellow KISS fanatic I really appreciated the enthusiasm you had for this review, easily one the top 3 live albums of all time , it’s my personal favorite but there are other great ones as well. , i was actually thinking of doing a similar video, but you did such s good job i will probably focus on the initial 3 albums and their greatness, 👍🤘🤘
Dylan, I really enjoyed your presentation and analysis of "KISS ALIVE!" And happy 45th anniversary to the album!! Your in depth knowledge is admirable, and Thank You for sharing it with us!! 👍🤟☮
Imagine being those kids going home all happy they got a picture taken of them and their poster and enjoyed a awesome kiss show....and then months later going to buy the Alive album when it comes out in stores and you turn it over......
A lot of things I didn’t know about this live album! I celebrated this anniversary last night! I truly hadn’t heard the album since middle school so it was nice to return to! Loved the fancy intro for this one!
Hello Dylan ! Lot of info I had little , or no , knowledge of. Especially about Casablanca’s finacial state upon this release. As a live album afficionado , I agree that this was a trendsetter for future live albums. You know that live albums are my favourites because of the ”in-the-moment” factor , (my selfinvented live-music term) and this one is on the top shelf along with ”Alive II” , ”Band of Gypsys” , Led Zepp’s ”How the west was won” , Floyd’s ”Pulse” , Queen- ”Live at Wembley” and ”Made in Japan” by Deep Purple. + once again , I wholeheartedly recommend you the Pink Floyd bootleg ”U-N-I-T-E-D” from their 2005 reunion at the O2 arena in London. Good recording/sound quality and an absolutely breathtaking performance. I think you would love it too. Now I’ll take your advice and put on ”Alive” to celebrate. Cheers , bro !!
Remember discovering this album for the first time at my local Kmart. my mouth was wide open and my jaws dropped I must have stared at it for 15 minutes. had to go find my mom dragged her back and talked her into buying it for me taking it home and listening to it and again staring at the album front back and inside imagining myself being in that crowd it's the best rock live album ever and I don't think there should be an argument about it.
I was looking forward to this analysis vid for a while. Definitely did not disappoint. I’ve never actually listened to this live album before but now I really want to. You nailed this. Nice job. CHEAP TRICK’S AT BUDOKAN WOOOO.
DAMN! That was some intro!! I don't blame bands for going back in and dubbing over some tracks. It's hard to get a great recording from such high energy acts. It seems there are few live albums that are untouched! I know Wings Over America get's heat for the same thing, they mostly went back and added more backing vocals due to lack of mic power. So funny those two kids from the back cover came back with the poster! Love it!! Haha! Amazing video, Dylan!! KILLER!! YES!!
Great video, Dylan! Loved hearing the backstory and your thoughts on this album. You, Frank and other Kiss Army members helped me discover this great band! I’m forever grateful 🤘 Take care!
KISS Alive! is THE album I've listened to more than any other. I was 11 years old in 1975 when I was introduced to it and quickly became OBSESSED with it. Over the ensuing decades, it's received regular play.....barely a month goes by when I don't pull it out for a complete run-through. I have to declare it my "Desert Island Disc"....and that's no small declaration. My life became complete when, in the 8th row center at the Philadelphia Wachovia Center in 1996 on the Second Coming tour they opened with "Deuce". My sister and I threw our arms around each other, and I also hugged several complete strangers during the song....!! KISS Alive! FOREVER.....!!! 😃
Hi Dylan I'm playing my brand new 2014 us pressing right now just arrived from amazon UK .....and I'm blown away by the sound quality. ..a deffent improvement on my old original pressing I'm gonna be seeking out all the other kiss remasters. Cheers. ..and I will keep the kiss alive record spinning 🤘
Every band embellished their live albums back then. Rolling Stones, Beach Boys, etc. It was common practice to just straight up record songs in the studio and add audience noise later. As far as classic live albums go this one is actually relatively authentic.
Gday watched both ur reviews of Alive &Alive 11, excellent ! Down here in Australia we missed out on most of the album extras, nothing in Alive and only the booklet in Alive 11, nothing extra in Love Gun either, started my collection in 76 so the are the old copies, great info
I was a junior in high school when this released. Drummer in school band but a bassist in the jazz band allowed me access to some of the better musicians in the area. Fun times. Important album? Well, yes, but unless you were close to my age it's kinda funny watching the youth today try to deep dive into our youth . . . . it was different than you think.
Great review ! Paul Stanley FINALLY told the truth about Alive 1. In early 2019 Stanley said that he was a closet, albeit huge Deep Purple fan. Paul had noticed that Purple had a good, not great, sound on vinyl. However, when Deep Purple released the greatest live album ever, Made in Japan, he was amazed. Songs like Child in Time and especially Smoke on the Water, literally . . . 'came alive'. NOTE - the live version of Smoke on the Water is out of this world. The vinyl version of Smoke is lame. KISS had the exact same problem as Deep Purple i.e. studio vinyl did not truly capture the power and essence of the band. KISS Alive I was released. It caught everyone by surprise, saved both Casablanca & KiSS and sold millions of copies a la Made in Japan. POSTSCRIPT- Deep Purple sold 68 million albums from 1968 - 76. They only sold 13 million albums in the USA. Purple sold a combined amount of 6.5 million albums after releasing the mighty Machine Head and a few months later, the immortal Made in Japan !
I have a double cd of the full kiss concert I saw at the download festival at Donington in 2008. It is completely unaltered. All of the mistakes are present, a completely honest recording. It was the Kiss Alive 35 tour. The set list features all of Alive, except Watchin' You and Firehouse, plus shout it out loud, love gun, Detroit rock city, I love it loud and lick it up
Had a 69 4 door nova. I put a big stock 6×9 in the dash with a 1 inch realistc dome tweeter .that was on the left channel of craig pullout fm power play. In the back dash I had 2 pioneer 6 inch door speakers in open back boxes that was on the right channel. That Alive 8 track you could balance it just right and yiu were right there on deck.
Officially, Riaa Alive was given gold status in December 1975 - $1 million in sales. But the label or labels has never upgraded the album - the best conservative numbers I can find is around 4 million copies has been sold. Given the double sales for double albums - I guess you could count it as 2× 4 million and claim 8 million. Using the formula, you might slated sales upward to 9 million or 9.5 million. Either way, it would or shall have been listed as one of the biggest selling live albums of all time. Some other notable live albums that the newer generations have overlooked are Woodstock (1970) Lynyrd Skynyrd - One More From the Road (1977) Foghat - Live (1977). All sold extremely well in their day, but this channel may not be the place to focus on these albums: which is why I haven't list big selling country album or Elvis Presley - Aloha Hawaii Via Satellite which was perhaps the highest selling live album until KISS Alive came out in 1975.
I don't mean to rain on anyone's parade but that back photo was taken at a Styx concert at Madison Square Garden. Those teens were paid $50 to hold that KISS poster. Look at the size of the arena and crowd. In 1975, there was no way KISS would have played in an arena that large and there is no way they could have sold that many tickets. Look at the audience (it's slightly older). At KISS concerts, the crowd would have been slightly younger and many concertgoers would have been wearing KISS makeup. Notice in that photo, no one is wearing makeup. As for where I got my information from, it was either Peter's, Ace's, or Paul's biography. I read all three.
More important than Let it Be...Not really a live album. More important than The Wall Live 80-81....record sold way than the live album. More important than Nirvana Unplugged...Not better, not More important, however unplugged is a lot of covers and has a reduced audience. Can't think of another album, except maybe The Who Live in Leeds. So you might be right, Alive could be the most important live album.
There was a t-shirt I had with the Kiss Alive cover on it however it was not included with the lp here in Canada, I purchased it at a department store (Robinson's) around November 75, they were out of dark blue so I ended up taking yellow (which I didn't like), the shirt didn't last long as usual as it shrunk plus I was growing at the age of 14. Those were the days, so exciting with all the great heavy rock music, Kiss, Zep, Cooper, Johnny Winter, Foghat, Edgar Winter Group, Sabbath, Budgie, Nazareth, Aerosmith, Rush etc etc.
I’m a classic rock junkie but always found it hard to take KISS seriously. I dig a lot of the early material although many of the lyrics really make me cringe, as do some of the cheesy repetitive choruses. The fanatical attitude towards this band is also a bit of a mystery to me lol
I would guess Ace's solos were also live. I can't see him having the patience to re record all of the solos and they do sound like his live tone. Paul's rhythm guitar was probably most affected from him jumping around etc...
KISS Alive! is the measuring rod against all successive live albums. However an earlier live album is Derick And The Dominoes Live At The Fillmore East. With Eric Clapton on guitar, it is a great album as well.
Can only say there already were live albums before Kiss did it. And many of them sold. Also into the 70s, as from the 30s or earlier, playing 'live', in studio was the norm. For me, I wasn't buying Kiss as being significant and was already beginning to pass them up until 2 friends pulled me into Listening, to them. And, on former topic, people were watching, on T.V, which was a big deal, live rock shows, at least a couple years before Kiss did this. GrandFunk, AliceCooper, BlackOakArkansas(?( who?)), and many others. And yes people 'bootlegged', used old style tape recorder to record, directly off TV( awful quality). Kiss, yah yah, Kiss..mmm..yah?.. Any way (case,..how.., hoot.., whatever). It was part of childhood at the end of Baby Boomer generation, along with watching news reels of war news from Vietnam ( much of bombs, patrols, and terrible things recorded 'live', action(💔)). Usual teeter-totter of teen years of the time emotional bits).
Its been done to death but good to see the anniversary 50 yrs coming up next year maybe Gene Paul Ace and Peter if all still capable will do ...Barely Alive 50 and sort of kicking Tour 😊..This guy really NOSE what hes saying WTH is going on there👃👀i couldnt watch him without getting distracted molie molie molieeee style ooof🤔
Sorry but the truly great live albums came before KISS ‘Alive!’, not after lol- Live at Leeds, Made in Japan, Allman Bros, Live/Dead, Stones, Hendrix etc. ‘Alive!’ and the success of others that followed cashed in on the new style of ‘stadium rock’. Frampton Comes Alive- one of the highest selling albums of all time yet only a few memorable songs lol
Best KISS album ever? Definitely. Best live rock album ever? Hmmm.... no. The most historically important live rock album of all time is Live at Leeds by The Who. It precedes all the albums you mentioned in your video. Not particularly a favorite one of mine, but its utmost significance and game-changing nature in the live rock genre is undeniable and second to none. At Fillmore East by The Allman Brothers Band would be an appropriate second, although is more Blues Rock. Kiss Alive? Probably in the top 5 with Get Yer Ya-Yas and Frampton, but definitely not at the top of the list.
Not that I disagree with you as those are important records (and I own/love them as well) and I certainly wouldn’t say Kiss Alive is my favourite live album ever, but I respect its place in history and what I think what he is trying to say was the impact that Alive! had, and that live records became more and more common afterwards (at least in the commercial aspect). Great album and Alive! 2 is good as well 😃
But it's not a live album. They recorded the songs in an mall. Peter played drums in a men's room. Honestly! An audience track was looped over the final product to give the feel of a live experience. This has been admitted not only by all 4 members of KISS, but production staff and other record executives as well. Still, it gives you a feeling of being right in the middle of it. ****
Oh good grief. Kiss Alive is not an important album of any sort. Rush, Frampton, Springsteen, and or course Queen - all are much better performed and produced LIVE recordings. But love the channel and opinions. Regards
@@edgarbower8089 No, actually all the guys in Rush stated that Kiss was the hardest working band. Hard work doesn't equal good music. I was listening to Kiss from the age of 12 (1975) till around the disco album (Dynasty). The backbone to any great band - is the drummer. And by Gene's own admission - Peter Criss was not very talented. Not a great endorsement for your band. Kiss is a band for young teens. But I grew up - discovered NY dolls, Sex Pistols, Clash, Springsteen, Dylan, Floyd, etc. Again. Opinions matter. Yours is important and relative. But remember - "HOT, HOT. HOTTER THAN HELL!" LOL
Absolute gold: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-UiRXBxTZxXM.html This is how to work the crowd: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-mmSbCgVBaMM.html
I find it hard to respect any band who seem to spend more time looking for yet more things that they can put their logo on then claim it as official KISS merchandise be it shoes, socks, back packs, lunch boxes, lighters, cologne, perfume, condoms, sex toys, underwear, stationary etc, etc, etc than they seem to care about their music. All of which is designed to cynically squeeze a few extra bucks from their easily exploitable fan base. As for their music, I doubt if they can even spell 'musical integrity'. When disco was popular they decided to go disco. When hair spray power chord pop was fashionable, they ditched their make up and became a Bon Jovi clone. When grunge became popular they decided to work on a grunge album ( remember carnival of souls anybody?) before ditching it when they got offered a hundred million dollars to put the make up back on and take the original line up on tour. Nothing more than a bunch of money grabbing, incredibly mediocre disingenuous musical prostitutes. God I hate kiss!!
@@Mark.H3721 Are you saying Gene Simmons only cares about the financial aspects of the band? I just cannot believe that Gene Simmons - the great bassist, singer, songwriter, would sellout the integrity of Kiss. Sarcasm is high in this comment. 😊 I do have a question. Did Gene blow fire from his ass or mouth? Could never tell the difference between the two.
