When I was around ten or eleven years old, KISS was IT.  I distinctly remember a day at school where seemingly everyone brought in KISS Alive II for one of our holiday parties, where the teachers would let us bring in our favorite music to play while we generally goof around in class eating too many snacks and drinking waaay too much punch.  I took one look at the cover and couldn’t understand what the hubbub was about.  Who are these guys and what’s with the makeup?  Why is this guy bleeding at the mouth?  This looks stupid.  Well, little did I know at the time how much KISS would change my life.

I would say it was the summer of ’77 when I actually first listened to a KISS album.  Remember, at the time there was a lot of disco going on and we mostly listened to Top 40 radio to catch the hits of the day.  My brother and I had pretty much listened to whatever our parents listened to-  we didn’t have an older brother with the cool record collection and we hadn’t quite caught on to what our cousins were listening to (that was coming and soon enough) but fortunately I got to be close pals with one of the guys on my baseball team who did have an older brother and knew all about KISS.  And on those days where me and my brother and a few others would spend the night, we’d spin records into the wee hours and get caught up in the excitement of what would become my favorite, KISS Alive.

“YOU WANTED THE BEST AND YOU GOT IT!  THE HOTTEST BAND IN THE LAND…  KISS!”

With that intro, Alive kicks off with the one-two punch of “Deuce” and “Strutter”, two of KISS’ best and long standing concert favorites, the former with its stuttering riff and menacing Gene Simmons vocal (with Paul Stanley’s awesomely cool “DO IT”) and the latter one of the Starchild’s finer moments, all chest beating bravado topped off by a typically awesome lead break from “Space” Ace Frehley.  I remember being utterly fascinated by the whole thing, reading everything in the liner notes (each band member’s notes gave you an idea of their personality) and staring at the live shot on the cover while soaking in the bombast coming from the speakers.  This was certainly a far cry from what my parents were listening to.

Rumor has it that this album has been doctored in many ways-  if so, big whoop.  Most of the live discs in the day have been touched up here and there, maybe with vocal redos or fixing a bum note on some songs.  But hey, there is tons of solid playing here from all four members but more importantly the song selection is pretty top notch.  Besides the aforementioned cuts, other KISS Klassics like “Firehouse”, “Hotter Than Hell”, “Black Diamond”, and the definitive and most well known version of “Rock And Roll All Night” show KISS at the top of their game in front of a roaring crowd whipped into a frenzy by Stanley, who has some of the most epic stage raps around (if you don’t believe me, go to YouTube and search for “Paul Stanley Stage Banter” and enjoy!).

Out of the four sides of this album I probably played sides one and four the most, the latter side including the underrated “Rock Bottom”, classic Frehley riffster “Cold Gin”, the supreme “Rock And Roll All Night”, and Chuck Berry-esque “Let Me Go Rock And Roll”.  Listening to these two sides made me and many other budding guitarists immediate fans of lead guitarist Ace Frehley-  definitely not a flashy or noodly player but one with a fairly compact and to the point style, all bends and wide vibrato, that stood out from some of his peers at the time.  Ace was always the coolest in the band anyway and some of his best moments were to come on Alive II (which I almost chose over this album).  His style is sorely missed in the KISS of today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PP3OhieZimg

So who am I forgetting?  Oh yeah…  the one and only Peter Criss, he being the “Catman”, R&B belter and balladeer (hey, he’d eventually sing possibly their biggest hit in softie “Beth”), and at the time a very fine drummer.  Just check out his awesome, rolling solo in “100,000 Years” to get an idea what the man could do behind the kit.  The song itself kicks off with a punchy rumble from Simmons on the bass followed by a swinging Ace riff and Stanley’s he-man vocal.  Peter swings massively throughout and about three minutes in he’s left to solo to his own devices, gradually speeding up his playing and bashing away like a man with eight arms.  Just when you think the Catman is all worn out from that massive performance, he provides an awesomely raspy vocal to a titanic version of “Black Diamond”.  Way too cool for a young kid and ultimately making him my second favorite Kisser.

Oddly enough, I’ve not listened to much KISS over the past 35 years or so but this album and Alive II were in constant rotation over a two to three year period that I’ve got it ingrained in my memory.  Unfortunately, KISS lost its luster for me once Criss and Frehley left, although Simmons and Stanley would continue to have some good moments here and there.  But back in 1977 and 1978 KISS were hard to knock off the top of the rock mountain and Alive is a testament to why.