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KISS: Alive! 1975-2000
 It goes without saying that KISS is one of the most visually exciting bands to have ever been formed and experienced over the past century. The levels of spectacle and entertainment at their concerts have given millions of fans worldwide experiences that are forever remembered and recounted. This CD boxed set celebrates the performances of KISS by featuring all three of the Alive releases and also giving the listener something special that was never expected. We have broken each release up to briefly line out the special nature of each of them.
CD1: Alive – Deuce, Strutter, Got To Choose, Hotter Than Hell, Firehouse, Nohin' To Lose, C'mon And Love Me, Parasite, She, Watchin' You, 100,000 Years, Black Diamond, Rock Bottom, Cold Gin, Rock And Roll All Nite, Let Me Go, Rock N Roll.
**** It was not until the band took the risk of releasing a double live album that their true powers over the listener were realized. While they had an ever growing fan base, their albums were simply not selling all that well and many had advised them that such a release would be career suicide. Live albums were becoming more common, but a double one from a band that no one was buying the records of did not seem the most sound of business decisions. Instead of musical death KISS would find a resounding level of success with this release as it brought the fan front stage to one of their shows and came with crowd dialogue and explosions as well. The band's "anthem" introduced on Dressed To Kill would officially claim that status as a result of Alive and it's impact. Years after it's release this is still considered one of the "must have" albums in any music fans collection. Listening to a remastered version of it in this set one can easily see why.
CD2: Alive II – Detroit Rock City, King Of The Night Time World, Ladies Room, Makin' Love, Love Gun, Calling Dr. Love, Christine Sixteen, Shock Me, Hard Luck Woman, Tomorrow And Tonight, I Stole Your Love, Beth, God Of Thunder, I Want You, Shout It Out Loud, All-American Man, Rockin' In The USA, Larger Than Life, Rocket Ride, Any Way You Want It, Rock And Roll All Night.
**** Culled from three sold-out shows at The Forum in Los Angeles, KISS would follow their second three studio albums with the sequel to Alive. Given the audio technology had increased exponentially this release was more in your face that its predecessor any many fans who were now of the age to purchase music on their own this would become one of their favorite recordings. It would not include any of the songs found on the first release and instead of duplication the listener would get five new studio tracks to enjoy. The edition on this release includes a bonus recording of "Rock & Roll All Nite" that was previously available as a single.
CD3: Alive III – Creatures Of The Night, Deuce, I Just Wanna, Unholy, Heaven's On Fire, Watchin' You, Domino, I Was Made For Lovin' You, I Still Love You, Rock And Roll All Nite, Lick It Up, Forever, Take It Off, I Love It Loud, Detroit Rock City, God Gave Rock And Roll To You II, Star Spangled Banner.
**** With Alive III we would find a long unmasked KISS and also several line up changes later as well. Peter Criss and Ace Frehley were long gone and in their place for seeming good were Bruce Kulick and Eric Singer. Singer had come in shortly after the passing of Peter's replacement Eric Carr. The Revenge lineup released a live show on audio and video and while it was met with fan approval, there was some dissent over the fact that it was only a single disk. It was a good live album but not my personal favorite, despite some of the songs it included. A bonus track in "Take It Off" is also found here that was not present on the original release.
CD4: Alive 4 – Psycho Circus, Shout It Out Loud, Deuce, Heaven's On Fire, Into The Void, Firehouse, Do You Love Me, Let Me Go Rock & Roll, I Love It Loud, Lick It Up, 100,000 Years, Love Gun, Black Diamond, Beth, Rock And Roll All Nite.
**** The Millennium Concert was recorded in front of a record breaking crowd of 45,000 and despite numerous delays and reasons for it not being available yet, the CD would simply vanish from the radar of fans. A couple of tracks made their way to the Boxed Set a couple of years ago, but that would be it. Now as a special bonus surprise the KISS Army gets to enjoy this full release as we had long wanted to. The recording was done during "The Farewell Tour", which had found a reunited original line up once again in makeup doing their thing to the approval of legions of old and new fans. Sadly, it would also be the final live recording to feature complete original members as Ace would once again leave the bands membership and be replaced by Tommy Thayer.
Encased in a highly decorative box, and including a booklet that is loaded to the hilt with classic photos of the band this is an extremely high recommendation. The inclusion of the unreleased album makes it all the more worthwhile, so if you are a fan you've already gone out for one, but if you are among the still curious then there is no longer any excuse for you to not snare yourself a copy. Time to get out the greasepaint and stick out your tongue once again for KISS, "The Hottest Band In The World".
Added: November 27th 2006
Reviewer: Ken Pierce
Score: 
Related Link: KISS Online
Hits: 2618
Language: english
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KISS: Alive! 1975-2000
Posted by Hugh Dark on 2006-12-11 18:18:22
My Score:
Getting those bonus tracks from Best Buy was a real nightmare. I have went through every trial and tribulation and have finally prevailed. It seems as though they have had these tracks since Novemeber 30th. I was reading all of the events that transpired on the computer screen along with the music department manager. They started to disseminate them on 12-8-06 to those who purchased it online, but those who purchased at retail did not get them until 12-11-06. The news release said that all retail outlets would have them by 12-9-06. The date and "all" outlets are a big scam. Why? Well...It is also worth mentioning that Best Buy is cherry-picking which stores are to get them. I had to drive 45 miles to the only Best Buy store on this side of the state that received a small shipment. Did I mention that they have had the bonus disc since November 30th? Good luck in getting a staff to know what you are talking about and even getting a copy for that matter. They are not even asking for receipts and scammers will go and pick them up and sell it for huge dollars on ebay. Anyway, you will have to find a store that still has it and go to the music department, not the return merchandise counter as I was originally directed. The cd comes in a plain white cardboard jacket that says, "Kiss box set advertised on 11/21. This replacement Cd includes the '2,000 Millennium Concert' and 2 Kiss bonus tracks. ( this space replicates cd jacket wording)
These are to be enjoyed along with the other tracks in the Kiss box set." sku#8186189 (but they are not scanning them) Good luck in trying to inventory this!!! Also, tell the sales associate that the discs are in a small and plain cardboard box that has "Kiss replacement discs" written in magic marker! I found the box sitting there why the sales associate was fondling around looking for them!!!!!!!!
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KISS: Alive! 1975-2000
Posted by Hugh Dark on 2006-11-28 08:01:38
My Score:
This box consists of some of the best Studio recordings of the band. The audience(from wherever) and the drums are live, but the rest is not. Although this fact finding may seem unusual for some, it is not unique to those in the "know!" The Millennium concert (recorded in a studio on Hollywood Blvd) is an excellent edition with Paul Stanley adding new textures to the melodies and besting previous recordings. The drums are the only point of contention as they are very stiff and deliberate. (listen to the "Shout it Out Loud" intro) Peter was using triggered drums (because of his failing arms), adding an artificial tone to the sound as well, but the overdubbed fills were a nice touch! If you seen them live during this period you will know that he played everything without any drum fills or decor of any kind. Ace sounds good, but "to good" if you know what I mean... Was Tommy around the studio that day? Anyway, he really adds some energy to the Lick it Up solo and the use of pinch harmonics in Deuce is awesome. We are also treated to a rendition of Do You Love Me? They really improved the arrangement of this song from how they used to play it in the past. At the end of the song they use to pound out octaves to simulate the orchestration, but now, they are arpeggiating chord structures for WAY better effect!! It should be mentioned that 100,000 Years and Black Diamond are included on The Millennium Concert. These are two of the best songs in the entire Kiss catalogue!!!! For those wondering....100,000 Years does not have the drum solo. It would have cost them years of studio time to get that one recorded!Alive and Alive 2 have a extra decibel or two added to the volume, putting an already dynamic performance in line with today's volume standards. Alive 3 was upgraded substantially with the remaster providing much needed punch, allowing it to be a little more listenable. It was, and still is, the worst of the official "live" releases. Bruce Kulick is so plain and flat that listening to him with Kiss could be a real chore. He wasn't bad on Asylum, but he was basically playing the licks that he learned from St. John when they were on the road together. He really fell out of favor with the band on his solo outing Carnival of Souls; it was determined (finally!) that his writing just sucked! Heeeeer's Tommy!!!! Actually, Tommy made his first appearence on Hot In The Shade or Hits(isn't that funny?) and that is probably why Bruce hates that album so much. Anyway, the packaging consists of a fold-out road case deluxe digi that consists of 5 panels when spread out. It was originally rumored to be 10 panels and the logo would have a special silver graphic enhancement. This is not really a box set, but a deluxe digi-pack design. The book consists of the previous inserts from the other recordings (with some additional pictures), plus some already released quotes from the band. *Note* the booklet erroneously credits Cold Gin to just Paul. Oh Gee, the fighting just never quits. Remember when they had Eric sing Beth? Till next time........
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