Alive! by Kiss is without question a huge breakthrough for the band and one of the best live albums ever made. Obviously there are a lot of controversy on how much of it was overdubbed in the studio, regardless of it, there`s no denying that this double album really showcases Kiss` explosive live shows on any recording formats. Favorite songs: Rock And Roll All Night, Deuce, Firehouse, 100,000 Years and Black Diamond.

ITS INTERESTING READING THE DIFFERENT VIEWS ON THIS LP AS TO WHETHER ITS LIVE OR NOT , I TAKE THE VIEW THAT IF IT SOUNDS LIVE
IT IS LIVE ! BY THE WAY THE LP IS CALLED KISS ALIVE ! NOT KISS LIVE ! AND THIS PLAY ON WORDS PROBABLY SUMS UP THE LP .ITS
A FAITHFULL REPESENTATION OF KISS LIVE WITH THE ODD MISTAKE RE RECORDED ,IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT THE MONEY WAS NOT AVAILABLE TO RECORD THE WHOLE LP IN THE STUDIO , HAVING SAID THAT THIS IS THE
BEST ALIVE (LIVE) LP OF ALL TIME AND IS CERTAINLY ONE THE GREATEST ROCK LPS EVER !! i WONT GO INTO DETAILS SONGWISE AS A LOT OF THE PREVIOUS REVIEWERS HAVE DONE IT ALOT BETTER ALREADY !

This is my favorite recording of all-time. Period!

There aren't many bands that cause such a "love 'em or hate 'em" mentality as does Kiss. Suffice to say, I don't care about any reviews from people who hate the band anyway! And trust me...you are as transparent as a hooker at a nurse's convention. So..if you hate Kiss...we don't need your opinions. It isn't like we haven't dealt with people hating the band in the past!

So let's talk about this recording. Let's get to the heart of the complaints from others.

1) The album is full of overdubs - OMG really? Call the police! Thin Lizzy's "Live and Dangerous" (considered by many as one of the greatest live recordings of all-time) is full of overdubs. I don't hear anyone slamming that recording. I would much rather hear mistakes corrected then listen to a recording (many Led Zeppelin bootlegs come to mind) with horrible vocals and sloppy playing.
Also, who did the overdubs? KISS DID!! So it was them anyway.

2)They aren't musicians. I love this one. Then what are they? The Monkees? Hum..that was really Peter on drums...Ace on Lead...Gene on bass...and Paul on vocals and guitar. No wait...they were pretending to backing tracks recorded by studio cats. That would explain it!

Just because something is simple and direct doesn't mean it sucks or that they are bad musicians. I have heard dozens of Kiss tribute bands and almost done of them get it close to sounding correct. How can that be? Doesn't Kiss suck at their instruments? Hummm maybe it isn't as easy as you think and they might, just might..know what they are doing and can actually play?

3) The crowd was piped in and made louder then normal. Well this is the dumbest reason to hate this album I have ever heard. Have you ever even been to a Kiss show back then? The crowd WAS that loud. I know, I was there! Eddie Kramer just made it louder in the mix is all...so what!!! So...this excuse just blows!

4) Other bands are better..Deep Purple...Led Zeppelin..etc. Well, surprise, I love ALL those bands and everyone offers something amazing and unique. Deep Purple's "MADE IN JAPAN" is my second favorite recording of all-time. They are an amazing band and the musicianship is first rate..Hell I even named my oldest boy Ian...after Ian Paice. But I also love Kiss...how can that be? Hum...having an open mind helps!

So...now the best stuff! The sound of this recording is second to none. Not so much the indivdual instruments, although I do love that, it is a collective thing. Never before or since has a band as a whole projected as much raw power and energy as on "Alive". You do actually "feel" the band's sweat and volume in each song! It is incredible. When I first put on "Deuce" I was floored! It just went from strength to strength. There isn't one bad moment in this! Not one! Even all these years later, if I am having a bad day, all I have to do is put on "100,000 Years" and listen to Paul Stanley's intense vocals and I feel like I can take on the world.

And isn't this the real point here? That is the essence of Kiss..the ability to lift one up..to empower..to create an emotional wall of sound that is bigger then the song itself and even larger then the band itself! It has never be captured by any other band in history.

So...go ahead and hate it if you want. We don't care. Bad mouth it..we don't care! We fans all know that it is the ultimate in emotion, power, energy and raw rock n roll! So if you don't like it...TOO DARN BAD!

The album that made KISS huge. The album that paved the way for everything come in the next few years for Kiss. It changed everything. Recorded live at various concerts in 1975 this album by 1976 went on too become Mega Platnium. Every song on here is extremly great versions live and everything sounds great.

This album influenced so many bands and still is a great album. buy today

The staple party record from the 70's. Forget that it's not exactly live, alot of it is live and what's not sounds like it is anyway. Many reviews mention Ace's playing, and you'll hear why, he's clear as a bell. Although many get bored with it, Peter's drum solo is timeless, just a solid flow that puts groove over showing off. Listen for Gene yelling "come on quad cities" (alot of this record recorded in Davenport, IA).

Quite simply the best KISS album. And one of the best rock albums from anyone. I never tire of Black Diamond and Rock Bottom. 30+ years later, this album rocks!

KISS ALIVE IS BASICALLY A STUDIO TREATED "LIVE" ALBUM. WHILE GENE SIMMONS CLAIMS THAT THE ALBUM WAS ONLY CORRECTED SLIGHTLY, FOR OBVIOUS MISTAKES, EDDIE KRAMER (THE PRODUCER) ADMITS THAT MOST OF THE ALBUM, EXCEPT FOR PETER CRISS'S DRUMS, WAS RECORDED IN THE STUDIO. THATS LAME! AND ALSO, THERE ARE MANY OTHER ARTISTS THAT KICK KISS'S A**, IN THE STUDIO AND ON STAGE! KISS IS OVERRATED AND CANT EVEN RELEASE A REAL LIVE ALBUM. (ALIVE II AND III WERE OVERDUBBED TOO!) HECK, TWO SONGS FROM ALIVE II WERENT EVEN RECORDED IN FRONT OF AN AUDIENCE AT ALL. THEY WERE RECORDED DURING A SOUND CHECK. CAN IT GET MUCH WORSE. THE ALBUM ITSELF CAN BE ENJOYABLE FOR THE AVERAGE KISS FAN, BUT REMEMBER IT'S NOT REALLY "ALIVE"!

Kiss Alive! is the standard by which all live rock albums have been judged since 1975, and created the standard "double live LP" format. If you're a Kiss fan and don't have this one you NEED it ASAP. If you are a rock and roll fan and don't have this buy it now. This is an all time classic, and one of the greatest albums ever made. Kiss in their top form performing their early classics when they were fresh and raw. Incredible stuff.

70's teenagers, got off the bus at a buddy's house everyday and blasted this record. It was all new then. Nobody had ever seen anything like these guys. Will never forget. Don't care what anyone says.

Why do KISS have the rock reputation that they do, with so many flounders in their catalougue, and all that teenybopper pop music, disco cuts, bad eighties hair etc. Why do many still hail them as rock gods?
KISS ALIVE! is why. The album is friekin rad!
This is one of those seventies rock albums where everything comes together to make it one of the coolest albums of all time. And I'm no KISS fanatic, but I can't deny that evry song on here is a rock and roll staple. DEUCE and STRUTTER kick it off, followed by rocker after rocker after rocker. It doessn't matter how many corny albums the band released afterwards.
These guys just know how to do it live. Even when I saw them a couple of years ago, and they were playing a bunch of cheesy eighties songs, they still sounded great live. Here, we get live mega performances of the bands best material. Any fan of seventies hard rock must own this scorcher.
Peter Criss said it best in his personalized message to all of the "cat people" in the liner notes... This album will make your tail stand on end! It's true.

As this album clearly demonstrates, KISS's live performances infuse rather lackluster music with an energy that is lacking in their studio work. This is much more enjoyable than the studio work that came before it, though the performance of "100,000 Years" might mark a lot point in the history of unnecessarily long drum solos and the diatribe before "Cold Gin" is just ridiculously juvenile. But the music is enjoyable, overall.

The product came in a timely manner. The condition of the product was excellent.

I don't give many cds 5 stars but this is one. KISS are and always will be my favorite band.I've seen them 17-18 times in concert through the years. I first heard this when I was 7 in 1977 and since then have been hooked. You either like KISS or you don't. This album is in my top ten albums,cd's of all time. I even bought my son his own copy.

The mid-70's was a time of many live albums. This one is head and shoulders above the rest. Every riff, lead, drum solo, spoken word stays in the memory forever if you liked Kiss at all back in the day. If you didn't, too bad. They wrote some of the greatest Rock songs in the 70's. They got a bad rap as a metal band, but in my opinion, they were extreme Rock 'n' Roll. Us kids got a lot of crap from our parents who grew up in the Elvis era, but Kiss was no differnt than Little Richard in the spirit of R'n'R. After they recorded this, they went on to record the trilogy of Destroyer, Rock and Roll Over and Love Gun, all great albums before recording an OK live album, Alive 2. Like many of the reviewers here, I say if you own only one Kiss album, this is the one! What killer power chords after the awesome drum solo of 100,000 years!

This is a complete mystery to me, but just in case this happens to anyone else; I unwrapped the cd case and opened it up to only find one disc (disc 1). I've taken it completely apart and spent an hour looking all around where I was sitting as I opened it. I'm quite familiar with 2-disc CD cases, and based on the physical dimensions I can only conclude there was ever space for one cd in this case.
Otherwise this is a great single disc compilation. I'm going to presume this is a packaging anomaly.

This album is a classic. The best live album ever eleased. It doesn't matter whether it's really live or not. What does matter is that the music contained in this album is awsome. A must have for any hard rock collector. The new bands need to take notes. ZThey just don't make bands like this anymore !!

Ok, since I made such a big deal about them being my favorite band, you would have thought this would be number one, right? Well, it IS a double album, I grew up with it, but sometimes things don't mean the same in your 40's, that they did in your teens. Make no mistake though, I love this album. And the remastered CD version sounds awesome. I think they made a mistake though, in that since the entire running time is under 70 minutes they could have put it on one CD instead of two, less fuss that way. Yeah, I know, they were trying to keep the continuity of the record, but Double Platinum was a two record set, and on the remaster it is on one CD, so there.....lol.

I have also recently learned the facts about the record. It had long been rumored that the album had been recorded live without an audience, and being a huge fan of this band, I just didn't want to hear that. But there is a book out there where Eddie Kramer debunks the whole thing, and as he was the producer of the record I tend to have to take his word. His stand on it is that there was NO WAY that these guys in a normal KISS show were going to be able to play any of the songs perfectly, too much running and jumping around. So he kept the drum tracks, and had the guys re- play to those in a "live" recording, so in essence it IS a "live" record, just not in the way it is presented as. But you know what? I don't care. This record STILL blows my socks off everytime!!!!!! And besides, the Only "live" album to outsell it to this day (Frampton Comes Alive) was a total sham..

Read the top ten list of every top Rock star of the last 30 years, and this record is in there. Even Garth Brooks cites it as an influence for God's sake!! This record made Ace Frehley the first modern guitar hero, a full 3 years before Eddie was even heard from. And again, the new Kissology DVD set proves that ACE was tapping (in a rudimentary way) as early as '74.

This was the very first album of any kind that I ever bought. 15 years old, I paid 16.99 for it at SEARS, yep, they used to sell records, if you can imagine that. I now own 3 copies of it, every one of them worn slap out from having a needle on them so much. All still have the original packaging , and I wouldn't trade any of them for any price. Long burned into my memories are the afternoons after school when I and my middle brother Scott would air guitar all the way through this album, with our Coup De Grace' coming in with "Let Me Go, Rock And Roll". 6 minutes of pure air guitar histrionics., We knew every beat, every chord change, every head banging moment of it. I was so looking forward to seeing the Cobo Hall performance on the DVD set to see this guys actually DO IT, but Alas, the version on that record must have been a once in a lifetime moment.

Still to this day, I get goosebumps and a shiver up my back, when that voice proclaims "You Wanted the best, and you got it! The hottest band in the land.......KISS!!!" The opening salvo of "Duece" and "Strutter" had to be the most potent ever laid down, laying waste to believer's and non believer's alike. A "take no prisoners" attitude that you only see in a Pro Wrestling ring anymore. "Got To Choose" sounding better here than it ever did in the studio. Then the 1-2 punch of "Hotter Than Hell" and "Firehouse" take side one out in explosive fire breathing extacy. I dare you, I double dare you to find ANY record, with a better side 1 anywhere! The live version of "C'mon and Love me" did the same thing for Kiss' hard rock cred, that the live version of "I Want You To Want Me" did for Cheap Trick's. A case of taking a rather wimpy studio cut and blowing your brains out with it in a Live setting. The drum solo in "100,000 Years" is STILL the best on any record, and boy, did other bands out there try to beat it. (I will say that when I saw Kiss in '86, that Eric Carr had a very unique drum solo of his own, Too bad it never made it record). "She" is just bombastic here, a little faster, but bad ass. And I prefer Ace's solo spot here, over the one on "Alive 2" because even though it is much simpler, "lean, mean, hungry" Ace seemed also much more honest in his playing, much less a "See what I can do" and more of a "Feel what I can do"....I hope that makes sense.

They recreated the beauty of that opening on "Rock Bottom" faithfully, I just wish they could have carried it longer. The song itself just is a primer for any would be Metal guitarist out there. I absolutley live for that moment when Ace does the unintentional pinch harmonic in the first lick of the solo. "Cold Gin" is one of my very favorite Kiss songs, They sped it up just a little too much for me here, but it rocks nonetheless. I can't say anything about the live version of "Rock And Roll All Nite" that hasn't been said before. If it wasn't for this version becoming the enormous success that it did, Kiss may very well have ended up in the "also ran" category. Thank The Lord, that sometimes, miracles still happen. Which brings back to that last song (yes, I skipped a couple, so sue me, I still love em) that was my Air Guitar Heaven.

This record is SO important to me on so many levels that it is hard to convey them all. Suffice to say, that when I say Kiss got me through my teen years alive and in one piece, this record was in front of the pack. I can still hear my dad yelling at me to turn it down, then me, catching him tapping his foot and bobbing his head to "Nothing To Lose". I wonder if he ever understood the lyrics enough to know that it was about anal sex?. I never had the nerve to ask.........lol.

This is Kiss's best album (in my not so humble opinion), and honestly, it's the only one you really need. I recently replaced my vinyl on CD, and I'm very happy about that. This album has many Kiss classics, but they're much better live. There are many people who say this album/CD was "enhanced", and some say it wasn't, but no matter. It's still a great album that truly rocks. Deuce, She, and Rock and Roll All Nite (my favorite 3 songs on the album) are much better and livelier than their rather dull studio versions. I like the song 100,000 Years too, but the drum solo in the middle is interminable (rivaling Ginger Baker's tedious solo in Toad, but Baker's is better, which shows you how lousy Criss's drum soloing was), and Stanley's pandering to the crowd during this drum solo doesn't help. But the song itself is still a great one. The band had a few good (though not great) years after this, then they faded in the 1980's and became a nostalgia enterprise for Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons (Criss and Frehley were kicked out of the band, and Stanley and Simmons assumed the rights to the name. Simmons and Stanley wrote most of the material anyway.). I also liked it when we didn't know what Kiss's faces looked like, and seeing what they look like now, maybe the makeup was a good idea. Anyway, the album is their best one, and it's the only one you need in your CD collection.

Anyone who seriously thinks this is a true "live" recording should take a look at the "Kissology" DVD's to hear what they really sounded like. They were limited by two key factors: 1) the outlandish outfits they wore, and 2) Ace Frehley's well documented excessive drinking. Under the cricumstances, it was inevitable that their live performances would sometimes suffer. (Gene also occasionally forgot his lyrics, distracted no doubt by his compulsory tongue-waggling and his lewd designs on the female fans). Watch "Shout It Out Loud" from the bonus disc on Kissology Vol. 1 for all the proof you need. (Gene repeats his verse, and Ace completely forgets where he is and botches the entire solo)

In keeping with their market-driven mentality, the band knew that a pure warts-and-all live album was not what they (and Casablanca Records, which was facing bankruptcy at the time) needed to score their first big hit record. So, they did what a lot of bands have done - they cleaned up the live recordings, editing out bad notes, dropped drumsticks, missed chords, etc., cleaning up the lead and background vocals and dressing the whole thing in wash of crowd roar that borders on white noise at times.

Dishonest? Perhaps. Effective? Absolutely. For all intents and purposes, this is a greatest hits collection from their first three albums (although I wish they'd included "Room Service"), and pretty much every version on "Alive!" blows the original away. "Rock Bottom" and "Rock And Roll All Night" really benefit from added lead guitar.

This album put Kiss on the map for good, and it still holds up as a great party album and a great rock and roll album more than thirty years later. 5 stars

Right before the real silliness started, "Kiss Alive" represented what Kiss was meant to be: a bonafide over the top '70's glam band on steriods....not the Gene Simmons pre teen marketing plan. Sadley, shortly after this came out, we started seeing the dolls, lunchboxes, kites, bedspreads, underwear, halloween costumes, toothbrushes, action figures, coffins, trading cards, really bad movies, etc. Despite some good records later in their career, Kiss was heading for a slump.
What we get with "Kiss Alive" is straight up hard rock before a more mature crowd. Songs such as "Duece", "Strutter" "Cold Gin" "Black Diamond" & "100,000 Years" are improved from their studio counterparts and are refreshing to hear in a live setting, I don't care how many overdubs were done in the studio. This album is a milestone in the career annals of Kiss, and if there is one Kiss album to have above all others, this is the one.

I don't care what anyone else says about this record partially being recreated in the studio...this album rocks relentlessly and it is the BEST live record of ALL time! When you listen to it...you are there. You are IN the audience. So, no matter how much was fixed up, whatever they did, KISS and Eddie Kramer came up with the perfect KISS SOUND! The way I see it, every track on here is the best that that song was ever recorded. Each song on here kills the studio version. Not that the studio versions were bad - it's just that the versions on here are that much better.

Very tinney sounding bass is weak other than that is is a very well recorded CD

Once again people, keep in mind that this is music recorded in the studio and overdubbed onto live audience tracks. ITS NOT LIVE MUSIC!! Even though I think this is a good sounding album (worthy of 4 stars despite the deception), and I do give it a spin every year or so - I wish I would have started listening to different music in my youth. You see, I admit that I was a huge Kiss fan. But given how far I have come in the pursuit of 'real' music and good live music, its almost embarrasing to me that I liked this stuff. And I still like some of it. But I often wonder where I would be musically now if I had started off with say the Grateful Dead, Caravan, Camel, King Crimson, or a host of other artists back in the 70s. I think Kiss stunted my musical growth for a number of years now looking back. Real bands don't record in the studio then release music under the guise of a live album. When I found this out it only solidified the fact that I was in the wrong fandome way back. But hey, what's a 12 year old know.

Interaction with the audience, blazing guitar work, mind-blowing drums, rollicking bass, high-volume power and buckets of endless fun...this is what live hard-rock in the '70s was all about. And Kiss delivers it to you with style and passion. From the seemingly endless, yet still impressive drum solo in "100,000 Years", to Paul's talking between songs to Ace's always stunning guitar work, (Deuce, Rock and Roll All Nite... you get the picture). You should have no doubts while buying this album and expecting energetic, glammed-up rock and roll by Kiss, 'cause you're gonna get a whole lotta that. Hopefully, you'll love it like I do! Of course, here's a tip: If you've got the money for this, it would be a great idea to shell out a few extra bucks and get the "Alive! Box Set". I've seen "Alive!", sold by itself for as much as $25, but the "Alive! Box Set" gives you the 3 Alive! discs, plus the previously unreleased Millennium Concert, for $37, just twelve bucks more, which is how I was exposed to the Alive! albums. Well, hope you all enjoy this one, 'cause to quote basically every announcer - You wanted the best, you got the best, the hottest band in the world, Kiss!

One of my groups of Bud's in high school used to listen to KISS as a studio band before this Mega-Selling Double Live Album came to be. But we were the only ones in our school. By the time ALIVE! Was popular, KISS had taken over the music of my school so much that in my senior year, the Art Club dance, (the biggest non-prom dance of the year) the hall's were all Sci-Fi paintings, and an All KISS dance (local tribute band Justy Queet?) . I guess you had to be there, but it was very cool!

I got out some of the studio stuff a while back, and it just isn't the same. However, the live sets on ALIVE are just as good as ever, with an electrified crowd, this is still an amazing album.

by 1974 KISS was the biggest band in the world and the rocked on their legendary live album "ALIVE" includes the Greatest party hard song of all time "Rock n Roll all Nite" "Deuce" "Strutter" "Hotter than Hell" "C'mon & Love me" & many more head banging classics. The Album is most must have if your a KISS fan, fantastic live tracks,
"SO LETS ROCK 'N' ROLL ALL NITE & PARTY EVERY DAY"

I received this LP as my 9th birthday present when it had just come out, and recently bought a used copy of the remaster of it.

All the complaints about how artificially-enhanced this album is are spurious, as if 3/4 of the "live albums" in history aren't re-constructed and optimized for maximum effect in the post-production. Eddie Kramer did an amazing job, and his role was central in making this one of the ear-splatteringest, heaviest records of all time. I listened to the remaster in headphones on 11 and afterwards I had to lie down it was so head-crushingly loud.

The versions of the tunes on this make their studio counterparts sound like "Alvin and the Chipmunks Play Kiss". Every song just completely obliterates its corresponding appearance on the first 3 albums that preceded it, as if their studio records were just a run-through and the live one was meant to be "here's our songs played by Satan on steroids" by comparison.

What's telling is that there are no visuals, and despite this band's reliance on the poly-pyrotechnic stage show and all the criticism about how the theatrics were there to conceal the crappy music, the tunes stand up just fine. The truth is that without good tunes nobody would have cared that the drumkit was levitating or that the bass player was breathing fire. Someone said that in the '70s even the bad music was great, and the very worst twaddle on this album is like Vivaldi compared with the crap that passes for music today. Jessica Simpson couldn't write songs this good, even if she were to receive Brian Wilson's brain in a transplant... that's how hopeless things have gotten.

This record just roars and blows your head off from start to finish, every song just builds and builds the momentum... let's just say it's worth a Deuce, even if it does put yet more money into the misogynistic, greedy hands of Gene Simmons.

KISS' first few albums did nothing to convey the showmanship of this original foursome. "Alive" took the band from being an oddity and attention getter to all out stars. Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons recall time after time in various interviews, how fans remarked they were better live, and wished there was a way to share that. Well, these dynamic "rock-trapeneurs" had the will and found the way to get this experience captured.

This was the first ground-breaking live album, that spawned a popular trend of captured live performances.. After "Alive" artists showed their chops by doing a live album (Peter Frampton, Bob Seger, Cheap Trick, Ted Nugent, etc). This pre-dates MTV and pre-fab artists with PR, wardrobe and marketing departments in the wings. This was rock and roll at it's finest. This release made "Rock and Roll All Nite" a modern classic.

At age 13, Metaldiva's very first hard rock concert in 1976 was seeing Kiss at Olympia Stadium in Detroit. It was the winter following this concert which was recorded downtown at Cobo Arena. This was when you could get a ticket for about 20 bucks and it was the ONLY way to see your favorite artists AND you had to show up at school the next day wearing a t-shirt to proved you were there. This is during the rock heydays when you experienced the performance with the artist and musicians and lip-synching was for American Bandstand only.

"Alive" truly captures the band on it's way to international stardom and becoming a marketing phenom. The energy from those now famous Detroit audiences is electric. Every song is good, solid New York rock and roll. Don't miss "Black Diamond" with lead vocals by Peter Criss. His seldom heard lead, is the voice of the time, gravelly and classic. Although you can't see the show, there's enough sparkle in the tracks to feel the excitment. This stands the test of time because the music is just plain good. When it comes to music, you can do acrobatics and shocking things on stage and get a little radio play and record sales, but to last for decades, you have to have good solid music. Kiss does on "Alive" and many subsequent albums that followed. The shocking on stage antics, though outrageous at the time, seem rather mild today, but they, with Alice Cooper, took rock from just something to listen to, to shows you couldn't wait to get in to.

Rockgod, my husband, was part of the entourage which went in 1976 and was at the tender age of 14, and my first boyfriend. In 2000, we saw them on their farewell tour, with Ted Nugent, in Sacramento, CA. We got a few seconds of radio-time on the local classic rock station as we celebrated 25 years together and 25th anniversary of that first concert for the both of us. They were never better!!! Our metalbabies adore them now, too.

Metaldiva Sez: This is a classic first of 70's rock performances that anyone can enjoy. These gentlemen received a well deserved nod at the VH1 Rock Honors. If you love hard rock, shock rock, glam rock, KISS will satisfy all your needs.. Get it home and enjoy...

Album of the decade in the 70's and started off my whole love of music. Even if it wasn't 85% live, it was a classic. Kiss were magic on-stage at the time and wrote great straight rock songs. But there is something incredible about the sound to this 'LIVE' album. Just very energetic for its time and really gave life to the songs in a way the previous studio albums had not been able to translate. Ace's solos were perfect. Its just a very important album to me and millions of others. Very nostalgic but also full of great songs. A must have for any real Rock/Metal fan. A real GEM!

...should be in everyone's collection who calls themselves a fan of Rock and Roll! This album brings back so many memories of my childhood---a 9 year old boy absolutely Enchanted by these four characters. I very much had a fascination with the band at that young age...almost to the point of "worshiping" them. And as for my parents, they had the typical views of this band that most parents who had kids that were consumed with KISS---"Knights in satan's service" who were hell bent on brainwashing as many youths as they could. Well, many, many years later I/we know that wasn't really the case. These were simply four adequate(yes, I said adequate) musicians who were inventive enough to come up with a sound, look and persona to leave a lasting impression on the R-n-R World. As for the actual live album, they don't get much more energetic and powerful as here on 'Alive'. For musicians who have been dubbed by some as "sub-par", these guys were sure ON that night(although there have been rumors(?) concerning this show having been "doctored-up". At any rate, this concert embodies everything I know to be a great show---good music played with passion, crowd interaction and a memorable stage act. And the sheer'rawness'of the album does nothing to take away from this splendid listening experience
...as a matter of fact, I would credit this 'rawness' for me returning to this album somewhat frequently(well probably not that frequent, though I do adore this CD). And like I hinted at above, Gene, Paul, Ace and Peter ARE valid musicians despite the "Flak" they have been given over the years. Besides Gene and Paul being good solid vocalists/players, I consider Ace to be a very original, creative guitarist(though possibly lacking in aural inventivness).And I love the parts and solos he comes up with---there's something pleasing about being able to hum his memorable guitar solos. And forget about Ringo(love you man)...Peter Criss is soley responsible for my aspirations to be a drummer---I remember(as that 9 year old) how enthraled I was listening to his solo in "100,000 Years". I didn't understand all the banter Paul was talking---Vodka, Gin, Tequila and getting "high" during the crowd participation part of the song, but I did understand a couple of things at that tender age.....I loved that 'Catman' drummer and wanted to be just like him!(BTW, I consider my self a lifelong drummer who did many a Halloween gig dressed as the 'Cat'). Of course, being much older now(38), I have certainly discovered much more talented drummers and musicians out there, but these four 'masked men' will always hold a special 'majic' for me. So if your unfortunate enough not to have this as part of your collection, I would more than recommend 'Alive'(along with 'Alive II')....just don't expect anything too "meaningful"....DO, however, expect to hear one of the most important live albums ever recorded, full of youthful passion and good-old Rock and Roll FUN!

****As a mysterious side note---During one of our family moves to Florida when I was 11, my Lp copy of Alive(and AliveII)strangely disappeared?.....Mom never 'fessed-up' to it, but as is said, "with age comes wisdom"!

This is without a doubt, at the top of the greatest live albums ever released. 30 years later it still sounds great!!

Taken back into the studio to fix the sound of breaking strings and an off key note here and there, this album still stands as the greatest live album ever recorded (unless of course you want all your favortie bands to keep breaking strings in their live recordings so you can listen to it over and over again). While some will say it was done in the studio it's funny how producer Eddie Kramer's fish story keeps getting bigger with each passing year (and it's equally funny how some people swallow his load). By 2007 he'll probably say the whole album was recorded with a kazoo, and it was only his incredible engineering skills that made it sound like a live album with a band. Nevertheless, the energy level is higher and the band is tighter than most. The song writing is excellent. This was KISS at their best, because this was recorded when KISS was still hungry. This is a young band going all out live... YOU WANTED THE BEST YOU GOT THE BEST... we most certainly did.

If you're under 13, this album may not be for you. If you think extra applause added to a live album ruins it, grow up and smell the hormones, and study a little marketing.

If you are 16-17, male, and not too new-agey/progressive/politically-correct/feminine, etc. you will appreciate one of the finer live albums from the hard rock 70's.

The songwriting is neither heady, nor intellectual. The schtick is heavy, just like the make-up. It's theatre, folks. Take it for what it's worth. As a raging adolescent from that time, an aficionado of all things Nugent, Aerosmith, ACDC, Zeppelin, Scorpions, UFO, Montrose, etc. etc. etc.

As a teenage mutant non-ninja non-turtle making his first concert (1976) a Kiss concert, trust me: this album rocks; the people who were there were enthusiastic, and so were the ones they added after the fact.

I am not what you would call a soldier in the Kiss Army(and also I am DEFINITELY not a fan of their Wal-Mart like marketing schemes). Their studio albums to my ears were weak and a lot of their songs didn't work in that environment. The live show was their strength, and this album proves it(yes, I know there were some studio touchups, but NO "live" album is truly 100% live, except for bootlegs". If it weren't for this album, nobody would be talking about Kiss today. The songs have more power, and the guitars are much more distorted and rawer than on the studio albums. The real reason to own this album is for Ace Frehley's lead guitar. Ace was not the most technical guitarist by far, but his playing was melodic and there was some real soul underneath the makeup. As the title says this is the album that launched a million guitar players. Nearly every rock guitarist I know that grew up in the 70's has said that Ace was the man that made them want to pick it up. Anybody who says different is LYING!! Trust me.

This, Alive II and the first Ace Frehley solo album are all the Kiss you could ever need, and are the only ones worth lining Gene $immon$ pockets for. Anything after the makeup came off is to be avoided.

I've read some reviews knocking this album for various reasons. THEY ARE ALL WRONG!!! This is the finest live album of all time and certainly one of Kiss' shining moments. Yes, there was some studio touch ups done on it. I hate to tell you folks, there are studio touch ups on ALL live albums and I don't care what bands say differently. The reviewers that knock this album are waiting for the second comming of hot air bands like ELP and Yes. This is in your face Rock and Roll at it's best