KISS - Alive! (1975) | VH1 Documentary | Ultimate Albums (2003)

[@phishfan]

As much as I love this album and it made me a musician, it's not really true that nobody had done successful live albums before. Made In Japan, Band of Gypsys, Allman's At Fillmore East, Live At Leeds, and others like The Band, Joe Cocker, Yardbirds all put out great live albums before KISS. The Song Remains The Same was recorded in '73, although was delayed until 1976 for release. But people who say KISS couldn't play need to watch old footage from that time- they sounded EXACTLY like they did on Alive! and I don't blame them at all for cleaning up the loose ends in the studio.

[@warriorv9359]

Yes I commented the same thing the Allman Brothers at philmore east blows kiss out of the water

[@AndrewSmith-vr8kd]

The Grateful Dead put out a triple live album, Europe '72 in 1972.

[@jamesbarnett2483]

@@warriorv9359different vibe. Both are great.

[@billyz5088]

~~ and early in 1975 - several months before Alive came out - another NY-based band - one who had done shows with KISS - released a double-live record - Blue Öyster Cult, with .. "On Your Feet or on Your Knees" - also highly regarded as a classic 70's live album ..

[@robvange]

Yes and MADE IN JAPAN IS 100% LIVE…recorded on 8 track……no overdubs…that DEEP PURPLE…maybe best live band ever….. also the version that did the California JAM concert…Glen Hughes on bass Was amazing….incredible live performance!

[@chrisoakley5830]

Kiss Alive! was simply an act of desperation that worked, the band, the record company and their manager had no money, in fact their manager had charged 250,000 dollars on his American Express credit card with no way to pay it off. The success of Alive saved them all and began a long run of success for KISS and their record company.

[@mikeohagan2206]

it is still the best live album cover ever.

[@RadioReprised]

If you have been to a KISS Concert, you KNOW how ''correct'' the dubbing made the Album sound to the EXACT experience you HAD! It still kills it today!

[@HomelandConspiracy]

Got to see them for $5.00 in Kalamazoo right before this lp came out. Got the lp for my BD & wore it out!!!!

[@ThrowLeather]

This album changed my life. I was reborn when I heard the first note of Duece!

[@joelirag3718]

Don't care. It's still brilliant. One of the greatest rock albums ever.

[@leebaldwin6015]

This album rocked,i love how they engineered it,a continuos flow,most live albums you have a song then the dead space between like a studio recording

[@Gary-ow9he]

KISS Alive! was a concept album. The concept was having the listener feel as though they were there in that audience as they listened to that album. Unlike other live albums, where the listener is on the outside looking in and listening. KISS Alive! invited listeners to be in the audience. Other live albums invited the listener to observe the audience. The concept was a success. Many many many people listened to KISS Alive!, looked at the pictures and imagined they were there in that audience. It was fantasy based on reality.

[@thetequilaprofessor]

If you were ever at a KISS concert at that time 75/77. They had the best sound and were the closest to the actual recorded album. The audience was even louder than the Alive album and everyone stood for the entire concert. We were enraptured and had the best experiences of our lives and those memories have lasted a lifetime for many us.

[@johnmurray950]

Saw them in 1977 at Salt Lake City. I have seen a lot of concerts but none match the sheer energy of KISS! My ears rang for three days after that show!

[@batshitcrazy23577]

KISS Alive was and still is my fav album!

[@gtrhoppe]

As much as Gene and Paul complain about Ace and Peter, Eddie Kramer says that pretty much everything was re-recorded, except for the drums, which were good, Peters vocals, and Aces solos, which were kept intact. Alive was the beginning of Eddie Kramer's run of great overdubbed 'live' albums. These included Frampton Comes Alive, and Cheap Trick Live at Budokan.

[@karl-unoisaksson4000]

Greatest Album Experience EVER!!! Thanx for sharing 🙏 Love from Sweden 💖 Kärlek från Yttre Källehult ⚒️

[@Syd-41]

I still listen to this album to this very day. It’s still just as great now as when I heard it the first time as a little kid.

[@SteeeeveC]

Love that album

[@jeffyoung8726]

This was my first Kiss record, that I got for my twelfth birthday. I loved it then, I love it now, and always will. Doesn't matter that it's not completely live. Only matters that it one of the greatest albums of all times!

[@iplaypearldrums7935]

me too....... my first Kiss record,

[@metalzonemt-2]

It would be interesting to hear the actual recording without overdubs.

[@christrudell7966]

Warts and all; still a rocking album.

[@captainbeyondmetal8213]

This album straight up blew you away when listening to it. What they did was make you feel like you were in the center of it. Mind-blowing work by Eddie Kramer!

[@TheRootsMan]

5:15 Tell that to Deep Purple ~

[@tomjones6376]

Dont care, This and Unleashed in the east were my favorites

[@jimilove7773]

Kiss and Preist!

[@gregpfeil2438]

Throw in Thin Lizzy live and dangerous too

[@jeffhodge7272]

I think that scream Rob let's out in Victim Of Change can shatter glass. KISS sounds awesome live and LOUD!🤟🎸🥁🔥

[@stanlee-eq7lu]

Absolutely agree 👍

[@scooter29]

Mine too.

[@pauljams6565]

I wore out this 8 track as a kid 🎸🤣. . .

[@RandyMauck]

I was just trying to explain 8 track tapes to my grandson

[@scottydub5785]

we all did that, man

[@gterrymed]

My first album ❤️

[@MrKastaway66]

Better overdubbed than underdubbed.

[@cooltheengines]

EVERY live album that EVERY rock band has EVER done has been touched up after the fact in the studio. You HAVE to do that no matter who you are otherwise it’s not going to sound good enough to put out to the public…period. Like Paul said, any band that thinks they can do a live show and just set up a few mics and record it and call it good has a lot to learn.

[@honiideslysses12]

For many die hard fans this stands as their one true testament and favorite album of the band and for the casual listeners the only KISS album that was worth owning.

[@97warlock]

didnt want it to end 🔥🔥

[@DF-ee8vt]

Anybody who has seen Kiss live would know that Alive! sounds way too good to be a true live recording.

[@bobl6139]

The album cover and gate sleeve photos were part of the package,kiss alive 2 took it a step further

[@bassmanjohn7237]

A beast of an album!

[@robwild3310]

Back then we really didn’t know this. But, have known this now for years. Most live albums have many overdubs. Hell, Strangers in the Night says recorded in Chicago and Louisville. But only the crowd noise is from Chicago, the music is from multiple other concerts

[@TImDoyle-k1w]

Who cares..album is awesome

[@jeffhodge7272]

Like anyone cares what Fred Durst thinks.🤭

[@styrmugnsell4560]

Gene Simmons must be a little crazy.He says that there was no double live-albums before Kiss Alive?!? WTF, never heard of Deep Purple "Made in Japan"? Or `Led Zeppelin "Songs remains the same"? Or Uriah Heep "Live '73"... or David Bowie "David Live"?

[@thetequilaprofessor]

Gene has always embellished.

[@warriorv9359]

Genes just a piehole

[@shandonsahm3343]

Alive was out before the song remains soo...not sure about DP thou but alive was out before zeps live lp

[@styrmugnsell4560]

​@@shandonsahm3343 yes, that might be true, but I don't think Kiss was the first.

[@Joe-wo7rg]

KISS ALIVE! Is the best KISS album ever!!!!!

[@222ukie]

The album says KISS Alive not KISS Live

[@psychodelicrock12]

This should have been a triple live album 💿.

[@loscrimefighter1899]

If you were "there", that is to say a Rock n Roll fan in 1975, you get it.

[@daveb8449]

Love Kiss Alive.

[@EikeMenzel]

My Christmasgift 1975 and until today *the* Liverecord # 1 to me. 1977 I had *The BIG 5* (Alive!, Alive II, Made in Japan, The Song remains the same & Frampton comes Alive) but *KISS* ❤️ "Alive!" Stood the Test of Time alone of those ...

[@brianshorey]

At the time double live albums didn't exist? Made In Japan anybody? There were plenty of others. Kiss was great live, their studio albums were just so so.

[@chrisphillips348]

I knew when I got older that it was HEAVILY Reworked in studio. They moved so much you can’t even hear the vocals live! If Sammy Hagar headset mikes were invented then they would be perfect. The guitars sound great and the drums so so… My favorite live record ever then and now.

[@MichealAllison-o6p]

KISS ALIVE! IS THE GREATEST ROCK AND ROLL LIVE ALBUM OF ALL TIME!

[@jeffhodge7272]

Many bands/artists from the mid 80's on state KISS as a huge influence on them. For MANY reasons. As long as there are people talking about rock music. They'll talk about KISS.🤟🎸🥁🔥

[@clarkdissneyer8225]

Alive was the second album I bought as a kid (fhe first was a cut-out Ventures album.) But Gene is wrong when he says it's the first double live album. Alive came out September 10. Blue Oyster Cult's On Your Feet Or On Your Knees came out February 27. In both cases they had 3 studio albums behind them with no hits, but a great reputation as a live band, and both had hits off their next studio album. And they were both from New York.

[@thefinisher2010]

But it wasn't just recorded at cobbo hall,

[@NitroModelsAndComics]

It's a piece of art is what it is. Their live performances were hectic loud affairs. I saw them for Destroyer two nights in a row in Prov RI. They crushed it as far as I was concerned but I guarantee they flubbed plenty. But for me and my 13 year old mind they were Gods and could do no wrong. Alive is a testament to the ultimate Kiss experience at that time and Kramer masterfully captured it and fixed the boo-boos so it was everything you could have hoped for. Who wants a pitch wrong out of tune guitar and voice on a recording that will outlive everyone involved? No one!

[@LaurieValdez-zk3dy]

I ❤them Thank you very much. Philadelphia USA 🇺🇸 Accept no cheap imitations.

[@carlcrasmussen]

When I first heard this decades ago I was shocked and appalled but now I think I get it and agree. The most important thing is if the vocals and instruments you're hearing are truly of the band even if they had to go back in the studio and record it sounding right. I appreciate that they finally came clean and put some good logic and reason behind it. Frankly I never listened to their live albums other than the fourth side of a Alive II. Since I am older than the band I'll have to make a point to listen to em sometime.

[@dianealdrich710]

Before this album I listened a lot to Jim Croce who I think is still one of great singer song. Writers of all time, but then kiss came along and put a Little Rock and roll into everything.

[@iplaypearldrums7935]

The one & ONLY vinyl record I bought.......in 1976......cassettes after that

[@iplaypearldrums7935]

I still play this in the car..........on CD...lol

[@davidspinney2023]

I love this album, but I don't agree that live albums were never a success before this one. what about James Brown at the Apolo, Johny Cash at San Quenton and Fulsom prison, BB King at the Regal, The Allman Brothers at the Filmore, Deep Purple Made in Japan and many more I love them all including Kiss Alive 1 and 2. They all sparked, enhanced or rejuvenated careers. Kiss was smart to do this.

[@SteveSteeleSoundSymphony]

Deep Purple’s Made In Japan was a huge double live album three years before Kiss Alive, and there were others. Kiss love to say that they invented the popular double live album. It’s a myth and they know it.

[@alonzovillarreal4666]

Gotta admit I was a little disappointed the first time I heard about how much was redone. In the end, I don’t care because that album is really made me want to be a musician. Besides, Eddie Kramer did that work and for me, automatically puts it right up there at the top. The clarity and brilliance of his mixing crushed it.

[@hawlikd]

Nobody heard of Peter Frampton's 1976 live album? Live albums in the 1970's did very well.

[@billyz5088]

and FCA sold far more than ANY other live record - whatever anyone wants to say about Frampton or his career after that - nobody would have ever predicted that level of success for a live record - 8x platinum in the US alone - 17x worldwide ..

[@robadams1645]

All the World's a Stage by Rush was also released in 76. Not quite the phenomenon as Alive but it did well.

[@teddyghioto]

If you were 14 in 76 as i was Kiss ruled the fn world...

[@willhorting5317]

If all of you people dislike KISS so much, then did you bother to click on the video and leave comments?

[@michaelfriedman6338]

It should be renamed: KISS Partly Alive! The reason the overdubs were necessary was because they were less than mediocre musicians. Recording it exposed this fact. So much of what KISS did was rooted in hyperbole and very slick marketing and not much else. And this coming from someone who was a huge KISS fan back in the 70’s.

[@MichaelKurse]

Cranberries did no overdubs for their live album/DVD.

[@larryoneill7432]

No comparison. There was a lot of recording advancements in the 15 odd years between these two recordings

[@tdolz]

Deep Purple - Live In Japan did it.

[@chrisrose6014]

Ain't deep purple's made in Japan a two disc album as well as Frampton comes alive? Although Frampton'd album may have been after this one. Alive! Is an awesome album though

[@familydogg1234]

When the Kiss Army came in alot of fans left. They got the younger crowd with the make up. I saw them in March 1975 and they were incredible.

[@garyrouleau4676]

The Allmans did it!😂😂

[@rodneyriddnauer]

6:40 A classic example 😂

[@Dogboy1960]

I'm a pretty big fan of KISS and I did have and loved this album but.....Alive did not break open the idea of a Double Live album in the 1970s as a potential BIG WINNER. In 1972 Deep Purple was the biggest thing in Hard Rock, displacing Led Zeppelin for even just this very short period of time in 1972 was accomplished through a 1-2 PUNCH that was the Classic Studio Album Machine Head and the subsequent release of the double Live album Made in Japan. Made in Japan show cased Deep Purple live and Ritchie Blackmore as an undisputed Guitar GOD with no real competition in the absence of Jimmy Hendrix and prior to the next BIG THING Eddie Van Halen. KISS Alive was an amazing success though, despite not being first on the Map of successful double live recordings. It saved KISS from oblivion. Those first 3 studio albums were solid enough but too restrained and they didn't sell well at all before Alive came out and made people wonder, "where did this live music come from?" Kiss sold more copies of the first record, Dressed to Kill and Hotter Than Hell after Alive came out than they had in the first year after each was released. More important for KISS: Alive finally justified a well made and well produced studio album. Destroyer was KISS's first studio recording done with big effort and big production behind it. Where the first 3 records clearly show second rate production Destroyer was top notch quality and no matter what anyone thinks of KISS as music or talent this was the first record that highlighted the band without any handicap of poor production. Small wonder many fans call the album out as KISS's best studio effort. This wouldn't have ever happened had Alive fallen flat. KISS fans can say this about the band's first Double Live recording. KISS really can claim they are as good as any band on this one topic and probably better than 99% of all bands. In the 1970s the double live record was attempted by many bands but almost none of the efforts really worked very well for the bands who tried. Peter Frampton Comes Alive was clearly the single most successful but in the end I count only 3 that were any damned good at all. Made in Japan, KISS Alive and obviously Frampton Comes Alive. Notable also rans that were no-where near as successful includes The Song Remains the Same from the biggest Hard Rock band of all time. Proving even the #1 player can struggle when releasing a live album. Led Zeppelin was AWESOME beyond anyone else but that live album just didn't capture the band in the way the 3 I'd point to as best did for the bands that recorded them.

[@jimilove7773]

So what we knew this for decades!

[@chrisphillips348]

Exactly, vocals would be unintelligible. They move too much for stationary mikes. The guitars are too crisp. Sound levels too perfect for live

[@chrisoakley5830]

And who cares, both live albums by Kiss in the 70s were magical.

[@carlcrasmussen]

Eh they probably just needed a little more Reverb on their Studio albums LOL. It worked like hell for Kevin Cronin on high infidelity.

[@WesleyGravolet]

First one for me..

[@cageycretin7357]

It doesn't say they are live...

[@GerryBlue]

Been a fan since 1979, and while everybody prefers the 70's version, musically they sucked, the band got tighter and better when Bruce arrived. Also, audience was re-recorded, vocals and guitars, sorry but that is not a Live album

[@sjwill1956]

Really .. it is a great record but come on withe the revisionist BS about Live albums "in the early 70's did not exist crap" .. tell Deep Purple, Uriah Heep, the Band, YES ( that was a triple),CSNY, David Bowie, the f'in Allman Brothers @ the Filmore is a friggin classic... even Neil Diamond... and there are others that pre date this release .. PLS just stop

[@KevinStimelsky]

Only The Who has The Greatest live album. Live At Leeds!!

[@marklipsett1329]

Hardly. Overrated.

[@henrywaller4297]

If there's one better from that era, it's Live at Filmore by Allmans. Outstanding.

[@KevinStimelsky]

@@henrywaller4297 Definitely!

[@KevinStimelsky]

@@marklipsett1329.lol whatever

[@kennymik1509]

"Driving a steak through the heart of the hippie generation" is an Alice Cooper quote!!!!!!! So the curtain is opened. Hell, why not just create the entire album in studio and bullsh"t...I mean pass it / sell it as a live album. Man, I miss bootleg recordings! They were real...as if THERE!!!

[@carloslozada470]

Best gimmick ever

[@chrisoakley5830]

Yes it was, and it worked like a charm, both Kiss Alive and Alive ll made you feel as if you were actually at the show when you listened to them. Great memories from a great Rock group.

[@jeffhodge7272]

​@chrisoakley5830 I blew the speakers in my parents stereo cranking those opening chords of Dr.Love. Live.Raw.Loud.🤟🎸🥁🔥

[@janiterinadrum1627]

Jean and Paul act like a Saint Peter don’t matter, but it’s funny that 99% of their set list our songs written when those guys were in the band so go figure

[@donavonmacallister3101]

Why the hell did they put fred durst in here. Commentary from people who werent even there. Who cares? Like goldie hawns daughter kate talking about the beatles...lol what a joke.

[@erics9754]

Have to laugh at Gene over dub a kick drum lmao Peters work was the only thing that did not need fixing. This is the guy Gene and Peter piss on all the time well it turns out the reason they do is pure 100 percent jealousy. Peter despite what they say you and Ace were Kiss those other two bozos were my least favourite members and i now know why.

[@ajjy1110]

only thing live is the drums

[@DB-kl9bp]

Wrong

[@mooch514]

Kiss alive made it cool to make live albums...look at peter frampton , cheaptrick, the song remains the same in 76 etc etc. Kiss alive was real and was recorded in wildwood new jersey in 3 nights

[@jeffhodge7272]

New Jersey.🤭

[@willhorting5317]

It was also recorded at three other locations.

[@gorfpatrol2073]

Cobo

[@matiasvuorimaa2894]

And now much later they do admit live album was re-recorded in the studio....

[@chrisoakley5830]

Most live albums have always had touch ups in the studio, some don't, but those are few and far between.

[@DB-kl9bp]

Barely.

[@1wide9111]

The album is called Alive, not live.

[@bigpoppa5732]

Just like Frampton, they used canned crowd noise . NOT so Live !!!

[@mikaelsjodin1963]

Gene Simmons is lying. David Bowie´s live double album David Live came in 1974.

[@metalhead-mf2zf]

Love the record, but in a way, I think one could argue that the studio records could not hold up and neither could a live record of the same material. So they redo the bulk of it in the controlled environment of the studio, where it really cannot go wrong, and then wait for decades to fess up to it, and then offer flimsy reasons as to why they did it. It's kind of like cheating, getting caught, then rationalizing it as to why it was OK, really as ONLY Kiss can. And overdubbing the audience as well? What's left? Is this really not a bit deceiving and fraudulent?

[@darrylenglander2992]

kiss were partily dervitive of mc5.

[@shoeshane6494]

Sorry, but KISS just isn't a good band. I liked them as a little kid, but I realized how low quality their music was when I was about nine years old. Even Paul Stanley agrees. I read his book. He says KISS was not a good band, and their place in rock history is important because of the success they had despite the fact that the music was not good.

[@guillermo3564]

Their zenith. Everything they did after that went from bad to worse. Concerning the fact that no one had ever done it and you don't just mic a band and turn them loose, I've got one thing to say; Made in Japan. Deep Purple created the live masterpiece of the 70's, if not of all time. It makes kiss alive look like the piece of sh*t that it was.

[@FrostedSeagull]

Jeez . . . They're full of it. The Stones, Hendrix, and Beatles hadn't done it. BS. PAUL STANLEY In 2021, he finally admitted it when he said bith Gene and himself were HUGE Deep Purple fans ! Machine Head Released by Purple in '72. Purple, unlike Zeppelin, were not big in the USA. Machine Head changed that as it went Double Platinum fairly quickly. Unfortunately. . . just before the Christmas holiday period, Mzchune Head ( which had sold millions globally) just stopped selling. The band members allowed a Japan only live album of their August (1972) concerts. Long story short. Canadian underground started playing cuts off Made in Japan, then their mainstream radio fillowed. On December 10, 1972 New York radio began playing songs off Made in Japan ! People loved and preferred the 'live versions' of the Machine Head album. Smoke on the Water The studio version of Smoke is lame and dare one say . . .boring ! However. . . the live version of Smoke on the Water still blows people away. The live version of Smoke has people saying " Hey, I can't believe this is the same band. " Gene and especially Paul took note. He mentioned this on that 2021 radio interview I heard. Gene and Paul imitated Deep Purple, but who cares. Both Made in Japan and Alive I are in my Top 5 live albums.

[@Catsrock-u7y]

Over Rated it’s not a true Live Album

[@spellman46]

I love Gene - but please. I wouldn't put this in the same league as Band of Gypsies or Humble Pie Rockin' the Fillmore

[@nirv8]

Kiss truly sucks!

[@robertcowart1]

Once again Gene Simmons has an over inflated view of his importance. Just off the top of my head, Yes had triple live album, and so did ELP in '73. Humble Pie, Grand Funk, The Allman Brothers and many more all had double live albums way before. Gene couldn't stand the success of ELP. I'll never let him live that down. What a joke. Look, i commend Gene and Kiss for a long career, lots of amps and fire, and heels, but that music sucked. For him to be offended or bothered by the success of ELP is a joke. ELP had more musical talent, knowledge and ability in one measure of one of their songs than Kiss's entire career, all albums, all members combined. YEAH GENE! people had double live albums way before you! Get over yourself!

[@robertcowart1]

The biggest acts around were The Carpenters and John Denver? This doc is full of bullsh*t! Kiss has to over inflate their importance because THEIR MUSIC SUCKED!

[@KMC544]

Love gene but he’s forgetting about grand funk. Double live albums did exist, it was released in 1970 5 yrs before yours. Dude you didn’t invent everything! Maybe everything else though😂.