Maps of Music

Alive! (1975)

Where the lyrics of Alive! take you, and where it was really made.

Kiss meant this live record to save its label, but the 'live' tracks were heavily reworked in the studio.

Key places

Detroit, May 16, 1975 (1975)

Live show Cobo Arena — The Dressed to Kill Tour stop at Cobo Arena in Detroit was one of four concerts recorded for the album. The source names the venue as Cobo Arena. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Cleveland, June 21, 1975 (1975)

Live show Cleveland Music Hall — The June 21 show at Cleveland Music Hall was one of the four tour concerts the album was recorded from. The source names the venue as Cleveland Music Hall. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Davenport, July 20, 1975 (1975)

Live show Adler Theatre — The July 20 concert in Davenport was one of the four tour shows used for the album. The source names the venue as the RKO Orpheum Theater, so this point marks the city-level location of the Davenport show. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Electric Lady Studios, August 1975 (1975)

Recording site Electric Lady Studios — Kiss rerecorded parts of the album at Electric Lady Studios in August 1975, and the studio overdubs changed much of the live material. Only the drum tracks were left untouched. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Alive!: the first live album by American hard rock band Kiss
• Released September 10, 1975
• Double album containing live versions of selected tracks from the band's first three studio albums: Kiss, Hotter Than Hell and Dressed to Kill
• Recorded at concerts in Detroit, Cleveland, Wildwood and Davenport on May 16, June 21, July 20 and 23, 1975
• Title is an homage to Slade Alive! (1972) by English rock group Slade, a band that heavily influenced Kiss
• Considered the band's breakthrough and a landmark for live albums

Background

• Kiss released three studio albums from 1974 to 1975; they were commercial failures but built a cult following in the Rust Belt
• Guitarist Paul Stanley blamed the low sales on the weak sound of the studio recordings compared with the band's concerts
• By 1974 Casablanca Records was in financial trouble; CEO Neil Bogart proposed a live album as a last-ditch effort to save the label
• Manager Bill Aucoin was receptive, since a live recording would cost less than a studio recording
• Bogart could not finance the tour, so Aucoin paid the entire Dressed to Kill Tour himself, a total of $300,000

Recording

• The album was recorded over four stops on the Dressed to Kill Tour
• Stanley and Simmons made several mistakes on stage, such as playing wrong chords and knocking over microphones
• Producer Eddie Kramer judged that significant dubbing was needed to make the album sound good
• Kiss rerecorded parts of the album at Electric Lady Studios in August 1975
• Only Peter Criss' drum tracks remained untouched
• Cheers and screams from various Kiss performances were spliced together to build the audience sound

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Disc 1

Disc 2

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Kiss was formed in New York City in 1973 by Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss.
• The band traces its roots to Wicked Lester, a New York rock band led by Simmons and Stanley.
• Their first performance took place on January 30, 1973, at the Popcorn Club (later Coventry) in Queens.
• Casablanca Records signed the band on November 1, 1973, as the label's first act.

Members

• The four original members were Stanley (Starchild), Simmons (Demon), Frehley (Spaceman) and Criss (Catman).
• Eric Carr replaced Criss in 1980; Vinnie Vincent, Mark St. John and Bruce Kulick later held lead guitar.
• Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer formed the final lineup.

Career

• Kiss became one of America's most successful rock bands in the late 1970s, with a 1977 Gallup poll naming them the most popular band in America.
• The band unmasked in 1983 and reunited the original lineup for the 1996 reunion tour.
• The band announced its retirement after its final show at Madison Square Garden on December 2, 2023.
• Kiss was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on April 10, 2014.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Rolling Stone: critic Alan Niester called the band's music awful and said it was mildly entertaining for about ten minutes
• Village Voice: critic Robert Christgau expressed bemused curiosity about the album
• Contemporary critics gave the album negative and mixed reviews overall

Reappraisal

• AllMusic: Greg Prato called it Kiss' greatest album ever
• The New Rolling Stone Album Guide: described it as a nonstop run of two-note guitar motifs and fake-sounding audience noise, yet the next best thing to being there
• Pitchfork: Jason Josephes wrote that it may seem like a joke because it contains every arena rock cliche, but called it total sonic proof of Kiss reaching their apex
• Canadian journalist Martin Popoff said it turned Kiss into an insane rock 'n' roll phenomenon
• Classic Rock Magazine (2021): described it as the album that rescued Kiss's career and saved their label

Records

• Billboard 200: peaked at No. 9
• Charted for 110 weeks, by far the longest chart run in the band's history
• Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time: No. 159 in 2003, No. 305 in the 2020 revision
• Guitar World: No. 26 on the 100 Greatest Guitar Albums list (2006), No. 3 on the Top 10 Live Albums list (2009)
• RIAA acknowledges only 500,000 units sold in the United States
• Worldwide sales are reported at over 9 million copies
• Soundscan figures add another 258,000 US sales between 1991 and 2006

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• In a 2003 episode of Ultimate Albums, Kiss fully admitted to overdubbing the album.
• Eddie Kramer spliced the best cheers and screams from various Kiss performances to create the audience sound.
• The first stop of the tour supporting Alive! was on its release day in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
• Five days after release, Aucoin told Bogart that Kiss were going to leave Casablanca, and Bogart signed a two million dollar check to retain the band.
• The 2006 remastered CD removed the breaks between the four sides of the original LP, so it plays as one continuous performance.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

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