Re: KISS ~ Band of the Month ~ July 2010
My own personal feelings on this album? Best live album ever. Obviously I say that as a huge Kiss fan and people will say I'm crazy. Maybe. But that won't stop me from my love of this album.
Of all of the live albums I've listened to over the years, I doubt there's an album that even comes close in number of times played to this album. Alive! (and Dressed to Kill) were the two biggest influences on me when I wanted to start playing guitar. there were other albums that fed my desire to play, but NOTHING fed it like Alive. Biggest reason would be Ace Frehley, who is lights-out incredible on this album. The playing rocks, the solos rock, everything I've ever loved about Frehley can be heard on this album.
I am not going to do a song-by-song breakdown because I love every single track on this album. For me, the
highlights can be found in 4 tracks. Interestingly enough, the 4 tracks play back to back to back to back....
- She (6:42)
- Watchin' You (3:51)
- 100,000 Years (12:10)
- Black Diamond (5:50)
She, as pointed out in the Dressed To Kill summary thread, is my 2nd favorite Kiss tune. Favorite being Black Diamond. Both of those tracks on this album are INCREDIBLE. Everything about them from the first note to the last note, awesome.
She ends with an Ace Frehley solo that still gives me goosebumps once in a while. not because he was so technically awesome, I'll never say that about Ace, but the feel that I get from it just gets me.
Watching You, I'll be honest and say I like this version better than the original (and I love the original). Everything about it sounds great. Two thumbs way up!
100,000 Years - wow, what to say about this one. From the start with Gene's bass to the dual guitars. The solo rocks. Then we get to hear something we rarely heard on a Kiss album and that's some real talent from Peter Criss. I'm not saying Criss wasn't any good, but we really get to hear a gem from him in a long drum solo. Then after the drum solo, we get banter from Paul getting the audience going. Fun stuff. great song from start to finish.
Black Diamond - My favorite version of my favorite Kiss song. The start similar to the original version on their debut album. Paul is spot on with that intro, then once he yells HIT IT, the song kicks into high gear. Gene's bass, Ace's guitar work, Peter's rhaspy singing, it's all fantastic. The solo, the dual solo, etc. Damn people, I can't really put into words how cool this song is. Best song on the entire album and for me personally, the best single track in their entire catalogue. Many may argue otherwise, but you can't convince me that they ever layed down a better track (and I love
most everything the band ever did).
If you dont' listen to ANYTHING else on this album, you deserve to give these 4 songs a listen. Don't be scared, don't be shy. If you are a casual Kiss fan and only know RnR All Nite off of this album, you OWE it to yourself to listen to more of it.
