#305 Kiss, 'Alive!' (1975)

Previously #159

By 1975 Kiss had released 3 albums, all commercial failures. The band couldn’t seem to translate their live energy into the studio. The obvious solution? Release a live album. ‘Alive’ became the band’s breakthrough record, an unofficial “Best Of” collection that successfully captures the energy and the mayham of the band’s live set. Kiss are famous for their make-up, pyrotechnics and on-stage antics. The pyro can be clearly heard throughout the recording between Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons’s banter.

The recordings are so vivid that you can almost see Simmons’s elongated tongue poking through his make-up clad face, smell the pyro and see Paul Stanley pointing your way and looking you in the eye. It’s cheesy cock rock, but it’s loud, dumb fun. The obvious highlight being ‘Rock and Roll All Nite.’ “You wanted the best, and you got it!”

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