Alive II

Infobox Album | Name = Alive II
Type = Live album |
Artist = Kiss


Released = November 28 1977
Recorded = August-September 1977
Genre = Hard Rock
Length = 71:26
Label = Casablanca
Producer = Eddie Kramer & Kiss
Reviews =
*Allmusic Rating|4|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:nbkvu3e5andk link]
* "Pitchfork" rating-10|7.0 [http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/19095/Kiss_Alive_II link]
*"Rolling Stone" (positive) [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/kiss/albums/album/215034/review/6068010/alive_ii link]
Last album = "Love Gun"
(1977)
This album = "Alive II"
(1977)
Next album = "Double Platinum"
(1978) |

"Alive II" is a 1977 live album from Kiss. It is the group's eighth album and second live album.

It was certified 2x Platinum in November 1977, when it sold 2,000,000 copies (It again attained 2x Platinum on February 26, 1996)

The songs

Most of the live tracks on "Alive II" were recorded during the band's "Love Gun" tour. As the band did not want to duplicate songs included on "Alive!", the songs chosen for the three live sides of the album were all drawn from Kiss' three preceding studio albums - "Destroyer", "Rock and Roll Over" and "Love Gun".

For "Alive II", Kiss made more use of overdubs than on "Alive!". "Hard Luck Woman" and "Tomorrow and Tonight" as they appear on the album were performed live but without an audience, the noise of the crowd being added later.

On the original double album, the songs on side 4 (tracks #6-10 on the second CD) are studio tracks. Although Ace Frehley was originally credited for lead guitar on the studio tracks, the remastered version released in 1997 confirmed what had been speculated by Kiss fans for years - Bob Kulick actually played lead guitar on three tracks ("All American Man", "Rockin' In The U.S.A." and "Larger Than Life"), not Frehley. Frehley's sole involvement for the studio songs was to handle all guitars and bass guitar for "Rocket Ride." Paul Stanley played all guitars on "Any Way You Want It" which was originally recorded by the Dave Clark Five in 1965.

Promotional items

The original vinyl issue of "Alive II" was a 2LP set, in a gatefold sleeve, with picture LP-liners. Continuing the Kiss tradition of including promotional items with their albums, "Alive II" was packaged with a booklet entitled "The Evolution of Kiss" and a set of rub-on tattoos in a cartoon-style. The tattoos depicted the band logo, Kiss Army logo, band member heads, member signatures and symbols. The symbols were meant to represent the four personas of the group and included a skull and crossbones for Gene, a rose and star with eye for Paul, a Saturn-like planet and block print-style 'ACE' for Ace and a drum and cat's head for Peter.

A merchandise order form was also included with the album. It listed an array of official Kiss merchandise, as well as a chance to "enlist" in the Kiss Army.

Re-release

"Alive II" was issued as a 2CD set in what has now become known as a 'fatboy' 2CD case. When the Kiss back-catalogue was remastered it was housed in a slimline 2CD case and, in keeping with the rest of the reissue programme, had the artwork restored. This included the set of tattoos. The booklet 'The Evolution Of Kiss' and the picture-liners were now incorporated as part of the CD booklet.

Most recently, "Alive II" was re-released in 2006 as part of the "Kiss Alive! 1975-2000" box set (also featuring "Alive!", "Alive III" and "Alive! The Millennium Concert"). It includes Rock And Roll All Nite (Single Edit Version) as a bonus track. The short running-time of "Alive II" allowed for a single CD edition in this latest release.

Track listing

ide one

#"Detroit Rock City" (Paul Stanley, Bob Ezrin) – 3:58
#* "Recorded at The Forum, Los Angeles, CA, August 25-28, 1977"
#"King of the Night Time World" (Stanley, Ezrin, Kim Fowley, Mark Anthony) – 3:06
#* "Recorded in Japan, 1977"
#"Ladies Room" (Gene Simmons) – 3:11
#* "Recorded at The Forum, Los Angeles, CA, August 25-28, 1977"
#"Makin' Love" (Stanley, Sean Delaney) – 3:13
#* "Recorded at The Forum, Los Angeles, CA, August 25-28, 1977"
#"Love Gun" (Stanley) – 3:34
#* "Recorded at The Forum, Los Angeles, CA, August 25-28, 1977"

ide two

#"Calling Dr. Love" (Simmons) – 3:32
#* "Recorded at The Forum, Los Angeles, CA, August 25-28, 1977"
#"Christine Sixteen" (Simmons) – 2:45
#* "Recorded at The Forum, Los Angeles, CA, August 25-28, 1977"
#"Shock Me" (Ace Frehley) – 5:51
#* "Recorded at The Forum, Los Angeles, CA, August 25-28, 1977"
#"Hard Luck Woman" (Stanley) – 3:06
#* "Recorded at the Capital Theatre, Passaic, NJ and Electric Lady Studios, New York City, NY, September 1977"
#"Tomorrow and Tonight" (Stanley) – 3:20
#* "Recorded at the Capital Theatre, Passaic, NJ and Electric Lady Studios, NYC, NY, September 1977"

ide three

#"I Stole Your Love" (Stanley) – 3:36
#* "Recorded at The Forum, Los Angeles, CA, August 25-28, 1977"
#"Beth" (Peter Criss, Ezrin, Stan Penridge) – 2:24
#* "Recorded at The Forum, Los Angeles, CA, August 25-28, 1977"
#"God of Thunder" (Stanley) – 5:16
#* "Recorded at The Forum, Los Angeles, CA, August 25-28, 1977"
#"I Want You" (Stanley) – 4:14
#* "Recorded at The Forum, Los Angeles, CA, August 25-28, 1977"
#"Shout It Out Loud" (Stanley, Simmons, Ezrin) – 3:37
#* "Recorded at The Forum, Los Angeles, CA, August 25-28, 1977"

ide four

#"All American Man" (Stanley, Sean Delaney) – 3:13 "(Lead vocals - Paul Stanley)"
#* "Recorded at the Capital Theatre, Passaic, NJ and Electric Lady Studios, NYC, NY, September 1977"
#"Rockin' in the U.S.A." (Simmons) – 2:44 "(Lead vocals - Gene Simmons)"
#* "Recorded at the Capital Theatre, Passaic, NJ and Electric Lady Studios, NYC, NY, September 1977"
#"Larger Than Life" (Simmons) – 3:55 "(Lead vocals - Gene Simmons)"
#* "Recorded at the Capital Theatre, Passaic, NJ and Electric Lady Studios, NYC, NY, September 1977"
#"Rocket Ride" (Frehley, Delaney) – 4:07 "(Lead vocals - Ace Frehley)"
#* "Recorded at the Capital Theatre, Passaic, NJ and Electric Lady Studios, NYC, NY, September 1977"
#"Any Way You Want It" (Dave Clark) – 2:33 "(Lead vocals - Paul Stanley)"
#* "Recorded at the Capital Theatre, Passaic, NJ and Electric Lady Studios, NYC, NY, September 1977"

Personnel

*Ace Frehley - lead guitar, bass on "Rocket Ride", vocals
*Paul Stanley - rhythm guitar, lead vocals
*Gene Simmons - bass, rhythm guitar on "Larger Than Life", lead vocals
*Peter Criss - drums, vocals

with

*Bob Kulick - lead guitar on "All American Man", "Rockin' in the U.S.A.", and "Larger Than Life"
*Ed Balandas - The Introduction "Voice"

Singles - Billboard (Canada)

{| class="wikitable"!align="left"|Certifier!align="left"|Certification!align="left"|Sales
-
align="left"|RIAA (U.S.)
align="center"|2x Platinum
align="center"|2,000,000
-

External links

* [http://www.kissfaq.com/discography/alive2.html Kiss FAQ - "Alive II"] , Accessed on July 13 2005.