KISS Alive!

Ian · Post by **Ian** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 6:43 am

I must admit that I really enjoy this record, and yes I know,I know KISS wasn't very good. But it's probably nostalgia for me. But I took a listen to this recently and from my 40 year old ears I'm thinking most of this thing is studio recording. I know Kramer has confused the issue many times by claiming various parts were the only original tracks on it and I'm thinking this is true.

But what parts? And if you were going to try to fake a live record how would you approach it today?

@?,*???&? · Post by **@?,*???&?** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 7:38 am

Meat and potatoes rock and roll sound thanks to Eddie Kramer.

drumsound · Post by **drumsound** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 8:30 am

Most live records aren't.

Sloan · Post by **Sloan** » Sun Apr 06, 2008 4:30 pm

THE HOTTEST BAND IN THE LAND!!!

Knights Who Say Neve · Post by **Knights Who Say Neve** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 12:32 am

I was never a Kiss fan, but I just saw part of one of the 70's concerts on DVD. I am astonished by what awful musicians they were.

Alex Netick · Post by **Alex Netick** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 3:12 am

I hate to admit it -- I was a member of the KISS Army in the 70s. All they sent me was a belt buckle for my membership money, but I still loved their records when I was a 12 years old. CDs don't really do KISS justice. The records had all sorts of gimmicky little gadgets and pictures. There was some real genius of marketing at work, regardless of how shallow the music was.

MoreSpaceEcho · Post by **MoreSpaceEcho** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 6:34 am

i was ace frehley two halloweens in a row back in the 70s.

flapmaggot · Post by **flapmaggot** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 12:25 pm

Hey - Fuck the whole lotta ya - You know you liked KISS

It's very simple - The album sounds great and it rocks. There were a lot of great rock bands that were written off because of their show i.e. MOTT THE HOOPLE, THE SWEET, NEW YORK DOLLS, ALICE COOPER even the RAMONES. Some of these albums were produced brilliantly. Check out MOTT (sans Ian Hunter) which was produced by Roy Thomas Baker - sounds great. Also, a lot of guys can't deal with the femininity aspect of these bands and write them off. I would love Ace Frehely to do a solo on my record - his solo's actually go somewhere.

As Buzz Osbounre from the Melvins says "...People ask me why I like Kiss.....It's because they fuckin rock! Is that so hard to understand?

Well at least the used to rock

Chuck

MoreSpaceEcho · Post by **MoreSpaceEcho** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 1:44 pm

flapmaggot wrote: I would love Ace Frehely to do a solo on my record - his solo's actually go somewhere.

are you sure about that?

me, ages ago wrote:i've told this story on here before so apologies blablabla....years ago, let's say "the90s" some engineer is in some studio somewhere, recording ace frehley. our man ace has been half comatose on heroin thoughout most of the session, but eventually the time comes for him to record some bitchin solos so he comes around a bit. engineer puts him in a little iso booth with a marshall half stack and his trusty 17 pickup les paul. super.

engineer goes back to the desk and hits record. and there's this crazy high pitched whine coming through the monitors. he hits stop and says WTF. goes out to ace's booth, checks everything, its fine, he shakes his head and goes back in the control room. hits record. same thing. WTF???!??? checks everything on the board. it's fine. hits record. same thing. What. The. Fuck. Is. That. Fucking. Noise????

this goes on for awhile until he eventually realizes that ace's headphones are so loud they're feeding back through a mic in the booth with him.

ace hadn't noticed this.

jammybastard · Post by **jammybastard** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 5:51 pm

there's nothing "live" on "KiSS:Alive" except the crowd noise.

wren · Post by **wren** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 8:09 pm

MoreSpaceEcho wrote:
me, ages ago wrote:i've told this story on here before so apologies blablabla....years ago, let's say "the90s" some engineer is in some studio somewhere, recording ace frehley. our man ace has been half comatose on heroin thoughout most of the session, but eventually the time comes for him to record some bitchin solos so he comes around a bit. engineer puts him in a little iso booth with a marshall half stack and his trusty 17 pickup les paul. super.

engineer goes back to the desk and hits record. and there's this crazy high pitched whine coming through the monitors. he hits stop and says WTF. goes out to ace's booth, checks everything, its fine, he shakes his head and goes back in the control room. hits record. same thing. WTF???!??? checks everything on the board. it's fine. hits record. same thing. What. The. Fuck. Is. That. Fucking. Noise????

this goes on for awhile until he eventually realizes that ace's headphones are so loud they're feeding back through a mic in the booth with him.

ace hadn't noticed this.

Once, someone I was working with told me that his boss (the owner/head engineer of a certain live sound company) couldn't hear anything over 4k, that sometimes he'd just stand there and smile while the monitors were splitting everyone's ears. Shortly thereafter I did a show with that owner/head engineer; he did all the mixing, but he had me tune the monitors. Everything sounded fine; he actually did quite a good job with the mix even if you didn't consider his hearing problems.

Alex Netick · Post by **Alex Netick** » Tue Apr 08, 2008 12:44 am

Yeah. I hate to admit it. But I still like alot of kiss records, even today. And come to think of it, they were no more stupid than alot of critically acclaimed bands that dabbled in even stupider shit like mysticism or eastern religion or messiahs who played pinball or whatever. At least they breathed fire and spit out blood and sang a bunch of crap that was kind of fun.

flapmaggot wrote:Hey - Fuck the whole lotta ya - You know you liked KISS
It's very simple - The album sounds great and it rocks. There were a lot of great rock bands that were written off because of their show i.e. MOTT THE HOOPLE, THE SWEET, NEW YORK DOLLS, ALICE COOPER even the RAMONES. Some of these albums were produced brilliantly. Check out MOTT (sans Ian Hunter) which was produced by Roy Thomas Baker - sounds great. Also, a lot of guys can't deal with the femininity aspect of these bands and write them off. I would love Ace Frehely to do a solo on my record - his solo's actually go somewhere.

As Buzz Osbounre from the Melvins says "...People ask me why I like Kiss.....It's because they fuckin rock! Is that so hard to understand?

Well at least the used to rock

Chuck

Automaton · Post by **Automaton** » Wed Apr 09, 2008 7:23 am

Alex Netick wrote: There was some real genius of marketing at work, regardless of how shallow the music was.

Gene Simmons. Just heard an interview with him on NPR where Terry Gross asks him repeatedly if he actually interested in music and he doesn't answer the question directly just says that if any guy that plays music for an audience, says they do it as art is bullshitin you and only doing it to get laid.

Alex Netick · Post by **Alex Netick** » Wed Apr 09, 2008 11:23 am

Christ -- I'd take the Playboy mansion (where he met his bimbo wife) over music anyday.

Toddf · Post by **Toddf** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 12:24 am

I am sure parts were fixed in the studio like most live recordings. Along with looped crowd noise.
It does have a great sound and feels like a rock and roll show.

Works for me.

I will say my CD version sounds very thin compared to the vinyl. Still have it from my youth.

Peace, Todd

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