CHAPTER 22 - KISS
Alive II (1977)
“KISS Alive
II” Album Notes:
Produced
by Eddie Kramer and KISS. Tracks
22.12-22.27 recorded live at The Forum,
A version of this album
exists that includes “Take Me,” “Do You Love Me,” and
“Hooligan” on the track listing of the back cover credits but not on the
actual album itself. This misprint has been seen on both promotional and
store-bought copies of the album indicating that the error was simply a part of
the printing process of the cover, rather than applying to a specific batch of
cover stock. The misprint cover is often referred to as being a “promo
misprint” since the majority of copies have cut-corners (this was used to
denote promo copies prior to “gold stamping” them, though it was also used to
denote lowered price albums which were placed in “cut-out” bins in record
stores).
“Alive II” was more of a
patchwork job than “Alive!” had been. While parts would be re-recorded in the
studio more of the source tapes would be used than had been the case with
“Alive!” As a result, so find sonic inconsistencies in the recording versus the
smooth overall sound of the first live album.
22.12. Introduction
The “You Wanted The Best” introduction on KISS’ “Alive II” would be the work
of Ed Balandas, partially, with Gene providing the
over-dub of “KISS” for clarity purposes; The original sounded like Ed was
shouting “PISS” (Gooch, Suhs - KISS Alive Forever).
Ed was a security guard with KISS’ tour entourage.
22.13.
22.14. King Of The Night Time World
Since this song wasn’t
performed during the “Love Gun” tour, or during the visit to Japan in early
1977, it would seem likely that it should be placed in the same category as
“Hard Luck Woman” and “Tomorrow And Tonight” – As being a studio “live”
recording with audience overdubs or a soundcheck
recording. Because of its inclusion on the album the song returned to the
band’s live set for the “Alive II” tour.
Eddie Kramer has commented
on the construction of the second live album, “There was some live stuff, it
was cut in between. But look, quite frankly, who cares. If people enjoy it, it
doesn’t matter. It’s only a live set, we made it sound
as live as we could. A lot of the difficulties was
when they played and jumped around on the stage, nothing stayed in tune and
nothing was played very accurately. It was all done for the sake of the show,
so you have to be creative and make it sound good, sometimes you have to go and
cut new tracks, sometimes you overdub, sometimes you use what was already on
tape from the live show, fix it up, and make it sound better” (Music Today).
22.15. Ladies Room
22.16. Makin’ Love
22.17. Love Gun
22.19. Christine Sixteen
22.20. Shock Me
By 1977 “Shock Me” had
become the location for Ace’s guitar solo in live performances. According to
Ace the solo was “kind of planned out. I basically did the same solo every
night, with minor alterations. You know, I can remember going to shows as a
little kid and watching guitar players who played their solos exactly the way
they did on the album, and that always impressed me. I don’t like guitar
players who try to be cool and play something completely different from what’s
on the album, and I don’t think the fans want that. To me,
when you change a solo, it’s almost like changing the lyrics of a song, and I
think it disappoints the fans” (Guitar World Legends #14, 1992).
22.21. Hard Luck Woman
Recorded in the studio and
over-dubbed with audience, it is also possible that this song was recorded
during sound check and fixed up in the studio – either way it wasn’t recorded
during any of the actual Forum shows. This song had been “tried” during some
early dates on the “Spirit Of ‘76 Part II” tour in support of the “Rock And
Roll Over” album, but apparently did not work out well live in a fully electric
format.
22.22. Tomorrow And Tonight
Recorded in the studio and over-dubbed with audience. Since this song
was recorded on the same day (Sharp, Ken – BtM) as
“Larger Than Life,” it raises a question for some
concerning who the lead guitarist was. It was apparently not uncommon for both
Ace and Bob Kulick to be in the studio at the same time during the short
sessions for the studio tracks. According to Bob, “Ace was cool. He was in the
other room lying on the floor watching TV” (Dale Sherman – Black Diamond III).
However, the characteristics of the guitar work, sonically and in execution,
are more similar to “Rocket Ride” (Ace) than “Larger Than
Life” (Bob).
22.23. I Stole Your Love
22.24. Beth
“Beth” was long rumored to
have been from the
22.25. God Of Thunder
22.26. I Want You
Where the box set included
a version of this song that was allegedly recorded at sound check, both it and
the original mixed version for the abandoned “Rock And Roll Party In Tokyo” album feature an identical guitar flub right after
Paul shouts “is” during the intro to the song. That same “flub,” which sounds
like a miscue on a guitar, is present low in the mix of the “Alive II” song.
The “Rock And Roll Party In Tokyo” and “sound check”
versions also have the same Ace guitar solo screw-up during the second solo.
This solo is cut from the “Alive II” version along with Paul’s audience
interaction rap.
What does any of this
indicate? It would seem highly plausible that “I Want You” on “Alive II” is
from the Japanese show recorded earlier in 1977 and mixed with the same
audience as the rest of “Alive II.” Furthermore, it would seem quite logical,
from that point of view, that the “sound check” version on the “Box Set” is
simply the recording without the audience over-dubs. Gene has acknowledged recording
material, though not specifically this track, during
sound checks (Sharp, Ken – BtM).
22.27. Shout It Out Loud
This song would be the lead-off single in support of
the album and was for some odd reason backed with the “Alive!” version of “Nothin’ To Lose.” Compared to the
album version of the recording, the single would have a
duration of
22.28. All American Man
This is one of three songs
that featured Bob Kulick as the ghost “Ace Frehley” on the studio side of
“Alive II” and was the final song recorded for the album. Sean Delaney had
plenty to say about the song when asked: “Actually, to tell you the truth,
there were three people that actually co-wrote that, and one of them didn’t get
any credit. His name was Richard Gerstein, or Richard T. Bear, he was an artist
for RCA Records.... We were just up at Paul’s apartment, and Paul started
playing guitar and I started singing” (KISS Freaks Interview). The song was
written prior to the band leaving for
22.29. Rockin’ In The
The
second of three songs featuring Bob Kulick.
Gene provided the most original new material for the recording of the studio
tracks on “Alive II,” but this song, with its humorous if somewhat weak theme
of American rock superiority, wasn’t going to please fans who took his lyrics
too seriously, especially the English!
22.30. Larger Than Life
The last of the three songs featuring Bob Kulick it was the first new track
recorded at the album sessions. For some strange reason the band continues to
attribute the guitar playing on this song to Rick Derringer. Bob Kulick is
somewhat brutal about that point in an interview with Dale Sherman: “And also
that Rick Derringer story.... Did he ever say that he’d played on those
records? I don’t think so. Absolutely not. Ask Gene
and Paul. They know what I played on. It’s common knowledge, everyone knows”
(Dale Sherman – Black Diamond III).
Even Rick’s official website is clear about his involvement with KISS –
It DOES NOT list “Alive II” as a KISS album he appeared on, but does
list the other album (refer to the “Lick It Up” album section for details) on
which he did do uncredited guitar work. Another
guitarist on the track was Gene Simmons, playing 12-string acoustic. He’d
written the song while inspired by the drum-driven sound of Led Zeppelin
material, though KISS also qualified for the definition of “Larger Than Life” in 1977.
22.31. Rocket Ride
Written by Ace Frehley and
Sean Delaney during the Japanese Tour of March 1977, this was the only new
studio song on “Alive II” on which he would perform. The song apparently didn’t
include Gene, with Ace handling the bass duties himself. “Rocket Ride” was a
song that Ace was considering using for a solo album after it was initially
rejected while “Love Gun” was being recorded.
That Ace was considering
material, even at the time “Alive II” was being made, for a solo album might
seem somewhat odd. However, KISS had negotiated their third contract with
The late-1976 contract
turned out to be the band’s largest, and most extensive, contract with
One can see that even in
late 1976 much of the rest of the “originals” era was very much mapped out.
“Rocket Ride” would be the second single issued in support of the album, backed
with the “live” recording of “Tomorrow And Tonight.”
It would provide Ace with a top-40 hit when it reached #34 on the Billboard
singles charts, and probably went someway towards improving Ace’s confidence in
his skills as a songwriter and performer. The single would be one of the bands
highest charting in the
22.32. Any Way You Want It
Originally
recorded by the Dave Clark Five. This song was included
instead of the originally considered cover of Elvis Presley’s “Jailhouse Rock”
(see 22.41), which was abandoned due to his death on
Dave’s original version
(Epic 9739) was released in September 1964 and managed to reach #14 on the
Billboard singles charts. Paul retained the original arrangement completely,
though there would be a single word change in the song’s primary verse: “Any
way you want it, you can always hear me say, hey, hey, hey” would be changed to
“Any way you want it, you will always hear me say,
hey, hey, hey.” One final repetition of “that’s the way it will be” would be
removed from the end of the song and Paul’s version would be 4 seconds longer
than the original
22.33. Take Me
22.34. Hooligan
22.35. Do You Love Me?
All three of these songs
are listed on the famed “misprint” cover for “KISS Alive II,” indicating that
they were at one point intended for inclusion on the album. They would be,
however, left off and it is not clear whether fully completed “Alive II” recordings
of these songs exist, unlike the altered versions later released on “You Wanted
The Best” in 1996. They were part of the band’s set
that was recorded during the
22.36. All American Man (Alternative Mix)
While the song
features slightly different-sounding guitar work the, most noticeable
difference is the exclusion of the “yeah!” after the second chorus. The
remainder of the recording follows the format on the released version.
22.37. Rockin’ In The
The difference between this
mix and the album version is essentially as simple as the harmonizing of the
lyrics on the chorus, which is not done on the album version. Both versions are
essentially the same length.
22.38. Larger Than Life (Alternative Mix)
Apart from this alternate
mix of the song ending with an additional Gene vocal of “too much, too much,
too much to hold,” the guitar work, while being similar, is very slightly
different. The differences are most noticeable as the lead kicks in at the
beginning of the song and as the guitar solo ends and Gene’s vocals restart. On
this alternative mix the guitar solo completely fades before Gene’s vocals kick
in, while on the album version the solo resonates through the start of his
vocals. Obtuse, perhaps, but this version is also 6 seconds shorter than the
album version, though compression may have played a part.
22.39. Rocket Ride (Alternative Mix)
Apart from the lyric “Take
a rocket ride” missing from the verses, Paul’s backing vocals are also absent
from the chorus. One other minor lyrical difference is the shouted “yeah”
following the “grab a hold of my rocket” lyric following the break. There is
also some very rough guitar over-dub work on the track, which makes it very
noticeable where the “punch ins” are.
22.40. Any Way You Want It (Alternative Mix)
The differences
between this alternative mix and the album version is minor (or subtle)
at best, with the guitars being lower in the mix.
22.41. Jailhouse Rock (Never Recorded or Played)
The mention of “Jailhouse
Rock,” which would have been a cover of the classic Elvis song, brings up an
interesting contrast in the memories of Gene and Paul. Paul Stanley has
emphatically denied that there were ever plans to record this song for “KISS
Alive II:” “We never planned on covering ‘Jailhouse Rock’ for ‘KISS Alive II.’
Consequently it was never recorded” (KISS Online – Paul Speaks).
Paul’s comment can be
contrasted with Gene Simmons, who has suggested that there were plans to record
the song for the album. Those plans, apparently, were abandoned when Elvis died
in August 1977. The night Elvis died KISS were playing the
22.42. Rocket Ride (Radio Single Edit)
The radio edit of this song
has a duration of around
22.43. Burning Up With Fever
22.44. Radioactive
22.45. Rock ‘N Roll Over
22.46. Suspended Animation
Tracks 22.29, 22.32, 22.41,
and 22.43-22.46 appear on Gene Simmons documentation as his suggestions for
songs on the studio side of “Alive II.” Both 22.43 and 22.44 were later
recorded for his solo album. It is not known whether 22.45 and 22.46 were
written by Gene or other members of the band.