5 of 6 thought this review was well writtenKISS are a band that need no introduction, and yes, that was said before by a certain user of this site, but I'm just saying it again. They don't need to be introduced. Much like The Beatles, mostly everyone knows who they are. I'm sure more people have heard of The Beatles, and The Beatles are a much better band then KISS, but KISS are pretty well-known, and they know how to rock. Much like The Beatles, many kids don't like them. I do like The Beatles and KISS though. I'm probably the biggest KISS fan on this site. I'm not in the KISS Army, but I used to a huge fan. I still like 'em. This particular album, Alive II, is their second live album, and it's a great live album. Never mind the five studio filler songs on here that aren't even that great, except Rocket Ride, in which Ace Frehley plays drums, bass, guitar, and sings. The 15 live songs(which may not even be completely live) are great. While Alive! is considered to be the best KISS live album, I consider this to be it, because 1) It's the only live album from KISS I've heard, and 2) It's a great freakin' album!
You want the best, you got the best, the hottest band in the world, KISS! Those are the opening words to this album, or something said like that, before Disc 1 starts with Detroit Rock City. It's basically the same as the album version, but harder and better. KISS live is always better than a KISS studio album, even though their studio albums are good. Ace's guitar-playing has always been, in my opinion, very underrated, and he shows off his decent skills in this song. Shock Me is a great Ace guitar-playing track too.
Then, we get King Of The Night Time World, and it's an ok song, but nothing special. It's got a fun and catchy chorus, and some good singing by Paul(Speaking of which, when I was a baby, my dad had a KISS poster and I thought Paul was a girl, but that has nothing to do with this album). A nice little guitar solo.
Ladies Room comes up after that, and Gene takes the microphone and sings. Ladies Room has always been one of my favorites. Dang good chorus, too. I don't even know what's being said, but it's catchy and gets stuck in your head. It's stuck in my head right now.
I never much cared for Makin' Love, and I've always found it better on the studio album from which it came. Rock N Roll Over is the album it came off of, I think. Love Gun's next, and boy, it's a great song. It's one of those songs that are great on the studio album and the live album. Nice chorus and some pretty cheesy lyrics if you listen in. But that's no problem. KISS never did write songs like Led Zeppelin or Iron Maiden.
Calling Dr. Love is an awesome song live. I love this song. It's probably the number one contender for best song on Disc 1. The guitar solo is a nice and Gene's vocals live have always been good. I mention the chorus ever time, and I'm mentioning it here too. If this were the type of review where I rated the songs on a scale from one to five, this song would get a 5 out of 5.
Almost ever song on this album has at least SOMETHING to do with love, and Christine Sixteen is about Gene(I guess), who's about to hit 30, falling in love with a 16 year old girl. Hey, I'm sure it's happened before. Catchy song, and the guitar-playing is nice, but it's a little short.
Next comes second or third contender for best song. It's the only song on Disc 1 with Ace Frehley on vocals, and it's a great song called Shock Me. It's the longest song on both discs, and the longest KISS song I've heard, coming in at 5 minutes and 51 seconds. It's about the time Ace was shocked(literally) on stage back in 1975. Or 1976. Can't remember, but it doesn't matter. This song rocks. The guitar solo really shows that Ace isn't mediocre at his instrument, it shows that he's pretty good at his instrument. The guitar solo isn't one of those 15 second solos that the band does, it's at least a minute or two. It's kind of like Van Halen's Eruption, except Eddie Van Halen's a better guitarist than Ace Frehley.
This next song puts drummer Peter Criss on vocals. It's called Hard Luck Woman, and I guess it's an accoustic track. I don't know, but it's a pretty good song. Not the worst song on here, but you know, nothing great. Peter Criss has always had a good singing voice I think, and I've always thought he should have more than the amount of songs you can count on one hand. He sings on his solo album, but still, he needs more KISS songs, dang it! If you don't know what "dang" means by the way, it's what us Southern boys say in replace of damn. Anyway, Hard Luck Woman's an ok song. Next there's Tomorrow And Tonight, and I don't know why this was even played live. It's a pretty mediocre song. Sure, it's catchy, but still, not that great.
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Well, yes, the above lines were not needed, but still, here's the five live songs of Disc 2.
Things starts off with I Stole Your Love, and it's the same as Tomorrow And Tonight. I don't even know what it was played. It's just filler! After that, we get a KISS classic with Peter on vocals. Is it A) Beth B) Yellow Submarine, or C) Sweet Home Alabama? If you guessed B or C, you're a retard. The Beatles do B, and Lynryd Skynryd do C. KISS do A.
Beth's a great song, with no rock instruments, just cheesy lyrics and a symphony playing in the background. I guess that's a symphony. Or orchestra. I don't know. Great song, though. Hard rock KISS classic God Of Thunder's next, and it's a heavy song. It's played particularly fast on this album, unlike on "Destroyer". There's a cool drum solo in it too.
I Want You is a pretty rockin' song, with some good chorus. There's just something about this track that never really impressed me. Still an ok song, but it ain't great. The final live song is Shout It Out Loud. It's one of the most well-known KISS songs, along with, well, I don't even need to say its name. You've heard it. Wonderful song, with a great guitar solo, and I'm not sure, but you can kind of hear fireworks and crap like that going off in the background.
And thus ends the show. I won't talk about the five studio tracks. Let's just say that they're all average tracks, except Rocket Ride. Alive II is a must-have for any mild KISS fan or any huge KISS fan. 4.5/5.
