The scene: A Kiss convention, con, or expo (whatever you want to call it) in any town, anywhere, on any planet.
Due to a recent glut of tribute bands with crummy Paul Stanley impersonators, the organizers of this particular event opt to book a Kiss comedian, an astute ace, to poke fun at the band as its followers shop around. Knowing that the audience is comprised of the diehard division of the Kiss Army, the hired jester decides to forgo his usual opening gag (reciting Gene Simmons' lines from the film Never Too Young to Die) and instead opts to begin his act with some material on... vintage material.
Comedian: My friend is so funny, his name is... uh, let's say his name is Amaze-o. The other day Amaze-o sez to me, "I really love the studio side of Kiss Alive II" and I sez, "Side? There are four studio sides!" Ba-da-boom!
The crowd drops their posters, t-shirts, and Asylum era costume replications and marches toward the stage with hate in their eyes....
Kiss Thought Vault:
The Fourth Side Of Kiss Alive II- A Big, Spaced-Out, Patriotic Masterpiece
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Kiss' second live collection is a great document of what I refer to as "second phase"* original Kiss. Most of the group's semi-hits and fan favorites are duly represented, and there is enough variation in the track listing to make for an engaging listen. But while song wise Kiss Alive II is a fairly comprehensive audio document of Kiss's post-Alive ! times (visually too; the gate fold photo is a fiery time capsule of the Love Gun tour), it was also ahead of them in a certain other way: it was overdubbed, touched up, and doctored to a degree that no other live albums were up until that point. Shortly after 1977 it became commonplace for live albums to be shamelessly and almost blatantly altered (example: two silly W.A.S.P. ones, in '87 and '98). True to the Kiss way of extremism, Kiss Alive II's tapes were tweaked in a manner that borders on the ridiculous.
1975's Kiss Alive! may have been cleaned up here and there, but it was done more surreptitiously; in fact, after twenty years or so of listening to it, I still have a hard time determining exactly where the patchwork was done. Kiss Alive II is a much different beast , in that it is clearly a non totally live project in so many palpable ways. Kiss sounds a lot different on this long player than they actually did in concert, as scores of bootlegs (there must have been great bargains on tape recorders in 1977-'78) prove.
Here are my personal observations that have lead me to believe that Kiss Alive II really is In The Studio Eight:
1) There are seemingly a million Paul Stanley vocal tracks everywhere, on almost every song. Cue up "King of the Nightime World," "Shout It Out Loud," or "I Stole Your Love." You will notice that the backups on all three contain an abundance of Starchilds, in low and high harmonies. Mind you, this is not necessarily such a bad thing, but it makes believing this album was recorded totally live pretty hard right off the bat.
Bonus game: to be super-convinced, spin "I Want You" and play count the Pauls.
2) The Crowd tracks. Gee, they are a bit repetitive aren't they? This album could be used in a college course called "How to Fake an Audience on a Live Album (Badly)" The chants are in the same cadence over and over again like Tibetan monks. Loopty loop! Monitor the end of "Shout It Out Loud" to hear where producer Eddie Kramer had the gall to run the audience's cheers by themselves for about thirty-nine seconds. The whistling at this point going along with the "We Want Kiss" chant is so loud and clear and in the mix, that the guy (or chickie) who did it must have been on Kiss' stage, tweeting directly into a live microphone. Sheesh, this whistling is practically a lost track.
While we are here, while not exactly incriminating "it's not live" evidence, do not overlook the clever use of volume knobs on this album! The "crowd" responds to the beginning of "Tomorrow and Tonight" like it is Kiss' biggest hit of all time. Paul wishes...
3) My final piece of evidence used to uncover Alive II's extensive, truly pioneering in the studio patchwork is... the whole thing was sped up! Just as State Fair of Souls' final master tape was slowed down to achieve an overall heavy, brooding, and yes, trendy effect, the second Alive was sped up a notch, presumably to add a heightened sense of urgency and excitement to the songs. Pop in your copies of Houston '77 (either night will do, the mad Cat and smeared-lipped Starchild night, or the superior 2nd one) and you will hear how Kiss live in 1977 really sounded: Like a train wreck. The group was million kilowatts of barely harnessed power, and played fast, but they never sounded like Kiss Alive II! A big giveaway are Paul's vocals. Here is a quick summary:
Finally, from realm of common knowledge we all know that the presence of "Hard Luck Woman" and "Tomorrow and Tonight" both serve as enormous clues that the album was at least half-hatched in a lab. Peter ("Of course I play Zyldian. This is serious music.") Criss revealed this not-so-shocking fact in Goldmine in 1996. And didn't the band retire Destroyer's "King of the Night Time World" way before the L.A. Forum shows?
For years, it has been rumored that "Makin' Love" was actually pulled from live tapes of Kiss' 1977 Japan invasion, specifically a concert filmed for Japanese television that eventually aired on Home Box Office network in the States.
In spite of its somewhat inaccurate account of Kiss' music live in concert in 1977, I love In the Studio Eight... uh... Alive II. I feel that by virtue of its overdubbing and repairing of flubbing it stands as an excellent work. I almost regard it as a concept album ([Music From] Alive II?), a soundtrack to an ultimate Kiss concert from the 1977 model. Additionally, I feel that the band's hype was so huge that enhancement was the only way the band could live up to it! Kiss was larger than life, and anything not sounding powerful, strong, and yes, larger than life would not impress a mesmerized public. Sure enough, Kiss Alive II is a fantasy, and takes listeners away to the land of Kicz.
A great feature of Kiss Alive II is that when its live portion is over, and the crowd fades, there's still more. An openly admitted studio side of all-new songs to drool over. This pseudo-EP contains some of the finest music ever put to tape by Kiss, and marked a major turning point in their recording history, as it was the last great original Kiss studio effort (the forthcoming Psycho Hit Parader hopefully will change this).
Why? The character, spirit, and classic sound of Kiss is present on side four, and taking into account the volatile state of Kiss at the time of its recording achieving this was no mean feat. The band was on top of the world publicly, but individually its members were in various states of free-fall. Looking back, I cannot blame anyone in the group for being on the brink by this point in their history. Kiss' approach to success and maintaining it has always been distinctly un-rock-n-roll. Musicians commonly pursue being in rock bands to escape the drudgery and grind of a "real world," where clocks are punched and masters served. In 1977, the Kiss world was as high-stressed as Wall Street. They were not Grand Funk Railroad or Foghat. They had become entertainment superstars, in a league with Star Wars, not Styx, although the wonderful (hah) Mr. Roboto later would come close in propelling that group to Kiss' lofty '77 heights.
Getting back to Desert Moon, er, uh, Kiss, Messrs. Gene ("Why can't I have steak and cheesecake?"- Hit Parader, 1985) Simmons and Paul ("I like wearing tights") Stanley luckily were capable of dealing with the ever-mounting pressures of being Kiss on relatively safe levels. However, Ace and Peter were not as well-equipped as the band leaders to handle everything eventually expected of them. They were and are simply rock and rollers, through and through. The super-fast pace that Kiss was moving at in '77 was foreign, draining, and eventually unappealing to them. As a result, the other G & P team (think about it) developed ways of coping (read as: found crutches) and they practically turned into vegetables. By 1978 Ace mostly just laughed, and Peter began seriously thinking he could be the next Boz Scaggs.
A major outcome of all this was that 1977 marked the first official time that Kiss became as much an institution as a band. Kiss were now a brand. Somewhere it was decided that the magical chemistry of Kiss was not between its original members, but the result of a winning conceptual formula, that if adhered to would continue to yield positive results regardless of who provided the necessary elements. As a result, a lot more than four people worked hard to make sure Kiss sounded like Kiss: substitute drummers were used (Anton Fig); instrument swapping ("Hey Paul, my bass for that telephone?") became rampant within the group; friends of the band (Bob Kulick, roadies) performed on albums; producers (Bob Ezrin) contributed parts to tracks.
Today, history shows that while operating under this sum total over individual parts principle, Kiss ended up being great only about half of the time, and eventually mad scientists Gene and Paul realized that Kiss' original four members formed an unbeatable combination for success. However, I am glad that Kiss carried on throughout all of their tough times, and have enjoyed the resultant almost two decades of mutations. This middle period was exciting in its own right. There were powerful albums with memorable songs, and equally strong live performances with impressive effects. The supercharged Kiss of 1983-'86 remains one of my favorite times in Kisstory.
On the other hand (I know that was bad, but I could not help it- I mean, he did heal), recruiting Mark St. John was a mistake. I am not much of a gambler, but I would bet anyone four Eric Singer triplets that Reiter's Syndrome or no Reiter's Syndrome, the California native's tenure in the band would have been brief. This hiring gaffe was fixed quickly with the group finding Bruce ("Paul, edit her out") Kulick, but it is because of all this that I today know what a White Tiger ring looks like.
All in all, side four of Kiss Alive II appeared when Kiss was at the tippy top of their musical zenith, and sounds like it as it has the right amount of fire and brimstone that the group has at their best. However, due to its brevity, and residence on a "live" album, it is not the first group of songs that comes to mind when thinking, talking, or writing in the snow about classic Kiss. Regardless, it is a great set of tracks. Play it for a nonbeliever, and watch them convert. Play it for yourself, and be amazed all over again- these five songs are something else.
*Yes, there was a method to Kiss' breakneck recording schedule in the '70s. Three studio albums would be pumped out between tours, and then a live album highlighting the best of them would come next. This only happened for the first eight records, or phases, as you know. Otherwise, Kiss Alive III would have to have followed after just three of the solo releases, or perhaps it would have happened after (Music From) The Elder. Ah, if only the latter....
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America is great, and so am I; I am American.
1) "All American Man."
Picture this: Paul Stanley- six foot-plus tall, in whiteface, and a very high jet black afro. That's All American? Yes. The Starchild's stage persona is cut from the same cloth as the classic image of what a "Real American" man is. Forget GI Joe or Hulk Hogan ladies, Uncle Stan wants you... and you want him.
Steadfast and true, and skidding to an ending that has you seeing fireworks in you head, "All American Man" is Paul Stanley at his confident and cocky apogee, a young alpha male sex symbol who feels no pain or shame. This one has always been one of my favorites, and I feel that Bally's Fitness should use it in their T.V. advertisements. Wait, scratch that- before long it would become the next "Y.M.C.A."* Everyone's aunt would be dancing like Paul at weddings. Just forget it.
This chunky A-chord ditty is almost all Australian too; the main driving riff earns the tune the distinction of being the only complete track in the Kiss catalog to remotely sound like AC/DC. Another Aussie rock moment occurs on Ace Frehley, where the solo section of "What's On Your Mind" emits some Malcom Young-like rhythm currents.
Ancestor Alert! The main riff predates two other Kiss songs. Asylum's rap-enhanced "Any Way You Slice It," and Hot in the Shade's "Rise To It." Both incorporate derivations of "All American's..." guitars, with the latter also being evocative of "Slippin' Away" by Dave Edmunds.
Japan did have good food, but I just love you.
2) "Rockin' in The U.S.A."- Everytime I listen to this and the preceding track I shake my head ruefully, and wonder why the patriotic duo have not found their way into Independence Day celebrations everywhere in the United States. For crying out loud, Neil Diamond must have an exclusivity contract in every community.
In this fun throwback to the '60s hall of pop, Gene cites the United States as being the place for him, stating that there is "nowhere else he'd rather stay." The Demon displays his affection for the colonies differently than his star-faced band mate, adopting an observer's role instead of going the embodiment route.
Peter's pounding (please, not like that) is perfect for the song (I know, I mention this a lot) and refreshingly unique in the context of Kiss' hard rock style. Really fast- can you name two other songs wherein drum roll choruses are played by the Cat #1? They are: The wonderfully retro "Anything For My Baby," and the royally superior "King of the Night Time World."
Kiss' resident GMC commercial jingle singers perform well here too- the choruses are a sing-a-long delight. When the "rockin'-and-a-rollin'" and "rollin' and-a-rockin'" trade-offs start I salute the power of Kiss.
Descendency Alert: The opening signature and basic riff of this song is reminiscent of the Punisher inventor's bass line in "Nothing to Lose."
I have just a few more notes on "Rockin' in the U.S.A." While never released as a single or performed live, the rocking "Rockin'..." received a significant amount of exposure in other ways during 1978. The number was featured in the widely circulated Kiss Alive II promotional films, which according to Paul Stanley (Radio 1990, August 1985) were filmed to go to places in the world that Kiss were not. The solo section of the song served as the musical sound bed for the scary-as-hell Kiss Your Face Makeup Kit television commercial, which aired frequently in all major television markets in 1978. In case you have not scene the spot, "Rockin'..." plays repeatedly as two prototypical '70s suburban lads are shown in each Kiss members' design and rockin' out in a bedroom (no, not in that way). Their antics shock one of their moms, who pops in with the late '70s laundry. While these portions are relatively harmless, the end of the ad is were things gets strange. In a tightly framed shot of the boys in full Kiss makeup, the following dialog is delivered:
Boy on left: Kiss You Face Makeup, it's from Remco.
Boy on right: Yeah.
It is the "Boy on right's" line that scared the living daylights out of me on a Saturday morning twenty years ago, and still does, whenever I watch the commercial on video. It is his inflection. It is the way he widens his eyes. It is as though he appreciates the product for its face concealing qualities, as though he was about to run out and dismember every member of Starz. Feel free to see and hear the evidence for yourself, but just make sure someone is with you for support.
One more thing: In addition to the American firecracker pop, of "Rockin'..." and "All American...", there is even more evidence to support the notion that Kiss (or at least the Jon/Ponch combo of Gene and Paul) are staunchly pro-U.S. Trace the following thread ("Music From [The Elder] has a string running through it- pull it, and your pants fall down." (Eric Carr, Hit Parader, fall 1982) that I have strung throughout Kisstory:
Kontention: Kiss is Superpatriotic.
#1) The group did not perform at Live Aid in 1985.
#2) "Kissin' Time" on the album Kiss- I know they did not write it the kitschy tune, but although they bastardized Bobby Rydell's original to the point of it being almost unrecognizable as a rendition of the late '60s pop tart, they did not touch the "...in the U.S.A." refrain.
#3) "Detroit Rock City"- It is in the States, you know.
#4) The Spirit of '76 U.S. Tour poster- Long before the somewhat-cool-but-now-crazy Van Halen assumed a position found in war documentia (1983), the costumed crusaders did it during the U.S. Bicentennial.
#5) In case you missed it, a highlight of the awesome Asylum tour was a 40 foot computer light filled Kiss logo. During the first leg of the band's North American road jaunt, a profoundly American effect was the sign being rendered as an American flag. For all intents and purposes, the fact that this happened while the group performed The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again" will be ignored here.
#6) The quartet did not play at the Live Aid festival in 1985.
#7) 1992's Revenge tour stage featured a Statue of Liberty prop. A featured show effect involving the sizable replica was its face exploding off to reveal the then-latest mutation of Abner Devereux.
#8) Bob Geldof and Kiss have never shared a concert bill.
Not convinced? Well, how about this: Kiss is simply militaristic, maybe even more than Ace during his solo era! The Kiss Army, the Creatures of The Night tour's tank stage, Paul's wearing of a Navy hat in the "Uh! All Night" video... uh, I can sense everyone getting ready to hit their "back" buttons. Enough.
Demon in Overdrive.
3) "Larger Than Life"- Ah, the song we all got gushy about early on during the reunion era when it was rumored that the band were rehearsing it, rightfully so: This song is one of the best Gene and Kiss numbers ever, and hopefully it will find its way into a Kiss concert setlist someday. Like "God of Thunder" it is a theme song, in the sense that it is written through and about the bass player's onstage Kiss persona. Throughout the song he is singing to yet another one of his conquests, emphasizing that he is the biggest thing she's ever seen, and she is lunch meat, a frail flower. The imagery conjured up in this song is great, and Gene does it by way of bragging, a classic Kiss storytelling tactic.
On a side note, the fire breather's tongue-twisting delivery of the word "wouldn't" has to hold the Kiss record for word altering for the sake of melody phrasing. Any other contenders, folks?
Kiss minus Ace but plus Bob Kulick sounds great overall here. Peter's contribution on the skins (By the way, I fully believe he played on all five songs here on side four) constitutes a career highlight for the drummer. His topsy-turvy changing of snare accents gives a lively feel to the mid tempo proceedings. Paul makes his mark vocally, adding high harmonies to Simmons' assertions of being bigger than existence itself. As for special guest Bob, he performs admirably, having contributed a memorable solo tailor-made for the Kiss style.
Foreshadowing Alert! The drum sound on "Larger Than Life" is similar to Eric Carr's cannons on Creatures of the Night, and predated the 1982 opus by five years. Was this song used as a blueprint in building some of the monstrous sounding record's sonics? Also, when the song slams into a wall right before the "You can't believe your eyes" pre-chorus, the guitars are verisimilar to the ends of the verses in "I Love it Loud." Hmm, this song really would not be too out of place if it somehow was on COTN. Of course, at that point it would have to had been named, "(My Costume is) Larger Than Life."
Earth calling Ace, baby wants a....
3) "Rocket Ride"- What can I possibly mention about this song that has not been expressed by every fan before? That it is arguably the finest Frehley number ever? That Peter's performance (yet again!) is incredible? The here-coined (there's a hyphenation from Mars) term "Lady Space" makes for a kooky cyberchick handle? That Jendel native Ace supplied the four-string tones in addition to his Les Paul alpha waves? That the ending is a wannabe Led Zeppelin grand finale, played to perfection by the two troublemakers of Kiss? That the use of a flanger was genius to achieve the tune's spacey effect? That "Curly" sings like a spaceman, if the Bronx became the first New York borough to colonize the moon? Man, in addition to every other song on side four, this Ace showcase has to be performed live by Kiss, a.s.a.p.
Here is something you may not know: in Headliners Kiss (1978) it was reported that this scorcher was conceived for Love Gun, but was shelved in favor of the (also high-wattage) "Shock Me."
Big Kiss fun.
5) "Any Way You Want It"- Being apparently Ace-free doesn't knock the wind out of this Dave Clark Five cover; it just makes it lean and mean. This is Gene, Paul, and Peter having some fun playing an (undoubtedly) old favorite. The tune closes side four on an upbeat note, and also inconspicuously concludes the hallowed first era of Kiss in a light, subtle manner. The title interestingly alludes to what would happen with Kiss in the immediate future; after 1977, the modus operandi for the band seemingly became to do what everybody wanted. Solo albums, a more commercial direction, a concept album, and unmasking all happened within the next five years. Yes, from here on out it was a mixed bag for the band.
Hopefully I have successfully demonstrated how this little cache of studio material truly is: it is fifteen minutes of blood spitting, pouting, space hopscotching, tomcat-powered, vintage Kiss that should be ruining your eardrums at least once a month.
| KISS Thought Vault Extra! |
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| I Was there- Visiting a Forgotten Landmark When Kiss fans visit the New York area, they usually make time to seek out historically related band related sites. Many are in the city itself; a sizable list of things to see includes the Empire State building (which I can see out of my bedroom window); used for a 1976 photo session; the band's first rehearsal loft site; etc. The landmarks are so famous that Kiss themselves even remember some of these places! Across the Hudson River, New Jersey also has its share of Kiss sites, even if they are a little less stellar than those found in the Big Apple. Two seaside resort towns, Asbury Park and Wildwood, have convention centers that Kiss visited during one of their earliest tours in 1975. The latter holds even grater significance as it was reported by the band that tapes from a show there were incorporated into their breakthrough Kiss Alive! album released that same year. |
| Bun E. Carlos: Substitute Feline? A Kiss Thought Vault/ Kiss Asylum Exclusive Did he or did he? Will he or won't he? Kiss's fan circles are perpetually embroiled in debate about the exact contributions of drummer Peter Criss in the past, and whether or not he will play on the upcoming album. The flames of heated discourse have been further fanned by dribs and drabs of information from Kiss members (including Peter), close associates of the group (the cigar-chomping C.K. Lendt), and investigative fans turning up audio clues. The following is an excerpt from an interview with Bun E. Carlos of Cheap Trick conducted by Cheryl Botchick, Music Editor of CMJ New Music Report.. As you probably know, the Chicago-based power pop group toured with Kiss for over two months, from Summer to early Fall of 1977. The drummer shared his account of that experience, which happens to shed a major light on some behind-the-scenes Cat problems Kiss faced at the time. |
| Reader Editorials Ron Responds! -- Ron answers redear questions. |
That is it for this issue of the Kiss Thought Vault. Go out and get some fresh air! Thanks to everyone who reads and contributes to this ongoing feature that strives to add new perspectives on common and not-so-common Kiss topics.
Quite possibly coming up next time: The Ultimate Out of Control Reader
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