Just listened to this album for the first time in my entire life...
- Thread starter smitty_p
- Start date
OP
Okay....
Just finished another leg of my Kiss journey with a full listen to Alive II.
Well...
That was interesting.
As noted before, it is not downer or depressing music. It really drives in an upbeat direction.
First impression?
A Gibson Les Paul driving a Marshall amplifier is THE rock sound. Period.
....Now on to other things....
Most songs in this album are much more aggressive-sounding than their original studio versions. ("God of Thunder" is the most notable to me in this regard. I just watched the latest Avengers movie. I wish they could have worked this song into that for some Thor scenes.)
Whereas I already heard these songs in the studio albums, they were more memorable to me while listening to Alive II.
For example, "Hard Luck Woman" sounds like pretty straightforward country music, with a rockier edge to the solo.
The chorus of "Tomorrow and Tonight" has a Billy Ray Cyrus edge. Seriously. Listen to the chorus of "Achy Breaky Heart" and tell me you don't hear a little bit of that in "Tomorrow and Tonight". I wonder if Cyrus copied from Kiss!
Some more observations....
*The chord intro to "Calling Dr. Love" on this album drips with Marshall-y grit. That's the sound! Your search for tone has ended there!
*There is just a ton (metric ton or imperial ton...it doesn't matter!) of energy to this album.
*"Beth" seemed to have drawn a lot of enthusiastic reaction from the girls in the audience.
*As always, Kiss's calling card is a heavy usage of suggestiveness and innuendo.
*Kiss relies on upbeat energy and hype. I don't see a comparison between them and modern, makeup-clad doom and occult-metal type of groups. The only comparison is makeup. While undeniably suggestive in their lyrics, Kiss is not dark or foreboding. Kiss tries to be fun.
*Ace Frehley really lit it up in the early years. Now, I get the dedication of his fan base.
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gball
Ambassador of Boogie
Great observations. It's cool to sort of "see" these albums that I have been so intimate with through the lens of someone just learning about them.
Have you gotten through "Alive" yet? That's the record that made Kiss a household name, and when you listen to it you'll understand why.
OP
I suggest you pull up the albums on Youtube, like I did, and don't look at the videos. Just listen and feel the energy...kind of like we had to do when all we had were vinyl records!
While I was never a Kiss fan, and still don't consider myself to be one, I am coming to a certain realization....
KISS is America's Rock Band.
Australia has AC/DC.
The UK has Led Zeppelin.
Canada has Rush.
The United States has KISS. They are big, brash, overbearing, ostentatious, flashy, and loud.
Love 'em or hate 'em...they are America's Rock and Roll Band.
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eSGEe
Ferengi Ambassador of Trade
yes--- he did--lol
yup thats about it in a signatured over priced --- KISS CASKET sorta nutshell.
OP
The first Alive album will be my next listen. I think you may have suggested Alive II, so I went straight to that one.
I'll get to it!
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I really only dig a couple of Kiss songs and both are from the no makeup era...
gball
Ambassador of Boogie
While I am surprised that a fellow hard-rock-lovin' child of the '70's doesn't like early Kiss, no band is for everyone. We all like what we like. I mean, I'm a die hard fan of their early music but I can't stand to listen to anything they did after 1977 (78 if you count Ace's solo record).
I think because rock n roll was forbidden in my home, I didn't hear a really broad spectrum.
My first ever rock song was Mississippi Queen which I hear around 1971...followed by Ram Jam's Ol' Black Betty...both were introduced to me by my uncle who lived with us for a couple of years in the 1970's.
After that he played me some Sabbath, Triumph, Scorpions and AC/DC....Black Oak Arkansas, ELO, Rick Derringer...etc.
So, up until about 1980, I only heard what I could hide from my parents.
The first album I bought was Ace of Spades and I was blown away.
I didn't hear anything from Kiss for quite some time. In the early 1980's I was into Motorhead, AC/DC and Scorpions almost exclusively....
OP
Okay...
I finished listening to all of Alive.
I'm guessing this is near the start of when they began introducing the group with..."You wanted the best and you got the best...The hottest band in the world...KISS!"
This album starts off similar to that.
My main impression is that the album sounds more, well...more refined than I would have expected. I'm guessing there was some studio, post-production work that went into this?
Some other thoughts...
While the album overall does have a ‘70s sound (‘cuz it was, like, the ‘70s!) some songs sound surprisingly modern and adaptable. “C’mon and Love Me” gives me that impression.
The album starts off with "Deuce" (as many of you probably already know). I've done some research to figure out what "a deuce" meant, in the context of this song. Some theories on the web are somewhat lurid, but it seems there is no real meaning behind it, as it was written pretty quickly, and Gene, himself, said there was no real meaning to it.
This may sound weird, but “Got to Choose” on this album reminds me of Boston. Seriously, imagine the main rhythm part during the verses with P-90s and tell me that doesn’t remind you of Boston!
The most fun-sounding song is probably “Let Me Go, Rock’N Roll”. I’ve mentioned this one earlier. That’s just a fun, head-bobbing piece of ol’ time rock and roll music.
The overall takeaway is that the band really seemed to fire on all cylinders with this album. You can tell the band was excited to be doing it. Each band member seemed the perfect fit. I like how each of them performed their roles.
I finished listening to all of Alive.
I'm guessing this is near the start of when they began introducing the group with..."You wanted the best and you got the best...The hottest band in the world...KISS!"
This album starts off similar to that.
My main impression is that the album sounds more, well...more refined than I would have expected. I'm guessing there was some studio, post-production work that went into this?
Some other thoughts...
While the album overall does have a ‘70s sound (‘cuz it was, like, the ‘70s!) some songs sound surprisingly modern and adaptable. “C’mon and Love Me” gives me that impression.
The album starts off with "Deuce" (as many of you probably already know). I've done some research to figure out what "a deuce" meant, in the context of this song. Some theories on the web are somewhat lurid, but it seems there is no real meaning behind it, as it was written pretty quickly, and Gene, himself, said there was no real meaning to it.
This may sound weird, but “Got to Choose” on this album reminds me of Boston. Seriously, imagine the main rhythm part during the verses with P-90s and tell me that doesn’t remind you of Boston!
The most fun-sounding song is probably “Let Me Go, Rock’N Roll”. I’ve mentioned this one earlier. That’s just a fun, head-bobbing piece of ol’ time rock and roll music.
The overall takeaway is that the band really seemed to fire on all cylinders with this album. You can tell the band was excited to be doing it. Each band member seemed the perfect fit. I like how each of them performed their roles.
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OP
uhm-- yes exactly--
and -- YUP-- nad you got it -- and
welcome to the fold
pure -- RAWK
Watch when Gene first starts to sing in that video. He starts with, “You show us...”
He was going to start singing “Rock and Roll All Nite”!
I guess the human factor happens to all of us...
I also really like Peter’s playing, here.
Motorhead
