SANTA MONICA, CA. (Sujata Murthy/ Universal
Music Enterprises) - KISS's "ALIVE" series represents some of the best live rock recordings ever made. Now all three of those classic albums plus a legendary but previously unreleased performance - the
Millennium Concert from New Year's Eve 1999/2000 - come together in the ultimate "KISS ALIVE" box set, the four-CD "KISS ALIVE! 1975-2000" (Mercury/UMe), released November 21, 2006.
"KISS ALIVE! 1975-2000" includes newly remastered versions of "Alive!" (1975), "Alive II" (1977) and "Alive III" (1993) - all of which charted Top 10 - as well as "KISS ALIVE: The Millennium Concert" (2000), whose tracks have never appeared on CD except for its "Rock And Roll All Nite."
Fans have waited for the Millennium Concert recording for several years. On December 31, 1999 the reunited KISS, with the original lineup, played BC Place Stadium in Vancouver, Canada to ring in the new millennium before a crowd of 45,000. The career-spanning concert was originally intended to be "Alive IV" but the KISS+orchestra "KISS Symphony: Alive IV" appeared in 2003. Meanwhile the Vancouver concert took on mythic status. "KISS ALIVE! 1975-2000" finally fills in that gap in KISStory.
Back to the beginning, just two-and-a-half years after the first concert by bassist Gene Simmons, guitarists Paul Stanley and Ace Frehley, and drummer Peter Criss, KISS issued "Alive!" in 1975. The album won the band its first gold award and first Top 40 hit, the live "Rock And Roll All Nite." The album also included such quintessential KISS as "Deuce," "Strutter," "Hotter Than Hell," "Black Diamond" and "Cold Gin."
In 1977, KISSteria was in full effect for the band's three-night stand in August at the Forum in Los Angeles recorded for "Alive II." The double platinum set contained three live sides in addition to a fourth side of new studio recordings. Among its anthems were "Detroit Rock City," "Love Gun," "Calling Dr. Love," "Christine Sixteen" and "Rockin' In The USA" as well as the ballad "Beth." "Alive III," came in 1993. The gold album boasted "I Was Made For Lovin' You," "Lick It Up" and "God Gave Rock 'N' Roll To You II."
"KISS ALIVE! 1975-2000" also adds a pair of bonuses: the single version of "Rock And Roll All Nite" to the "Alive II" disc and "Take It Off" to "Alive III." Deluxe packaging includes a booklet filled with photos and an informative essay written by noted KISS expert Ken Sharp.
