Kiss – ‘Alive! The Millennium Concert (2006) – Album Review (The Kiss Review Series)

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic

The 2000’s have seen Kiss release more live albums, greatest hits packages and box sets than Studio Albums. And this particular release has sat on the shelves for six years because one thing or another got in the way. The album was recorded on December 31, 1999 and January 1, 2000 at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver, Canada and consisted of the original band members of Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Peter Criss and Ace Frehley. The original intention for this album was to be released as Kiss Alive! IV, but there was a problem and it got shelved because the record label, Mercury, was being gobbled up by Universal in a giant merger. Then a few years later, Universal agreed for Mercury to release it, but the band was working on the Symphony show which would become Kiss Alive IV. One thing after another kept pushing this release back. Thoughts were that it wasn’t a good show, but I think it was bad timing.

The album would see a release on November 21, 2006 when it was included on the box set Kiss Alive! 1975-2000. That box set included Alive!, Alive II and Alive III as well and since those have already been reviewed, I went with just reviewing the Millennium show as that did get a separate vinyl release of its own.

One of the cool things about this release is that there are three songs on here that had never been played by all 4 of the original members. You get “Heaven’s On Fire” and “Lick It Up” both from the non-makeup era that Peter and Ace were not on and you get “I Love It Loud” which Peter was not on and Ace was credited on the ‘Creatures of the Night’ album but reality proved he didn’t play on it. However, the opening track on here is “Psycho Circus” and Peter and Ace actually didn’t play on that song either even though it was the “Reunion” album.

The album itself sounds a little dull and not much punch to it which is very disappointing and might be why it truly kept getting pushed back for release. I mean it isn’t bad, just not as good as other releases from the band. That doesn’t detract too much when the band really nails a song like they do on “Deuce” which is always a favorite of mine to hear. When they do “Heaven’s of Fire” it is easy to hear that Paul’s vocals are still on point during this time of the band. It would be much later in the decade where his vocal quality starts going down. Luckily for us, he still sounds amazing at this stage. The best thing about the first LP, at least for me, is you get two Ace sung songs including “Into the Void” and “2,000 Man”.

The second LP is not very inspiring as it is the classic Kiss songs you pretty much hear at every show. No, that doesn’t mean the show is bad, it is a little dull and lifeless for those of us that have heard or seen dozens and dozens of Kiss shows. For us, it is the little deep nuggets that keep things fun and exciting. But for the causal Kiss fan, this is what they want to hear so who am I to say they shouldn’t. You can’t blame Kiss for pandering to the casual fan because for some reason, they tend to be the ones to go see them live. They also know, that us diehard, nutso fans will buy everything so they do what they want to do as they know it will get bought.

I am sorry this isn’t an in depth, song by song review but honestly, how many times do I need to discuss songs like “Rock & Roll All Night” live as you’ve heard it and read about a million times. Instead, let’s just get right to the rating. The album sound itself to me is a little flat as the quality to doesn’t explode out of the speakers with any power. The song choice is very standard and nothing exciting, but..big butt here…Kiss does sound good and the band’s quality is still above par at this point. It isn’t a bad show at all. Ace and Peter can still play (But that won’t last long) and Gene and Paul, well, was there any doubt about their abilities at this point…ummm….NO!. I think the overall score on this is still a solid 3.0 out of 5.0 Stars. If this was the only live album you owned, you wouldn’t be disappointed. However, if you have any of the other Alive albums, I don’t think this one is quite as good as those.

Next Up: Paul Stanley – ‘Live to Win’ (2006)

Check out the rest of the series if you have time!!

The Kiss Review Series:

  1. Wicked Lester and the Progeny Demo Sessions (Bootleg)
  2. Kiss – Kiss (1974)
  3. Kiss – Hotter Than Hell (1974)
  4. Kiss – Dressed to Kill (1975)
  5. Kiss – Alive! (1975)
  6. Kiss – Destroyer (1976)
  7. Kiss – “Flaming Youth” 45 Promo Single – Bonus Edition (1976)
  8. Kiss – Special Kiss Album For Their Summer Tour (1976)
  9. Kiss – The Originals (1976)
  10. Kiss – Rock & Roll Over (1976)
  11. Kiss – Love Gun (1977)
  12. Kiss – Alive II (1977)
  13. Kiss – Double Platinum (1978)
  14. Kiss – Paul Stanley (1978)
  15. Kiss – Gene Simmons (1978)
  16. Kiss – Peter Criss (1978)
  17. Kiss – Ace Frehley (1978)
  18. Kiss – Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park Movie (1978)
  19. Kiss – Dynasty (1979)
  20. Kiss – “I Was Made For Lovin’ You” (1979) – 12″ & 7″ Singles (Bonus Edition)
  21. Kiss – Unmasked (1980)
  22. Peter Criss – Out of Control (1980)
  23. Kiss – Music From The Elder (1981)
  24. Kiss – Killers (1982)
  25. Kiss – Creatures of the Night (1982)
  26. Kiss – Lick It Up (1983)
  27. Kiss – Animalize (1984)
  28. Wendy O. Williams – WOW (1984) (Bonus Edition)
  29. Kiss – Animalize Live Uncensored (1985)
  30. Kiss – Asylum (1985)
  31. Kiss – “Tears Are Falling” 7″ Single (Bonus Edition) (1985)
  32. Kiss – Creatures of the Night (1985 Re-Issue)
  33. Vinnie Vincent Invasion – Vinnie Vincent Invasion (1986)
  34. Black N’ Blue – Nasty Nasty (1986)
  35. Ace Frehley – Frehley’s Comet (1987)
  36. Kiss – Exposed VHS (1987)
  37. Kiss – Crazy Nights (1987)
  38. Kiss – “Crazy Crazy Nights” – 12″ Single (Bonus Edition)
  39. Kiss – “Reason To Live” – 12″ Picture Disc (Bonus Edition)
  40. Kiss – Chikara (1988)
  41. Kiss – Smashes, Thrashes & Hits (1988)
  42. Kiss – Hot In The Shade (1989)
  43. Kiss – “God Gave Rock And Roll To You II” (1991) – 12″ Picture Disc
  44. Kiss – Revenge (1992)
  45. Kiss – Alive III (1993)
  46. Kiss – Konfidential VHS (1993)
  47. Kiss – Kiss My Ass: Classic Kiss Regrooved (1994)
  48. Kiss – MTV Unplugged (1996)
  49. Kiss – You Wanted the Best, You Got the Best!! (1996)
  50. Kiss – Greatest Kiss (1997)
  51. Kiss – Carnival of Souls: The Final Sessions (1997)
  52. Kiss – Psycho Circus (1998)
  53. Kiss – The Second Coming Documentary (1998)
  54. Eric Carr – Rockology (1999)
  55. Mark St. John – Mark St. John Project (1999)
  56. Eric Singer Project – ESP (1999)
  57. Bruce Kulick – Audiodog (2001)
  58. Kiss – Kiss Symphony: Alive IV (2003)
  59. Gene Simmons – Asshole (2004)
  60. Kiss – Rock the Nation Live! DVD (2005)
  61. Kiss – Alive! The Millennium Concert (2006)

The Bootleg Series:

  1. Kiss – ‘Accept No Imitations’ (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (ASYLUM TOUR)
  2. Kiss – Look Wot You Dun to Me (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (CRAZY NIGHTS TOUR)
  3. Kiss – The Summer of Satan: The Devils Ride Out! (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (DESTROYER TOUR)
  4. Kiss – Return to Capital Center (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (DYNASTY TOUR)
  5. Kiss – With Fire & Thunder (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (HOTTER THAN HELL TOUR)
  6. Kiss – Northhampton PA March 19th, 1975 (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (DRESSED TO KILL TOUR)
  7. Kiss – The Hottest Show On Earth (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (THE HOTTEST SHOW ON EARTH TOUR 2010)
  8. Kiss – All the Way to the Ball Room (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (Australian Tour 1995)
  9. Kiss – Kiss of Thunder (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (The Rising Sun Tour 2006)
  10. Kiss – Agora Ballroom 1974: The Cleveland Broadcast plus Bonus Cuts (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (THE KISS TOUR)
  11. Kiss – Hotter Than Hell: Radio Broadcast 1976 (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (ROCK & ROLL OVER TOUR)
  12. Kiss – The Tickler (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (LICK IT UP TOUR 1983)
  13. Kiss – Barbarize (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (ANIMALIZE WORLD TOUR 1984 – North American Tour)
  14. Kiss – They Only Come Out At Night (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (ANIMALIZE WORLD TOUR 1984 – EUROPEAN TOUR)
  15. Wicked Lester and the Progeny Demo Sessions (Bootleg)

Kiss – The Box Set:

  1. The Box Set (Part 1 of 6)
  2. The Box Set – Disc One 1966-1975 (Part 2 of 6)
  3. The Box Set – Disc Two 1975-1977 (Part 3 of 6)
  4. The Box Set – Disc Three 1976-1982 (Part 4 of 6)
  5. The Box Set – Disc Four 1983-1989 (Part 5 of 6)
  6. The Box Set – Disc Five 1992-1999 (Part 6 of 6)

Gene Simmons – The Vault:

  1. Part 1 – The Grand Opening
  2. Part 2 – Disk 1
  3. Part 3 – Disk 2
  4. Part 4 – Disk 3
  5. Part 5 – Disk 4
  6. Part 6 – Disk 5
  7. Part 7 – Disk 6
  8. Part 8 – Disk 7
  9. Part 9 – Disk 8
  10. Part 10 – Disk 9
  11. Part 11 – Disk 10
  12. Part 12 – The Bonus Disk
  13. Part 13 – The Best Songs of the Vault
  14. Part 14 – The Worst Songs of the Vault
  15. Part 15 – The Final Verdict

75 thoughts on “Kiss – ‘Alive! The Millennium Concert (2006) – Album Review (The Kiss Review Series)”

  1. As the series reaches its conclusion I’ve noticed the redundancy and my apathy sky rocket. Nothing takes away their classic material though. Although them repackaging it live with different players every few years probably diminishes a lot of it.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. Diminishes its longevity, not its musical properties. If they converted one of their songs to Locrian, that would be awesome.

      How would you people like some “Cold Gin” in F harmonic minor?!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

          1. Well you’ve stumped me. I have no idea how that’s possible since they’re symmetrical within an octave. You could layer the tritone with another tritone above it, but that would just be the octave of the root, and therefore the same tritone. Damn you Spinal Tap!

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            Reply

                    2. That’s even better. I don’t recall Paul Stanley ever using an augmented triad.

                      Speaking of augmented triads, I’ve been learning “Black Horsemen” by King Diamond. There’s some interesting modal mixture in the intro. Goes from a Badd4 (no fifth) to Aadd9 to Amadd9 to Badd4 to an augmented Asus2 which is a really cool chord that only requires two strings to be fretted.

                      Liked by 2 people

  3. Your spot on with this album having no punch and sounding dull. Your scoring on this is perfect. I got this one in the CD set with the other KISS ALIVE albums which I had Tbone pick up for me in the States as he was down there when it came out.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  4. I’m with Holen on this. Repackaging their best songs into live albums with different players was getting too much and I was officially not interested in anything Kiss related.

    And then I purchased tickets to a Sydney show.

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    Reply

            1. Make-up doesn’t matter. The average Kiss fan only knows those make-ups and that is all they care to see. They couldn’t even tell you who was the Catman or Spaceman. They are clueless. Kiss is doing the right thing.

              Liked by 1 person

              Reply

              1. I guess in a way, it’s like The Wiggles and their signature colors. The younger fans will hear about the OG Wiggles.

                When you put it like that, it makes sense. Because I care about Tommy and Eric, however, it makes me hate casual fans even more.

                Liked by 1 person

                Reply

                1. Oh no, The Wiggles has to be the OG or nothing. Big difference. The Original Wiggles ALL THE WAY!!!!! LOL!! And I’m not joking…I couldn’t watch the Wiggles anymore when the new people showed up. My kids stopped watching too so that was most of why I stopped watching.

                  Liked by 1 person

                  Reply

                  1. And that’s exactly why I can’t watch Kiss with Eric and Tommy in the Catman and Spaceman makeup, they’re just playing a part, instead of getting their own identities! The new Wiggles are replacing legends that will forever remain better than them. Whats even more bizarre is that the girl wiggle and the new purple wiggle were married at one point, but they got divorced, of course!

                    I’m with you dude, OG Wiggles all the way! When Greg left, my childhood died (I’ve might’ve mentioned it before, but I’ll bring it up again).

                    Liked by 1 person

                    Reply
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