On November 21, 2006, Kiss and their label released the first collection of all the Alive! albums in the band’s catalog. It was called Kiss Alive! 1975-2000. I really great idea to get them all in one set. And what makes this special is that it is the first release of what was supposed to be Kiss Alive IV, Alive! The Millennium Concert from 2000. Their label got swallowed up and it was shelved. As you now know, ‘Symphony’ was released as Alive IV.

The Box Set had four CDs, one for each show, ‘Alive!’, ‘Alive II’, ‘Alive III’ and Alive! The Milllennium Concert’. There are also a couple of bonus tracks included in the set. The set came in a multi-layered cardboard fold out box and there was a cool feature. Each CD was housed in a the normal plastic shell, but behind each disc, was a live shot from each of the respective shows. The set also included a 72-page booklet.

DISC 1:

‘ALIVE!’ (1975)

‘Alive!’ was recorded over four stops on the Dressed to Kill Tour.  You had May 16 at Cobo Arena in Detroit, Michigan, naturally; June 21 at Cleveland Music Hall in Cleveland, Ohio; July 20 at RKO Orpheum Theater in Davenport, Iowa; and July 23 at Wildwoods Convention Center in Wildwood, New Jersey.  With four shows recorded, they could piece together a perfect live album…well…maybe not!

The album wasn’t as “Live” as you would think.  There were numerous problems with the recordings.  The band didn’t always sing perfectly in to the mic, notes were missed in their high energy performances and nothing seemed to carry-over as well as they thought it would.  They brought in legendary producer, Eddie Kramer, to fix the problems and it is immediately evident that they would have to go in the studio and overdub a lot of the album…okay, most of the album including the crowd noise.  From what I understand, the only thing that didn’t get touched up was the drums which is a testament to how well Peter was playing back in those days and also to the fact he only had to sit there and play while the others ran around the stage and tried to play at the same time.

My overall score for this release is easily a 5.0 out of 5.0 Stars!  This is the album that did it for Kiss.  The one that turned them to stars.  In a last ditch effort to save the label and the band, Neil thought a Live album was the way to go.  The Live shows is where people finally understood what Kiss was all about. Even after what I know about the making of this album, it is still the best Live album ever in my book as the backbone of this album is still a live show.  It just don’t think it gets much better than this.

DISC 2: 

‘ALIVE II’ (1977)

They recorded three shows at the LA Forum on August 26-28 of 1977 while out on Tour for the ‘Love Gun’ album which was just released in June.  Heck, they even recorded the soundchecks as the goal for this album was to not duplicate any songs that were on ‘Alive!’.  And to add something special to the album, Side Four was going to be all new studio songs which gives this release a little something extra.  Eddie Kramer was brought back in to produce and he worked his magic. The album was released on October 14, 1977 only 4 months after ‘Love Gun’.

The unique thing about this album is that the album also included 5 Studio tracks recorded by the band…well, somewhat. Bob Kulick did a lot of work on these songs and not Ace, but who is keeping track. What is also great about this release in the box set is that we also get a bonus track. Included is the Radio Edit of “Rock And Roll All Nite”. I’ll take that!!

The crowd noise isn’t believable and you can’t beat that setlist of ‘Alive!’ either.  But don’t let that fool you, it is still a remarkable album and the studio tracks are an added bonus that lifts the score higher. In fact, I still think this is one of the best albums they’ve done.  My overall score is a 4.5 out of 5.0 Stars.  As an 8 year old kid, I was mesmerized by them and at 55, they still blow me away.  Kiss is at their pinnacle here and they went all out to deliver the best live album (cough, cough) they could and they did just that.

DISC 3:

‘Alive III’ (1993)

The band recorded the album during the Revenge Tour in 1992 and used the recordings from the Cleveland, Detroit and Indianapolis stops of the tour. This is also the first live album of the Non-Makeup era and the first to not have the original Kiss line-up. The line-up is of course Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, but now it is Eric Singer on Drums and still Bruce Kulick on guitar. Oh yeah, and off to the side of the stage on keyboards is Derek Sherinian who toured with the band at this time since they added keyboards to a lot of the late 80’s songs.

The band brought in Eddie Kramer to produce the album as he had done both ‘Alive!’ and ‘Alive II’. Why would they not. I am sure this album is full of overdubs and really isn’t that live, but I didn’t care on the other two, I don’t really care now. It sounds live and that is all I care about anyway. I am okay with that illusion. The album was certified Gold and actually went to #9 on the Billboard Chart. This release here in the box set also has a bonus live track not on the original release. You get the live version of the song “Take It Off”. Very cool!!

There is a ton of overdubbing as they always do thanks to Eddie Kramer, but that doesn’t bother me too much. What bothered me the most is the fake crowd noise. At times, it didn’t really sound like a live album and seemed forced especially on the first record (second record sounded better). I would’ve liked to have seen at least “Detroit Rock City” and “Rock And Roll Night” dropped as they are so overplayed. They could’ve picked up a couple more songs from omitted albums to make this even better. In fact, I would’ve liked an Eric and Bruce solo added in, but it is still a fantastic representation of this era of the band and for that I am happy. You get to see the real talents of Eric Singer and Bruce Kulick in full force. The Animalize Live Uncensored had Bruce but he was so new they didn’t highlight him much. He was here. I would probably give this a 3.5 out of 5.0 Stars as it is still a great live record and one I still pull out today, but when compared to ‘Alive!’ and ‘Alive II’, it isn’t quite as good. Still worth grabbing it though if you get a chance.

DISC 3:

‘Alive! The Millennium Concert’ (2006)

 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.

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 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.

72-PAGE BOOKLET:

Included in the set is also a 72 page booklet full of beautiful, vibrant pictures from each of the releases including notes on the albums. It is almost like getting everything that came with the original releases except we don’t get the family tree that is included so vividly in the Vinyl release of Alive III. Otherwise, it is exceptional.

And that is it. It is a really cool set and I’m glad I finally have a copy. If you want to hear what the fuss is all about with Kiss, Live is the way to go. It encapsulates all the great songs, the electrifying energy and the excitement Kiss bring live. If you want all the shows at one time, housed in one case, you can’t go wrong. My Overall Score is a 5.0 out of 5.0 Stars. And yes, I already have the first 3 on CD already, but I needed ‘Alive! The Millennium Collection’ because this was the only way to get it on CD…I do have the vinyl for these four albums as well (and a couple on cassette and 8-Track…I have a problem)! Thanks for hanging around.

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 – “Beth” – 7″ Single – Bonus Edition (1976)
9. Kiss – Special Kiss Album For Their Summer Tour (1976)
10. Kiss – The Originals (1976)
11. Kiss – Rock & Roll Over (1976)
12. Kiss – “Calling Dr. Love” – 7″ Single – Bonus Edition (1977)
13. Kiss – Love Gun (1977)
14. Kiss – “Christine Sixteen” – 7″ Single – Bonus Edition (1977)
15. Kiss – Alive II (1977)
16. Kiss – Double Platinum (1978)
17. Kiss – Paul Stanley (1978)
18. Kiss – Gene Simmons (1978)
19. Kiss – Peter Criss (1978)
20. Kiss – Ace Frehley (1978)
21. Kiss – Best of Solo Albums (1978)
22. Kiss – Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park Movie (1978)
23. Kiss – Dynasty (1979)
24. Kiss – “I Was Made For Lovin’ You” (1979) – 12″ & 7″ Singles (Bonus Edition)
25. Kiss – Unmasked (1980)
26. Peter Criss – Out of Control (1980)
27. Kiss – Music From The Elder (1981)
28. Kiss – Killers (1982)
29. Kiss – Creatures of the Night (1982)
30. Kiss – Lick It Up (1983)
31. Kiss – Animalize (1984)
32. Wendy O. Williams – WOW (1984) (Bonus Edition)
33. Kiss – Animalize Live Uncensored (1985)
34. Kiss – Asylum (1985)
35. Kiss – “Tears Are Falling” 7″ Single (Bonus Edition) (1985)
36. Kiss – Creatures of the Night (1985 Re-Issue)
37. Vinnie Vincent Invasion – Vinnie Vincent Invasion (1986)
38. Black N’ Blue – Nasty Nasty (1986)
39. Ace Frehley – Frehley’s Comet (1987)
40. Kiss – Exposed VHS (1987)
41. Kiss – Crazy Nights (1987)
42. Kiss – “Crazy Crazy Nights” – 12″ Single (Bonus Edition)
43. Kiss – “Reason To Live” – 12″ Picture Disc (Bonus Edition)
44. Kiss – Chikara (1988)
45. Kiss – Smashes, Thrashes & Hits (1988)
46. Kiss – Hot In The Shade (1989)
47. Kiss – “God Gave Rock And Roll To You II” (1991) – 12″ Picture Disc
48. Kiss – Revenge (1992)
49. Kiss – Alive III (1993)
50. Kiss – “I Was Made For Lovin’ You (Live)” (1993) – CD Maxi Single (Bonus Edition)
51. Kiss – Konfidential VHS (1993)
52. Kiss – Kiss My Ass: Classic Kiss Regrooved (1994)
53. Kiss – MTV Unplugged (1996)
54. Kiss – You Wanted the Best, You Got the Best!! (1996)
55. Kiss – Greatest Kiss (1997)
56. Kiss – Carnival of Souls: The Final Sessions (1997)
57. Kiss – Psycho Circus (1998)
58. Kiss – The Second Coming Documentary (1998)
59. Eric Carr – Rockology (1999)
60. Mark St. John – Mark St. John Project (1999)
61. Eric Singer Project – ESP (1999)
62. Bruce Kulick – Audiodog (2001)
63. Kiss – Kiss Symphony: Alive IV (2003)
64. Kiss – The Best of Kiss: The Millennium Collection (1974-1982) (2003)
65. Gene Simmons – Asshole (2004)
66. Kiss – Rock the Nation 2004 World Tour: Instant Live (Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre Charlotte, NC 7/28/04) (2004)
67. Kiss – The Best of Kiss: Volume 2 – The Millennium Collection (1982-1989) (2004)
68. Kiss – Rock the Nation Live! DVD (2005)
69. Kiss – The Best of Kiss: Volume 3 – The Millennium Collection (The 90’s) (2006)
70. Kiss – Alive! The Millennium Concert (2006)
71. Kiss – Kiss Alive! 1975-2000 Box Set (2006)
72. Paul Stanley – Live to Win (2006)
73. Kiss – Kissology: Volumes 1 to 3 (2006-2007)
74. Kiss – Jigoku-Retsuden (2008)
75. Kiss – Sonic Boom (2009)
76. Kiss – Monster (2012)
77. Kiss – The Casablanca Singles 1973-1982 (2012)
78. Kiss – Kiss 40 (2014) – 2 CD Set
79. Kiss – Kiss 40 (2014) – Japanese Edition
80. Kiss – Kiss Rocks Vegas (2016)
81. Kiss – Kissworld: The Best of Kiss (2017)
82. Kiss – Off the Soundboard: Tokyo 2001 (2021)
83. Kiss – Off the Soundboard: Live in Virginia Beach July 24, 2004 (2022)
84. Kiss – The Albums Ranked From Worst to First (2021)
85. Kiss – Destroyer: 45th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition (2021)
86. Kiss – Destroyer: 45th Anniversary 2-LP Deluxe Edition (Colored Vinyl) (2021)
87. Kiss – Creatures of the Night: 40th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition (2022)
88. Kiss – Creatures of the Night: 40th Anniversary 3-LP Deluxe Edition (Colored Vinyl) (2022)
89. Kiss – Off the Soundboard: Poughkeepsie, NY Mid Hudson Civic Arena, November 28, 1984 (2023)
90. Kiss – Icon (2010 / 2023)
91. Kiss – Lick it Up (40th Anniversary Picture Disc) (2023)

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)
16. Kiss – Black Diamond: Lafayette Music Room, Memphis, TN April 18th, 1974 – FM Broadcast
17. Kiss – End of the Road: In Allentown 2020 (PPL Center, Allentown, PA, 4th February 2020) (End of the Road Tour) – Blu-Ray
18. Kiss – ‘Monster Tour: Simpsonville 2013’ (Charter Amphitheatre at Heritage Park, Simpsonville, C – 13th August 2013) – Blu-Ray
19. Wicked Lester – The Original Wicked Lester Sessions (Bootleg)
20. Kiss – The Ritz on Fire (August 12, 1988, The Ritz, New York City. A radio broadcast – Crazy Nights Tour)
21. Kiss – Kiss My Axe 1978: Live from the Los Angeles Forum in California, August 25, 1977 (Love Gun Tour)
22. Kiss – Gods of Thunder: The Legendary Concert Broadcast – Sao Paulo, August 27, 1994′
23. Kiss – Black Diamond: Lafayette Music Room, Memphis, TN April 18th, 1974 – FM Broadcast (Alternate Cover)
24. Kiss -Alive! in Amityville: June 1973 – (2021)
25. Kiss – Set the World On Fire: Live (10 CD Box Set – Radio Broadcasts 1974-1994)
26. Kiss – Diamonds in the Dust (2022)