┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │■ ■│ │ .-/ .-. │ │ _.-~ / ___ | ~-._ │ │ \:/ -~| / __/| .\:/ │ │ / || (:/:| \ │ │ / /\/| |:\___\| |\ \ │ │ / /:::|.::/:::/:.|:\ \ │ │ / /:::/ \\/:::/::/:::\ \ │ │ / .::\ \-~~~~-/\/:.. \ │ │ /..:::::\ /:::::..\ │ │ /::::::::- -::::::::\ │ │ \:::::-~ ~-:::::/ │ │ \:-~ ~-:/ │ │ METAL CLASSICS ARCHIVE │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ P R E S E N T S │ │ │ │ │ │ + Kiss - Alive III + │ │ │ │ │ │╔═════════════════════╗ │ │║ Release Information ║ │ │╠═════════════════════╩══════════════════════════════════════════╗ │ │║ ║ │ │║ Release Date.Oct-02-2011 Encoder......L3.97 -V2 --vbr-new ║ │ │║ Genre........Metal Graber.......EAC ║ │ │║ Year.........1993 Khz/Bitrate..44,1/ Br ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ Ripper.......The_Patriarch Songs........17 ║ │ │║ Covers.......Yes Url... www.kissonline.com ║ │ │║ ║ │ │╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │╔═════════════════════╗ │ │║ Release Notes ║ │ │╠═════════════════════╩══════════════════════════════════════════╗ │ │║ ║ │ │║ Artist : Kiss Rating : You Decide! ║ │ │║ Album : Alive III Label : Mercury ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ ║ │ │╠════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣ │ │║ ║ │ │║ Description : ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ As some of you may know by now, the beginning of ║ │ │║ the 90Æs marked something of a new beginning for ║ │ │║ KISS. After a dreadful decade, which had ║ │ │║ nullified everything the past ten years had ║ │ │║ accomplished, the group regained their form with ║ │ │║ 1992Æs Revenge, an album which saw Simmons and ║ │ │║ company try out a new sound to good effect. So, ║ │ │║ of course, with their popularity quickly rising ║ │ │║ again, the time was deemed suitable for another ║ │ │║ one of those famed ôliveö albums, imaginatively ║ │ │║ titled Alive III. ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ With a cover which threw back to its immediate ║ │ │║ predecessor, Alive II, III is notorious for ║ │ │║ holding quite a few records. To begin with, it ║ │ │║ was the only Alive to capture the group without ║ │ │║ their trademark makeup; it was the only one to ║ │ │║ feature the formation with Simmons, Stanley, ║ │ │║ Kulick and Singer; and it was the first to ║ │ │║ contain songs from every phase of the groupÆs ║ │ │║ career up to that point. But is it their best? ║ │ │║ In a nutshell: no. ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ You see, the problem here is the same that ║ │ │║ plagued the first Alive: the album only rarely ║ │ │║ feels like a ôliveö album. Oh, sure, changes are ║ │ │║ made here and there, more notably to the vocal ║ │ │║ lines, and interplay with the audience is ║ │ │║ frequent. But then, why is it that we barely ║ │ │║ listen to the crowd behind most of the songs? ║ │ │║ The best live albums feature the roaring ║ │ │║ audience filling every nook and cranny, yet here ║ │ │║ they only express themselves when Stanley riles ║ │ │║ them up or when a new song is about to start. ║ │ │║ Add to that the fact that most of the tracks are ║ │ │║ pulled off with virtual perfection, and ║ │ │║ suspicion certainly starts to arise, a suspicion ║ │ │║ which is only made stronger when we hear ║ │ │║ frigginÆ reverb/echo effects on I Was Made For ║ │ │║ LovinÆ You, and again on a latter song. These ║ │ │║ effects would certainly have been hard to ║ │ │║ reproduce live, yet there they are on the ║ │ │║ recordà ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ All speculation aside, though, this is just not ║ │ │║ a very good live album. The performance sounds ║ │ │║ limp throughout, lacking heaviness, as though ║ │ │║ the group were playing pop versions of their own ║ │ │║ songs. Everything sounds a little too perfect ║ │ │║ and squeaky-clean for what was reportedly a very ║ │ │║ raw performance; Bruce KulickÆs guitar tone is ║ │ │║ gentle both in the songs from his stint and on ║ │ │║ the older ones, and when it isnÆt, the song ║ │ │║ itself sucks; Simmons and Singer are competent, ║ │ │║ but the unnecessary changes made to the vocal ║ │ │║ lines are distracting and annoying as hell. ║ │ │║ Plus, the tracklist sucks. ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ Seriously, I understand the need to encompass ║ │ │║ every phase of your career in a live show, but ║ │ │║ some of the choices here are puzzling. And IÆm ║ │ │║ not even talking about the 80Æs songs, which are ║ │ │║ limited to the decent HeavenÆs On Fire, Forever ║ │ │║ and Lick It Up, plus two of the best tracks from ║ │ │║ Creatures Of The Night. No, IÆm talking about ║ │ │║ the older songs. Sure, Rock And Roll All Night, ║ │ │║ Detroit Rock City and Deuce are here, as they ║ │ │║ should be. But then we get WatchinÆ You and I ║ │ │║ Still Love You, two snore-inducing tracks from ║ │ │║ the groupÆs early day. The reason behind the ║ │ │║ choice of these two particular songs is ║ │ │║ puzzling. I understand not including Cold Gin, ║ │ │║ Beth or Hard Luck Woman, but heck, why not make ║ │ │║ some space for Love Gun, God Of Thunder, I Stole ║ │ │║ Your Love, Strutter, or even Shout It Out Loud!? ║ │ │║ Puzzling, to say the least. ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ But before you start thinking itÆs all bad, let ║ │ │║ me reassure you: there are some good moments. I ║ │ │║ Just Wanna is probably the best, and the only ║ │ │║ one where the ôliveö ambiance is really felt ║ │ │║ throughout the song (parts of other songs, like ║ │ │║ Deuce, feature it, too, but never in the whole ║ │ │║ song, like here); Detroit Rock City and I Love ║ │ │║ It Loud are their usual larger-than-life selves, ║ │ │║ and not even the pussification and vocal changes ║ │ │║ can bring them down, although they come pretty ║ │ │║ close on the former; and Domino is always fun, ║ │ │║ of course. Plus, the ending rendition of Star ║ │ │║ Spangled Banner is moving, although haunted by ║ │ │║ the ghost of a much older, much better rendition ║ │ │║ by one Jimi Hendrix. The remaining songs suffer, ║ │ │║ to a greater or lesser extent, from the problems ║ │ │║ exposited earlier in this review, which ║ │ │║ ultimately detract from the listening ║ │ │║ experience. ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ But this album holds another, very important ║ │ │║ trump: Paul Stanley. The man gives a lesson in ║ │ │║ crowd control, whether he is asking them to sing ║ │ │║ the ômagic wordö on I Just Wanna (the magic word ║ │ │║ being, of course, ôf-ô) or asking the guys if ║ │ │║ they like to ôlook at naked womenö (at this ║ │ │║ point, after the men in the audience manifest ║ │ │║ themselves, he asks if the ladies like to take ║ │ │║ someone home and get naked; hilariously, the ║ │ │║ volume of girly shrieks in response to this ║ │ │║ question is about three times louder than that ║ │ │║ of the males previously). Still, even his ║ │ │║ showman antics arenÆt enough to redeem some of ║ │ │║ the serious problems of this album. ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ In the end, then, Alive III is just another ║ │ │║ disappointing KISS live album. ItÆs better than ║ │ │║ the first Alive!, but doesnÆt hold a candle to ║ │ │║ the second, still the best and most recommended ║ │ │║ installment in the series. If youÆre a frontman, ║ │ │║ and would like to learn how to hold a crowd ║ │ │║ under your thumb, then this is as perfect a ║ │ │║ manual as you will find. But if youÆre in it for ║ │ │║ the music, you better go back to digging Alive ║ │ │║ II. ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ ║ │ │╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │╔═════════════════════╗ │ │║ Release Tracklist ║ │ │╚═════════════════════╩══════════════════════════════════════════ │ │ │ │ 01 - Creatures of the Night (Live) [04:41] │ │ 02 - Deuce (Live) [03:43] │ │ 03 - I Just Wanna (Live) [04:22] │ │ 04 - Unholy (Live) [03:43] │ │ 05 - Heaven's on Fire (Live) [04:02] │ │ 06 - Watchin' You (Live) [03:34] │ │ 07 - Domino (Live) [03:47] │ │ 08 - I Was Made for Lovin' You (Live) [04:31] │ │ 09 - I Still Love You (Live) [06:04] │ │ 10 - Rock and Roll All Nite (Live) [03:32] │ │ 11 - Lick it Up (Live) [04:18] │ │ 12 - Forever (Live) [04:20] │ │ 13 - Take it Off (Live) [05:38] │ │ 14 - I Love it Loud (Live) [03:40] │ │ 15 - Detriot Rock City (Live) [05:10] │ │ 16 - God Gave Rock 'n' Roll to You II (Live) [05:22] │ │ 17 - Star Spangled Banner (Live) [02:38] │ │ │ │ Total Length : [73:05 minn │ │ │ │ │ │ ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ╔═════════════════════╗ │ │ ║ Greetings To: ║ │ │ ╚═════════════════════╝ │ │ │ │ Too all people who contributes to make this │ │ archive of good music in a exceptional conditions │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │■ ■│ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘