Kiss - Alive! Box Set
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Free Music Notes for Alive! Box Set
Free Music Review: Let's be honest....
Hit: 3 Stars
The only reason to buy this boxed set is for nostalgia. The packaging is excellent, no question. The booklet included contains a number of tasty photos plus complete (if miniaturized) reproductions of the booklets from Alive and Alive 2. The alleged remastering of sound on the three first live sets may or may not have improved the sound. It's that hard to tell.
The real selling point here, to be hoenst, is the Millenium Concert that was to be Alive 4 before contractual agreements fell through and the album was shelved for nearly seven years. As with the first three live sets, much of the show was reproduced in the studio. Kiss is not the only band to use this practice, so I have no problem with it. Eddie Kramer, who produced the classic Alive, confessed that little beyond Peter Criss' drums was actually live. The rest was all studio work. My only question was, seeing as how this was more of a studio project, why wasn't more emphasis placed on the clarity of sound? The guitars on the Millenium Concert lack the distinguishable qualities found on Alive.
The musicianship of the band - with the notable exception of Ace Frehley - is spot on. Gene Simmons has always been a competent bass player and Paul Stanley's vocals just keep getting better with age. Peter Criss - who was fired most recently for apparently not having chops - is incredible on the fourth disc. Even if the tempo drags a bit at times, you can blame the whole band and not just the drummer. Ace Frehley, who hasn't developed at all, as a guitarist since 1978, is just an unneccesary element. The same solos, the same notes, a clearly rerecorded vocal on "Into the Void" and not mush else to offer.
Yeah, I bought it. I'm a Kiss fan and I wanted a copy of the concert. But did I need another live version of those songs? Probably not. I bought it for nostalgia.
Free Music Review: atleast it has a nice booklet and packaging like the box set
Hit: 3 Stars
ok i went to best but to get the version with bonus tracks which werent included anywhere else (or at best buy lol). they sent replacement discs to the stores which i never got cuz some great mind put the 2 bonus tracks on a site for a week to download. now everyone knows kiss alive is one of if not the best live album ever. i think alive 2 is but thats probally because it was my 1st 8 track tape and it holds special memories fo me. but now on here they made it possible to sueeze rock n roll all nite onto alive 2 so all 4 alive have it included, oh joy. alive 3 was not the best live album ever but damn solid and half the material was from the non make-up days back when they still liked to create music and the added track of take it off is nice to have on cd. now the show formerly known as alive 4 aka the millenium show is probally a pretty good show if there was video backing it up. but on cd it may be nice to have as a fan but not a enjoyable listening experience. now for some reason alive 1 and 2 were always 2 cd sets when seperate. now they cram them on 1 cd each now that they dont have to worry about socking you for them a 2 cd sets. but overall it is nice to have this all together but why not throw the unplugged show in there that was live? and there was a lost alive with songs that wee on alive 1 that could have ben included to make it more worth the money. but again like the big box set this has great packaging and a nice booklet inside. but heres just another way to get the die hards to cough up 40 bucks on something they already have 75 percent of. 3 stars for awsome packaging.Free Music Review: Good Box Set
Hit: 3 Stars
This box set is great because it contains recently remastered material. Well, at least I hope that is a good thing because I don't have the original CD's to compare it to.
This box set has a lot of duplicate tracks. Seventeen to be exact. There are four different versions of Rocka and Roll All Nite. The bad thing about this is the the value of the box set is diminished. The good thing about this is that you get to choose which version of the song you like best.
I would hate to get stuck with the versions from the Millennium Concert because they are slow and lifeless. I only kept three out of the fifteen songs, and only because they weren't duplicates.
Then there is my favorite Alive, ALIVE III. The duplicate songs on this album are much better than those of the previous two. Extra effects are added and it sounds a lot bolder and cleaner.
And then exist the other two albums which are also great, although they don't sound as good as III.
Overall, this is a good compilation of KISS. It doesn't have every hit that I'd like, but I'm satisfied with the purchase.
Free Music Review: OK... FOR THE COMPLETIST
Hit: 3 Stars
I hate that kiss had to release another damn box-set to get the Alive iv cd that had been promised all these years. I have owned alives I,II,and III for years. I think i bought alives I and II about 20 times over the years, so i hate that i have to get them AGAIN and pay a premium to get alive iv ( i dont consider symphony alive 4..sorry). And as far as Best Buy goes, this is AMAZON, so dont talk about best buy. they have nothing to do with this sight, complain to them.
Now that i got that off my chest, the alive iv cd is good. Though Peter and Aces performances are far from stellar, it has a great sound and decent song selection. And while this cd is not worth the price of the entire box set, it softens the blow a bit.
But i consider this for completists only. Kiss would have done themselves well enough to just release the alive iv disc alone for newer fans, because i doubt they want 4 cds worth of live stuff. and i think it would have sold a hell of a lot better than this box set will. But i guess they know how to get every last drop out of us real kiss fans.. The sickness continues..
Free Music Review: Best Buyer Beware!!
Hit: 3 Stars
Although Kiss Online and Best Buy advertise exclusive bonus songs, "2000 Man" & "God Of Thunder" from the Millenium Concert, these songs are NOT included in the BB set. The copy I purchased even had it printed on a sticker on the plastic wrapping..."Featuring two previously unreleased bonus songs...". I repeat, these songs can be found nowhere on the BB set. I called 4 different Best Buy's in my area and was told it was..."not their problem". They were completely disinterested in helping me. If this is a case of false advertising I am sure I am not the only buyer who will be upset over this. That said, the Millenium Concert is a must have for the Kiss completist. 3 stars for the quality of the remastered versions and for the inclusion of the MC. I just wish it had come with the 2 bounus tracks as advertised!