Kiss - Alive! / 180 gram vinyl 2LP set

Kiss wasn't quite the hottest band in the land when they made their 1975 double-live album Alive!, but they were about to be. This was the album that catapulted the group from cult attraction to mega-superstars, becoming their first Top Ten album and remaining on the charts for 110 weeks. Culled from shows in Detroit, New Jersey, Iowa, and Cleveland on the Dressed to Kill tour, the record features producer Eddie Kramer doing a masterful job of capturing the band's live performance on record. Kiss had released three middling studio albums up to this point, with some great songs amid some absolute filler-grade inclusions, all of it often marred by shoddy production. 

Alive!'s live renditions of songs from Kiss' self-titled 1974 debut, that same year's Hotter Than Hell, and 1975's Dressed to Kill strip them down to their rawest form, absorbing the excitement of both the live performance element and Kiss' unmatched, fantastical stage show. Party anthem "Rock & Roll All Nite" became a Top 20 smash and was the main reason for the album's success, but there are many other tracks that are just as strong -- "Deuce," "Strutter," "Firehouse," "Parasite," "She," "100,000 Years," "Black Diamond," and "Cold Gin" all shine in a live setting. Although there's been some speculation about extensive overdubbing to correct mistakes, Alive! remains Kiss' introduction to the world, and a lasting document of their larger-than-life rock & roll power. AllMusicGuide