KISS Celebrates 50th Anniversary Of 'Alive!' With Massive Box Set Featuring Previously Unreleased Recordings
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KISS's "Alive!" turns 50 in 2025 — a golden jubilee for the iconic live album that catapulted the band and revolutionized live albums for the music industry from end-of-career obscurity into career-defining mainstream success. Often revered as one of the greatest live albums ever by countless music journalists, "Alive!" is celebrated with a Super Deluxe 180-gram 8-LP + Blu-ray Audio boxset showcasing 120 total tracks amplified with 88 unreleased tracks. LPs 1 and 2 feature the original album newly remastered by Bernie Grundman from the original 1975 stereo analog master tapes. LPs 3 through 6 showcase two full-length concerts from the 1975 "Dressed To Kill" tour — RKO Orpheum Theatre in Davenport, Iowa on July 20, Second Show and Wildwood Convention Hall in Wildwood, New Jersey on July 23 — newly mixed by legendary producer and engineer Eddie Kramer from the original multi-track analog tapes as KISS performed in 1975, with no overdubs. Bonus tracks on LP 7 and 8 include five rehearsal tracks at the Davenport gig including an impromptu jam and an additional six songs from Cleveland Music Hall, Cleveland, Ohio on June 21, 1975, all newly mixed by Eddie Kramer from the original multi-tracks. The Blu-ray Audio disc features "Alive!" newly mixed by Eddie Kramer from the original album multi-track analog tapes in Dolby Atmos and 5.1 surround along with the newly remastered stereo in 192kHz 24-bit and 96kHz 24-bit PCM stereo set to a brand-new visualizer featuring a treasure trove of unreleased live photos.
The Super Deluxe explodes further with an extensive array of bonus kollectibles including:
* 100-page hardcover book with extensive liner notes by Ken Sharp featuring new interviews from Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons and many notable "Alive!"-era KISS team members plus tons of unreleased photos and rare imagery.
* "Alive!" 1975 press kit featuring
- Press Release
- Four Black & White Glossy Photos 7.5"x10"
- Marketing Slick Sheet
- "Alive!" Tour Program
- "Alive!" Back Cover Fan Banner Poster
- Album Cover Lenticular
- T-shirt Iron-on
- Four Live Color Glossy Photos
- Peter Criss Drum Head Litho
- Wildwood Concert Poster 20"x28"
- Cleveland Concert Mini-Poster 10"x17"
- Cobo Arena Concert Main Floor Ticket Stub
- Wildwood Concert Ticket Stub
- Cleveland Concert Ticket Stub
- Cobo Arena Concert Backstage Pass
- New Year's Eve – Nassau Backstage Pass
- Four Double-Sided Coasters
- Four Guitar Picks
- Bumper Sticker 8"x2.5"
- "Alive!" Die-Cut Double-Sided Mobile
- Gotham Rock City News Volume 4 Newspaper – Track-by-Track interview with Eddie Kramer of nearly all tracks appearing on the collection
"Alive!" (Remastered)
LP One - Side A:
01. Deuce
02. Strutter
03. Got To Choose
04. Hotter Than Hell
05. Firehouse
LP One - Side B:
01. Nothin' To Lose
02. C'mon And Love Me
03. Parasite
04. She
LP Two - Side C:
01. Watchin' You
02. 100,000 Years
03. Black Diamond
LP Two - Side D:
01. Rock Bottom
02. Cold Gin
03. Rock And Roll All Nite
04. Let Me Go, Rock 'N Roll
Live In Davenport, Iowa – RKO Orpheum Theatre – July 20, 1975 – Second Show*
LP Three - Side E:
01. Deuce
02. Strutter
03. Got To Choose
04. Hotter Than Hell
LP Three - Side F:
01. Firehouse
02. She
03. Ace Frehley Guitar Solo
04. Nothin' To Lose
LP Four - Side G:
01. C'mon And Love Me
02. 100,000 Years
03. Peter Criss Drum Solo / 100,000 Years
LP Four - Side H:
01. Black Diamond
02. Cold Gin
03. Let Me Go, Rock 'N Roll
Live In Wildwood, New Jersey – Wildwood Convention Hall – July 23, 1975*
LP Five - Side I:
01. Deuce
02. Strutter
03. Got To Choose
04. Hotter Than Hell
05. Firehouse
LP Five - Side J:
01. She
02. Ace Frehley Guitar Solo
03. Nothin' To Lose
04. C'mon And Love Me
LP Six - Side K:
01. 100,000 Years
02. Peter Criss Drum Solo / 100,000 Years
03. Parasite
LP Six – Side L:
01. Black Diamond
02. Cold Gin
03. Let Me Go, Rock 'N Roll
Bonus Live
Rehearsals – Live In Davenport, Iowa – RKO Orpheum Theatre - July 20, 1975*
LP Seven - Side M:
01. KISS Jam
02. Room Service
03. Strange Ways
04. Rock Bottom
05. Watchin' You
Live In Cleveland, Ohio – Cleveland Music Hall – June 21, 1975*
LP Seven - Side N:
01. She
02. Ace Frehley Guitar Solo
03. Nothin' To Lose
LP Eight - Side O:
01. C'mon And Love Me
02. 100,000 Years
03. Peter Criss Drum Solo / 100,000 Years
Blu-ray Audio – Alive!
Disc Five:
[Dolby Atmos* / Dolby True HD 5.1* / 192kHz 24-bit & 96kHz 24-bit PCM Stereo]
01. Deuce
02. Strutter
03. Got To Choose
04. Hotter Than Hell
05. Firehouse
06. Nothin' To Lose
07. C'mon And Love Me
08. Parasite
09. She
10. Watchin' You
11. 100,000 Years
12. Black Diamond
13. Rock Bottom
14. Cold Gin
15. Rock And Roll All Nite
16. Let Me Go, Rock 'N Roll
* Previously unreleased
For more information, visit shopkissonline.com.
Last year, Eddie told Guitar World magazine about his work on the original "Alive!" album: "The thing with KISS was we knew we had to get everything down on tape no matter what it took. It was hard because they were always jumping around, and we had to do a bunch of work on the album after the fact, but that's how it was. The band may deny it, but the fact remains that on 'Alive!', we had to fix a bunch of stuff."
Asked if anyone in the band had a say in those fixes, Eddie said: "They did. And the album came out bloody great because the guys in KISS were very particular about how it should sound and be mixed. We worked tirelessly for weeks to make 'Alive!' sound amazing. So, while it's not totally 'live,' it's a great creation of the live sound of KISS from that time. There were just bits we had to fix for obvious reasons, like the guys being on stage in six-inch boots, bombs going off and rockets and flames shooting to God knows where. [Laughs] It takes a lot of work to keep in time and tune while jumping up and down. They can do it now, but in those days, not so much."
In June 2025, Stanley told Justin Richmond of the "Broken Record" podcast about KISS's first live album: "'Kiss Alive!' really captured the essence of the live experience. Now, that couldn't have happened without us going in the studio and enhancing it and surrounding you with people… Live albums were boring for four hours. You didn't even know they were live until the end of the song where you heard some clapping. But for KISS, we wanted an album that immersed you, immersion in the experience, which means being surrounded by people, which means bombs going off that are deafening, which means fixing any mistakes or a broken string. Snobs or purists may have looked down their nose at that idea, but the truth is that album is still considered, if not the greatest, one of the greatest, and in a lot of circles greatest live album ever. Not because everything was live, but because it captured the live experience."
KISS played its two final shows ever in December 2023 at New York City's Madison Square Garden.
