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51 Years Ago Today: Legendary Rock Band Released Album That Saved Their Career
10
Sep
Sep
Kiss built their reputation on outrageous theatrics, towering boots, and face paint. But early on, the group was teetering on the edge of complete financial collapse.
Their first three studio records failed to capture the raw power of their live concerts.
Neither their self-titled debut nor Hotter Than Hell cracked the Top 80 on the charts. Dressed to Kill finally reached the Top 40, but still failed to produce a hit single. That left both the band and Casablanca Records scraping for cash.
With little left to lose, the quartet released the double live album Alive! 51 years ago today, on September 10, 1975.
The record turned into an unexpected sensation that rescued the group’s entire career.
Alive! Named One of the Greatest Live Albums of All Time
The explosive double LP captured the lightning-in-a-bottle energy that fans experienced inside packed arenas across the country. Rolling Stone ranked Alive! at No. 6 on its definitive list of the 50 Greatest Live Albums of All Time.
The publication credited the record with defining the band’s golden era.
“From that swaggering intro all the way through guitarist Paul Stanley’s banter about audience members’ preferred beverages, Alive! neatly summarized Kiss’s gritty early-Seventies catalog and extremely outsized charm — in turn, the 1975 double LP wound up being the band’s first Top 10 album. Muscular takes on white-knuckle glam classics like ‘Strutter’ and ‘Cold Gin’ reveal just how much sweat seeped into the band members’ makeup on any given night,” Rolling Stone wrote.
The release was a true do-or-die gamble for the musicians. Manager Bill Aucoin had to finance their tour expenses on his personal credit card just to keep the group on the road.
Guitarist Ace Frehley later reflected on those stakes in the book Kiss: Behind the Mask, per MusicRadar:
“If that album bombed we would have been dropped from the label,” he said. “But I knew the record was gonna be great because I believe the only way to capture Kiss is with a live record.”
The live rendition of “Rock and Roll All Nite” climbed to No. 12 on the singles chart. Alive! ultimately logged a 110-week run on the Billboard 200, peaking at No. 9.
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