Letters

CONCEPT ALBUM: Has it ever occurred to anyone other than me that KISS Alive! is not just a live album? It is one of the greatest concept albums ever made. So great, in fact, people do not even recognize it as a concept album. The concept behind KISS Alive! was to make you feel as though you were there at the concert as you listened to the album. For all the controversy around whether there were overdubs, or not, the final product accomplished what the concept set out to do. It was the total package which immersed you as you listened to it with headphones on. The photo booklet, the pictures on the album cover, the crowd noise and so on. You felt as though you WERE there in that crowd. You were on the inside looking in. No other live album (even KISS Alive II) has ever made me feel the same way. They always feel as though you are an observer, rather than part of it. You are on the outside looking in. That is the magic of KISS Alive! The concept worked so great no one noticed it was a concept album. It's a masterpiece. DISCOVERY: I bought KISS Alive! in November of 1975 with money I got from my tenth birthday. I had heard "Rock and Roll All Nite" on A.M. radio late at night, the studio version, on the way home from being babysat. My mom and I both liked it and wanted to know who the band was. We anxiously waited for the D.J. to tell us it was KISS. This was in Central Illinois. I can assume it was a direct result of the KISS Army in Terre Haute, Indiana as to why I was lucky enough to have heard the song on the radio at all. When I went to buy the album I had no idea what KISS looked like. Destroyer was not out yet. And, most kids in my age group did not get into KISS until a year or two later. Truth is, I was probably the only ten year old within hundreds of miles of myself to own a KISS album at this time. KISS seemed dangerous looking. I did not know if I would be able to keep the album. My grandma listened to the entire album with me and everything seemed okay. I had a hard time understanding Paul as he talked to the crowd, his New York accent. I did not know what Ace meant by "get off" in his note on the gate-fold. I came at it pure of heart. I loved the entire album. "Parasite" and "She" were my favorite songs, after "Rock and Roll All Nite". It was Ace's guitar which "spoke" to me. It took me a while to figure out what a lead guitar was and who was playing it. I kept hoping it was the guy with the tongue. He looked very weird, but sort of cool. In a way I feel lucky to have experienced KISS Alive! the way I did. Not having any expectations. Not knowing anything of the characters involved. Not having been influenced by other kids as to which member was cooler and why. Not having been marketed to. It was a feeling of discovery. The ultimate discovery.