I remember buying KISS Alive! while living in Puerto Rico. It was my second KISS album purchased, Dressed to Kill being the first. After listening to Dressed to Kill, I was hooked. I was a KISS fan, and I sought out more albums. Living in Puerto Rico though was a limitation when it came to new music coming out. Puerto Rico was usually years behind getting any new product from mainland U.S. Looking back, I’m still amazed I found Dressed to Kill in a department store right after reading a CREEM magazine article about KISS. I guess getting Dressed to Kill was fate.

Getting KISS Alive! was definitely a highlight of my day. I found it in the album bins at the same department store I had found Dressed to Kill. I immediately bought it. What an album. It was exactly what I wanted to hear. The songs about girls, the raw energy, the crowd, the explosions. The album also introduced me to more KISS songs I had not heard. The album inserts – wow, all the posters. A poster of each member of KISS and a fold out of the complete stage. I was stunned. I wanted to see these guys. I wanted to be these guys. I wanted to buy the other two albums, KISS and Hotter Than Hell, that I was missing.

KISS Alive! was released on September 10, 1975 and I’m pretty sure I bought it, or got it for my birthday in October. It was a double LP with a gate-fold cover that included poster inserts. If you are a KISS fan then you’ve heard the stories about how it wasn’t completely live. KISS used the recordings from a few tour stops, most notably Cobo Arena in Detroit, and overdubbed vocals, guitars and bass to fix any mess ups. The crowd noises were also enhanced to give it that excitement. Many critics point out that it is not a true live album. Doesn’t matter to this KISS fan. It is a great album regardless.

KISS Alive! was such an eye opener. Before YouTube, before the internet, you could only see bands live and there was no way I would ever see KISS living in Puerto Rico, so Alive! was the closest thing I was going to get to see KISS at the moment. I wouldn’t’ actually get to see them until the 1996 reunion tour. The album still brings back memories of listening with my friends and discussing the drum solo and all the great songs. I would pose with my guitar like Ace Frehley or Paul Stanley while listening to the album. For those memories, it is the Album of the Month.