Kiss - Alive Ii CDs • Vinyl Records • LPs • Music Albums

guitar solos on "King of the Night Time World" and "Shock Me" are note-for-note duplications of sections from Pete Townshend's long improvisation ("My Generation") on side two of Live at Leeds. Even more startling is the way the screams over sustained guitar codas on those two songs and on "Makin' Love" sound exactly like Roger Daltrey finishing off Townshend's pyrotechnics.

It's open to question how much credit to give a band for using such well-proven formulas, and it's also true that a wan reflection of the original, no matter how sincere, is still not the real thing. But it remains that Alive II captures the essence of live rock & roll very well—perhaps even a little better than the recent Stones set. (RS 256)

JOHN SWENSON

This collection of live songs went quadruple platinum for good reason. It is perhaps one of few live rock albums that truly transcend the aural experience of a gigantic rock show. Rumors of the band overdubbing studio parts to this album should be thought of as innovative, rather than deceptive. It made for a better listen.