Customer Reviews

Alive 3

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I give it 3 1/2 stars.A live CD that many of us never thought would see the light of day.'Alive III' was produced by long-time producer Eddie Kramer.A few old fans here and there might be a bit let down,but for the most part,'Alive III' is decent.Total of sixteen cuts,with a running time at 67:26 as there's just four early tunes here,"Deuce","Watchin' You","Detroit Rock City" and "Rock And Roll All Nite".That's okay.As for myself,I thoroughly enjoyed hearing the later material as well,"Unholy","Creatures Of The Night","Lick It Up" and "I Was Made For Loving You"(after all these years,I'm used to it anyway).No,'Alive III' isn't as great as the first 'Alive' record.But then again,did you really expect it to be?

This is a very good live Cd from Kiss.At the time it was long overdue for a new alive album.Since this there is an alive 4.
The best alive CD is Alive 1.
But this captures Kiss without their makeup.Bruce Kulick was on lead here and did a mighty fine job.And on the skins was Eric Singer.Its a pity Eric Carr was on none of the alive albums,but did appear on Animalive which was just as good as an alive album.Eric Singer also did very well here.
And Gene and Paul naturally did their stuff.
In all this is quite a good cd,great listening from start to finish.I like the way it ends with Star Spangled Banner.
Cool CD this.

I've been a Kiss fan since I was 4 yrs old. In all that time I've never given up on the band (even during the Unmasked & Crazy Nights eras, I even loved The Elder). To be honest I didn't think it was possible for Kiss to make a bad live CD but I was wrong. Don't get me wrong... the song selection is great, the band is great but Alive III is far to over produced. It just sounds fake, like the band played to an empty hall and dubbed in the audience. It sounds so obvious during Paul's abbreviated between song chatter & as previous reviewers said during certain songs. I am totally shoked that something bearing Eddie Kramer's name should be so poorly produced (Who knows maybe it's the "and Kiss" part of the production team that was the problem). I like this CD but it just doesn't compare with Alive! or Alive II. As a fan all I can do is hope and pray Alive IV doesn't suffer from the same GLARING flaws.

Alive 2 wasnt up to the level of the original Alive!16years after Alive 3 come to stores whats worth the bait?EVERITHING this album is outstanding Alive 3 is basicly a live remake of the 80s kiss albums with a couple of kiss classics.They also included 4 songs from their last studio album`revenge`wich is great.Its not the great Alive but its good its does sound live.it includes songs from almost every 80s album exept a couple like unmasked,the elder and others.It doesnt excludes classics like detroit rock city,deuce,watching you and others but it focuses mainly on the 80s.Eric Singer does a great job at the drums so does Bruce Kulick at the guitar part his `star spangled banner`performance is very impresssive.There is 16 songs live from 1993 ,the booklet included has cool pictures inside.If you just listen to it then its not as good as on the`confidential and exposed`dvd wich includes most of the Alive3 concert,it looks amazing and they are performing at their best.Its a good value this album is outstanding!i love it.Maybe its not from the original lineup but its good anyway.a great effort on this live album.there is a missing song`take it off`that they did not include here.very recomended!

ALIVE III(1993). KISS' third live record.

There have been several legendary bands out there-The Beatles,Aerosmith,Led Zeppelin,Van Halen,among others,and of course,there is KISS. KISS have put out several live records to this date-and how does their third live record,ALIVE III,measure up? Read on for my review of this:

This record,while it may not have been ALIVE I or Alive II,is the best career spanning live record KISS has ever put out. When KISS released this album in 1993,they had been big for exactly eighteen years,so even though Ace Frehley and Peter Criss were no longer accompanying Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley when this record was made(for those of you who are new to KISS,Frehley and Criss rejoined the group in 1996 and,at different times,both departed from the group in the early 00's),this live album still turned out really good. The lead guitarist in KISS when this album came out was Bruce Kulick,who,in my opinion,was the most talented out of the replacement guitarists KISS has ever had(the remaining replacement guitarists of KISS have been Vinnie Vincent,Mark St. John,and Tommy Thayer,who is their current guitarist)and Eric Singer was their drummer at the time(Singer is also currently their drummer. This album opens with the live version of CREATURES OF THE NIGHT,which sounds killer when it is performed live(Bruce Kulick's guitar work and Eric Singer's drumming on this track are both really good)and that is followed by the live version of DEUCE,a song off of KISS' first album--Bruce Kulick and Eric Singer may not be Ace Frehley or Peter Criss,and the KISS without make-up may not be the KISS without make-up,but both Kulick and Singer do quite a good job at accompanying Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley on this track,and the whole band performs with a lot of energy on this track. As for the other moments on here--well,Gene Simmons helps bring the live version of UNHOLY to life,you feel a little bit of "magic" when you hear I WAS MADE FOR LOVIN' YOU performed live(I know--Ace Frehley,Peter Criss,make-up,and costumes aren't accompanying Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley on this track-it may seem weird that I say there is magic on the live version of this track--but to me,it sounds true),Eric Singer does a great job at kicking off the live version of I LOVE IT LOUD with his drums just like Eric Carr did on the original studio version of that song on CREAUTURES OF THE NIGHT--in the meantime,the show closes nicely with Bruce Kulick performing STAR SPANGLED BANNER by himself on guitar(awesome job at the guitar part,Bruce!)--I really don't need to say more about this live album itself,but here's another bonus about it:the liner notes are VERY cool. They(the liner notes)feauture pictures of Gene Simmons,Paul Stanley,Bruce Kulick,and Eric Singer live and in concert(as well as a picture of them together--the pictures of them live and in concert are pictures of Simmons,Stanley,Kulick,and Singer standing away from each other)as well as other rare photos.You even get a thing that shows all of the bands Gene Simmons,Paul Stanley,Ace Frehley,Peter Criss,Eric Carr,Vinnie Vincent,Mark St. John,Bruce Kulick,and Eric Singer were in before/after KISS,the people who they were in the bands with,as well as lines that show what band a certain band member went to after they had left a certain band--now how cool is that?? Very Cool!!

Overall,an excellent live record. The only reason why I am knocking off one star here is because when KISS released this live record overseas,they included a live performance of the song TAKE IT OFF that originally appreared on REVENGE,but they did NOT include the live version of that song here--VERY irritating for loyal and die-hard KISS fans living in America. But otherwise,everything else here meausures up pretty well--check this live album out. You won't be dissapointed.

YOU WANTED THE BEST, YOU GOT THE BEST, THE HOTTEST BAND IN THE WORLD....KISS!!!

That opener to the concerts is as true today as it was when it was first uttered, nearly 3 decades ago. KISS has had so much influence on so many of today's bands, its hard to argue that they are not the best.

KISS chooses some of best from thier career at that time. Songs like Rock'n'Roll all nite, Unholy, Creatures of the night, Lick it Up, God gave Rock and Roll to You II, and the Star Spangled Banner, KISS cements themselves as not only of the greatest rock bands of all time, but as one of the partiotic as well.

Well Worth your money.

So now we come to the final chapter in the ALIVE trilogy.It was inevitable that Paul and Gene would bow to public pressure and put out another live album.They hoped to produce a set that would have rivalled ALIVE 1 & 2; unfortunately,number three did not make the grade.I can't see the sense in repeating songs that had already appeared in previous live incarnations(DEUCE,ROCK N'ROLL ALL NITE,WATCHIN'YOU,DETROIT ROCK CITY).They had the albums from DYNASTY to REVENGE to choose material from.Why no FITS LIKE A GLOVE,TURN ON THE NIGHT,or TEARS ARE FALLING?!Also the Eddie Kramer production on some of the tracks sounds watered down, almost to UNMASKED like proportions.Saying that though,on other tracks the Kulick/Stanley/Simmons/Singer lineup really bared it's fangs and showed how good they really were(CREATURES OF THE NIGHT ,I WAS MADE FOR LOVIN' YOU,LICK IT UP,FOREVER).By all means,buy ALIVE 3;just don't think it will be better than 1&2,and you won't be dissapointed.

The problem with this album is that it tried to cover lots of material on a single disc. By the time this was recorded KISS had enough 80's and 90's material to have a double CD of all the songs that made them popular again in the mid 80's. Its true that the songs here sound good and fresh but a follow up of Alive and Alive II could have been a lot more original with better song selection and far better packaging. If you are looking for a "classic" live album sitck to Alive. Let's just hope they do better on Alive IV.

The album starts off with one of their best (Creatres Of The Night). If you Plan to buy some of their best songs I recomend this, I feel the songs are better than Smashes, Thrashes, & Hit. This is highly recomended. The group is not the origil four, this album includes Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Eric Singer, and Bruce Kulick. If you are interested this CD includes a "Kiss" family tree, its very interesting.

Alive 3 was a dissappointment. There are some good songs on this album, BUT the crowd and background noise detract from the whole LIVE experience on the CD. Sometimes the noise drowns out the music. Only for serious collectors, like me.