Kiss – ‘The Lost Alive II Album’ – Album Review (The Kiss Bootleg Series)

I have been doing a Kiss Bootleg Series for years. You get a review every time I add a new one to the collection. Well, after buying 38 Bootleg CDs from John Humphrey’s personal collection,… More

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Kiss – ‘The Lost Alive II Album’ – Album Review (The Kiss Bootleg Series)

I have been doing a Kiss Bootleg Series for years. You get a review every time I add a new one to the collection. Well, after buying 38 Bootleg CDs from John Humphrey’s personal collection, I figured let’s jump right back in and do a whole lot of reviews on the Bootlegs. Oh, if you don’t know who John Humphrey is, you need to know he is a massive Kiss collector. And he is the drummer of the band Seether. John decided to sell off his entire collection…sort of…he kept all the vinyl (like 4,000 of them). He did it through an auction at Backstage Auctions and I had to have a piece of it…and I did wind up with some things.

This is yet another live show from 1977 and I know I said I needed to pick one from a different year as I’ve done a lot from 1977, but I couldn’t pass this one up. This is another from Budokan in 1977 and was a finished mix that was supposed to be used for their Alive II album, but it was scrapped. A year later, we actually got ‘Alive II’ and it was not as quite as live as this one is. This version is more raw and rough around the edges unlike ‘Alive II’ that came out. And for that, it might be a better version, for the most part.

This version of the Bootleg I believe is a self-made CD. The reason I say that is because the pictures seem to be photocopies of another picture as they aren’t as crisp and clear. The CD cover art looks homemade and well, the back cover of the insert is simply a white page with the statement printed on it that reads “From The Collection of John Humphrey”. All that leads me to believe he had the digital version of this and decided to put it on CD. So, I guess this is a bootlegged bootleg…which is cool. To top it off, we get the studio songs that are on Side 4 of ‘Alive II’, but these are different mixes and alternate versions. Lastly, there are 4 demo songs from Gene’s solo album. That is also really cool. Now, how does all this sound?

I’ll be honest. It sounds amazing. The mix is sensational, the crowd noise is pumped in and it feels exciting and electric. The songs are edited together that make you feel this is one cohesive show…and that is how it should be. They open with “Detroit Rock City” and the energy is dripping from the speakers. Paul goes into “Take Me” and he has the crowd in the palm of his hand. The guitars are brutal and the drums are powerful. Gene meets you in the “Ladies Room” next and damn does it feel like the crowd is going nuts.

Next are three songs I love hearing live. First is Paul with the song that asks the question if do you love him for him or because he’s rich and famous. “Do You Love Me?” starts off with same fine drumming from Peter as he’s keeping the beat. I have to say, I like how their music wheels roll here!! The energy is turned up even more with the fast guitar licks from Ace as they go into “Makin’ Love”. My favorite parts of this one are Ace’s blistering solo and that Peter drum fill towards the end. It all completely rocks. “I Want You” is now front and center and the band keeps on slamming it!!

Gene gets his turn again and this time it starts off with a very brief bass solo and then it is his signature song “God of Thunder”. It is dark and menacing which is the Gene trademark. Throw in a Peter drum solo in the middle and by this point you are exhausted. All this rockin’ has made me thirsty so it is time for some “Cold Gin”. Gene attacks the lyrics as Peter is pounding away. But since this is “Cold Gin”, it is Ace’s guitar work and solo that are the highlight here!!

The piano comes out and now we get Peter playing and singing his signature song, “Beth”. Peter really nails this one live and a highlight of the show for sure. Then to finish things off they go out in style with two massive rock anthems in “Shout It Out Loud” and “Rock And Roll All Nite”. Those songs do want to make you party…for me both day and night!!

Then it it is on to the studio tracks from Side 4 of ‘Alive II’. As I said earlier, these are slightly different mixes and/or alternate versions of the songs. I love the first track it is Paul’s “All American Man”. When I hit the 6′ foot mark growing up, this was my signature song. You can definitely hear that this is the polished, clean version that is on the final album, but it is killer nonetheless. “Rockin’ in the USA” is up next and another great rock anthem, but not as strong as some of their others. The production doesn’t sound as full and polished on here.

With “Larger Than Life”, I love that guitar riff and Gene is demonic as ever. Speaking of guitar, Ace’s “Rocket Ride” comes blasting in. Another that doesn’t feel finished and the guitars aren’t as loud and prominent as on the final. Lastly, we get “Anyway You Want It” which was the worst of the studio tracks here. This one sounds hollow and feels more like a demo. It is a cheesy anthem and very skippable.

Thrown on at the end are 4 Gene demos from his 1978 solo album. The first is “Fourever” and to say it is horrid would be too nice. It is campy, has a saxophone and should’ve stayed buried. A different version is Disc 9 of The Vault. “Love is Blind” is simply an acoustic guitar and a bass with Gene on vocals. Harmonized vocals on the chorus and not a horrible track…needs more work. This is on Disc 6 of The Vault and there is a version on the Kiss Box Set. Next is “Reputation” and you’ve heard this before as it is actually a ‘Love Gun’ demo if I’m not mistaken. It has seen the rounds before. Lastly is “Bad Bad Lovin”…and it is…well…different. It is more stylistic with the 60’s and vocally Gene is mostly speaking the lyrics in that Lou Reed fashion and even throws in some more saxophone. Why?

And that is it. I have to say as a live show this is freaking killer. Not a full show, but 11 strongly mixed songs, great crowd noise and full of energy. The bonuses of the alternate versions of the ‘Alive II’ studio tracks is so cool as it is nice to have slightly different versions of those. They are still a work in process. Speaking of a work in process, those Gene demos were something else. Not saying they were good or bad, just something else. All-in-all, this is a great disc and easily a 4.5 out of 5.0 Stars as sound quality is great and bonus songs are definitely worth hearing (at least once). I can’t say if you find this pick it up as this might be the only copy of ‘The Lost Album’ in this format, but if you do see it, grab it as you won’t be disappointed.