Kiss Symphony: Alive IV

Kiss Symphony: Alive IV
Live album by Kiss
Publication (s)	July 22, 2003
Label (s)	Kiss Records , Sanctuary Records
Format (s)	LP , CD , download
Genre (s)	Hard rock
Title (number)	21st
running time	96:14
occupation	Vocals , rhythm guitar : Paul Stanley Vocals, bass guitar : Gene Simmons Vocals, lead guitar : Tommy Thayer Vocals, drums : Peter Criss
production	Mark Opitz
chronology Psycho Circus (1998) Kiss Symphony: Alive IV Sonic Boom (2009)

Kiss Symphony: Alive IV is the fourth live album by the US hard rock band Kiss , released in 2003 .

background

The album documents the joint appearance of the group with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra , which on 28 February 2003 at the Telstra Dome in Melbourne ( Australia was recorded). The concert was divided into three acts , the first of which consisted of six titles performed only by the Kiss group. The second act featured the group with the twelve-member Melbourne Symphony Ensemble, with whom the band performed five other tracks before the group brought the full orchestra and the Australien Childrens Choir to the stage in the third act.

It is remarkable that the band did not do without any pyrotechnic effects and presented their full stage show. In addition, everyone involved was made up in the style of Kiss.

The title of the album refers to the group's three previously released live albums, Alive! (1975), Alive II (1977) and Alive III (1993), so this album continues the line of live albums. However, this contradicts the fact that the album Kiss Unplugged from 1996 is also a live album; You Wanted the Best, You Got the Best , which was also released in 1996, is a sampler that was put together from various live recordings. Kiss Unplugged is a special case for licensing reasons, because the publishing rights are held by MTV .

Track list

CD 1

Act 1

"Kiss Electric"

1. Deuce (4:14) - Simmons
2. Strutter (3:22) - Simmons / Stanley
3. Let Me Go, Rock 'N Roll (6:09) - Simmons
4. Lick It Up (5:12) - Stanley / Vincent
5. Calling Dr. Love (3:30) - Simmons
6. Psycho Circus (5:12) - Stanley / Cuomo

Act 2

"Kiss & The Melbourne Symphony Ensemble"

1. Beth (3:40) - Criss / Penridge / Ezrin
2. Forever (3:50) - Stanley / Bolton
3. Goin 'Blind (3:38) - Simmons / Coronel
4. Sure Know Something (4:20) - Stanley / Poncia
5. Shandi (3:39) - Stanley / Child / Poncia

CD 2

Act 3

"Kiss & The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra"

1. Detroit Rock City (4:49) - Stanley / Ezrin
2. King of the Night Time World (3:30) - Stanley / Ezrin / Anthony / Ezrin
3. Do you love me? (4:10) - Stanley / Ezrin / Fowley
4. Shout It Out Loud (4:09) - Simmons / Stanley / Ezrin
5. God of Thunder (4:26) - Stanley
6. Love Gun (4:25) - Stanley
7. Great Expectations (7:11) - Simmons / Ezrin
8. I Was Made for Lovin 'You (4:19) - Stanley / Child / Poncia
9. Black Diamond (4:59) - Stanley
10. Rock and Roll All Nite (7:21) - Stanley / Simmons

reception

Jan Jaedike wrote for the rock-hard magazine that “when warming up a lot of camels” KISS are “really the coolest”. The band "fell for the (not exactly original) trick" of presenting old pieces "in a new guise". The group had "hired an Australian symphony orchestra, put it in make-up" and let the men and women "fiddle". First, however, there is “a six-pack in the normal band context”, to which Jaedike notes that the group is playing “with a very good Tommy Thayer as ace replacement”. To be emphasized here is "only Paul Stanley's unbelievably brilliant vocals". The singer is getting “better and better with age” and is “an unparalleled masterpiece” over the entire double CD distance. The middle piece of the work consists of a "relaxed KISS-unplugged-plus-slimmed-down orchestra ensemble set". The highlight of the album is the second CD. The group is "fully charged with electricity, with a full 60-member orchestra and choir" and "really pulls out all the stops". Jaedike notes that six tracks alone came "from the '76 'Destroyer' album", which had "a bombastic undertone anyway". The orchestra contributed "well-fitting and independent elements that really enrich the songs" and gave "massive goose bumps" a few times. The sound is "consistently powerful, but not artificially sterile", whereby the reviewer makes a comparison with Alive III . He comes to the conclusion that Kiss presents "an absolute reference work" with the album.

Michael Rensen wrote for Amazon that Kiss had “together with the 60-strong Melbourne Symphony Orchestra” staged a “colorful bouquet of their greatest hits in new, classically pimped-up versions”. CD one begins with a “conventional band part in which classics from the brand 'Deuce', 'Strutter', 'Lick It Up' or 'Calling Dr. Love 'in the usual rocking versions ”. The second act then sounds a bit more exotic due to "the addition of a string quartet". Five acoustic numbers, including Beth and Shandi , appealed with “differentiated instrumentation and cozy lighter flair”, before “rock and classical bombast went all the way” on the second CD. The “imposing dynamics and sonic power of the orchestra” merge “seamlessly with the driving rock power of the band”, which “despite numerical inferiority never plays second fiddle”. "Evergreens like 'Detroit Rock City', 'Do You Love Me', 'Shout It Out Loud', 'Love Gun', ' I Was Made for Lovin' You 'or' Rock and Roll All Nite '" shone "in their entirety new shine ”and“ even the toughest Kiss fans should conjure up one or the other (positive) surprise in their home ”.

Web links

• various reviews of the album

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Booklet of the CD edition
2. ↑ Jan Jaedike: KISS . Symphony - Alive IV . In: Rock Hard , No. 196.
3. ↑ Review on Amazon.de by Michael Rensen ( Amazon.de editorial team), accessed on March 13, 2012.