Aa the "Revenge" tour started to wrap up, the band decided it had been long enough since they released a live album since the epic "Alive II". This would be the only live album from the non makeup era not counting the unplugged one. It would also be the first of theirs to reuse songs that were featured on previous live albums.
We get off to a very strong start with "Creatures of the Night" and the band is on full force here. Even though it is quite bittersweet personally that Eric Carr is not included, Eric Singer proves his worth as a very tight competent player esepecially adding his tight fills to a lot of the classic songs. I do wish we got more representation from the 80s records deeper cuts but its still a solid setlist nonetheless. Bruce Kulick especially is a major highlight throughout with his added flair to some of the classic songs like "Deuce" and "Detroit Rock City" but still stsying very true to what made Aces solos work so well. His sort of tribute to Hendrix in the ending version of "the star spangled banner" is a pretty cool touch as well.
Overall, I give this live album a competent 8 out of 10. While I would have liked some songs in place of the usuals, what we get is still pretty solid and this version of the band is one of the best musically. Personally. This is where the KISS live albums kind of stop for me as ALIVE IV was not my cup of tea and live albums with orchestras are not a big thing for me so I am a bit biased in that aspect. This and ALIVE II are definitely my favorites however and the band would decide to keep with this line up as they worked on their "Carnival Of Souls' record but as the reunion became a huge deal in 96', that album would become one that never got the reach it should have and that is exactly where we will pick up.
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