"Are you ready to rock? Are you ready to roll? Then put your two lips together and welcome KISS!" And with that introduction we are plunged headfirst into a boiling cauldron of prime 1974 KISS raunch'n'roll. This was recorded during the Hotter than Hell tour, although strangely enough they perform only three songs from that release: "Got To Choose", "Parasite" and "Let Me Go, Rock'N'Roll". They, instead, focused on their first self-titled record, offering up seven hot rockers from it. As an added bonus they kicked out a particularly smoldering version of "She", which was to appear on their third record, Dressed To Kill.
This recording reinforces the opinion that the band was focusing on the Rock, and not the theatrics that would become a large part of their stage show for most of their career. They were hungry to succeed at this point and you can tell by listening to the intensity of their performance. What really drives this is Ace and his blistering guitar work. Sure, all four members were integral, but Ace was The Man. No matter what Paul and Gene think or say, the band was never the same after Ace (and to a lesser degree, Peter) were kicked out.
This is an outstanding recording with the only flaw being tape hiss. The band is damn tight and only get a bit out of synch on "LMGRNR". I strongly urge even the most casual KISS fan to score this. Or maybe you're just a rock'n'roll fan and wanna have an instant party. Slap it in, pop a top and proceed to get rocked royally.
