This 3rd studio album was done very quickly and released shortly before they decided to capture the shows that would become Alive! and finally put them on the map. Most of the songs were hastily written and recorded and often Peter and other members had no idea how the final songs would end up once vocals were added. This is most evident in Peter's drumming. Although many consider this album to include some of Peter's best studio performances, many of the arrangements are sparse with very few accents or fills. In order to have enough material they even resorted to recording two Wicked Lester leftovers. In addition to that the songs (and the album) are very short with nearly every song following a verse/chorus/verse/chorus/solo (maybe)/chorus to fade pattern.
I have attempted to extend some of the arrangements while leaving the main parts of the songs alone. Only the endings have been altered in most cases. I have allos "proced" version of two unused demos, which I decided to insert into the regular album track listing. I feel like they both bring some extra depth and energy to an already great album. "Dontcha Hesitate" gives us a high energy Paul track in between Gene's two slower, darker songs. "It Ain't the Smoke" is a Stones-like tune with dual Gene and Paul vocals and comes between Paul's "Rock Bottom" and "Come On And Love Me". I also included a Wicked Lester version of "She" combines the original version with DTK elements and sound. There are two more "bonus" mixes at the end.
As with all my remixes, the original drums have been blended with custom samples taken mostly from other KISS recordings. This is an attempt to "clean them up" without giving them too much of a "modern" sound. The guitars have been run through an amp modeler for some parts to add some overdrive/distortion. Those are blended with the original guitar track to thicken them up without completely changing the overall tone. The bass also has some added grit to simulate Gene's live tone somewhat which fills the songs out more. It is true that every single song has an acoustic guitar mixed VERY quietly under the guitar parts. I was able to separate it, with varying result. These parts are more audible in a few songs, but they are always playing what the distorted guitars are playing so there is nothing really added to the arrangement in most cases. I have used some stereo simulation to widen the background vocals.
"Room Service" - This song was given a hard ending to replace the fade out.
"Two Timer" - The ending is extended with some additional vocal variations, and the song has a hard ending instead of the original fade.
"Dontcha Hesitate" - From Paul's demo. I have arranged it here to fit the rest of the album sound-wise and might be how it could have sounded if it had been finished for inclusion on the album.
"Ladies In Waiting" - I've added open hi-hats through most of the song to make is closer to hos peter played it live, which had a more open feel. There is a tambourine added for some sections. The ending is also extended, similar to the way it was performed live, with the last chord held and faded.
'Getaway" - After the solo, I have extended the arrangement to have Ace and Paul play the main staccato riff together. Throughout the song, Paul usually holds the chords under the first part of the riff. It then does a refrain of the bridge, and the ending section is lengthened. Since I "borrowed" the ending on the album version for RARAN, which is what they did live, I have changed the ending.
"Rock Bottom" - The intro has a little bit of Ace's electric guitar from Alive! blended in the 2nd half. I have extended the arrangement to bring in the 2nd half of Ace's solo from Alive!
"It Ain't The Smoke (It's The Fire)" - This song comes from another unused demo. I have arranged it here to fit the rest of the album sound-wise and might be how it could have sounded if it had been finished for inclusion on the album. The main changes aside from giving Peter a new drum arrangement is the phrasing of the chorus vocals where they only hold the notes longer at the end of the song.
"C'mon And Love Me" - The drums have been edited to include many of the accents and fills that Peter played live as he became more familiar with the song and Paul's vocal arrangement. The album version is played very "straight" and IMO, lacks the excitement of the live version mainly due to the drum parts.
"Anything For My Baby" - The arrangement has been extended to include a return to the beginning drums and vocals before coming back for the final choruses.
"She" - The ending fade is slightly extended, with the original drum fills moved around a bit.
"Love Her All I Can" - No changes to the original arrangement.
"Rock And Roll All Nite" - The drums have been edited to more closely mimic what Peter played live in 1975. The added cymbal crashes and fills give the song a more energetic feel. I have added an Ace solo. Rather than just using his exact Alive! solo, I opted to use the slightly different solo from the Wildwood outtake. Aside from the ending tag and last bit of the main solo, the rest is from that recording. There is an extra breakdown after the solo more like they played it live and the ending was constructed using the original ending of Getaway, which is what they did live.
"She (wicked mix)" - This mix uses some rhythm guitar, bass and Peter's drums from the DTK version combined with everything else from the Wicked Lester version. I believe the solos are performed by Ron Leejack on this version. The vocals are mostly from the demo version, with a little of the DTK version blended to make them sound more natural. KISS recorded most songs tuned down 1/2 step, so I decided to pitch correct the WL version to match which gives the vocal a slightly odd tone when heard alone.
"Rock Bottom (alternate vocals)" - This version has the DTK vocals for the verses, but the Alive! vocals on the chorus. Paul sang the song live with more aggression on those parts, which I love. But I also love the album version, so I decided to do a separate version instead of altering the main song. This version also has the extended solo.
"Rock And Roll All Nite (original edit)" - The drums alterations are the same as the main extended version, but this one is edited with no solo and the ending chorus fading in case anyone would prefer the remix with this song closer to the original.
Enjoy!
YouTube link:
https://youtu.be/2O4n6fiyRgI
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