KISS released a 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition of Alive! on Thursday through UMe. The package contains 120 tracks, including 88 never-before-released recordings across different formats.
Bernie Grundman remastered the original record from the 1975 stereo analog master tapes. His work marks the first time Alive! has appeared on a single CD.
Eddie Kramer finished new mixes of two complete concerts from the 1975 Dressed To Kill Tour. Fans can hear the full July 20 second show from the RKO Orpheum Theatre in Davenport, Iowa. They also get the July 23 performance at Wildwood Convention Hall in Wildwood, New Jersey. Kramer worked from the original multi-track analog tapes with no overdubs added to the performances.
The Super Deluxe box sets have five rehearsal tracks from Davenport and six songs from Cleveland Music Hall, recorded on June 21, 1975. The Blu-ray Audio disc features Kramer’s newly mixed Alive! in Dolby Atmos and Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround, plus newly remastered stereo in 192kHz 24-bit and 96kHz 24-bit PCM stereo.
Both vinyl and CD box sets come with a 100-page hardcover book. Ken Sharp wrote liner notes and conducted interviews with Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, along with members of the band’s inner circle and team who saw it all happen.
The collection includes a reprint of the 1975 press kit, featuring photos, a tour program, a T-shirt iron-on, backstage passes, and ticket stubs. Posters, an album cover lenticular, four double-sided coasters, four guitar picks, a bumper sticker, and an Alive! die-cut double-sided mobile fill out the package. Each box set comes with the Gotham Rock City News Volume 4 Newspaper with a track-by-track interview with Kramer.
The Alive! 50th Anniversary Deluxe Vinyl features 2-LPs as picture disc vinyl in a deluxe tip-on gatefold jacket. Only 1,000 units are available through the official store. The Premium Vinyl is pressed on gold and white cornetto with black splatter vinyl — 3,000 units available through the official store alone. Fans can get the whole package from the band’s official webstore.
