Kiss: "Alive Japan" - (Cancelled 1977 project) - (Remixed).

Hi Again!.., How do you feel?. I hope better than never or maybe "It´s getting better". Anyway guys!, come on with more and better. This time with a super live album from the legends “Kiss”; that unfortunately retires with one last world tour. If the motherfucker coronavirus wants. Hope so. 

Ok!, come on with another jewel, one treasure unfortunately unreleased, that I now recover for everyone: “Alive Japan” (a.k.a: “Live in Japan“) with an extraordinary quality, as always I try to bring you.

"Alive Japan",It should have been the second live album since the previous “Alive!” released in September 1975 by American hard rock band Kiss. This live album launch was scheduled for early summer 1977 by Casablanca. Records, but it was cancelled and the new studio work: “Love Gun“ was released in its place on June 30. Work recorded during May at Record Plant Studios in New York. “Love Gun” was the first Kiss album to feature lead vocal performances from all four band members and the last studio album to feature Peter Criss on every song, as he was replaced by session drummer Anton Fig for all but one song on 1979's Dynasty.

The origins of "Alive Japan" go back to early 1977, when the band's manager Bill Aucoin suggested that Eddie Kramer record a live album during the last dates from “Rock N´Roll Over Tour” in Japan; a series of ten concerts that would start in Osaka at Kousei Nenkin Kaikan on March 24 and end on April 4 in Tokyo at Nippon Budokan (a.k.a: Budokan Hall). bit.ly/3ajzvk Kiss gave four concerts at the Budokan, between April 1 and 4. Giving two in the same day, the 2. It was the evening show, the chosen for the live project. Concert that was recorded professionally to edit a movie of it.

But when Eddie Kramer finished a first master tape,  was rejected by Kiss. Despite the fact that the plan was to release a live album to give the band some much deserved time off before recording next the studio album,  how the live tracks needed dubbing and the band, saturated with the tour and with the commitment to record the new studio album, they didn't want any more extra work so decided to postpone the project for later.The film and live album were archived for the moment.

One of the reasons for cancellation "Alive Japan", among other things, was the same problem that the Beatles had encountered years ago, when they recorded several shows in june 1966, in anticipation of making a live album since the Hollywood Bowl concerts had not been valid and then technology couldn't improve them. The public's shouting made it useless.though in reality Kiss were very exhausted and possibly disinterested also by the project.

During May, the band went back to Record Plant Studios to record their next work "love Gun". It was released on June 30 and the new tour started on July 8 in Halifax, Canada. It was so successful that Casablanca Records resurrected the project for a live album. And although Eddie made a new version of “Alive Japan” with ambient noise reduction, some masters had been damaged, so the band opted to record new concerts at the end of“Love gun tour“.On August 26, 27, and 28, at the LA Forum for their next live album, now called: Alive II.

Side A:(19:03)

1.Detroit Rock City (3:58)

2. Take Me. (3:10)

3.Ladies Room (2:55)

4.Makin´Love (3:10)

5. Gold Gin (5:48)

Side B: (19:38)

1.Do You Love Me (3:30)

2.God Of Thunder. (6:41)

3.Rock N´Roll All Night (4:04)

4.Beth (2:16)

5.Shout It Out Loud (3:06)

When "Alive II” was released on October, it was a double album with three sides taken “allegedly” live, because “I Stole Your Love“  it was a soundcheck used on the album with crowd noise being dubbed in later. The last side were studio recordings made at the Capitol Theatre, Passaic, NJ and Electric Lady Studios, New York, NY on September 13-16, 1977. Only two tracks from the Japan tapes were used: “Beth” and “I want you”.

That´s all. You want the best, here is the best. Kiss!.

See you soon and take care please.

Wicked Lester: "Wicked Lester" - (Unreleased 1972 album - final mix)

Wicked Lester was a New York-based rock and roll band formed in 1970, under the name Rainbow. In 1971 the band changed their name to Wicked Lester. They only recorded a studio album and gave two unique concerts: at the Rivoli Theatre in South Fallsburg, New York on April 23, 1971. The second, in late summer 1971, was at an Atlantic City, New Jersey hotel hosting a B'nai B'rith Youth Organization event.

After that To the group was given the opportunity to record some demos in late 1971 at Electric Lady Studios with the engineer Ron Johnsen. This tape was show to Epic Records, who agreed to fund the recording of a full album. But one of the conditions, however, was that the guitarist Stephen Coronel, founder member, be fired and replaced by session musician Ron Leejack. Some songs were completely re-recorded to accommodate Leejack's different playing style. The recording of Wicked Lester's album, which began in November 1971 at Electric Lady Studios in Greenwich Village, took place over multiple sessions and was finished in July 1972.

The final mix sessions took place in October. What is interesting, from the point of KISS Story, is that the audio engineer at Electric Lady Studios, where the album was recorded, was one Ron Johnson, later the producer of the Wicked Lester album.

The album took this final line-up:

Side A: (18:26)

1 Love Her All I Can (2:34)

2 Sweet Ophelia (3:02)

3 Keep Me Waiting (3:10)

4 Simple Type (Rmk) (2:54)

5 She (3:03)

6 Too Many Mondays (3:40)

"Sweet Ophelia" and “Too Many Mondays” were songs originally released on Barry Mann's 1971 LP, "Lay It All Out", and were covered the same year by Wicked Lester. While Barry did better as a song writer, usually with his wife Cynthia Weil, or Gerry Goffin (co-writters on each of the tracks respectively), his own recordings didn't do so well.

“Simple Type” was reconstructed, it was the last remixed song for the album. Here´s the final version from this tune.

Side B: (15:58)

1 What Happens In The Darkness (3:07)

2 When The Bell Rings (3:19)

3 Molly (2:30)

4 We Want To Shout It Out Loud (2:42)

5 Long. Long Road (4:19)

The Hollies song "I Wanna Shout" (covered by Wicked Lester as "We Want To Shout It Out Loud") closed their 1970 album "Confessions Of The Mind" and is from one of their more obscure albums.

The master tape was ready in the middle October, in early November it was presented to Don Ellis, Epic's A&R director, he stated that he hated the album and was not going to release it. bit.ly/3Wc72g  A few days after, Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, feeling that the group lacked a unifying musical vision, forming a new band Kiss in early 1973, adopting a more straightforward, harder rock sound and an emphasis on stage theatrics.

CBS Records, who owned the rights to the album, remixed it and planned to release it in late 1976 to capitalize on Kiss's popularity at the time. Kiss and Neil Bogart, the president of their label, Casablanca Records, purchased the master tapes from CBS for $137,500 and never released it, because they worried that their hard rock image would be damaged by these more eclectic recordings. It was also feared that the release would be accompanied by pictures of Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley without their trademark makeup.

The cover art was used for The Laughing Dogs' self-titled debut album in 1979, but the album never was released, only three songs were used by Kiss on “The Box Set”, a five CD collection of recordings drawn from the Kiss archives reportedly selected by the band. This compilation box includes 94 tracks, including 30 previously unreleased band and solo demos, outtakes, live recordings, From Wicked Lester album: “Keep me waiting”, “She” and “Love her All I Can”.

Ok Folks!.., that's all, enjoy it and see you soon. 
Take care with the motherfucker coronavirus right!.