Kiss enters the studio to record extra material for “Alive II”
On 13. September 1977, Kiss entered the Capital Theatre, Passaic, NJ, to start recording the five studio songs for side D on “Alive II”. The recording was engineered by Eddie Kramer and Corky Stasiak. Mixed by Eddie Kramer and Neil Dorfsman at Electric Lady Studios, New York City, NY.
Tracks:
D1. “All American Man” (3:13) – Stanley/Delaney.
D2. “Rockin’ In The U.S.A.” (2:44) – Simmons.
D3. “Larger Than Life” (3:55) – Simmons.
D4. “Rocket Ride” (4:07) – Frehley/Delaney.
D5. “Any Way You Want It” – Clark.
Performance credits:
“All American Man” – Bob Kulick on lead guitar.
“Rockin’ In The USA” – Bob Kulick on lead guitar.
“Larger Than Life” – Bob Kulick on lead guitar.
“Rocket Ride” – Ace Frehley on bass.
“Any Way You Want It” – Paul Stanley on lead guitar.
The Kiss box set details that Rick Derringer played on “Larger Than Life.” However, Rick’s official discography omits this alleged contribution, while including his later work with the band (“Exciter”).
According to Bob Kulick, the studio requirements and his involvement can quite easily be explained: “There were such things as deadlines at the time and they were trying because they had real managers — Bill Aucoin. And they were trying to hit the target zone because of the setup time and when it was out, and all this stuff. And apparently Ace was too out of it at the time, to play, so it was like… I’m sure they just said to each other, ‘Fuck this, let’s just get him in here and he’ll get it done in one day and we’ll be done rather than just bullshit.’ And that’s exactly what happened. I played for two days — four songs, two or three days tops, I don’t even remember how many days. But I know that once I started playing it was on to the next part. Rhythm guitar, punch in there, punch in there. They looked at me like, ‘well yeah, that’s how it’s done I guess.’ And Ace was cool. He was in the other room lying on the floor watching TV. He [Ace] was in another room somewhere — he was in the hospitality suite having some hospitality. He did play on his own song, ‘Rocket Ride,’ he was able to muster, but the rest was me.” Furthermore, “It’s common knowledge who it was. And if you listen to it, it’s me. It’s not ten guys, it’s just me. I was the closet ‘Ace Frehley.’ Gee, he got a lot better now! Wow, listen to that solo. Yeah, wow, this guy’s God. Guess what folks, it wasn’t Ace.”
The accounts of exactly where “Rocket Ride” was written differ. Frehley says Delaney came to his home in the New York area to write it, while Delaney says it was written in Japan when Kiss were there on tour. He says Kiss’ members were all experiencing writer’s block, so Delaney traveled there to help open up the creative dam. Delaney began by asking Frehley if he had any riffs. “Oh yeah, there’s this one, but I don’t think the guys in the band are capable of playing it,” Delaney remembers Frehley saying. “Ace had this incredible guitar riff. He was playing the riff for ‘Rocket Ride’ and I came out with the lyric and the melody.”
