The original lineup of Gene Simmons (bass and vocals), Paul Stanley (rhythm guitar and vocals), Ace Frehley (lead guitar and vocals) and Peter Criss (drums and vocals) is the most successful and identifiable. With their makeup and costumes, they took on the personas of comic book-style characters—the Demon (Simmons), the Star Child (Stanley), the Space Ace (Frehley), and the Cat Man (Criss). Due to substance abuse problems and creative differences, both Criss and Frehley were out of the group by 1982. The band's commercial fortunes had also waned considerably by that point.
In 1983, Kiss abandoned their makeup and enjoyed a commercial resurgence throughout the rest of the decade. Buoyed by a wave of Kiss nostalgia in the 1990s, the band announced a reunion of the original lineup (with makeup) in 1996. The resulting Kiss Alive/Worldwide Tour was the top-grossing act of 1996. Criss and Frehley have since left Kiss again, and have been replaced by Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer, respectively. The band continues to perform, while Stanley and Simmons have remained the only two constant members.

Alive II is a 1977 live album from Kiss. It is the group's eighth album and second live album.
Most of the live tracks on Alive II were recorded during the band's Love Gun tour. The songs chosen for the three live sides of the album were all drawn from Kiss' three preceding studio albums - Destroyer, Rock and Roll Over and Love Gun.
It has been public knowledge for quite some time that for Alive II Kiss made more use of overdubs than on Alive!. In fact, "Hard Luck Woman" and "Tomorrow and Tonight" as they appear on the album were completely recorded in the studio, and audience noises were later overdubbed.
On the original double album, side 4 (songs #6-10 on the second CD) are studio tracks. Although Ace Frehley was originally credited for lead guitar on the studio tracks, the remastered version released in 1997 confirmed what had been speculated by Kiss fans for years - Bob Kulick actually played lead guitar on three tracks ("All American Man," "Rockin' In The U.S.A." and "Larger Than Life"), not Frehley. Frehley's sole involvement for the studio songs was to handle all guitars and bass guitar for "Rocket Ride." Paul Stanley played all guitars on "Any Way You Want It" which was originally recorded by the Dave Clark Five in 1965.
Tracklist:
Disc 1:
1. "Detroit Rock City" (Paul Stanley, Bob Ezrin) – 3:58
* Recorded at The Forum, Los Angeles, CA, August 25-28, 1977
2. "King Of The Night Time World" (Kim Fowley, Mark Anthony, Stanley, Ezrin) – 3:06
* Recorded in Japan, 1977
3. "Ladies Room" (Gene Simmons) – 3:11
* Recorded at The Forum, Los Angeles, CA, August 25-28, 1977
4. "Makin' Love" (Stanley, Sean Delaney) – 3:13
* Recorded at The Forum, Los Angeles, CA, August 25-28, 1977
5. "Love Gun" (Stanley) – 3:34
* Recorded at The Forum, Los Angeles, CA, August 25-28, 1977
6. "Calling Dr. Love" (Simmons) – 3:32
* Recorded at The Forum, Los Angeles, CA, August 25-28, 1977
7. "Christine Sixteen" (Simmons) – 2:45
* Recorded at The Forum, Los Angeles, CA, August 25-28, 1977
8. "Shock Me" (Ace Frehley) – 5:51
* Recorded at The Forum, Los Angeles, CA, August 25-28, 1977
9. "Hard Luck Woman" (Stanley) – 3:06
* Recorded at the Capital Theatre, Passaic, NJ and Electric Lady Studios, New York City, NY, September 1977
10. "Tomorrow And Tonight" (Stanley) – 3:20
* Recorded at the Capital Theatre, Passaic, NJ and Electric Lady Studios, NYC, NY, September 1977
Disc 2:
1. "I Stole Your Love" (Stanley) – 3:36
* Recorded at The Forum, Los Angeles, CA, August 25-28, 1977
2. "Beth" (Peter Criss, Stan Penridge, Ezrin) – 2:24
* Recorded at The Forum, Los Angeles, CA, August 25-28, 1977
3. "God Of Thunder" (Stanley) – 5:16
* Recorded at The Forum, Los Angeles, CA, August 25-28, 1977
4. "I Want You" (Stanley) – 4:14
* Recorded at The Forum, Los Angeles, CA, August 25-28, 1977
5. "Shout It Out Loud" (Simmons, Stanley, Ezrin) – 3:37
* Recorded at The Forum, Los Angeles, CA, August 25-28, 1977
6. "All American Man" (Stanley, Delaney) – 3:13 (Lead vocals - Paul Stanley)
* Recorded at the Capital Theatre, Passaic, NJ and Electric Lady Studios, NYC, NY, September 1977
7. "Rockin' In The U.S.A." (Simmons) – 2:44 (Lead vocals - Gene Simmons)
* Recorded at the Capital Theatre, Passaic, NJ and Electric Lady Studios, NYC, NY, September 1977
8. "Larger Than Life" (Simmons) – 3:55 (Lead vocals - Gene Simmons)
* Recorded at the Capital Theatre, Passaic, NJ and Electric Lady Studios, NYC, NY, September 1977
9. "Rocket Ride" (Frehley, Delaney) – 4:07 (Lead vocals - Ace Frehley)
* Recorded at the Capital Theatre, Passaic, NJ and Electric Lady Studios, NYC, NY, September 1977
10. "Any Way You Want It" (Dave Clark) – 2:33 (Lead vocals - Paul Stanley)
* Recorded at the Capital Theatre, Passaic, NJ and Electric Lady Studios, NYC, NY, September 1977

Personnel
* Gene Simmons - bass guitar, lead vocals, backing vocals
* Paul Stanley - rhythm guitar, lead vocals, backing vocals
* Ace Frehley - lead guitar, bass guitar on "Rocket Ride", lead vocals on "Shock Me" and "Rocket Ride", backing vocals
* Peter Criss - drums, lead vocals on "Beth" and "Hard Luck Woman"
with
* Bob Kulick - lead & rhythm guitar on 6-8 & 10 (disc 2)
* Ed Balandas - The Introduction "Voice"