10 Songs That Actually Got Better Live

KISS had a really hard time establishing their footing back in the early '70s. Though their stage show could thrill audiences across the country, the band that you heard on the record ended up sounding frail and neutered by comparison. Pretty much all of the band's classics can be traced back to the album Alive!, but the biggest improvement seemed to come on "Deuce."

Though "Rock and Roll All Nite" became a bigger single, the musical construction of this cut from the band's debut album gave it a greater sonic bite. On the initial record, the song was a slice of classic rock and roll, but the feeble guitar sound and sanitized production made the band sound too polished for a hard rock act. Once it hit the stage though, the song became a sonic battering ram, as the guitars blast you from your seat as Gene Simmons plays up every bit of his Demon persona.

This is also a good example of how changing an album's running order helps the overall experience. While the original "Deuce" was saved for right in the middle of the band's debut, starting off the live double album with this song straps you into the auditory thrill ride you're about to go on. KISS may have had stars in their eyes in the beginning, but their real classics came when they tore the stage apart.