In Brief

* * * Kiss, “Alive III,” Mercury. On its 25th album, celebrating 20 years of bombastic rockstardom, Kiss presents something old, something new, something borrowed and everything explosive and grandiose. The album draws on material from 1976 to 1993, with such classic Kiss numbers as “Detroit Rock City” faring well alongside such newer, slicker songs as “Heaven’s on Fire.” Another entertaining chapter in the endless, over-the-top Kisstory.

New albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor) to four (excellent).