Search - Kiss :: Killers

"smiling like a bandit"

mwreview | Northern California, USA | 07/16/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Back in the day, Killers was one of the prizes of a KISS fan's record collection. It was a greatest hits album that was released in 1982 after Music From the Elder and before Creatures of the Night. It was released only in Europe, Australia, and Japan. The Killers released in Germany has the backward Zs instead of the lightning bolts in the KISS logo. The lightning bolts resembled the Nazi SS (Stormtroopers) insignia which is banned in Germany. It is an official great hits album (like Double Platinum) that is listed in KISS' official discography. Way back when I considered it among KISS' other albums and the most rare because it was not released in the United States. What makes Killers so desirable is that it offers four tracks not available on any other KISS album (I'm not sure if they were released on any recent box sets). There is some differences in information in the reviews here about the origin of these previously unreleased tracks. My Kisstory book states that the songs were made in a quick recording session especially for Killers. The period between The Elder and Creatures of the Night was a challenging time for KISS. The Elder (although brilliant) was not received well by critics or fans. Ace was disgruntled and did not write or play on the new Killers tracks.



Of the old tracks, this is one of the few greatest hits packages that does not focus on the first album. Usually KISS greatest hits compilations will have Deuce, Firehouse, Strutter, and maybe Black Diamond. Killers only offers Cold Gin. The other tracks are from Destroyer (Shout It Out Loud, Detroit Rock City, God of Thunder, thankfully, NO Beth), Love Gun (title track), Dynasty (Sure Know Something, I Was Made for Loving You), and a live version of Rock & Roll All Night. It is nice to have the Dynasty singles on here as I really like that unappreciated album. It had such a fresh KISS sound.



If you do not have the four extra tracks and are wondering if they are worth purchasing this CD, I believe they definitely are. The Kisstory book does not mention from which album writing session they originated (it seems to imply they were written especially for Killers but that is not clearly stated). They do not rock hard enough to sound like Creature of the Night era (Vinnie Cusano was a writer for the Creature sessions, and he did not pen any of the Killers tracks) and they are not sophisticated enough to make me think of Elder. They sound closer to Dynasty/Unmasked era. "I'm a Legend Tonight" has that glam feel. It definitely would have fit well on Dynasty. It is an awesome track; very catchy. "Down on Your Knees" is the new track I like the least. It is not particularly bad, it is just that the other three are so stellar and this one is just a straight-forward, AC/DC style rocker . The best of the new tracks is "Nowhere to Run." By itself, it is worth the CD purchase. It has an Unmasked sound and, in fact, would be the best song on Unmasked. It reminds me of "Shandi" but a "Shandi" that rocks harder. It has beautiful guitar work and Paul shows his vocal versatility by singing some beautiful soft verses. "Partners in Crime" is another excellent track. Like the others, it is very catchy. I really like the melody leading up to the chorus. This one is a more "manly" rocker than Legend and Nowhere. Other versions of this album include the additional tracks "Shandi" and "Talk to Me" from Unmasked (Australian edition) and "Shandi" and "Escape From the Island," the latter of which is an instrumental from Elder (Japanese edition). Killers is a definite must-have for the KISS fans who do not have the four new tracks, especially fans of the Dynasty/Unmasked era."

Not A Bad Compilation

Chuck Potocki | Highland, Indiana | 10/22/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

""Killers" was released in mid-1982 in between the dismal concept album "(Music From) The Elder" and the strong comeback "Creatures Of The Night", which would be released later that same year; the album was released only in Europe and Japan, and was only available in the U.S. as an import.



Kiss' future was very much in doubt during this time, after both Peter Criss and more recently, Ace Frehley departed the band. The lead guitar spot was still vacant as Kiss had not found a replacement for Frehley yet, so they enlisted Bob Kulick to fill in as a "ghost" guitarist until they eventually brought Vinnie Vincent into the fold during the recording of "Creatures Of The Night".



Basically, "Killers" is a "best of" album featuring songs from the classic period from the 1st album through "Unmasked", as well as four unreleased tracks that Kiss recorded as demos in 1981 for their next album. Bob Ezrin was tagged to produce, and after hearing these demos, he promptly discarded them and suggested they record a concept album instead. From this came "The Elder", a move that would have negative repercussions on the band.



The four unreleased tracks ("Partners In Crime", "Nowhere To Run", "Down On Your Knees" and "I'm A Legend Tonight") are decent, but are not quite on a par with the Kiss of old; however, they were a definite step in the right direction which saw Kiss finally getting back to their hard rock roots. I like the extended, remixed version of "I Was Made For Loving You" on the Japanese version of "Killers", and also the "Alive!" version of "Rock And Roll All Nite".



Of particular note, the European version of "Killers" features the alternate Kiss logo; the lightning-bolt "S's" of their usual logo had to be replaced with normal S's in Germany, because the lightning bolts bore a very close resemblance to the Nazi "SS" symbol that was banned after World War II; the ban was due to an American law imposed on the Germans after being defeated by the Allies and has been in place ever since.



"

For collectors only but surprisingly satisfying

John S. Harris | Memphis, TN | 06/15/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Collectors and even the casual KISS fans probably already have all the tracks here except for the new ones. So those songs are the reason to buy or not buy this CD. I had this album on cassette for many years and was rather happy with it. Of the previously-released KISS songs on it, the selection is as decent a hits compilation as any other I would have chosen for myself. The new songs range from okay to pretty good (my fave being "Nowhere To Run") and make interesting additions to a collector's KISS catalog. If any of those songs had been released on a 1978-1983 era KISS album they would have sounded fine mixed in with the rest of the batch. But because they are singled out as "newly recorded tracks" some reticent fans will deride them for not having that "classic KISS" sound. Whatever. I buy KISS records because I like KISS and I don't moan and whine about the ones that don't strike my fancy as much as other songs might.



The newer songs are decent enough and the CD itself is rare enough that it merits purchasing as a collector's item. KISS doesn't re-invent the wheel with the new songs, but they've written enough great stuff to sustain a fan base for decades and decades so they more than earn their keep.



Nobody likes EVERY song by their favorite band, do they?"