Customer Reviews

Killers

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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?

"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.

THE BAND: Paul Stanley (vocals, guitars), Gene Simmons (vocals, bass), Ace Frehley (guitars), Peter Criss (drums). And, Bob Kulick (guitars) and Eric Carr (drums) on the 4 unreleased tracks.

THE DISC: (1982) 12 tracks clocking in at approximately 46 minutes. Included with the disc is a 6-page booklet containing song titles and lyrics only. Originally released in Europe/Australia/Asia only. Two other versions of "Killers" also available with 2-3 bonus tracks (featuring songs "Shandi", "Escape From The Island" and Frehley's "Talk To Me"). Label - Mercury / Polygram Records.

ALBUM REPRESENTATION: Kiss (1 song), Alive! (1), Destroyer (3), Love Gun (1), Dynasty (2), Unreleased (4).

COMMENTS: "Killers" is/was the band's 2nd compilation in the line of many to come (trailing only "Double Platinum" from 1978). I deem this album necessary just because it's an oddity. Cheesy cover - bad haircuts, and head bands... taken somewhere between their "Dynasty" and "Elder" tours; way too much pink; and the letter "S" in the word KISS is different (not the typical lightning bolts per say). The album is also odd in that the song selections are totally random. "Killers" was released after three albums that produced declining record sales - the disco era "Dynasty" (1978), the pop failure "Unmasked" (1980) and the concept album "Music From The Elder" (1981). Kiss clearly needed to go back to their rock and roll roots. To give the fans a taste of something in-between albums, the band released "Killers" - with some old classic material, as well as 4 new songs (all written or co-written, and sung by Paul Stanley). Is it worth it for the classic material... probably not (since fans probably own them all ready). Is "Killers" worth it for the 4 unreleased tracks... probably. Of the 4 new songs here - "I'm A Legend Tonight", "Down On Your Knees", Nowhere To Run", and "Partners In Crime" - none of them charted and no singles were released. Highlights are "I'm A Legend Tonight" and "Nowhere To Run" - both cool melodies sung with conviction. Lowlights - nothing from early studio albums "Hotter Than Hell", "Dressed To Kill" or "Rock And Roll Over. And, the album contains edited versions of "Detroit Rock City" and "Shout It Out Loud". *If you want to hear Kiss get back to their roots - you must check out "Creatures Of The Night" (released just after "Killers" in the same year) - despite mixed reviews, this is an incredibly heavy rock album. If you're a diehard Kiss fan, you probably own most of their releases... and you'll probably want this one as well for the 4 unreleased tracks. For the casual Kiss fan, this album is probably skippable (3 stars).

With classics like "Rock & Roll All Nite" , "Detroit Rock City" , "Love Gun" and "Shout It Out Loud" this CD is packed with pure KISS style. The bonus is four songs not available on any other USA release. These four were all written by Paul Stanley (co-writer on three of the songs). The tunes are "I'm A Legend Tonight" , "Down On Yor Knees" , "Nowhere To Run" and "Partners In Crime". I must add that my review is not partial, I am a die-hard KISS fan!

KISS Killers is another very good compilation.It features four newly recorded songs and a nice helping of their '70's rockers.

KISS Killers came about when (Music From)The Elder(see review)failed to make any favorable impression in on the European charts (though it did better there than in the U.S.A.,making #51 while it made #75 in the U.S.A).Phonogram acted quickly,they asked KISS to record four new songs for a greatest hits package.Michael James Jackson was hired to produce the four new songs.KISS Killers was released overseas only in the spring of 1982.It sold modestly,climbing to #42 in Europe.

As for the four new songs,one is solely written by Paul(Nowhere To Run).The other three are co-written by Paul(I'm A Legend Tonight and Partners In Crime with Adam Mitchell and Down On Your Knees with Mikel Japp and B.Adams).

The four new songs on this compilation is a return to KISS's true rocking roots.Mr.Jackson does a very good job in capturing the true rocking spirit of the band.The band shows they can still rock and roll in more ways than one.These songs are as much rock and roll party tunes as the classic rockers that are mixed nicely with these new songs.Again,well done Mr.Jackson and KISS(Special Note:The reason why the logo is different on this than on other albums is simple to explain.In Germany,the rendering of the double lightning bolt S's in their logo are a dead ringer for the double S design for the nazi storm troopers known as the SS. It's illeagal to display nazi symbols in Germany.The punishment is imprisonment.KISS and Phonogram didn't want to take any chances,so a squarish double S design replaced the double lightning bolts on all their German posters,advertising and albums).

The best thing about this compilation is that the classic rockers are original recordings,not remixes that were on Double Platinum.In fact,the auto accident effect heard at the end of Detroit Rock City is actually heard here.Best of all,a live version of Rock and Roll All Nite,direct from the ALIVE album, is featured instead of the studio version.Plus,the addition of Shout It Out Loud is another reason why this compilation is worth having in your CD library.

So KISS fans everywhere.If you see KISS Killers anywhere,by all means buy it. No fans music library is complete without it.

Though Killers was never released domestically in North America, it is in the possession of many KISS fans so I feel that it deserves inclusion in these reviews. There are only four new songs on Killers: I'm A Legend Tonight, Down On Your Knees, Nowhere To Run, and Partners In Crime. These songs have never been released in North America except on the CD single for 1989's Forever. I'm A Legend Tonight is a good song, as is Nowhere To Run. Down On Your Knees is OK but Partners In Crime is not so good. The rest of the album is filled with "greatest hits", though Escape From The Island is a questionable inclusion. I am glad that KISS decided to do more of the heavier songs than the pop drivel of the previous couple of albums, but these are pretty unexciting songs whose only significance lies in their collectibility (that's the only reason I spent $35 on the CD) and seeing Paul in that pretty purple headband and Gene's hair tied up like a show-horse's tail. Killers gets the honor of being KISS' worst album cover (although Carnival of Souls is a close contender)!

This is an awesome CD. One of those that you just HAVE to have. A lot of their hits and some others thrown in with it. Awesome!

Back in 1982 , cds were brand new. Kiss had only released one real compilation disc:
double platinum! and that was re-recordings. This disc came out in germany and that's why it has strange ss's instead of the lightening bolts. It is illegal to have lightening bolts in germany because of the infamous SS of nazi germany who used that symbol. This was a shock to me at the time because it had 4 songs we didn't get anywhere else. It also was not re-recorded. This was a real first compilation and we couldn't get it! Of course we had to rely on record stores to order this for us. There was no internet or web for the average people until 92 or so , and even then it wasn't the web of today. So you had to order this as a expensive import just to get those four songs which are pretty good by the way. Today you don't need the middle man anymore to get this and you should because it has some great older kiss songs and those four at the time rare tracks. I think three of them are still only on this cd so grab it. And remember that this was a 1982 release and that's why you don't see other versions of songs that should be released like maxi single versions of songs!

This is a album that was not released in the US but as some good songs & some new ones. But I'm bias I have a
KISS fan as long as I can remember.