KIϟϟ — 𝗞𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿𝘀 (1982)

intothewellsabyss
Jun 15, 2023
4 min read

𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐑𝐘𝐏𝐓𝐒 - 𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐀𝐋𝐁𝐔𝐌 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄𝐒 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐑𝐎𝐂𝐊 & 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐘 𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐋…

On this day (June 15) in 1982, KIϟϟ released their second compilation/greatest hits album “Killers” via Mercury/Phonogram Records.

It was released only outside the US, but quickly became available as an import. Of the album's twelve songs, four were new compositions recorded specifically for it: "I'm a Legend Tonight," "Down on Your Knees," "Nowhere to Run" and "Partners in Crime." These new songs were recorded at the behest of Phonogram, in response to the commercial failure of 1981's “Music from "The Elder".

Background:

By 1982, KIϟϟ' commercial popularity was at its nadir. 1980's “Unmasked” had barely achieved gold certification in the United States, and the band toured exclusively outside the US for the first time in their career that year, aside from one show in New York which introduced Eric Carr as their new official drummer. “Music from "The Elder" fared even worse, as it failed to gain any certification, and the band did not tour behind it at all. The album, released in November 1981, was off the charts by February 1982.

Phonogram (the parent company of KIϟϟ' label Casablanca Records) then requested that KIϟϟ record four new songs, to be included on an upcoming greatest hits album. Phonogram requested Hard Rock songs specifically, in contrast to the Progressive Rock-style of “Music from "The Elder". The album cover featured the streamlined look the band had adopted during the “Elder” period.

Numerous outside songwriters and session musicians were employed for the writing and recording of the four new songs on “Killers”, as well as the subsequent album, “Creatures of the Night”. Songwriter and musician Mikel Japp, who co-wrote three songs on Paul Stanley's 1978 solo album, co-wrote "Down on Your Knees" with Stanley and Bryan Adams. Adam Mitchell, another outside songwriter, was brought in by producer Michael James Jackson.

Despite being pictured on the album's cover art (from the photo session for “Music from "The Elder"), lead guitarist and co-founder Ace Frehley did not participate at all in the production of “Killers”. He had essentially ended his active involvement with KIϟϟ in late 1981, although he would not officially leave the group until the end of 1982, after the release of “Creatures of the Night”. His replacement for the “Killers” sessions was Bob Kulick, who had previously substituted for Frehley on a handful of studio tracks on 1977's “Alive II”; however, whereas Kulick had been asked to mimic Frehley's playing style when recording for “Alive II”, he was permitted to employ his own techniques for “Killers”. The four new songs were considered a "primer" for KIϟϟ' next release, while some fans have indicated that fan club memos at the time listed Frehley as "temporarily out of action," possibly due to a car accident or something similar, and originally listed Vinnie Vincent as a temporary replacement for Frehley.

Due to the large volume of KIϟϟ live albums and greatest hits albums already available domestically, Phonogram decided to issue the album outside the US. The album sold in moderate numbers, reaching its highest chart position of No. 6 in Norway. None of the singles released from the album charted in any country. Also, due to the shape of the “ϟ” in their band logo, there were two covers: one with the standard "ϟ", and a more European friendly version with a "backwards"-Z shape.

Critical Reception:

In his review, AllMusic’s Greg Prato stated;

1981's “The Elder” was such a bomb worldwide that KIϟϟ' record company outside the U.S., Casablanca/Phonogram, demanded that the band immediately assemble another greatest-hits package to prove to their befuddled fans that they were still a Heavy Metal group, not experimental Prog Rockers. Since a greatest-hits set was issued just four years prior in the form of the double LP “Double Platinum”, the band decided to include four brand-new tracks along with some hits, under the title of “Killers” (a single album). The new tracks ("I'm a Legend Tonight," "Down on Your Knees," "Nowhere to Run," "Partners in Crime") resembled the KIϟϟ of old more than anything the band had released for a few years by this point (again, guitarist Bob "Alive II" Kulick subs for Ace Frehley). The only hits on “Killers” that hadn't already appeared on “Double Platinum” were "I Was Made for Loving You," "Sure Know Something," and "Rock and Roll All Nite (Live)"; the rest were repeats ("Love Gun," "Detroit Rock City," "God of Thunder," "Cold Gin," and "Shout It out Loud"). “Killers” didn't accomplish what the record company hoped it would -- re-establishing KIϟϟ as chart-toppers -- but it did show their fans outside the U.S. that the band meant business again. [The Australian and Japanese versions of “Killers” include a slightly different track listing.]”

Links to Artists, Albums, and Music Videos:

Click this link to listen to “Killers” via Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/killers/1442859209

Click this link to follow KIϟϟ on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KISS

Note: The reviews shared here are for historical reference. The views and opinions expressed within are not always supported (in full or in part) by Into the Wells. — E.N. Wells