Year : 1982 (Japan Hi-Res MQA UHQCD Remastered Edition 2020)
Style : Hard Rock , Heavy Metal
Country : USA
Audio : 320 kbps + scans
Size : 120 mb
Bio:
Kiss was formed in New York in '72 by guitarist/vocalist Paul Stanley (Stanley Eisen) and Gene Simmons (Gene Klein). The line-up was rounded out by drummer Peter Criss (Crisscoula), located through a Rolling Stone ad, and lead guitarist Ace Frehley (Paul Frehley), who answered an ad in the Village Voice. The band's cartoon image, kabuki makeup and 4th-of-July stageshow concept was in place from the start, and they began promoting their own hall shows in NYC. TV director Bill Aucoin saw them, became their manager, and secured a deal for them with Neil Bogart's Casablanca Records within two weeks. Three LPs were released in a year's time, but the live fourth LP, Alive! (1975) contained their first huge hit, "Rock And Roll All Nite." Until the early '80, Kiss was unstoppable, with two huge-selling Marvel Comics, a network TV movie and four simultaneously-released solo albums under their studded belts. In '80, Criss left for a solo career and since then, the drum and lead positions have been ever-changing. In '83, the band stripped away the makeup and celebrated renewed interest."You wanted the best, you got it! The hottest band in the land: KISS!" So went the rally cry at the beginning of a Kiss concert, an event of exploding pyrotechnics, vomited blood and louder-than-God hard rock. Their fan club--The Kiss Army--swelled to six-figures strong during the band's '70s heyday, and between 1974 and today they've sold in excess of 70 million albums.In '96, the original band reformed (made up?), and took their full costume-makeup-pyro 1976 show on the road--for a year-long stint--resulting in one of the most successful rock tours ever. Conjecture that the band wanted to quit on a high note has remained unproven; anything could happen in Kiss' future.
Album:
Universal Music Japan has released a couple months ago a High Resolution disc (MQA-CD + UHQCD) of KISS “Killers“, a 2020 DSD remaster based on US original analog tape converted to 352.8kHz / 24bit.At the time of its release (1982) “Killers” became a rarity, at least for the American public, because it wasn’t released in the USA. The album included some of the recent KISS hits re-mixed, but also 4 new songs, recorded specifically for this release.These new songs were recorded at the behest of Phonogram / Casablanca Records, in response to the commercial failure of 1981’s Music from “The Elder”.By 1982 KISS’ commercial popularity was goin’ down. 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 after three months.Phonogram Records (the parent company of Kiss’ label Casablanca Records) then requested the recording of four new songs to be included on an upcoming new greatest hits / compilation album. Phonogram requested ‘hard rock’ songs specifically, in contrast to the progressive rock-style of “The Elder”.However, the album cover for “Killers” 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.Canadian Adam Mitchell co-wrote ‘I’m A Legend Tonight’ and ‘Partners In Crime’, while songwriter and musician Mikel Japp, who co-wrote three songs on Paul Stanley’s 1978 solo album, helped with “Down on Your Knees” with Stanley and Bryan Adams.Despite being pictured on the album’s cover art (from the photo session for Music from “The Elder”), Ace Frehley wasn’t part of KISS anymore. 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 Kiss’ 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 Kiss live albums and greatest hits albums already available domestically, Phonogram decided to issue ‘Killers’ outside the US only.There’s different track list versions, which became collector pieces for the fans.This Japanese release featured two additional tracks not found on the standard edition: “Escape from the Island” (which is not on the Japanese release of Music From “The Elder”) and “Shandi”.Similarly, “Talk to Me” and “Shandi” were added to the track listing of the Australian release.Also, due to the shape of the S in the band’s logo, there were two covers: one with the standard “S”, and a more European friendly version with a “backwards”-Z shape.The version of ‘Shout It Out Loud’ found on this release features the single mix that has all the vocals in the center channel, whereas the original ‘Destroyer’ version features Paul Stanley on the right channel, and Gene Simmons on the left. It also fades about ten seconds earlier than the album version.The version of “God of Thunder” found here is missing the intro found on ‘Destroyer’, to give the song a more ‘instant’ impact.The sound definition of this MQA-CD + UHQCD is excellent.
Line Up:
Paul Stanley - vocals, rhythm guitar, lead guitar on "Sure Know Something", bass guitar on "Love Gun" & "I Was Made for Lovin' You"
Ace Frehley - backing vocals and lead guitar except on "I'm a Legend Tonight", "Down on Your Knees", "Nowhere to Run" & "Partners in Crime"
Gene Simmons - vocals; bass guitar except "Love Gun" and "I Was Made for Lovin' You"
Peter Criss - drums on "Cold Gin", "Love Gun", "Shout It Out Loud", "Detroit Rock City", "God of Thunder" & "Rock & Roll All Nite"
Eric Carr - drums on "I'm a Legend Tonight", "Down on Your Knees", "Nowhere to Run", "Partners in Crime" & "Escape from the Island"
Additional musicians:
Mikel Japp - rhythm guitar on "Down on Your Knees"
Bob Kulick - lead guitar on "I'm a Legend Tonight", "Down on Your Knees", "Nowhere to Run" & "Partners in Crime"
Anton Fig - drums on "Sure Know Something", "I Was Made for Lovin' You", "Shandi", & "Talk to Me"
Tracklist:
01. I’m A Legend Tonight [New Song]
02. Down On Your Knees [New Song]
03. Cold Gin
04. Love Gun
05. Shout It Out Loud
06. Escape From The Island (Bonus Track)
07. Sure Know Something
08. Nowhere To Run [New Song]
09. Partners In Crime [New Song]
10. Detroit Rock City
11. God Of Thunder
12. I Was Made For Lovin’ You
13. Shandi [Bonus Track]
14. Rock And Roll All Nite (Live from Detroit, 1975)
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