Killers (Kiss album)

By 1982 Kiss's 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. 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 Kiss in late 1981, although he would not officially leave the group until the end of 1982, after the release of Creatures of the Night. None of the singles released from the album charted in any country. Also, due to the shape of the S in their band logo, there were two covers: one with the standard "S", and a more German friendly version with a "backwards"Zshape (in Germany, the Kiss logo is modified due to the standard one resembling the Schutzstaffel insignia). ==Track listing==

All credits adapted from the original release. • The 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. • 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 versions of "Detroit Rock City" and "God of Thunder" found on this release are missing their respective intros found on Destroyer. • The live version of "Rock and Roll All Nite" is the same one found on Alive! ==Personnel==

Kiss • Paul Stanley – vocals, rhythm guitar, lead guitar on "Sure Know Something" & "Shandi", bass on "Down on Your Knees", "Love Gun" & "I Was Made for Lovin' You" • Gene Simmons – vocals, bass • Ace Frehley – lead guitar, vocals, acoustic guitar on "Shandi", all guitars and bass on "Talk to Me" • Eric Carr – drums on "Escape From the Island" and drums and backing vocals on "I'm a Legend Tonight", "Down on Your Knees", "Nowhere to Run", and "Partners in Crime" Additional musicians • Peter Criss – drums and backing vocals on "Cold Gin", "Love Gun", "Shout It Out Loud", "Detroit Rock City", "God of Thunder" & "Rock and Roll All Nite" • 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" • Vini Poncia – keyboards on "I Was Made for Lovin' You" & "Talk to Me", backing vocals on "Sure Know Something" and "Shandi" • Eddie Kramer – keyboards on "Love Gun" • Bob Ezrin – keyboards on "God of Thunder" & "Escape from the Island", bass on "Escape from the Island" • David and Josh Ezrin – voices on "God of Thunder" • Holly Knight – keyboards on "Shandi" • Tom Harper – bass on "Shandi" Production (new tracks) • Michael James Jackson – producer • David Thoener – engineer • Dave Wittman – additional engineering, mixing • Brian Gardner – mastering at Alan Zentz Mastering, Los Angeles ==Charts==