'' is a
Greatest Hits album by
American hard rock group
Kiss . The album was released only outside the United States, but quickly became available as an import. Of the twelve songs on ''Killers'', four were new compositions recorded specifically for the album. These new songs were recorded at the behest of
Phonogram Records in response to the commercial failure of 1981's ''
Music From "The Elder" ''.Lendt, C.K. ''KISS and Sell: The Making of a Supergroup'', Billboard Books, 1997. ISBN 0-8230-7551-6
By 1982, Kiss's commercial popularity was at its nadir. 1980's ''
Unmasked '' barely achieved
Gold certification, and the band toured exclusively outside the United States for the first time in their career that year. 1981's ''
Music From "The Elder" '' fared even worse—it failed to gain any certification and the band did not tour behind it at all.Gooch, Curt and Jeff Suhs. ''KISS Alive Forever: The Complete Touring History'', Billboard Books, 2002. ISBN 0-8230-8322-5 The album, released in November 1981, was off the charts by February 1982.Lendt, C.K. ''KISS and Sell: The Making of a Supergroup'', Billboard Books, 1997. ISBN 0-8230-7551-6
That month, Phonogram Records (the parent company of Kiss's label,
Casablanca Records ) requested that Kiss record four new songs, to be included in 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, however, featured the same streamlined look the band had adopted during the "Elder" period.Lendt, C.K. ''KISS and Sell: The Making of a Supergroup'', Billboard Books, 1997. ISBN 0-8230-7551-6
Numerous outside songwriters and
Session Musician s were employed for the writing and recording of the four new songs on ''Killers''. 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.Gill, Julian. ''The KISS Album Focus, Volume 1 (3rd Edition)''. Xlibris Corporation, 2005. ISBN 1-4134-8547-2
Lead guitarist and co-founder , who had previously subbed for Frehley on a handful of tracks for 1978's ''
Alive II ''. But Kulick, who on ''Alive II'' had been asked to mimic Frehley's playing style, was allowed to employ his own techniques for ''Killers''.Gill, Julian. ''The KISS Album Focus, Volume 1 (3rd Edition)''. Xlibris Corporation, 2005. ISBN 1-4134-8547-2
Due to the amount of Kiss live albums and greatest hits albums already available domestically, Phonogram decided to issue the album outside the United States.Lendt, C.K. ''KISS and Sell: The Making of a Supergroup'', Billboard Books, 1997. ISBN 0-8230-7551-6 The album sold in moderate numbers, reaching its highest chart position of #6 in
Norway . Elsewhere, ''Killers'' peaked at #21 and #27 in
Australia and
Japan , respectively. In
Sweden and the
United Kingdom , it reached #41 and #42, respectively. None of the singles released from the album, however, charted in any country.Gill, Julian. ''The KISS Album Focus, Volume 1 (3rd Edition)''. Xlibris Corporation, 2005. ISBN 1-4134-8547-2
# (
Adam Mitchell ,
Paul Stanley ) – 3:59
# (Stanley,
Mikel Japp ,
Bryan Adams ) – 3:31
#"Cold Gin" (
Ace Frehley ) – 4:20
#"Love Gun" (Stanley) – 3:17
#"Shout It Out Loud (Remix)" (
Gene Simmons , Stanley,
Bob Ezrin ) – 2:40
#"
Sure Know Something " (Stanley,
Vini Poncia ) – 3:59
# (Stanley) – 4:32
# (Stanley, Mitchell) – 3:45
#"Detroit Rock City" (Stanley, Ezrin) – 3:53
#"God of Thunder" (Stanley) – 4:11
#"
I Was Made For Lovin' You " (Stanley, Poncia,
Desmond Child ) – 4:18
#"
Rock And Roll All Nite (Live)" (Stanley, Simmons) – 3:58
The release in Japan featured two additional tracks not found on the album as released in all other countries: "Escape From the Island" (Frehley, Ezrin, Carr)and "Shandi" (Stanley, Poncia). Additionally, the version released in Australia consisted of the 12 tracks listed above and also included "Talk To Me" (Frehley)
with
