''Dressed to Kill'' is the third

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by American

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

band

Kiss A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...

, released on March 19, 1975. It was produced by

Casablanca Records Casablanca Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Republic Records. Under its founder Neil Bogart, Casablanca was most successful during the disco era of the mid to late 1970s. The label current ...

president

Neil Bogart Neil E. Bogart (born Neil Scott Bogatz, February 3, 1943 – May 8, 1982) was an American record executive. He was the founder of Casablanca Records, which later became Casablanca Record and Filmworks. Life and career Born Neil Scott Bogatz in t ...

, as the label's financial situation at the time did not permit the hiring of a professional producer.

Album information

Possibly due to the short length of the album, original vinyl versions had long pauses between each track to create the illusion that the sides were longer than they were. Each side ran just 15 minutes, and some of the song times were listed incorrectly on the vinyl versions. For example, "Two Timer" was listed at 2:59 and "Ladies in Waiting" was listed at 2:47. While the album cover depicts Kiss in business suits, the only member of the band who owned one was

Peter Criss George Peter John Criscuola (born December 20, 1945), better known by his stage name Peter Criss, is a retired American musician, best known as a co-founder, original drummer, and vocalist of the hard rock band Kiss (band), Kiss. Criss establi ...

. The suits worn on the cover by the rest of the band were owned by manager

Bill Aucoin William Martin Aucoin (December 29, 1943 – June 28, 2010) was an American band manager, well known for his work with the rock band Kiss and Billy Idol. Biography Born in 1943 in Ayer, Massachusetts, Aucoin attended Northeastern University a ...

. The original vinyl release of the album also had the Kiss logo embossed around the picture. The photograph of the band on the album cover was taken on the southeast corner of W23rd Street and 8th Avenue looking east in New York City. ''Dressed to Kill'' was re-released in 1997 in a remastered version.

Reception

''Dressed to Kill'' peaked at No. 32 on the ''Billboard'' 200 album chart in the US and was certified

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

on February 28, 1977. " C'mon and Love Me" and "

Rock and Roll All Nite "Rock and Roll All Nite" is a song by American rock band Kiss, originally released on their 1975 album '' Dressed to Kill''. It was released as the A-side of their fifth single, with the album track "Getaway". The studio version of the song pe ...

" were released as singles but failed to rise up the charts. A live version of "Rock and Roll All Nite" from '' Alive!'', issued as a single later that year, reached No. 12 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. ''Hi-Fi for Pleasure'' said of the album: "Rock and Roll All Nite" is one of Kiss' most well-known songs – and has remained a staple in the band's concerts since 1975 – along with "Rock Bottom", "C'mon and Love Me" and "She".

Track listing

All credits adapted from the original release.

Personnel

Kiss *

Paul Stanley Paul Stanley (born Stanley Bert Eisen; January 20, 1952) is an American musician who is the co-founder, frontman, rhythm guitarist and co-lead vocalist of the hard rock band Kiss. He is the writer or co-writer of many of the band's most popula ...

–

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

; intro guitar solo on "C'mon and Love Me" *

Gene Simmons Gene Simmons (born Chaim Witz; he, חיים ויץ, ; born August 25, 1949) is an Israeli-American musician. Also known by his stage persona The Demon, he is the bassist and co-lead singer of Kiss, the hard rock band he co-founded with Paul ...

– vocals, bass; rhythm guitar on "Ladies in Waiting" *

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

, vocals *

Ace Frehley Paul Daniel "Ace" Frehley (; born April 27, 1951) is an American musician, best known as the original lead guitarist and co-founding member of the hard rock band Kiss. He invented the persona of The Spaceman (a.k.a. Space Ace) and played wit ...

–

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

, acoustic guitar,

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

; all guitars and bass on "Getaway" and "Rock Bottom" Production *

– producer *Dave Wittman –

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

*George Lopez – assistant engineer *Allen Zentz – mastering *

Bob Gruen Bob Gruen (born October 23, 1945) is an American author and photographer known for his rock 'n' roll photographs. By the mid 1970s Gruen was already regarded as one of the foremost photographers in music working with major artist such as John Len ...

–

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...

* Joseph M. Palmaccio – remastering

Charts

Certifications

Release history

Casablanca Casablanca, also known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda ( ar, الدَّار الْبَيْضَاء, al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, ; ber, ⴹⴹⴰⵕⵍⴱⵉⴹⴰ, ḍḍaṛlbiḍa, : "White House") is the largest city in Morocco and the country's econom ...

NBLP-7016 (March 19, 1975): First LP issue * Mercury 824 148-2 M-1 (July 1987): First CD issue *Mercury 314 532 3762 (July 15, 1997): Remastered CD *Mercury B0020146-01 (April 1, 2014): 180 gram vinyl LP, reissue

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dressed to Kill (Album) Kiss (band) albums 1975 albums Albums recorded at Electric Lady Studios Casablanca Records albums Albums produced by Neil Bogart