Nearly half a century after KISS marched through the streets of Manhattan in borrowed business suits, the band’s third studio album Dressed To Kill has returned in a lavish 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition. Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley have produced an unboxing video of new set, revisiting the frantic early years that forged the record and ultimately launched KISS toward global domination.
Released on 19 March 1975, Dressed To Kill was the product of necessity as much as ambition. Its predecessor, Hotter Than Hell, had stalled on the charts, and Casablanca Records urgently needed a new album to keep the band’s momentum alive. With finances stretched thin, label president Neil Bogart – a man with no production experience – appointed himself producer. What followed was a ten-day scramble at Electric Lady Studios in New York as Simmons and Stanley wrote material in real time, arriving each morning with nothing and recording by nightfall. Tracks such as “Ladies In Waiting” were written and assembled within a single afternoon. Ace Frehley famously recorded parts using a speaker jammed inside a cardboard box, and Paul Stanley added acoustic layers inspired by Bachman-Turner Overdrive.
Despite its chaotic origins, Dressed To Kill became a pivotal release. Although running a brisk 30 minutes – the shortest KISS studio album – it contained the original version of “Rock And Roll All Nite,” a song that would become the band’s signature once its live version exploded later that year on Alive! The album cover, shot by Bob Gruen on the corner of West 14th Street and 8th Avenue, remains one of rock’s most iconic images. Only drummer Peter Criss owned a suit at the time; the others wore outfits borrowed from manager Bill Aucoin.
The new Deluxe Edition presents the album and its era with unprecedented depth. Simmons and Stanley visibly relished opening the package piece by piece. The set includes original two-track tape labels sourced directly from the masters, offering alternate mixes, demos and outtakes in pristine quality rather than the degraded circulating bootlegs that fans have endured for decades. Also included are complete 1975 recordings from Kobo Arena and Davenport’s RKO Orpheum Theatre, capturing the band on the brink of liftoff as they began selling out multiple shows per night without yet having a gold record.
A substantial hardback book forms the centrepiece of the collection, filled with rare photos, memorabilia and essays from crew members, photographers and industry figures who lived through the period. Stanley admitted he had never seen many of the images despite being in the band at the time. The attention to detail extends to precise recreations of period ephemera, including stickers, logos, buttons for each member, and even an exact replica of the distinctive tie Simmons wore on the album cover.
One of the most notable inclusions is a high-resolution Blu-ray edition of Dressed To Kill in immersive surround sound. Both Simmons and Stanley stressed that fans accustomed to hearing the album in stereo will be stunned by the depth and power of the new mix, which fully exposes the raw, hurried energy that drove the original sessions.
Although Dressed To Kill peaked at No. 32 on the US Billboard 200 and only achieved gold certification in 1977, history has been kind to the record. Critics have long noted its significance in cementing KISS’s identity, with tracks such as “Rock Bottom,” “C’mon And Love Me” and “She” remaining concert staples throughout the band’s touring decades. Pitchfork later awarded it a 9.5 rating, underscoring its enduring reputation as one of the band’s leanest, sharpest releases.
Unboxing the 50th Anniversary edition, Simmons and Stanley repeatedly reflected on the sense of anticipation that surrounded the band in early 1975. Even without major chart success, a ground swell was building as they began to sell out theatres across America. Kobo Arena, in particular, gave the band an early glimpse that something transformative was approaching.
Fifty years later, the Deluxe Edition of Dressed To Kill captures that moment with unprecedented clarity, offering both long-time fans and new listeners a definitive look at the album that helped propel KISS from cult attraction to arena-filling phenomenon. As Simmons concluded while closing the box: “We did fifty years. Are we proud? Hell yes.”
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