�Dressed To Kill� Turns 40: Celebrate With 40 KISS-tastic Album Facts
by Mike McPadden
Dressed to Kill by Kiss hit record stores on March 19, 1975. The third album by the hottest band in the world upped the pop energy of previous records without skimping on the hard and heavy and (at least) three of its ten songs endure as rousing, roof-raising classics�including one that, bar none, is rock-and-roll�s all-time greatest party starter.
Alas, as with Kiss�s self-titled debut and it�s follow-up, Hotter Than Hell, poor Dressed to Kill landed with a dull thud. That three-peat losing streak broke, big time, upon the explosive breakthrough of 1975�s Alive, which sent new fans scrambling to catch up with the Kiss back catalogue. As a result, Dressed to Kill got a second chance at life and today, as we celebrate the album�s fortieth birthday, it�s proven to be nothing less than immortal.
Here now are 40 Kisstastic facts to celebrate Dressed to Kill still knocking dead all comers at the dawn of its fifth decade.
1. First and foremost: �Rock and Roll All Nite� closes Dressed to Kill on the ultimate of up notes. Although it (some how) wasn�t an instant hit, the song steadily and within a couple of year�s time became Kiss�s signature anthem on par (some might dare to even say surpassing) the mighty likes of what �Satisfaction� is to the Stones or how �Stairway to Heaven� looms so large in the lore of Led Zeppelin.
2. Dressed to Kill�s shot of Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley, and Peter Criss wearing business suits on a street corner stands as one of rock�s great cover images. Only drummer Criss actually owned a suit, the other guys borrowed theirs from manager Bill Aucoin. Good thing he was skinny.
