Double Platinum (Kiss album)

Double Platinum
Greatest hits album by Kiss
Released	April 2, 1978
Recorded	1973-1978
Genre	Hard rock
Length	69:45
Language	English
Label	Casablanca
Producer	Jimmy Ienner (Executive Producer, album and "Strutter '78"), Kiss and Sean Delaney (Producers, album and "Strutter '78"), Kenny Kerner, Richie Wise, Neil Bogart, Eddie Kramer, and Bob Ezrin
Kiss chronology
Alive II (1977) Double Platinum (1978) Gene Simmons (1978)
Singles from Double Platinum
"Strutter '78" Released: April 2, 1978

Double Platinum is the first greatest hits album by the American hard rock band Kiss, released in 1978. Many of the songs on Double Platinum were remixed and differ from their original versions: in the case of "Strutter," it was re-recorded with a slight disco beat and dubbed as "Strutter '78." Other songs ("Hard Luck Woman," "Detroit Rock City") had sections completely removed, while the beginning of "Black Diamond" was repeated at the end, fading out at the start of the first verse and giving the song a "wrap around" feel. The overall sound of the album is slightly flat and compressed,^{[according to whom?]} to give a similar sound to the varying productions of each track which are taken from the albums between the years 1974 up to 1977.^{[citation needed]} A detailed walkthrough of the remixes can be found at the Axeology website.^[1]

The Japanese single release of "Strutter '78" includes a different version to that on the album: faster and shorter, with an altered guitar solo, plus a more prominent hi-hat (cymbal) sound throughout.

Release and reception[]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]
Pitchfork	(6.0/10)[3]
Rolling Stone	[4]

The original vinyl release, in a gatefold-sleeve, had an embossed, silver-foiled sleeve, with the band members in bas-relief inside. The album was packaged with a printed "Platinum Award" thanking the Kiss Army for making the band a "Double Platinum Success". Later reissues would retain the gatefold-sleeve but replaced the logo with a printed, red-type version and the band members were now represented inside by photos rather than the bas illustrations. When the album was remastered for CD in the US in 1997, it mimicked the original vinyl.^[5]

The album was certified Platinum on May 16, 1978 by the RIAA.^[6] In Canada it was certified Gold on June 1, 1978 after shipping 50,000 copies.^[7]

Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic writes: "If 'Strutter' was represented by the original version, instead of a pointless 1978 remake—which was recorded only to entice collectors into buying an album of music they already owned—Double Platinum would have been a definitive collection, but as it stands, it's simply a very, very good overview."^{[citation needed]}

Rolling Stone writes "Kiss's greatest-hits collections have all been conspicuously incomplete, as if it hates the idea of anyone buying just one Kiss album, but Double Platinum is the most solid, though not as much fun as Alive!^[8]

Track listing[]

Personnel[]

Kiss

• Paul Stanley – vocals, rhythm guitar, first guitar solo (track 10), intro guitar solo (track 18), 12-string acoustic guitar (tracks 3 and 20), bass (track 6)
• Gene Simmons – vocals, bass
• Peter Criss – drums, vocals
• Ace Frehley – lead guitar, acoustic guitar (tracks 3, 14 and 18), backing vocals

Additional personnel

• Bob Ezrin – keyboards (tracks 7 and 16)
• Dick Wagner – acoustic guitar (track 16)
• New York Philharmonic – orchestra (track 16)
• Eddie Kramer – keyboards (track 6)
• Warren Dewey – fire engine sound effects (track 8)

Production

All tracks remixed by Sean Delaney and Mike Stone at Trident Studios, London, England

Charts[]

References[]