Smashes, Thrashes & Hits

Smashes, Thrashes & Hits
Smashes, Thrashes & Hits
Greatest hits album by Kiss
Released	November 15, 1988
Recorded	1973–1988
Genre	Hard rock; glam metal;
Length	51:54
Language	English
Label	Mercury
Producer	Various
Kiss chronology
Singles from Smashes, Trashes & Hits
	"Let's Put the X in Sex"; Released: October 11, 1988; "(You Make Me) Rock Hard"; Released: December, 1988;

Smashes, Thrashes & Hits is a compilation album by the American hard rock band Kiss. It was the fourth hits album overall but the second hits album released by the band in the United States (Killers and Chikara were not released there originally). Of the 15 songs on the album, two were new compositions, and three were released after the band's unmasking in 1983. The remaining 10 were all released during the band's years in make-up.

The two new songs on Smashes, Thrashes & Hits were "Let's Put the X in Sex" and "(You Make Me) Rock Hard," which featured a similar polished production style as 1987's Crazy Nights. They were both produced and co-written by guitarist/vocalist Paul Stanley, and were accompanied by videos that received moderate airplay on MTV. Unusual for Kiss videos, Paul Stanley never plays a guitar in either video for the new songs.

Nearly all of the songs recorded by the band's original lineup were altered in one way or another, and the Axeology website has made a detailed walkthrough of the alterations, which include a different bass line, recorded by Gene Simmons in 1975, for the song "Rock and Roll All Night" [sic].^[1] "Beth" was re-recorded with lead vocals by drummer Eric Carr,^[2] who had replaced the original drummer Peter Criss in 1980. It was Carr's first lead vocal on a Kiss album. The cover art was done by Amy Guip and directed by Mitchell Kanner.

Reception[]

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	^[3]
Rolling Stone	^[4]

Smashes, Thrashes & Hits was certified 2× Platinum by the RIAA on February 26, 1996.

In the United States Smashes, Thrashes & Hits is the best selling Kiss album since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking record sales in 1991 with 810,000 copies sold since 2007.^[5]

Track listing[]

North American Edition
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Original album	Length
1.	"Let's Put the X in Sex"	Paul Stanley, Desmond Child	Previously unreleased	3:48
2.	"(You Make Me) Rock Hard"	Stanley, Child, Diane Warren	Previously unreleased	3:26
3.	"Love Gun" (Remix)	Stanley	Love Gun	3:31
4.	"Detroit Rock City" (Remix)	Stanley, Bob Ezrin	Destroyer	3:45
5.	"I Love It Loud" (Remix)	Gene Simmons, Vinnie Vincent	Creatures of the Night	3:48
6.	"Deuce" (Remix)	Simmons	KISS	3:20
7.	"Lick It Up"	Vincent, Stanley	Lick It Up	3:53
8.	"Heaven's on Fire"	Stanley, Child	Animalize	3:19
9.	"Calling Dr. Love" (Remix)	Simmons	Rock and Roll Over	3:38
10.	"Strutter" (Remix)	Stanley, Simmons	KISS	3:38
11.	"Beth" (Eric Carr Vocal)	Peter Criss, Stan Penridge, Ezrin	1988 re-recording. Original from Destroyer	2:46
12.	"Tears Are Falling"	Stanley	Asylum	3:54
13.	"I Was Made for Lovin' You"	Stanley, Child, Vini Poncia	Dynasty	4:29
14.	"Rock and Roll All Nite" (Remix)	Stanley, Simmons	Dressed to Kill	2:56
15.	"Shout It Out Loud" (Remix)	Stanley, Simmons, Ezrin	Destroyer	3:07
Total length:				51:54

United Kingdom Edition
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Original album	Length
1.	"Let's Put the X in Sex"	Stanley, Child	Previously unreleased	3:48
2.	"Crazy Crazy Nights"	Stanley, Adam Mitchell	Crazy Nights	3:45
3.	"(You Make Me) Rock Hard"	Stanley, Child, Warren	Previously unreleased	3:26
4.	"Love Gun" (Remix)	Stanley	Love Gun	3:31
5.	"Detroit Rock City" (Remix)	Stanley, Ezrin	Destroyer	3:45
6.	"I Love It Loud" (Remix)	Simmons, Vincent	Creatures of the Night	3:48
7.	"Reason to Live"	Stanley, Child	Crazy Nights	3:59
8.	"Lick It Up"	Vincent, Stanley	Lick It Up	3:53
9.	"Heaven's on Fire"	Stanley, Child	Animalize	3:19
10.	"Calling Dr. Love" (Remix)	Simmons	Rock and Roll Over	3:38
11.	"Strutter" (Remix)	Stanley, Simmons	KISS	3:38
12.	"Beth" (Eric Carr Vocal)	Criss, Penridge, Ezrin	Destroyer	2:46
13.	"Tears Are Falling"	Stanley	Asylum	3:54
14.	"I Was Made for Lovin' You"	Stanley, Child, Poncia	Dynasty	4:29
15.	"Rock and Roll All Night" (Remix)	Stanley, Simmons	Dressed to Kill	2:56
16.	"Shout It Out Loud" (Remix)	Stanley, Simmons, Ezrin	Destroyer	3:07
Total length:				56:18

Personnel[]

Kiss

Paul Stanley – vocals, rhythm guitar; bass on "Let's Put the X in Sex", "(You Make Me) Rock Hard", "Love Gun", "Tears Are Falling" and "I Was Made for Lovin' You", drum programming on "Let's Put the X in Sex"
Gene Simmons – vocals, bass
Eric Carr – drums on "Crazy Crazy Nights", "(You Make Me) Rock Hard", "I Love It Loud", "Reason to Live", "Lick It Up", "Heaven's on Fire" and "Tears Are Falling", vocals
Bruce Kulick − lead guitar on "Let's Put the X in Sex", "Crazy Crazy Nights", "(You Make Me) Rock Hard", "Reason to Live" and "Tears Are Falling"

Additional musicians

Peter Criss – drums on "Love Gun", "Detroit Rock City", "Deuce", "Calling Dr. Love", "Strutter", "Rock and Roll All Nite" and "Shout It Out Loud"
Ace Frehley – lead guitar on "Love Gun", "Detroit Rock City", "Deuce", "Calling Dr. Love", "Strutter", "I Was Made for Lovin' You", "Rock and Roll All Nite" and "Shout It Out Loud"
Vinnie Vincent – lead guitar on "I Love It Loud" and "Lick It Up"
Mark St. John – lead guitar on "Heaven's on Fire"
Anton Fig – drums on "I Was Made for Lovin' You"
Vini Poncia – keyboards on "I Was Made for Lovin' You"
Dick Wagner – acoustic guitar on "Beth"
Bob Ezrin – piano on "Beth"
Phil Ashley – keyboards on "Let's Put the X in Sex" and "(You Make Me) Rock Hard"

Charts[]

Album

Year	Nation	Chart	Position
1988	United States	Billboard 200	21^[6]
1988	Australia	ARIA Albums Chart	38^[7]

Singles

Year	Single	Nation	Chart	Position
1988	"Let's Put the X in Sex"	Australia	ARIA Singles Chart	49^[8]
1989	"Let's Put the X in Sex"	United States	Billboard Hot 100	97^[9]

Certifications[]


Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)^[10]	Platinum	100,000^{^}
United States (RIAA)^[11]	2× Platinum	2,000,000^{^}
^{^} Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References[]

^ "GET UP! and get your remix OUTTA here! – Axeology Extended".
^ "AllMusic overview Smashes, Thrashes & Hits". Retrieved February 11, 2009.
^ Smashes, Thrashes & Hits at AllMusic
^ "Kiss: Album Guide | Rolling Stone Music". rollingstone.com. Retrieved 12 August 2011.
^ Blabbermouth.net KISS: SoundScan-Era Record Sales Revealed – Feb. 12, 2007 Archived 2007-03-08 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved December 3, 2012
^ "All Music album chart history-Kiss". Retrieved February 13, 2010.
^ "ARIA album chart history-Kiss". Retrieved February 13, 2009.
^ "ARIA singles chart history-Kiss". Retrieved February 13, 2009.
^ "Billboard chart history-Kiss singles". Retrieved February 11, 2009.
^ "Canadian album certifications – Kiss – Smashes, Thrashes and Hits". Music Canada.
^ "American album certifications – Kiss – Smashes, Thrashes & Hits". Recording Industry Association of America.

[1] "GET UP! and get your remix OUTTA here! – Axeology Extended".

[2] "AllMusic overview Smashes, Thrashes & Hits". Retrieved February 11, 2009.

[3] Smashes, Thrashes & Hits at AllMusic

[4] "Kiss: Album Guide | Rolling Stone Music". rollingstone.com. Retrieved 12 August 2011.

[5] Blabbermouth.net KISS: SoundScan-Era Record Sales Revealed – Feb. 12, 2007 Archived 2007-03-08 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved December 3, 2012

[6] "All Music album chart history-Kiss". Retrieved February 13, 2010.

[7] "ARIA album chart history-Kiss". Retrieved February 13, 2009.

[8] "ARIA singles chart history-Kiss". Retrieved February 13, 2009.

[9] "Billboard chart history-Kiss singles". Retrieved February 11, 2009.

[CanadaKissSmashes,_Thrashes_and_HitsalbumCertRef-10] "Canadian album certifications – Kiss – Smashes, Thrashes and Hits". Music Canada.

[United_StatesKissSmashes,_Thrashes_&_HitsalbumCertRef-11] "American album certifications – Kiss – Smashes, Thrashes & Hits". Recording Industry Association of America.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]