''Kiss 40'' (also known as ''Kiss 40 Years: Decades of Decibels'') is a compilation released by

Kiss A kiss is the touching or pressing of one's lips against another person, animal or object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely; depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sex ...

to celebrate the band's 40th anniversary.

Information

The album contains one track from every album the band has released over their 40-year career including live albums, the 1978 solo albums, as well as songs from compilations and from the three instant live albums, which are commercially available for the first time. There is one unreleased song: "Reputation". The album is the first released by the band since their induction into the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...

. A limited-edition

Best Buy Best Buy Co., Inc. is an American multinational consumer electronics retailer headquartered in Richfield, Minnesota. Originally founded by Richard M. Schulze and James Wheeler in 1966 as an audio specialty store called Sound of Music, it was r ...

exclusive version was released that came with a T-shirt. The Japanese edition features an exclusive track, "Hell or Hallelujah (Live at Budokan 2013)".

Reception

Reception for the album has been mostly positive. In David Jeffries' review for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, he praised the album for being "filled with classics and desirable extras" but questioned the album's "odd one song-per-album rule" before finishing the review by commenting that "this is a triumph of format and the band's longevity, but not necessarily a knockout introduction".

Track listing

Charts

Certifications

Personnel

Paul Stanley Paul Stanley (born Stanley Bert Eisen; January 20, 1952) is an American musician who was the co-founder, frontman, rhythm guitarist, and co-lead vocalist of the hard rock band Kiss (band), Kiss from the band's inception in 1973 to their retireme ...

– rhythm guitar (disc 1, tracks 1-5, 7-11, 15-22; disc 2), lead vocals (disc 1, tracks 3, 5, 10-11, 15-17, 20-22; disc 2, tracks 1-5, 7-12, 14, 16-18), acoustic guitar (disc 2, track 7) *

Ace Frehley Paul Daniel "Ace" Frehley (, ; born April 27, 1951) is an American musician who was the original lead guitarist, occasional lead vocalist and founding member of the rock band Kiss (band), Kiss. He invented the persona of The Spaceman (a.k.a. ...

– lead guitar (disc 1, tracks 1-5, 7-11, 14, 16-18; disc 2, tracks 10-11, 14), lead vocals (disc 1, track 14), acoustic guitar (disc 1, track 18) *

Gene Simmons Gene Simmons (born Chaim Witz; ; born August 25, 1949) also known by his stage persona "The Demon", is an Israeli-born American musician. He was the bassist and co-lead singer of the hard rock band Kiss (band), Kiss, which he co-founded wit ...

– bass guitar (disc 1, tracks 1-5, 7-11, 13, 16-22; disc 2), lead vocals (disc 1, tracks 1-2, 4, 8-10, 13, 18-19; disc 2, tracks 5-6, 13, 15), acoustic bass (disc 2, track 7) *

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

– drums (disc 1, tracks 1-5, 7-12, 16-17; disc 2, tracks 11-12, 15), lead vocals (disc 1, tracks 6-7, 12), (for disc 1 tracks 16-17 credit only) *

Eric Carr Paul Charles Caravello (July 12, 1950 – November 24, 1991), better known as Eric Carr, was an American musician. He was the drummer for the rock band Kiss from 1980 until his death in 1991. Caravello was selected as the new Kiss drummer afte ...

– drums, vocals (disc 1, tracks 18-22; disc 2, tracks 1-4) *

Vinnie Vincent Vincent John Cusano (born August 6, 1952), better known by his stage name Vinnie Vincent, is an American guitarist. He is a former member of the rock band Kiss from 1982 until mid-1984 during the band's transition out of their 1973–1983 makeu ...

– lead guitar, vocals (disc 1, track 19, 21) *

Mark St. John Mark Leslie Norton (February 7, 1956 – April 5, 2007), better known as Mark St. John, was an American guitarist best known for his brief stint with the hard rock band Kiss (band), Kiss from April to November 1984. His work can be heard on the ...

– lead guitar (disc 1, track 22) *

Bruce Kulick Bruce Howard Kulick (; born December 12, 1953) is an American guitarist best known as a former guitarist of the band Kiss (band), Kiss (19841996). He was also a member of Union (band), Union with John Corabi from 19972002, Blackjack (American ba ...

– lead guitar, backing vocals, (disc 2, tracks 1-6, 8-9), acoustic guitar (disc 2, track 7) *

Eric Singer Eric Singer (born Eric Doyle Mensinger; May 12, 1958) is an American drummer. Associated with the hard rock band Kiss on and off from 1991 until the band's retirement in 2023, he has also performed with artists such as Black Sabbath, Alice Coo ...

– drums, backing vocals (disc 2, tracks 5-9, 13, 15-19) *

Tommy Thayer Thomas Cunningham Thayer (born November 7, 1960) is an American musician. Thayer was the lead guitarist and vocalist for the hard rock band Kiss from 2002 to 2023. He was also the lead guitarist for the band Black 'n Blue. Early life Thomas ...

– lead guitar, backing vocals (disc 2, tracks 10, 12-13, 15-19) with *

Bob Kulick Robert Joel Kulick (January 16, 1950 – May 28, 2020) was an American guitarist and record producer, who worked with numerous acts such as Kiss (band), Kiss, W.A.S.P. (band), W.A.S.P., Alice Cooper, Lou Reed, Meat Loaf, and Michael Bolton. He w ...

– lead guitar (disc 1, track 20) *

Bob Ezrin Robert Alan Ezrin (born March 25, 1949) is a Canadian music producer and keyboardist, best known for his work with Lou Reed, Alice Cooper, Aerosmith, Kiss, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, Peter Gabriel, Andrea Bocelli and Phish. As of 2010, Ezri ...

– piano (disc 1, track 6) * Dick Wagner – acoustic guitar (disc 1, track 6) * Kevin Valentine – drums (disc 2, track 10) *Tobias Nievelstein – recording engineer (disc 2, tracks 16-17) *

Anton Fig Anton Fig (born 8 August 1952) is a South African session drummer perhaps best known as the drummer and second-in-command for Paul Shaffer and the World's Most Dangerous Band. David Letterman, for whom the band served as house band on his lat ...

– drums (disc 1, tracks 16-17)

References

{{Authority control Kiss (band) compilation albums 2014 greatest hits albums