Destroyer [Remaster]

Performer: Kiss
Engineer: Jay Messina; Corky Stasiak
Producer: Bob Ezrin
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: Kiss: Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley (vocals, guitar); Gene Simmons (vocals, bass); Peter Criss (vocals, drums). Recorded at The Record Plant, New York, New York. Includes liner notes by Robert V. Conte. Digitally remastered by Joseph M. Palmaccio at Sterling Sound, New York, New York. Before DESTROYER, Kiss' studio albums were only moderate sellers. But the band's concerts were selling out regularly, and 1975's ALIVE! album had gone gold, putting Kiss on the pop map. DESTROYER, on which they teamed with Alice Cooper producer Bob Ezrin, was the breakthrough that finally got Kiss' grandiose rock ideas down on record. DESTROYER is a chancy, ambitious album. It opens with a radio announcer reporting a teen's death in a car crash, followed by a snippet of "Rock And Roll All Nite" (which had appeared on 1975's DRESSED TO KILL); then the band launches into "Detroit Rock City," an homage to the first city to make them stars. "Great Expectations" features ornate orchestration, a heavenly chorus and a guitar tone that exposes the band's glam-rock ambitions. DESTROYER also includes a ready-made rock anthems ("Shout It Out Loud"), a swipe at manipulative groupies ("Do You Love Me," which is punched up with tubular bells) and a foreboding song about "the lord of the wasteland" that became Gene Simmons' signature tune ("God Of Thunder"). And then there is "Beth," an uncharacteristic ballad, sung and co-written by drummer Peter Criss. The lush strings and delicate piano gave Kiss a Top-10 hit and a greater fan base. Soon would come a TV Movie ("Kiss Meets The Phantom Of The Park") and a comic book.

Mojo (Publisher) (7/02, p.161) - "...Their magnum opus....So mindless, it's almost Zen."

A theatrical rock band formed in the 1970s heyday of glitter, Kiss brought to life a cast of cartoonish figures sustained by heavy riffs and an endless supply of face paint. With each band member assuming an alter-ego (Gene Simmons, demon; Paul Stanley, stud; Ace Frehley, spaceman; and Peter Criss, cat), Kiss set the standard for the ultimate spectacle, combining monstrously hook-heavy rock with outrageous costumes and stage shows. Following the release of four simultaneous solo albums, Criss left the group, and a few years later Frehley also departed. Simmons and Stanley soldiered on with various lineups, and the group even abandoned their make-up beginning with 1983's LICK IT UP. In 1996, the original quartet reunited and donned their old faces and outfits for a hugely successful tour.

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