YOU'VE GOT SOMETHING
ABOUT YOU
YOU'VE GOT SOMETHING
I NEED

Destroyer
is the fourth
studio album
by American
Hard Rock band
released on
March 15, 1976,
by Casablanca Records
in the US.
It was the third
successive
Kiss album
to reach
the top 40
in the US,
as well as the first
to chart in
Germany
and
New Zealand.
The album was
certified gold
by the RIAA
on April 22, 1976,
and platinum on
November 11
of the same year,
the first Kiss album
to achieve platinum.
The album marked a
departure from the
raw sound of
the band's
first three albums.
Background
After attaining modest
commercial success
with their
first three
studio albums,
Kiss achieved a
commercial breakthrough
with the
1975 concert album
Alive!
It was the first album
by the band
to be certified gold.
The success of Alive!,
which spent 110 weeks
on the charts,
benefited not only
the struggling band
but also their
cash-strapped label
Casablanca Records.
Kiss signed a new contract
with Casablanca
in late 1975,
partly because the label
had been very supportive
from the start of
the band's career.
The contract was for
two albums,
an indication that
Casablanca was unsure
if the group could
duplicate the
accomplishments
of Alive!

Songwriting and Recording
Rehearsals for
Destroyer began
in August 1975,
while the group was
embarking on their
supporting tour for
Alive!
Bob Ezrin,
who had previously worked
with Alice Cooper,
was brought in to
produce the album.
The band felt that
Ezrin was the right person
to help them take their
sound to the next level
and to maintain the
commercial success
they had achieved with
Alive!
Before meeting with Ezrin,
the band had written
and recorded a
15-song demo
in the
Magna Graphics Studio
in August 1975.
The first demo recorded
during the
Destroyer sessions was
"Ain't None of Your Business"
featuring
Peter Criss on vocals.
The plodding,
heavy song,
written by
country songwriters
Becky Hobbs
and
Lew Anderson,
was rejected by the band
and later appeared on
the 1977 debut album
by
Michael Des Barres' band
Detective.
Although this song
was rejected,
other outside songs
and suggestions were
accepted by the band.
In particular,
Kim Fowley and Mark Anthony
became important contributors
during the songwriting process,
bringing in the title
and basic structure
of the song
"King of the Night Time World"
from their previous band
The Hollywood Stars'
then-unreleased 1974 album
Shine Like a Radio
Ezrin flat out rejected most
of the material,
as only
heavily re-worked versions of
"God of Thunder"
and
"Detroit Rock City"
made it to the album,
and another song
"Mad Dog"
was pilfered
for lyrics to
"Sweet Pain"
and a riff for
"Flaming Youth".
Other songs from this demo
were re-worked
for the following album
Rock and Roll Over
and
Gene Simmons'
1978 solo album
while others remained
unreleased until the
2021 release of
Destroyer
as a
2CD set
and
Super Deluxe box set.
The first recording sessions
for the album took place
on
September 3–6, 1975
at
Electric Lady Studios
in New York City,
during a brief break
between the
Dressed to Kill
and Alive! tours.
The basic album tracks
were recorded
during this time.
The majority of the
recording sessions for
Destroyer
took place in
January 1976,
after the conclusion of
the Alive! tour.
Ezrin introduced to Kiss
sound effects,
strings,
screaming children,
reversed drums
(on "God of Thunder")
and a children's choir.
The song
"Great Expectations"
uses the first phrase
of the main theme
from the second movement of
Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 8
in C minor, Op. 13
(known as Sonata Pathétique),
but the songwriting is credited to
Simmons and Ezrin.
The lyrics of the opening song
"Detroit Rock City"
tells the story of a fan
who died in a car crash
on the way to
a Kiss show.
Various dates and events
have been mentioned but
journalist
James Campion
managed with the help
of a Kiss roadie
from the era
to link the event
that inspired the song
and a handful of candidates
to the
November 30, 1974
show in
Fayetteville, NC.
During the recording sessions,
Ezrin resorted to
numerous tactics
designed to increase
the quality of music
Paul Stanley later
compared the experience
of working with Ezrin as
"musical boot camp"
but said that the group
"came out a lot smarter for it."
Simmons echoed the
sentiment by stating,
"It was exactly what we
needed at the time."
Destroyer
is the first Kiss album
to prominently feature
outside musicians,
such as members of the
New York Philharmonic.
One musician
not credited
was
Dick Wagner,
from Alice Cooper's band,
replacing
Ace Frehley
on the track
"Sweet Pain".
Wagner also played
the acoustic guitar
found on the song
"Beth".
The success of
Alive!
and
Destroyer
enabled the band to
embark on their first
tour of Europe.
Artwork
The cover art for
Destroyer
was painted by
fantasy artist
Ken Kelly.
Kelly was invited to
a show and given
a backstage pass.
He said of the performance,
"It blew me away."
Kelly was
later commissioned
by the band to
draw the cover for
1977's
Love Gun.
Kelly's original version
of the album cover
was rejected by
the record company
because they felt the scene
was too violent looking
with the rubble
and flames.
Also,
the original version
had the members of
Kiss wearing
the Alive! costumes.
The front cover shows
the group striding on top
of a pile of rubble,
and a desolate background
spotted with
destroyed buildings,
some of which are
engulfed in flames.
The back cover shows a
similar scene,
but with more
buildings on fire.
The front of the inner sleeve
featured a large
Kiss logo
and the lyrics to
"Detroit Rock City".
The other side displayed
the lyric
"Shout it out loud",
as well as an
advertisement for
the Kiss Army
fan club.
In anticipation of the
35th anniversary
of the release of
Destroyer,
producer
Bob Ezrin
approached
Simmons and Stanley
about doing a remix
and re-release
of the original album.
With their approval,
Ezrin acquired
digital copies
of the original
16-track analog
master tapes.
In addition to
re-equalizing elements
of each song,
Ezrin also added
in some parts
of tracks that
had been omitted
from the original mix.
These include some
additional vocals on
"Detroit Rock City"
and
"Beth",
and the substitution
of a guitar solo
by
Frehley
on
"Sweet Pain"
for the one from the original
that had been performed by
Wagner
(a version of "Sweet Pain"
with Frehley's solo
was included as track 6,
while the original version
with Wagner's solo
is appended as a
"bonus" track
at the end of the new CD)
Ezrin also used
digital manipulation
to fix an incorrect lyric
(changing "down 95" to "doin' 95")
on
"Detroit Rock City".
The resulting album,
titled
Destroyer: Resurrected,
was released on
August 21, 2012.
It featured
Ken Kelly's
original cover artwork
before alteration by
Casablanca
for the
1976 release.
Destroyer: Resurrected
met with mixed critical reception.
William Clark of
Guitar International wrote:
"Each track sounds crisper,
clearer and louder,
which are always
welcome qualities
when you're listening to a
classic album of the likes of
Destroyer".
However,
Circus magazine in a
joint review with
Aerosmith's contemporary release
of Rocks
praised Rocks
while stating that
Destroyer "stinks."
The album returned to
the Billboard charts,
debuting at No. 11
the week after its re-release.
In 2019,
the record was released in
orange translucent vinyl,
retailed exclusively by
Walmart in the U.S.
TRACKLIST
CD 1
Detroit Rock City
(45th Anniversary Super Deluxe Remaster)
King Of The Night Time World
(45th Anniversary Super Deluxe Remaster)
God Of Thunder
(45th Anniversary Super Deluxe Remaster)
Great Expectations
(45th Anniversary Super Deluxe Remaster)
Flaming Youth
(45th Anniversary Super Deluxe Remaster)
Sweet Pain
(45th Anniversary Super Deluxe Remaster)
Shout It Out Loud
(45th Anniversary Super Deluxe Remaster)
Beth
(45th Anniversary Super Deluxe Remaster)
Do You Love Me
(45th Anniversary Super Deluxe Remaster)
Rock And Roll Party
(45th Anniversary Super Deluxe Remaster)
Detroit Rock City
(Edited Single Version)
CD 2
Doncha Hesitate
(Paul Stanley Demo)
God Of Thunder
(Paul Stanley Demo)
It’s The Fire
(Paul Stanley Demo)
Detroit Rock City
(Paul Stanley Demo)
Love Is Alright
(Paul Stanley Demo)
Bad, Bad Lovin'
(Gene Simmons Demo)
Man Of A Thousand Faces
(Gene Simmons Demo)
I Don't Want No Romance
(Gene Simmons Demo)
Burnin' Up With Fever
(Gene Simmons Demo)
Rock N' Rolls Royce
(Gene Simmons Demo)
Mad Dog
(Gene Simmons Demo)
Night Boy
(Gene Simmons Demo)
Star
(Gene Simmons Demo)
Howlin' For Your Love
(Gene Simmons Demo)
True Confessions
(Gene Simmons Demo)
Detroit Rock City
(Live)
King of the Night Time World
(Live)
God of Thunder
(Live)
Shout it Out Loud
(Live)
Beth
(Live)
Do You Love Me
(Unplugged)
CD 3
Beth
(Acoustic Mix)
Shout It Out Loud
(Single Edit)
Flaming Youth
(Single Edit)
Detroit Rock City
(Single Edit)
Shout It Out Loud
(Mono Single Edit)
Flaming Youth
(Mono Single Edit)
Detroit Rock City
(Mono Single Edit)
Beth
(Mono)
King Of The Night Time World
(Live Rehearsal Instrumental)
Do You Love Me?
(Mono Instrumental)
God Of Thunder
(Early Instrumental Mix)
Ain't None Of Your Business
(Instrumental)
Detroit Rock City
(Instrumental)
King Of The Night Time World
(Alternate Mix)
Great Expectations
(Early Version)
Flaming Youth
(Early Version)
Do You Love Me?
(Early Version)
Shout It Out Loud
(Alternate Mix)
Ain't None Of Your Business
(Outtake)
Beth
(Take 6 - Instrumental)
Beth
(Instrumental)
Do You Love Me?
(Alternate Mix)
Sweet Pain
[Original Guitar Solo] [*]
Detroit Rock City Car Intro
Detroit Rock City Car Crash
Beth
(Unplugged) [*]
CD 4
L`Olympia, Paris, France
05/22/76
Deuce
Strutter
Flaming Youth
Hotter Than Hell
Firehouse
She / Ace Frehley Guitar Solo
Nothin' To Lose
Shout It Out Loud/Gene Simmons Bass Solo
100,000 Years/Peter Criss Drum Solo
Black Diamond
Detroit Rock City
Rock And Roll All Nite
CD 5
Destroyer
(Resurrected)
Detroit Rock City
(2012 Remix)
King Of The Night Time World
(2012 Remix)
God Of Thunder
(2012 Remix)
Great Expectations
(2012 Remix)
Flaming Youth
(2012 Remix)
Sweet Pain
(2012 Remix)
Shout It Out Loud
(2012 Remix)
Beth
(2012 Remix)
Do You Love Me
(2012 Remix)
Rock And Roll Party
(2012 Remix)
Sweet Pain
[Original Guitar Solo]
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