Classic Rock,Metal,Oldies 101: Kiss : Destroyer (45th Anniversary Super Deluxe Box Set) / Destroyer: Resurrected (2012 remix)

Sunday, May 25, 2025

Kiss : Destroyer (45th Anniversary Super Deluxe Box Set) / Destroyer: Resurrected (2012 remix)

YOU'VE GOT SOMETHING

ABOUT YOU

YOU'VE GOT SOMETHING

I NEED

Destroyer

is the fourth

studio album

by American

Hard Rock band

Kiss

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

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

September 3–6, 1975

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.

Destroyer:

Resurrected

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

Frehley

"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")

"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