Destroyer (Kiss album)

Destroyer
Studio album by Kiss
Released	March 15, 1976
Recorded	Electric Lady Studios, New York City, September 3–6, 1975 Record Plant Studios, New York City, January–February 1976
Genre	Hard rock, heavy metal
Length	34:27
Language	English
Label	Casablanca
Producer	Bob Ezrin
Kiss chronology
Dressed to Kill (1975) Destroyer (1976) Rock and Roll Over (1976)
Singles from Destroyer
"Shout It Out Loud" Released: March 1, 1976 "Flaming Youth" Released: April 30, 1976 "Detroit Rock City" Released: July 28, 1976 "Beth" Released: August 1976

Destroyer is the fourth studio album by Kiss, released on March 15, 1976 in the US. It was the second consecutive Kiss album to reach the top 20 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. It was certified platinum on November 11, 1976, the first Kiss album to achieve that distinction.^[1]

Coming on the heels of the band's breakthrough album Alive!, Destroyer is easily the most ambitious studio recording of the band's 70s catalogue. Bob Ezrin, who had previously worked with Alice Cooper, was brought in to produce the album. Among the production flourishes Ezrin introduced to Kiss were sound effects, strings, screaming children and reversed drums (on "God of Thunder") as well as a children's choir.

The song "Great Expectations" uses the first phrase of the main theme from the second movement of Beethoven's Sonata No. 8 in C Minor, opus 13 "Pathétique", but songwriting is credited to Simmons and Ezrin.

Destroyer is the first Kiss album to prominently feature outside musicians, such as members of the New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra. However, one musician was not credited: Dick Wagner, from Alice Cooper's band, replaced Ace Frehley on tracks such as "Sweet Pain" (as Frehley did not want to interrupt a card game he was playing during recording sessions for the song). Wagner also played the acoustic guitar found on the song "Beth".^[2] The success of Alive! and Destroyer enabled the band to embark on their first tour of Europe.

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, and eventually went multi-platinum.^[3] The success of Alive!, which spent 110 weeks on the charts, benefited not only the struggling band but their cash-strapped label, Casablanca Records.^[4][5] 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 only for two albums, however, an indication that Casablanca was unsure if the group could duplicate the accomplishments of Alive!^[6]

Production

Rehearsals for Destroyer began in August 1975, while the group was embarked on their supporting tour for Alive! Bob Ezrin, who had produced a string of successful albums for Alice Cooper, was chosen to work with Kiss. 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!^[7]

The first recording sessions for the album took place from 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.^[8] The majority of the recording sessions for Destroyer took place in January 1976, after the conclusion of the Alive! tour.^[9]

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.^[10]

During the recording sessions Ezrin resorted to numerous tactics designed to increase the quality of music Kiss recorded. Because none of the group were trained musicians, Ezrin halted the sessions at one point to provide lessons in basic music theory.^[11] In an effort to instill a sense of discipline, he wore a whistle around his neck and exhorted the band with sayings such as, "Campers, we're going to work!"^[12] When Simmons stopped playing early during the recording of an outro Ezrin yelled at him, saying, "Don't you ever stop a take unless I tell you!"^[13]

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."^[14] Simmons echoed the sentiment by stating, "It was exactly what we needed at the time."^[15] Frehley, who did not approach the recording process with the discipline Ezrin wanted, often found himself at odds with the producer. He bristled at being asked to perform multiple takes of his solos, and became uncooperative. As a result Ezrin brought in session guitarist Dick Wagner, and threatened to replace Ace with him and Ace cooperated.

Album art

The cover art for Destroyer was painted by fantasy artist Ken Kelly. Prior to the album's release Kelly's work was brought to the attention of Simmons, who met with Kelly to discuss ideas for Destroyer. Kelly agreed but asked to see Kiss perform live first to gain inspiration. He was invited to a show and given a backstage pass. He later said of the performance, "It blew me away."^[16] 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 LP-liner features a large Kiss logo and the lyrics to "Detroit Rock City". The other side displays the lyric "SHOUT IT OUT LOUD", as well as an advertisement for the Kiss Army fan club.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[17]
Blender	[18]
Robert Christgau	(C+)[19]
Sputnikmusic	[20]
Pitchfork Media	[21]
Rolling Stone	[22]
This table needs to be expanded using prose. See the guideline for more information.

Destroyer sold well upon its release on March 15, 1976 and was certified gold on April 22. Although exact sales figures are not known, Stanley stated that the album initially sold 850,000 copies in the US, well in excess of any of Kiss's first three studio albums.^[23] After peaking at #11 on the Billboard album chart on May 15, however, Destroyer quickly fell and by August was at #192.^[24] The first three singles — "Shout It Out Loud", "Flaming Youth" and "Detroit Rock City" — failed to ignite sales any further, leading the band and its management to view the album as a failure relative to Alive! The band and Ezrin cited fan backlash as the reason Destroyer did not meet sales expectations. Ezrin also stated that the "grassroots rock press" was particularly critical of the album.^[23] Rolling Stone referred to "bloated ballads," "pedestrian drumming" and "lackluster performances" in its review.^[25]

It was not until radio stations started playing the B-side of the "Detroit Rock City" single, "Beth," that the album started to sell as expected. The ballad, which according to Simmons was deliberately put on the B-side to force stations to play "Detroit Rock City", started receiving numerous listener requests and became an unexpected hit. "Beth" was re-released as the fourth single in late August, and it peaked at #7 on the Billboard singles chart on September 25. It was the group's first Top 10 song and re-ignited sales of the album. On November 11 Destroyer became the first Kiss album to be certified platinum.^[26]

The album was only to receive recognition in much later years. In 1989, Kerrang! magazine listed the album at No. 36 among the "100 Greatest Heavy Metal Albums of All Time".^[27] In 2003, it was ranked number 496 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. In 2006, it was placed No. 60 on Guitar World magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Albums of All Time.^[28]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocals	Length
1.	"Detroit Rock City"	Paul Stanley, Bob Ezrin	Stanley	5:17
2.	"King of the Night Time World"	Stanley, Ezrin, Kim Fowley, Mark Anthony	Stanley	3:19
3.	"God of Thunder"	Stanley	Gene Simmons	4:13
4.	"Great Expectations"	Simmons, Ezrin	Simmons	4:24
5.	"Flaming Youth"	Ace Frehley, Stanley, Simmons, Ezrin	Stanley	2:59
6.	"Sweet Pain"	Simmons	Simmons	3:20
7.	"Shout It Out Loud"	Stanley, Simmons, Ezrin	Stanley, Simmons	2:49
8.	"Beth"	Peter Criss, Ezrin, Stan Penridge	Criss	2:45
9.	"Do You Love Me?"	Stanley, Ezrin, Kim Fowley	Stanley	3:40
10.	"Rock and Roll Party (ghost track)[29]"	Simmons, Stanley, Ezrin	Instrumental	1:25

Cover versions

"Beth"

• Peter Criss covered "Beth" on his solo album Cat #1.
• Groovie Ghoulies covered it on their 1989 album Appetite for Adrenochrome as an unlisted track.
• No Use for a Name covered "Beth" on their 1997 album Making Friends also as an unlisted track.
• Coffin Break made a cover for Kiss' tribute album Hard to Believe: Kiss Covers Compilation.
• "Beth" was covered in the television show Glee during the episode "Theatricality".

"God of Thunder"

• The Melvins made a cover for Kiss' tribute album Hard to Believe: Kiss Covers Compilation.
• Iced Earth covered "God of Thunder" for their tribute album Tribute to the Gods. "Creatures of the Night" cover was also featured on the album.
• White Zombie covered the song for their EP God of Thunder.
• Raging Speedhorn covered the song for How the Great Have Fallen album.
• Swedish death metal band Entombed made a cover of the song which is featured on their compilation Sons of Satan Praise the Lord.
• Death released a cover of the song as a bonus track on the Japanese version of their 1991 album Human.
• The American doom metal band Rigor Sardonicous released a cover of the song on their album Risus Ex Mortuus.
• A supergroup consisting of Rob Zombie (vocals), Slash (guitar), Ace Frehley (guitar), Tommy Lee (drums), Gilby Clarke (guitar), and Scott Ian (bass guitar) played a cover of the song for the VH1 Rock Honors of Kiss.
• Quintron and Miss Pussycat covered the song on their 2005 album Swamp Tech.
• Ripper covered the song on their 2009 album The Dead Have Rizen on Black Widow Records.

"Do You Love Me?"

• Nirvana made a cover for the Hard to Believe: Kiss Covers Compilation.
• Girlschool made a cover for Running Wild.

Personnel

Band members

• Paul Stanley – rhythm guitar, vocals
• Gene Simmons – bass guitar, vocals
• Ace Frehley – lead guitar, backing vocals
• Peter Criss – drums, percussion, vocals

Additional musicians

• Dick Wagner – guitar solo on "Sweet Pain"
• Brooklyn Boys Chorus – vocals on "Great Expectations"
• David and Josh Ezrin – voices on "God of Thunder"

Production

• Bob Ezrin – producer, orchestration
• H.A. Macmillan – orchestration
• Jay Messina – engineer
• Corky Stasiak – engineer

Charts and certifications

Album

Chart	Peak Position
Sweden[30]	4
Austria[30]	6
Canada[30]	6
U.S. Pop Albums[31]	11
New Zealand[30]	16
Japan[30]	17
U.K.[30]	22
Germany[30]	36

Singles

Year	Song	Chart positions
		Billboard Pop Singles[32]	Canadian Singles Chart[32]	German Singles Chart[32]	Swedish Singles Chart[32]	Australian Singles Chart[32]	New Zealand Singles Chart[32]
1976	"Shout It Out Loud"	31	1	32	16	45	40
1976	"Flaming Youth"	74	73	–	–	–	–
1976	"Detroit Rock City"	–	–	14	–	–	–
1976	"Beth"	7	5	–	–	79	–

Certifications

Region	Certification	Sales/shipments
United States (RIAA)[1]	2× Platinum	2,000,000^
^shipments figures based on certification alone

Acclaim

The following information regarding list placements attributed to Destroyer is taken from AcclaimedMusic.net.^[33]

Publication	Country	Accolade	Year	Rank
Rolling Stone	U.S.	The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time[34]	2003	496
Blender	U.S.	The 100 Greatest American Albums of All Time[35]	2002	50
Guitar World	U.S.	The 100 Greatest Guitar Albums of All Time.[28]	2006	60

(*) designates unordered lists.

Release history

Country	Date	Label	Format	Catalogue number
United States	March 15, 1976	Casablanca Records	LP	NBLP-7025
Canada	1976	Casablanca Records	LP	NBLP-7025V
United States	July 1987	Casablanca/PolyGram	CD	824 149-2
United States	August 12, 1997	Mercury Records	Remastered CD	532 378-2

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "American album certifications – Kiss – Destroyer". Recording Industry Association of America. http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?artist=%22Destroyer%22.  If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
2. ^ Leaf and Sharp, Behind the Mask
3. ^ Leaf and Sharp, Behind the Mask, pp. 67–68.
4. ^ Gill, Kiss Album Focus, p. 178.
5. ^ Lendt, Kiss and Sell, pp. 40–41.
6. ^ Gill, Kiss Album Focus, p. 181.
7. ^ Gill, Kiss Album Focus, pp. 183–184.
8. ^ Gooch and Suhs, Kiss Alive Forever, p. 64.
9. ^ Gill, Kiss Album Focus, p. 185.
10. ^ Gill, Kiss Album Focus, pp. 185–189.
11. ^ Leaf and Sharp, Behind the Mask, pp. 253–254.
12. ^ Leaf and Sharp, Behind the Mask, p. 255.
13. ^ Leaf and Sharp, Behind the Mask, p. 256.
14. ^ Leaf and Sharp, Behind the Mask, p. 252.
15. ^ Gill, Kiss Album Focus, p. 188.
16. ^ "Ken Kelly & Kiss". http://www.cloud9recording.com/pages/kenkelly.html. Retrieved 2007-08-06. 
17. ^ Destroyer (Kiss album) at Allmusic
18. ^ http://www.blender.com/guide/back-catalogue/52637/drestroyer-l.html^{[dead link]}
19. ^ "Robert Christgau: CG: Kiss". robertchristgau.com. http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=Kiss. Retrieved 8 August 2011. 
20. ^ http://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/4312/KISS-Destroyer/^{[citation needed]}
21. ^ "Kiss: Destroyer: Pitchfork Review". pitchforkmedia.com. Archived from the original on 2003-02-19. http://web.archive.org/web/20030219080544/www.pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/k/kiss/destroyer.shtml. Retrieved 8 August 2011. 
22. ^ John Millward (June 1976). "Kiss". rollingstone.com. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/destroyer-19760603. Retrieved 11 Nov 2011. 
23. ^ ^{a b} Leaf and Sharp, Behind the Mask, p. 258.
24. ^ Gill, Kiss Album Focus, p. 202.
25. ^ Milward, John (1976-06-03). "Destroyer album review". Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/kiss/albums/album/114730/review/5944204/destroyer. Retrieved 2007-08-09. 
26. ^ Gill, Kiss Album Focus, pp. 203–204.
27. ^ Barton, Geoff (21 January 1989). "Kiss 'Destroyer'". Kerrang!. 222. London, UK: Spotlight Publications Ltd.. 
28. ^ ^{a b} "Guitar World's 100 Greatest Guitar Albums Of All Time". Rate Your Music. http://rateyourmusic.com/lists/list_view?list_id=66329&show=25&start=25. Retrieved November 11, 2010. 
29. ^ "Destroyer track details". http://www.kissfaq.com/KissFAQ-wiki/index.php?title=Destroyer_Album_-_Rock_And_Roll_Demons. 
30. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} "The Complete KISS Album Chart Action, 1974–". The KISSFAQ. http://www.kissfaq.com/charts/acharts.html. Retrieved 2007-08-06. 
31. ^ "Destroyer Charts & Awards". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r11055/charts-awards. Retrieved 2007-08-06. 
32. ^ ^{a b c d e f} "The Complete KISS Singles Chart Action, 1974–". KISSFAQ.com. http://www.kissfaq.com/charts/scharts.html. Retrieved 2007-08-06. 
33. ^ "Destroyer". Acclaimed Music. http://www.acclaimedmusic.net/Current/A386.htm. Retrieved 2007-08-06. 
34. ^ "The RS 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. 2003. http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/5938174/the_rs_500_greatest_albums_of_all_time/5. Retrieved 2007-08-06. 
35. ^ "100 GREATEST AMERICAN ALBUMS – KISS #50". Kiss Online. 2003. Archived from the original on 2007-10-31. http://web.archive.org/web/20071031100203/http://www.kissonline.net/news/index.php?mode=archive&id=1411. Retrieved 2007-08-06. 

Bibliography

• Gill, Julian (2005). The Kiss Album Focus, Volume 1 (3rd Edition). Xlibris Corporation. ISBN 1-4134-8547-2. 

• Gooch, Curt; Jeff Suhs (2002). Kiss Alive Forever: The Complete Touring History. New York: Billboard Books. ISBN 0-8230-8322-5. 

• Leaf, David; Ken Sharp (2003). Kiss: Behind the Mask: The Official Authorized Biography. New York: Warner Books. ISBN 0-446-53073-5. 

External links

• Album online on Radio3Net a radio channel of Romanian Radio Broadcasting Company