Destroyer is the
fourth studio album and fifth album overall by hard rock band
Kiss, released on March 15, 1976 in the United States
. It was the second consecutive Kiss album to
reach the Top 20 in the United States, 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.
Coming on the heels of the group's breakthrough album
Alive!,
Destroyer is
easily the most ambitious studio recording of Kiss'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.
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 didn't want to interrupt a
card game he was playing during recording sessions for the song)
and even on a song that Frehley himself co-wrote, "Flaming Youth".
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.
Throughout the years, "
Detroit
Rock City", "
God of
Thunder", "
Shout It
Out Loud", "
King of the
Night Time World", and "Do You Love Me?" have become permanent
staples on the band's concerts. "
Beth"
was last played live on the band's Dec.
20, 2003 concert at
Save Mart
Center
in Fresno, CA the last show of the World Domination Tour; after drummer
Peter Criss' final departure, the band
permanently retired the song from their set list.
In 2003, the album was ranked number 496 on
Rolling Stone magazine's list of
the 500 greatest albums of
all time.
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. The success of
Alive!,
which spent 110 weeks on the charts, benefited not only the
struggling band but 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 only for two albums, however, an indication that
Casablanca was unsure if the group could duplicate the
accomplishments of
Alive!
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!
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. The majority of the recording sessions for
Destroyer took place in January 1976, after the conclusion
of the
Alive! tour.
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.
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. In an effort to instill a sense
of discipline, he wore a whistle around his neck and exhorted the
band with sayings such as, "C'mon campers, let's get going!" 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!"
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."
Lead guitarist
Ace 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, Ezrin 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 Gene 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." 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
Destroyer sold well upon its release on
March 15,
1976 and was
certified gold on April 22. Although exact sales figures are not
known, Paul Stanley stated that the album initially sold 850,000
copies in the U.S., well in excess of any of Kiss's first three
studio albums. After peaking at #11 on the Billboard album chart on
May 15, however,
Destroyer quickly fell and by August was
at #192. 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.
Rolling Stone referred to "bloated
ballads," "pedestrian drumming," and "lackluster performances" in
its review.
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.
Track listing
Personnel
Band members
Additional musicians
- Dick Wagner – guitar solos on "Flaming Youth" and "Sweet
Pain"; acoustic guitar on "Beth"
(uncredited)
- Brooklyn Boys Chorus – vocals on "Great Expectations"
- David and Josh Ezrin – voices on "God of Thunder"
Production
Charts and certifications
Album
| Chart |
Peak
Position |
| Sweden |
4 |
| Austria |
6 |
| Canada |
6 |
| U.S. Pop Albums |
11 |
| New Zealand |
16 |
| Japan |
17 |
| U.K. |
22 |
| Germany |
36 |
Singles
Certifications
Acclaim
The following information regarding list placements attributed to
Destroyeris taken from AcclaimedMusic.net.
| Certifier |
Certification |
Sales |
| RIAA (U.S.) |
3x Platinum |
3,000,000 |
|
| Publication |
Country |
Accolade |
Year |
Rank |
| Rolling Stone |
U.S. |
The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time |
2003 |
496 |
| Blender |
U.S. |
The 100 Greatest American Albums of All Time |
2002 |
50 |
(*) designates unordered lists.
Release history
References
External links
Notes
- Leaf and Sharp, Behind the Mask
- http://www.kissfaq.com/news/tour_stats.html
- Leaf and Sharp, Behind the Mask, pp. 67–68.
- Gill, Kiss Album Focus, p. 178.
- Lendt, Kiss and Sell, pp. 40–41.
- Gill, Kiss Album Focus, p. 181.
- Gill, Kiss Album Focus, pp. 183-184.
- Gooch and Suhs, Kiss Alive Forever, p. 64.
- Gill, Kiss Album Focus, p. 185.
- Gill, Kiss Album Focus, pp. 185-189.
- Leaf and Sharp, Behind the Mask, pp. 253–254.
- Leaf and Sharp, Behind the Mask, p. 255.
- Leaf and Sharp, Behind the Mask, p. 256.
- Leaf and Sharp, Behind the Mask, p. 252.
- Gill, Kiss Album Focus, p. 188.
- Leaf and Sharp, Behind the Mask, p. 258.
- Gill, Kiss Album Focus, p. 202.
- Gill, Kiss Album Focus, pp. 203-204.
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