Destroyer (Kiss album)
Occupation
- Gene Simmons - bass, vocals
- Ace Frehley - lead guitar, backing vocals
- Peter Criss - drums, percussion, vocals
- Dick Wagner - lead guitar ( 5), Acoustic Guitar ( 8)
Destroyer is the fourth studio album by American hard rock band Kiss. It was published on 15 March 1976 by Casablanca Records, reached # 11 on the Billboard 200 and received in the USA 1976 platinum for one million units sold. The music magazine Rolling Stone leads it to number 489 to its list of the 500 best albums of all time.
Formation
The band's popularity was very great, they played sold-out stadium concerts. The previously released albums did not reflect this success, as they were placed only at the bottom of the charts. After Kiss had renewed the contract with Casablanca Records for two albums, the aim was to publish the first commercially successful studio album. For this to succeed, the band for the first time help took songwriting third party claim. So composed producer Bob Ezrin the guitar solo to Detroit Rock City, which initially did not appeal to the band because of the oriental impact. Ezrin, the band was also able to convince them that God of Thunder better suited to the voice of Gene Simmons than to that of Paul Stanley. Also involved in the songwriting songwriter Kim Fowley and guitarist were Mark Anthony, who had already worked for Alice Cooper; they wrote King of the Night Time World. The piece comes with Stan Beth Penridge also by an outsider.
Work on the album began in August 1975 in the Electric Lady Studios in New York City and ended in January 1976 at the Record Plant Studios.
2012 Universal published under the title Destroyer [ Resurrected ] a report produced by producer Bob Ezrin on the basis of the original tapes remix of the album. This version of the album was released on CD and LP with the original cover by Ken Kelly, which had been rejected by Casablanca Records in 1976. It shows the members of the group, which apparently escape from a grade of them destroyed city.
Title list
The album ends with an unnamed piece that later became known as rock and roll party.
Achievements
Shortly after the release in the U.S. reached Destroyer in April 1976 Gold status, but remained first with 850,000 units sold, behind the sales of its predecessor Alive! back. The single releases Shout it Out Loud, Flaming Youth and Detroit Rock City did not meet the commercial expectations. After radio DJs the ballad Beth, the B-side of Detroit Rock City, played amplified, came the song in the Top Ten of the Billboard Hot 100 With this success, the album climbed back into the album charts and reached its peak position at number 11. Destroyer In November 1976, went platinum. The album debuted on May 29, 1976 in the British album charts, remaining there for five weeks, and reached number 22 in the German album charts Destroyer reached 36th place
The magazine Guitar World Magazine chose the song Detroit Rock City 2011 one of the 100 greatest guitar rock songs of all time.
Reviews
In a contemporary review of the music magazine Rolling Stone, the author wrote though, that it is thanks to producer Bob Ezrin RELATES to the best album of the band, but misses the spark of creative madness that makes the music interesting. The album was lackluster, the song usually and feeling empty. 2003 described the magazine as Destroyer plated party rock album that 'm getting better with age. Greg Prato of Allmusic considers the album for one of the most experimental and most of the band, and Jan Jaedike from the music magazine Rock Hard calls it " one of the major plates of the entire Hard Rock History".