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I remember radio stations playing the songs Shout It Out Loud and King of The Night Time World. If you had not heard of KISS after Alive. The latter song was played on television on the Paul Lynde halloween special, and this appearance broadened KISS' exposure to new heights. was released, then you absolutely knew who they were after Destroyer came out. There is no denying that this is THE album that made KISS a household name. Oddly, I do not remember hearing Beth on the radio at all. This album is a must have in anyone's rock music collection.
This was probably one of the first hard rock records I ever bought, I was a few years younger than the rest of my neighborhood friends and they all had all the early KISS records and always talked about them whether it be playing wiffleball in the street or shooting baskets it was all about how great the band KISS was. Somehow I got to purchase this one, and it quickly became my introduction to hard rock.I have so many favorites here from start to finish, not much to complain about other than perhaps the out of place "Beth" and perhaps "Great Expectations" which along with "God Of Thunder" to me are also perhaps there to balance out the record."Detroit Rock City", and "King Of The Nightime World" are a great one-two punch to start off the Disc. Very upbeat hard rock with plenty of guitars and bombast to rock out to for sure. And the energy keeps coming with other favs in "Flaming Youth", "Sweet Pain", and my personal fav song on here and maybe of all time by Kiss in "Shout It Out Loud".Just a great moment for the band, this is the only studio album I have of them.all the rest I have are the Live sets I II and III, and sometimes, many times I think that's all I need.
I had read in the trades about Ezrin producing; and being a Cooper fan, I was pretty stoked about that as well. So to the music: "Detroit Rock City" is one of the best KISS songs ever recorded. I was disappointed in the cover because the band looked like Disney characters. In 1970 he had taken a scruffy bunch of Arizona drunks and coached them into the Alice Cooper juggernaut. But I got it anyway.
When I was expecting a "Killer" or "Love it to Death", what I got was a more lush and over-produced version of "Billion Dollar Babies". Reading the reviews here, I've seen the word "masterpiece" get thrown around so much I'm wondering if Gene Simmons isn't ghost-writing some of these. "Masterpiece" isn't a word that should be associated with these guys. But at the time I attributed that to marketing strategy and knew that AM singles had a target demographic and put my worries on hold.
Then I heard "Shout it Out Loud" on the local AM station and it seemed like a retread of "Rock n Roll All Nite". Looked real badass. While the album sold well and there are fan favorites on here, KISS realized it was a slight misstep and spent the next several albums trying to get back that edge from the previous albums. Then I saw the initial print ads for the album with simply the word "Destroyer" printed across the front. I had hoped for more out of Ezrin. Went to the store and got my copy when it was released.
KISS was never The London Symphony Orchestra and should never try to be. I've already touched on "Shout". I played the record grooves out of my copy of "ALIVE." so I was hotly anticipating a rocking follow up. And why does he insist on putting little kids on every damn album he produces. "God of Thunder" was a first-rate head-banger, but Ezrin had to put some brat jabbering in the background which dulls any edge the song had.
They jettisoned Ezrin and returned Eddie Kramer from "ALIVE." to better results.
"Beth" was the monster hit, although I like the unplugged version of this better.
They were at their best when pounding out chest-thumping, fist-hoisting rockers.
In short, it all looked like "Destroyer" was going to be a killer album (pun intended).
Go to YouTube and check out any of their pre-1976 concert footage.
"God of Thunder" is a surprisingly dark song considering it was written by Paul Stanley.
The rest of the songs just seem to be vehicles for the band members to accentuate their stage personas, sometimes to ridiculous lengths.
That's like calling a Big Mac gourmet fare.
You'll see a lean, hungry group of guys out to just the the crowd on their feet and it works.
The last song on the album is Do You Love Me, and it is another song sung this time by Paul Stanley schmoozing it up once again to the ladies, and it is, I'll admit, a guilty pleasure of mine. KISS was starting to become a household name by the time they released Destroyer, and the album only did more to add to their rising fame. Then the album comes to an abrupt end with a track that is nothing but distorted concert gibberish with Paul Stanley talking to the audience. Featuring quite possibly the best album opener of all time, Detroit Rock City, upon listening, you knew that you were in for a wild ride with this album. Up next is a touching ballad to Peter Criss' wife, titled Beth. Next up, Gene unleashes his inner Demon on the wicked song, God of Thunder, a track so unworldly, only Gene Simmons could pull it off. Then there is, Sweet Pain, Gene Simmons' ode to S&M, I'm guessing.
And he does, splendidly. The next song, King of the Night Time World, was another winner, with it's great rolling drums, and powerful guitar licks, and Paul Stanley singing, "I'm The King.", well, this is arena rock material of the highest order for sure. But just when things are really starting to heat up, what does KISS do. Still, the album delivers the Rock N' Roll goods, and that's all that really matters.
There is no denying that KISS Destroyer is one of the most famous Rock N' Roll albums of all time. I'm not into S&M, but, this is a pretty cool song that I find myself humming to every time that I listen to it. Next up is, Shout It Out Loud, which is another well-known KISS anthem, and, it rocks loud and proud with it's, "You've got to have a Party." attitude. It's a beautiful song sung by Criss as well, which ironically became KISS's first Top Ten hit, and it literally helped sell thousands more copies of this album to females who swooned at it's mushy lyrics. Sure, it's an okay song, I guess, but.oh, well, let's move on. Yep, unfortunately. Detroit Rock City is everything that made KISS one of the greatest bands ever, with it's amazing power chords, Gene Simmons' bouncy bass lines, and Paul Stanley's incredible vocals, it was a KISS fan's dream come true. What The.
They put a cheesy slow melodic song featuring Gene schmoozing it up to the female audience, titled Great Expectations. Paul Stanley steps things up a notch with the song Flaming Youth, which is not one of KISS's best songs ever, but after the last track, at least it picks up the pace a little more. That's it. And while it's not what I would consider KISS's best album, it is still no doubt an epic work of music for sure, and a definite crowd pleaser.
I even listened to the song samples here at Amazon before writing this review and I have to admit they still sound terrible. I listened to it and, What is this. When I was in High School I borrowed this from a friend, I couldn't wait to get home and listen to what I heard was a classic 70's rock album. Many people say this is their best album, but I actually think KISS Love Gun is a little better, because the previous albums were awful.I respect all the KISS fans, but I think they are one of the most overrated bands in history. This album sucks. Detroit Rock City and Shout It Out Loud are are the only OK songs, the rest of the songs are laughable and just embarrassing to hear. Other 70's bands were years ahead of KISS and had much better albums than Destroyer. I'm talking about Boston's debut album and Don't Look Back, Bon Scott Era AC/DC's Let There Be Rock, UFO's Phenomenon, other material by Deep Purple, Rush.Overrated Band, Overrated Album.
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