My offering this time is Destroyer by KISS. So why have I chosen an album by a cartoonish band of Marvel comic book heroes that most of you probably look down your noses at? I imagine that most of you have not listened to this album so it will in some way be a new experience. I am not expecting people to change their minds about KISS, but it might spring the odd surprise. From a long list of potential albums for review, this was the leading contender before fate stepped in and KISS reissued it as a 45th Anniversary edition. I purchased the very reasonably priced deluxe version on release only to subsequently discover that a monstrously expensive super deluxe 4cd / 1 audio Blu-ray box set extravaganza was available in the USA. Thankfully, such transatlantic tribulations were no impediment to Santa Claus, who swiftly arranged to slip one under our Christmas tree. This makes Destroyer the only album I possess more copies of than my previous review choice. I only ask you to open your lugholes to the rather short album itself; although it’s a real pity you can’t hear the 5.1 Steven Wilson surround-sound mix that nearly destroyed our house, shaking the foundations as if all the pyro from a KISS show had simultaneously been ignited under the floorboards.
My love for KISS erupted like a flame column when they played their first ever UK gig at the Free Trade Hall during the Destroyer tour way back in 1976. I attended the concert knowing little about them (something I did for a variety of artists back then). Like most of the audience, I was blown away and KISS rapidly became my favourite band.
KISS’ reputation was built on concert performances. Their major breakthrough in album sales came with Destroyer’s predecessor Alive, a double live showcase of the best tracks from their first three long players, blessed with vastly superior sound to the weakly produced studio records. How live Alive is has been the subject of much speculation but producer Eddie Kramer, engineer on Physical Graffiti, did a great job. However, Kramer was not chosen to helm Destroyer. This seems a surprising call considering that he was back for KISS’ three subsequent releases. The decision was though inspired: Destroyer is not only KISS’ best batch of songs (their live setlist still features more tracks from it than any other studio album) but also features the greatest production job ever, thanks to the presence of one Bob Ezrin. At that time, his known best-known work featured another made up rock star, Alice Cooper. Ezrin also famously went on to produce The Wall by Pink Floyd.
Ezrin serendipitously bumped into KISS at a Canadian TV station and declared that he should produce their next record. The rest, as they say, is KISStory.
Ezrin co-wrote most of the tracks, including all the drum patterns; he also tinkled the ivories on some songs to fill out the guitar sound. He ran the sessions like a military operation, drilling the band long and hard, coaxing the greatest performance by a drummer not called Bonham or Peart out of KISS’ feline timekeeper Peter “The Cat” Criss. He also encouraged the group to do more than just write party hearty hard rock. That might not be obvious from the heavy metal salvo of the opening three tracks, but this disc from the most painted band in the universe has more hooks than the National Gallery.
Ezrin’s influence is immediately evident on the finest album opener ever. Detroit Rock City is a cautionary tale of the dangers of slinging gravel under the influence of rock and roll. It sets off with an extended introduction and crashes out with a coda of cinematic audio effects. All this is wrapped around a classic riff driven piledriver with a distinctive Shaft like bass figure and depth charge drums. The guitar solo is a Flamenco inspired affair written by the producer.
Out of the tangled wreckage of the epic lead off, King of the Night Time World races in to induce a serious bout of cranium shaking.
Suddenly the pace changes as the light turns a pallid green, the mist rises and the blood drips ominously whilst God of Thunder’s behemoth of a riff lumbers in like the footsteps of a T.Rex wearing seven foot leather heels, accompanied by the eerie and sinister sounds of Ezrin’s young children playing with space age walkie talkies. Meanwhile the rocker from another planet Space Ace Frehley beams in a face melting guitar solo that’s hotter than hell.
So far, so KISS. But, expectations are confounded by Great Expectations, KISS’ tribute to The Stones’ You Can’t Always Get What You Want. This examination of the hopes and desires of the band’s fans is beautifully sung by Gene Simmons, who is aided and abetted by the Brooklyn Boys Choir. Simmons’ performance is a sharp contrast to his demonic vocal on the preceding monster, God of Thunder.
Named after the first act KISS supported, Flaming Youth has a Humble Pie inspired riff. This song about a teenager fighting authority and the world itself is lightened by the sound of the circus, courtesy of a Calliope. Uncredited top session guitarist Dick Wagner steps in to provide a classy guitar solo.
Despite Criss’ Motown beat, Sweet Pain is a sinister little Simmons’ composition about S&M; although pain is pleasure ain’t his idea of what to do with leather. Dick Wagner provides another slick solo; although Ezrin later regretted removing Ace’s rawer contribution, which can be heard of the Resurrected version of Destroyer.
The band revert to type on Shout it Out Loud, a successful attempt to replicate the punch the air glory of Rock ‘n’ Roll All Nite. Featuring football chant drums and a descending bass line, whilst Simmons and Stanley alternate lead vocal and indulge in Four Tops inspired call and response backing vocals, the band produced a loud ‘n’ proud concert singalong staple.
The mood changes dramatically on crooner Criss’s starring vehicle Beth. With its Mozart piano, lush orchestration and Dick Wagner’s super clean acoustic guitar, what started out as a joke lyric about Becky, a nagging wife of a former band mate of Criss, became a beautiful heartfelt song about being away from home on the road with the greatest rock ‘n’ roll band in the world. A controversial inclusion on the album, Simmons and Stanley wanted it left off, ended up as a major hit single and metamorphosised Destroyer into a double platinum colossus, after sales had stalled before reaching the ultimate precious metal mark. Even though Criss is no longer a member, KISS still perform the best rock ballad ever in concert.
The album climaxes with the high of the Mott the Hoople influenced Do You Love Me. Written by Runaways’ Svengali Kim Fowley, Ezrin predicted it would be Fowley’s pension, it’s another KISS Koncert Klassic. Sung by “Starchild” Stanley, with tongue firmly in cheek, to the band’s groupies, it incorporates a deliberately Ian Hunter style spoken section and dual guitars to match Lizzy at their finest. Fittingly, Ezrin provides a final flourish to this belter of a track.
This is the album that turned KISS into the hottest band in the world.
Play it loud.
Play it on your headphones.
Join the KISS Army.
View attachment 36045
It’s 34 minutes long mate. Makes up for his earlier pick of a double record (albeit a very good one)!Or to plan a long drive for myself
Don’t worry I will be open minded about this.It’s 34 minutes long mate. Makes up for his earlier pick of a double record (albeit a very good one)!
Once you said Detroit is right but not a band from Detroit, the first thing I thought of was Detroit Rock City.The clues – a picture from the collection The Ruins of Detroit.
The ruins are a reference to the album cover and name.
Detroit is a reference to one of the album’s best-known songs.
This reply: “Not a difficult listen and it's short and sweet pain that you will need to endure.” Features the name of a track on the album.
I also replied about keeping it simple, as in the KISS principle.
The connection referred to Alice Cooper’s Schools Out is the producer.
My offering this time is Destroyer by KISS. So why have I chosen an album by a cartoonish band of Marvel comic book heroes that most of you probably look down your noses at? I imagine that most of you have not listened to this album so it will in some way be a new experience. I am not expecting people to change their minds about KISS, but it might spring the odd surprise. From a long list of potential albums for review, this was the leading contender before fate stepped in and KISS reissued it as a 45th Anniversary edition. I purchased the very reasonably priced deluxe version on release only to subsequently discover that a monstrously expensive super deluxe 4cd / 1 audio Blu-ray box set extravaganza was available in the USA. Thankfully, such transatlantic tribulations were no impediment to Santa Claus, who swiftly arranged to slip one under our Christmas tree. This makes Destroyer the only album I possess more copies of than my previous review choice. I only ask you to open your lugholes to the rather short album itself; although it’s a real pity you can’t hear the 5.1 Steven Wilson surround-sound mix that nearly destroyed our house, shaking the foundations as if all the pyro from a KISS show had simultaneously been ignited under the floorboards.
My love for KISS erupted like a flame column when they played their first ever UK gig at the Free Trade Hall during the Destroyer tour way back in 1976. I attended the concert knowing little about them (something I did for a variety of artists back then). Like most of the audience, I was blown away and KISS rapidly became my favourite band.
KISS’ reputation was built on concert performances. Their major breakthrough in album sales came with Destroyer’s predecessor Alive, a double live showcase of the best tracks from their first three long players, blessed with vastly superior sound to the weakly produced studio records. How live Alive is has been the subject of much speculation but producer Eddie Kramer, engineer on Physical Graffiti, did a great job. However, Kramer was not chosen to helm Destroyer. This seems a surprising call considering that he was back for KISS’ three subsequent releases. The decision was though inspired: Destroyer is not only KISS’ best batch of songs (their live setlist still features more tracks from it than any other studio album) but also features the greatest production job ever, thanks to the presence of one Bob Ezrin. At that time, his known best-known work featured another made up rock star, Alice Cooper. Ezrin also famously went on to produce The Wall by Pink Floyd.
Ezrin serendipitously bumped into KISS at a Canadian TV station and declared that he should produce their next record. The rest, as they say, is KISStory.
Ezrin co-wrote most of the tracks, including all the drum patterns; he also tinkled the ivories on some songs to fill out the guitar sound. He ran the sessions like a military operation, drilling the band long and hard, coaxing the greatest performance by a drummer not called Bonham or Peart out of KISS’ feline timekeeper Peter “The Cat” Criss. He also encouraged the group to do more than just write party hearty hard rock. That might not be obvious from the heavy metal salvo of the opening three tracks, but this disc from the most painted band in the universe has more hooks than the National Gallery.
Ezrin’s influence is immediately evident on the finest album opener ever. Detroit Rock City is a cautionary tale of the dangers of slinging gravel under the influence of rock and roll. It sets off with an extended introduction and crashes out with a coda of cinematic audio effects. All this is wrapped around a classic riff driven piledriver with a distinctive Shaft like bass figure and depth charge drums. The guitar solo is a Flamenco inspired affair written by the producer.
Out of the tangled wreckage of the epic lead off, King of the Night Time World races in to induce a serious bout of cranium shaking.
Suddenly the pace changes as the light turns a pallid green, the mist rises and the blood drips ominously whilst God of Thunder’s behemoth of a riff lumbers in like the footsteps of a T.Rex wearing seven foot leather heels, accompanied by the eerie and sinister sounds of Ezrin’s young children playing with space age walkie talkies. Meanwhile the rocker from another planet Space Ace Frehley beams in a face melting guitar solo that’s hotter than hell.
So far, so KISS. But, expectations are confounded by Great Expectations, KISS’ tribute to The Stones’ You Can’t Always Get What You Want. This examination of the hopes and desires of the band’s fans is beautifully sung by Gene Simmons, who is aided and abetted by the Brooklyn Boys Choir. Simmons’ performance is a sharp contrast to his demonic vocal on the preceding monster, God of Thunder.
Named after the first act KISS supported, Flaming Youth has a Humble Pie inspired riff. This song about a teenager fighting authority and the world itself is lightened by the sound of the circus, courtesy of a Calliope. Uncredited top session guitarist Dick Wagner steps in to provide a classy guitar solo.
Despite Criss’ Motown beat, Sweet Pain is a sinister little Simmons’ composition about S&M; although pain is pleasure ain’t his idea of what to do with leather. Dick Wagner provides another slick solo; although Ezrin later regretted removing Ace’s rawer contribution, which can be heard of the Resurrected version of Destroyer.
The band revert to type on Shout it Out Loud, a successful attempt to replicate the punch the air glory of Rock ‘n’ Roll All Nite. Featuring football chant drums and a descending bass line, whilst Simmons and Stanley alternate lead vocal and indulge in Four Tops inspired call and response backing vocals, the band produced a loud ‘n’ proud concert singalong staple.
The mood changes dramatically on crooner Criss’s starring vehicle Beth. With its Mozart piano, lush orchestration and Dick Wagner’s super clean acoustic guitar, what started out as a joke lyric about Becky, a nagging wife of a former band mate of Criss, became a beautiful heartfelt song about being away from home on the road with the greatest rock ‘n’ roll band in the world. A controversial inclusion on the album, Simmons and Stanley wanted it left off, ended up as a major hit single and metamorphosised Destroyer into a double platinum colossus, after sales had stalled before reaching the ultimate precious metal mark. Even though Criss is no longer a member, KISS still perform the best rock ballad ever in concert.
The album climaxes with the high of the Mott the Hoople influenced Do You Love Me. Written by Runaways’ Svengali Kim Fowley, Ezrin predicted it would be Fowley’s pension, it’s another KISS Koncert Klassic. Sung by “Starchild” Stanley, with tongue firmly in cheek, to the band’s groupies, it incorporates a deliberately Ian Hunter style spoken section and dual guitars to match Lizzy at their finest. Fittingly, Ezrin provides a final flourish to this belter of a track.
This is the album that turned KISS into the hottest band in the world.
Play it loud.
Play it on your headphones.
Join the KISS Army.
View attachment 36045
Just a reminder that deadline for votes is 3.00 PM on Mondays.Pretty much sums up my thoughts. An 8 from me too.
My offering this time is Destroyer by KISS. So why have I chosen an album by a cartoonish band of Marvel comic book heroes that most of you probably look down your noses at? I imagine that most of you have not listened to this album so it will in some way be a new experience. I am not expecting people to change their minds about KISS, but it might spring the odd surprise. From a long list of potential albums for review, this was the leading contender before fate stepped in and KISS reissued it as a 45th Anniversary edition. I purchased the very reasonably priced deluxe version on release only to subsequently discover that a monstrously expensive super deluxe 4cd / 1 audio Blu-ray box set extravaganza was available in the USA. Thankfully, such transatlantic tribulations were no impediment to Santa Claus, who swiftly arranged to slip one under our Christmas tree. This makes Destroyer the only album I possess more copies of than my previous review choice. I only ask you to open your lugholes to the rather short album itself; although it’s a real pity you can’t hear the 5.1 Steven Wilson surround-sound mix that nearly destroyed our house, shaking the foundations as if all the pyro from a KISS show had simultaneously been ignited under the floorboards.
My love for KISS erupted like a flame column when they played their first ever UK gig at the Free Trade Hall during the Destroyer tour way back in 1976. I attended the concert knowing little about them (something I did for a variety of artists back then). Like most of the audience, I was blown away and KISS rapidly became my favourite band.
KISS’ reputation was built on concert performances. Their major breakthrough in album sales came with Destroyer’s predecessor Alive, a double live showcase of the best tracks from their first three long players, blessed with vastly superior sound to the weakly produced studio records. How live Alive is has been the subject of much speculation but producer Eddie Kramer, engineer on Physical Graffiti, did a great job. However, Kramer was not chosen to helm Destroyer. This seems a surprising call considering that he was back for KISS’ three subsequent releases. The decision was though inspired: Destroyer is not only KISS’ best batch of songs (their live setlist still features more tracks from it than any other studio album) but also features the greatest production job ever, thanks to the presence of one Bob Ezrin. At that time, his known best-known work featured another made up rock star, Alice Cooper. Ezrin also famously went on to produce The Wall by Pink Floyd.
Ezrin serendipitously bumped into KISS at a Canadian TV station and declared that he should produce their next record. The rest, as they say, is KISStory.
Ezrin co-wrote most of the tracks, including all the drum patterns; he also tinkled the ivories on some songs to fill out the guitar sound. He ran the sessions like a military operation, drilling the band long and hard, coaxing the greatest performance by a drummer not called Bonham or Peart out of KISS’ feline timekeeper Peter “The Cat” Criss. He also encouraged the group to do more than just write party hearty hard rock. That might not be obvious from the heavy metal salvo of the opening three tracks, but this disc from the most painted band in the universe has more hooks than the National Gallery.
Ezrin’s influence is immediately evident on the finest album opener ever. Detroit Rock City is a cautionary tale of the dangers of slinging gravel under the influence of rock and roll. It sets off with an extended introduction and crashes out with a coda of cinematic audio effects. All this is wrapped around a classic riff driven piledriver with a distinctive Shaft like bass figure and depth charge drums. The guitar solo is a Flamenco inspired affair written by the producer.
Out of the tangled wreckage of the epic lead off, King of the Night Time World races in to induce a serious bout of cranium shaking.
Suddenly the pace changes as the light turns a pallid green, the mist rises and the blood drips ominously whilst God of Thunder’s behemoth of a riff lumbers in like the footsteps of a T.Rex wearing seven foot leather heels, accompanied by the eerie and sinister sounds of Ezrin’s young children playing with space age walkie talkies. Meanwhile the rocker from another planet Space Ace Frehley beams in a face melting guitar solo that’s hotter than hell.
So far, so KISS. But, expectations are confounded by Great Expectations, KISS’ tribute to The Stones’ You Can’t Always Get What You Want. This examination of the hopes and desires of the band’s fans is beautifully sung by Gene Simmons, who is aided and abetted by the Brooklyn Boys Choir. Simmons’ performance is a sharp contrast to his demonic vocal on the preceding monster, God of Thunder.
Named after the first act KISS supported, Flaming Youth has a Humble Pie inspired riff. This song about a teenager fighting authority and the world itself is lightened by the sound of the circus, courtesy of a Calliope. Uncredited top session guitarist Dick Wagner steps in to provide a classy guitar solo.
Despite Criss’ Motown beat, Sweet Pain is a sinister little Simmons’ composition about S&M; although pain is pleasure ain’t his idea of what to do with leather. Dick Wagner provides another slick solo; although Ezrin later regretted removing Ace’s rawer contribution, which can be heard of the Resurrected version of Destroyer.
The band revert to type on Shout it Out Loud, a successful attempt to replicate the punch the air glory of Rock ‘n’ Roll All Nite. Featuring football chant drums and a descending bass line, whilst Simmons and Stanley alternate lead vocal and indulge in Four Tops inspired call and response backing vocals, the band produced a loud ‘n’ proud concert singalong staple.
The mood changes dramatically on crooner Criss’s starring vehicle Beth. With its Mozart piano, lush orchestration and Dick Wagner’s super clean acoustic guitar, what started out as a joke lyric about Becky, a nagging wife of a former band mate of Criss, became a beautiful heartfelt song about being away from home on the road with the greatest rock ‘n’ roll band in the world. A controversial inclusion on the album, Simmons and Stanley wanted it left off, ended up as a major hit single and metamorphosised Destroyer into a double platinum colossus, after sales had stalled before reaching the ultimate precious metal mark. Even though Criss is no longer a member, KISS still perform the best rock ballad ever in concert.
The album climaxes with the high of the Mott the Hoople influenced Do You Love Me. Written by Runaways’ Svengali Kim Fowley, Ezrin predicted it would be Fowley’s pension, it’s another KISS Koncert Klassic. Sung by “Starchild” Stanley, with tongue firmly in cheek, to the band’s groupies, it incorporates a deliberately Ian Hunter style spoken section and dual guitars to match Lizzy at their finest. Fittingly, Ezrin provides a final flourish to this belter of a track.
This is the album that turned KISS into the hottest band in the world.
Play it loud.
Play it on your headphones.
Join the KISS Army.
View attachment 36045