KISS – Destroyer (1976)

This past month, the annual list of inductees for the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame was released. Every year, there is a wave of hope by rock fans that their favorite band will be on that list. For me, there is definitely a list of bands that I feel should be in the Hall of Fame.  The top four on my list would be the bands Deep Purple, Rush, Cheap Trick and the rock phenomenon known as KISS. The album (by this band) that I’ll be highlighting is the band’s 1976 33 minute opus Destroyer.

I know KISS doesn’t ever really get the respect of more “serious” artists like Springsteen, Bob Dylan or Neil Young. It is hard considering they rose to fame as four guys in platform shoes and black and white face paint.  They also became one of the biggest Rock n’ Roll marketing franchises ever. But, when you go back to 1976 and look at the musical landscape of the day, it’s easy for me to feel a little nostalgic. The bottom-line about KISS is they looked like comic book characters come to life and they were just plain fun.
In 1976, I was 9 years old. I was still being influenced musically by what my older sisters had been listening to. Looking back at the charts in 1976, it’s was probably songs like KC & the Sunshine Band’s (Shake Shake Shake) Shake Your Booty, Barry Manilow’s I Write the Songs, and the Bay City Rollers’ Saturday Night.  But, I still went to public school where there were other boys(with older male siblings) who listened to more masculine rock n’ roll acts.  I remember Jeff J. and Mark W. bringing the (I assume) was the inner booklet to the KISS Alive double album. It had pictures of the band as they performed. Paul Stanley was the “Starchild” who was shirtless and pranced around on stage as a definite presence. Ace Frehley was the “Space Ace” guitarist that had silver makeup and a “spacey” looking costume. In some of the pictures, his guitar looked like it was on fire. Peter Criss was the “Catman” and seemed to have a huge set of drums. There were tom-toms all around him.  Lastly, the one band member that everyone talked about, was Gene Simmons. He was the “Demon” and spit blood and breathed fire! I’m sure (looking back) Gene Simmons’ demon character that scared most parents.  But, this was hard rock and it was exciting and daring compared to the safeness of John Denver and his wholesome image.
I’ve watched a bunch of YouTube videos and “Behind the Music” type stories on the history of KISS. I don’t remember where I was when Destroyer came out. But, I do remember hearing bits and pieces of it and the furor that surrounded it.  The band had made a big splash on the music scene with the release of KISS Alive.  This was to be the studio follow-up to the live album. They enlisted the help of producer Bob Ezrin. In 1976, Ezrin was known for producing albums by Aerosmith, Alice Cooper and Lou Reed. Over the years, he’s gone on to produce for more artists including Pink Floyd, Peter Gabriel and two of my favorite albums Bonham’s A Disregard for Timekeeping and Trevor Rabin’s Can’t Look Away.
The album starts out with Detroit Rock City.  But, it’s a little different. Ezrin has used this on different projects he’s worked on.  He uses ambient sounds like car doors slamming and engines revving and the sounds of radios blaring to let the listener use their imaginations to construct a story behind the song. This song starts with the sound of a news story on the radio(or TV) about a car accident involving a head-on collision. Then, we hear someone driving their car with the Rock and Roll All Nite on the radio. At 1:33, The initial song seemingly transitions from the sound of the car revving into the actual song with Gene’s rumbling bass. The song is steamrolled with Peter Criss drumming away. Paul wails away on vocals and the simplistic riff carries through the song. Then the twin guitar lead of Ace and Paul harmonizing. I’ve always been a sucker for a twin guitar lead. From the Allman Brothers to Thin Lizzy, I’ve always loved that sound.

We hear the car skid into something and the eventual crash and the song segues right into the second track King of the Night Time World.  The continuity of these two songs fading into each other really packs a mighty punch. As I was researching this album, I found that the infamous Kim Fowley (who went on to manage the all-girl group the Runaways) was a co-writer on this song.
As I’m writing this album memory, I didn’t want to just wade through all the different songs as I’ve done before. My exposure to this album was one of a couple KISS albums my sister Kathy owned.  As I look back, it’s funny to think my sister owned this album on vinyl and a copy of KISS’s Rock and Roll Over on 8-Track. My sister was a teenager during this time and the main artists she would listen to would be Shaun Cassidy, the Bay City Rollers and Andy Gibb. But, because of the many “Record clubs” that were available in those days, she would often order a few of these albums too. So, I was rather excited for myself and for her when this album arrived at the house. 
This was a bit of  new turn for KISS. The band had been riding a wave after the success of the Alive album. The first single off this album was supposed to be Detroit Rock City. The B-Side of the single was a lush piano and strings laced ballad written by drummer Peter Criss and producer Ezrin called Beth. According to “KISStory”, a DJ in Georgia flipped the Detroit Rock City single over and started playing the single Beth.  All of a sudden, KISS was being played on the radio in Central Nebraska. My pop loving sister had that “dangerous” stuff in her record club. Even if my small-town parents that were frightened by the outlandish look of KISS, I could show them that KISS had a “nice” song that was performed by the drummer. He wasn’t weird and scary looking like the “Demon” guy and the “Star” guy were.  KISS was everywhere at that point.  They even made it on a primetime Halloween special with Hollywood Squares mainstay Paul Lynde.  The band performed (or lip synched)  King of the Night Time World, Detroit Rock City and (of course) Beth.

They had definitely cracked the mainstream. The song Beth even tied for the People Choice Award for Favorite song with Rick Dees’ Disco Duck that year. I remember following the various awards shows in those days. I was a sucker for a novelty song too. So, it was funny that both Beth and Disco Duck tied for the award.  For a boy like myself, they were the embodiment of HARD ROCK and that was the best kind of rock to be a fan of.  I’ve always said there is something about the sound of the electric guitar that definitely strikes a chord in teenage and prepubescent boys. I was 9 and almost 10 when this all started happening. I wasn’t athletically inclined. I was an avid comic book reader. This would later be the traits of a geek or nerd. Oh well, that’s where I was at the time. But, this hard rock music was something that most of the boys in my age group were into.  As we grew older, we would make comments that “Oh, KISS is stupid” and the stereotypical ignorant “They’re rock stars and they’re all on drugs.”  But, deep down, the band became somewhat of a guilty pleasure for me. Who am I kidding? They still are.

Much has been said by critics and musicians over the years of the talent that KISS did or didn’t possess.  Rolling Stone magazine referred to Destroyer as “bloated ballads, pedestrian drumming and lackluster performances” in their initial review.  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". 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. In the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die,  Bruno McDonald writes,

“Fans have debated Destroyer’s merits since its release….But the band have spent their career trying to match it.”

Of course, they were not virtuosos on their instruments. They put on some of the most elaborate stage shows of the 70’s.  They wore makeup and high platform shoes. But, their act was visual and (after 1976) they were everywhere. There was also the secret of how they looked without the makeup. It was a bit of mystery to what they really looked like and they were never to be seen in public without their makeup on.
When I was 10 years old, I decided to take part in the school band program, I picked the snare drum(singular..at first). It was the summer between my 5th and 6th grade year. Many kids were given the choice to start in band in the 5th grade. I hesitated. But one night I realized I really wanted to pursue the drums and the ole intangible spell of the drums hit me. A few of my friends had parents that bought them the standard beginner snare drum kit from Ludwig. My parents found a friend of the family that had a used snare drum(with no stand).  I remember showing it to my friend Tom T.  He asked me what the brand was. We looked at the snare strainer and the word “Pearl” was etched on the snares. I told him I thought it was the Pearl brand.  He immediately replied,  “That’s the best! That’s the kind of drums Peter Criss plays”  Sure enough, I looked on the back of the Destroyer album cover and it read:

“KISS proudly endorses Gibson guitars and Pearl Drums. Because when KISS wants the best, they get the best!”

That summer, we would have some kind of summer band program at the High School band room.  I remember there was a bunch of guys there who had already decided to decorate their drumsticks like Peter Criss. It seems like there may have been a picture of Peter with some black tape displayed in stripes at the top of his sticks. So, there were a couple of those guys with sticks decorated that way.
Time went by and so did the tastes of my peers as we grew older. Peter Criss left the band in 1980. He was replaced with a new drummer named Eric Carr. The band appeared in 1983 on MTV to finally present themselves without the makeup. By this time, original guitarist Ace Frehley had left the band too. So, Paul and Gene were the only original members that many fans really cared about what they really looked like. They toured without makeup for the remainder of the 80’s and into the 90’s.
By the mid-80’s, I was in college and I was taking in all kinds of music. But, KISS was still a guilty pleasure for me. While living in the dorms, I was always curious to look at some of the record collections of the other guys on my floor. By the mid 80’s, many guys didn’t even use a turntable and listened to most of their music on a cassette. I befriended a guy across the hall from me and he had a copy of Destroyer on cassette. This was probably the first time I had actually listened to the album in its entirety. When I was younger, I would listen to the songs on my sister’s LP that I knew.  I loved the ambient sounds that producer Bob Ezrin employed to open the album.  To this day, when I hear the album start, I have flashes of walking to the parking lot behind Mantor Hall on the UNK campus. It makes me think of driving into the parking lot there in my freshman year of college.  I would talk to many of my classmates and fellow music students and it seemed we all had a guilt to “Rock and Roll All Nite”  On a road trip to a concert in Omaha, one of my friends put in a cassette copy of KISS Alive.  The car was filled with a bunch of us that were college music majors.  We laughed as we enjoyed it. We agreed that they were a “really good bad band”.  I’ve always said that the song structure and the playing was simple. But, there were some definite moments of greatness. I found that Ace’s guitar solos were very tasteful and not overbearing and flashy.  As my record collection grew, I had owned both the Alive albums from the makeup years.  That was about it. I was always tempted to own a copy of Destroyer again.  
In 1996, the original band of Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Peter Criss and Ace Frehley reunited in full costume and makeup and set out on a grand tour. 

By this time, I was unashamed of my guilty pleasure. So, my friends and I ordered our tickets and we were on our way to see the reunited KISS play at the Omaha Civic Auditorium.  I know people have said it before. But, it was like 1976 all over again.  I was too young to see them in 1976.  Now, I was twenty years older and I absolutely loved the concert. It was such a fun time.  Interestingly enough, the opening band that night was the Swing revival band Royal Crown Revue. It seemed rather mismatched at the time. But, It showed how diverse the guys in KISS were willing to be for their reunion tour. I’ve recently been in contact with RCR drummer Daniel Glass about this blog. He’s a great drummer, writer and historian of jazz and rock drumming of the 20th Century.
As I write this and continue to listen to the Destroyer album, I’m reminded of some great lesser known songs that became staples of the KISS catalog too.  Do You Love Me, Flaming Youth and Shout it Out Loud are all songs that really fill out the album. The coincidental song of the album is God of Thunder.  Paul Stanley actually wrote this song. But, he eventually gave the song to Gene Simmons because it fit his vocal style better. Now this song has become Gene’s signature piece that goes into his solo spectacle of spitting blood and being lifted to the rafters of the stage to sing the song. It was exciting to see this live in concert. We had heard stories of Gene’s fear of heights. So, when he was raised to the rafters, we could see a little bit of hesitance in his demeanor.
I’m sure many will continue to argue the influence of KISS on today’s music and the way concerts are presented. Garth Brooks said in the early 90’s that his stage show was inspired by KISS’s concerts in th 70’s. Garth became one of the first country artists to have a big “rockin” country show. It’s also amusing to me that orignial members Peter and Ace are the ones that were fired, booted, forced out(whatever) in the early 2000’s. Peter was replaced by Eric Singer who replaced Eric Carr when he got sick in the early 90’s and Ace was replaced by guitarist/road manager/KISS fanatic Tommy Thayer. Instead of giving these guys new “makeup” characters, they have taken over the costumes of the Catman and the Spaceman. This has become an issue of contempt for longtime fans. I find it ironic though that musicians who grew up on KISS in the 70’s have stated that both Ace and Peter were influential in picking up their respective instruments. I’ve read that Pantera’s “Dimebag” Darrell, Skid Row’s ‘Snake’ Sabo and Soundgarden’s Kim Thayil all praise the playing of Ace as one of the guys they looked to as influence on guitar. In VH1’s Behind the Music, Tommy Lee of Motley Crue that he was inspired by Peter Criss and his huge onstage drumset. So, the two guys that are no longer in the band are probably the two that are singled out as the most influential as musicians. I’m not saying they were virtuosos by any means. But, an argument could be made that KISS was as influential to kids in the 70’s as the Beatles were to kids in the 60’s. Not that Paul and Gene can hold a candle to the songwriting of Lennon/McCartney. I’m saying that both bands were made up of four distinct personalities from two very ubiquitous bands.
In 1978, While KISS’s popularity was rising, they made a TV movie called KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park.  I was so excited to see this movie at the time. The movie debuted on NBC-TV only a few nights before Halloween that year. So, I have distinct memories of my friends changing their minds regarding what they were going to dress up as for the costumed holiday. I was a huge Star Wars fan and I fashioned my own Luke Skywalker costume. But, I couldn’t take my toy lightsaber or blaster trick-or-treating. So, the costume fell kinda flat that year.  But, I had friends that went as Gene’s demon, Ace’s Spaceman and Peter’s Catman. As I grew into adulthood and dressing up for Halloween became cool for adults, I decided that I wanted to go as Peter Criss in the Catman outfit. My ex-wife was always willing to put the makeup on for me. So, in 2002, I dressed up as Peter Criss for my job at a TV station and the annual employee Halloween costume contest.  The problem was that no one was familiar with all the classic KISS members as I was. So, the only one anybody ever knew was Gene Simmons. I only got 2nd place in the competition. But, the boy who grew to like KISS in the mid 70’s was able to fulfill a childhood dream and dress up like a member of KISS.
Now KISS is everywhere. Gene has his own "reality" show that is obviously scripted. They are seen in Wal-Mart commercials, Pepsi and Dr Pepper commercials and even KISS themed lottery scratch tickets. But, I still find a great pleasure in listening to those classic KISS albums from the 70’s. There is just something fun, cool and very escapist for me to put these on and just revel in the music and memories of this undeniable band and this album.