Rating:
Genre:
Rock
Release Date: 09/16/2008
Run Time: 34:03
The pressure was on
Kiss for their fifth release, and the band knew it. Their breakthrough,
Alive!, was going to be hard to top, so instead of trying to recreate a concert setting in the studio, they went the opposite route.
Destroyer is one of
Kiss' most experimental studio albums, but also one of their strongest and most interesting.
Alice Cooper/
Pink Floyd producer
Bob Ezrin was on hand, and he strongly encouraged the band to experiment -- there's extensive use of sound effects (the album's untitled closing track), the appearance of a boy's choir (
"Great Expectations"), and an orchestra-laden, heartfelt
ballad (
"Beth"). But there's plenty of
Kiss' heavy thunder
rock to go around, such as the demonic
"God of Thunder" and the sing-along anthems
"Flaming Youth," "Shout It Out Loud," "King of the Night Time World," and
"Detroit Rock City" (the latter a tale of a doomed concert-goer, complete with violent car-crash sound effects). But it was the aforementioned
Peter Criss ballad,
"Beth," that made
Destroyer such a success; the song was a surprise Top Ten hit (it was originally released as a B-side to
"Detroit Rock City"). Also included is a song that
Nirvana would later cover (
"Do You Love Me?"), as well as an ode to the pleasures of S&M,
"Sweet Pain." Destroyer also marked the first time that a comic-book illustration of the band appeared on the cover, confirming that the band was transforming from hard rockers to superheroes.
~Greg Prato, All Music Guide
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