Destroyer

1	Detroit Rock City 5:17
2	King of the Night Time World 3:21
3	God of Thunder 4:17
4	Great Expectations 4:24
5	Flaming Youth 3:00
6	Sweet Pain 3:21
7	Shout It out Loud 2:50
8	Beth 2:49
9	Do You Love Me 3:40
10	[Untitled] 1:25

Barnes & Noble

Who would have thought that the makeup-wearing purveyors of simple, catchy guitar riffs and inane lyrics just right for adoloscent boys would be capable of a concept album? The result is one of their finest efforts. Released in 1976, the million seller came directly on the heels of their breakthrough live album, Alive. Realizing it would be futile to try and recreate that success in the studio, they began to experiment, under the guidance of producer Bob Ezrin (Pink Floyd, Alice Cooper). The album makes use of everything from a boy's choir ("Great Expectations") and non-musical sound effects (the untitled closing track), to an orchestra during "Beth" -- drummer Peter Criss's touching ballad about being away from a loved one while playing with the boys. After the opening crescendo of the anthem "Detroit Rock City," singer/guitarist Paul Stanley opens up his explosive voice and from there the album is a colorful portrait of the decadence and hardships of the rock and roll lifestyle. Steven DeLuca

All Music Guide

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