Kiss – Destroyer – 1976

I have previously claimed and concluded that Destroyer would be a rather mediocre album. However, as usual, it also depends on the mood and the attitude one has towards the music at the time of listening.

It is undoubtedly a more well-produced album than the previous three, and it’s not hard to figure out when you read that it’s Bob Ezrin who produced it. The sound is thicker than before, and Destroyer contains some of the best Kiss songs of all time: God of Thunder, which is perhaps my personal favorite written by Stanley, even though it’s Simmons who sings it, the classic Detroit Rock City, Great Expectations, Shout it Out Loud, the ballad Beth sung by Criss, and “King of the Night Time World. The remaining material, with a few exceptions, also maintains a very high standard!

Whether this is because Ezrin is also involved as a songwriter in most of the songs or not, I’ll leave unsaid, but it is evident that he is the reason for the album’s well-sounding nature! In any case, it is a significant improvement from the previous studio album, Hotter than Hell.