Born On This Day: Kiss “Destroyer” Turns 42 Today
Kiss were already the biggest band in the world by the time March 15 1976 rolled around. The previous studio efforts had not managed to garner the sales the label had hoped, but the enormous success of the live shows and the subsequent ALIVE album had gone a long way to cement the bands success. “Destroyer” would mark a departure for Kiss. It would trade the “raw” sound and feel of the previous 3 studio albums, and find the band and producer Bob Ezrin exploring new musical landscapes using sound effects, strings and children’s choirs among others things. The result was the most successful Kiss album to date. The stories about Bob Ezrin and the making of Destroyer have been widely discussed over the years. For examlpe, Ezrin, in an attempt to instill discipline in the then young band, would wear a whistle around his neck and led the sessions like a “drill sergeant”, even going so far as to give Gene, Paul, Peter and Ace lessons in music theory in an attempt to improve the quality of the music they were making. Destroyer would give the band it’s first top 10 hit with the ballad “Beth” and would be certified platinum by the end of 1976.
