Description

45th anniversary edition super deluxe box set in lp size. 4 cds, blu-ray audio, book, army kit replica, tour program replica, photos, stickers, posters, flyers

The pressure was on Kiss for their fourth studio 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. This super deluxe box features tons of unreleased material as well as a live cd recorded at the Loymplia in Paris on the 22nd of May 1976. After the release of Destroyer the band embarked on what is referred to as The First European Tour, a 17 date jaunt where the band used the stage set up and costumes from the Alive tour. The recording starts with some instrument tuning that leads into “All Right Paris You Wanted The Best…” intro and the band hits the stage with their most effective opening salvo of Deuce and Strutter, Ace is playing well, his solos are energetic and set the pace. “This is from our new album Destroyer…..its called Flaming Youth” , this rarely played gem is an early highlight of the set. Very close to the record the song is great live and unfortunately would be dropped after this tour so it is nice to have such a well recording version to enjoy. Another two songs that are made for each other follow, as they do on Alive, Hotter Than Hell starts it off and gets the crowd clapping as it segues into Firehouse. I think these songs work so well because Kiss was a true working band back then and their use of harmonies is very effective, Gene and Paul’s vocals work very well together and they just hit it. The crowd gives a big cheer at its conclusion giving the band their approval, the crowd is very respectful and after a little cheering the quiet down, its obvious all eyes are on the strange looking men from America. For me there are a couple Kiss songs with riffs that have huge balls to them, She is one of those songs. Built for the concert stage again the crowd it into it and clap as Gene play his bass in the center section before Ace plays the solo, and what a solo it twists like a snake and leads to the songs heaviness. The song gives way to a blistering Ace solo, after ripping into some fast paced notes he hits his echo and goes on a space trip that has the audience on its feet shouting and clapping. More cowbell please as the band goes right into a fast paced Nothing To Lose, there is little fan fare between songs, the band obviously preferred to let the music do the talking, it should be noted that Peter Criss is in top form and his drum fills are perfect. Another new song is next and arrives to someone blowing a whistle, Shout It Out Loud again is close to the record and it sounds as if the band is still getting used to playing it live. The audience is really getting into the show and becomes more vocal as Gene gets into his bass solo and blood spitting that leads into another favourite 100,000 Years. Ace play such an important role in this song, its his soloing and Peter’s drum fills that make this song. Peter gets his solo spot and hit takes advantage of it, he is playing the hell out of his kit and his snare is almost destroyed at is conclusion with the crowd shouting a cheering him on. The opening stains of Black Diamond garners cheers from the audience, they clap in time with the song and cheer as the bombs go off at its conclusion. They have no choice but to chant at its conclusion to get the band back on stage, they are successful and the reward is Detroit Rock City. The version here sounds almost stripped down and not as polished as it would become, the crowd is very into it and clap through out the song. The show comes to an end with the signature Rock N Roll All Nite, the crowd again chanting at its conclusion as the recording keeps going as the house lights come up and music is played over the PA.

Track list:
1. Detroit Rock City
2. King Of The Nightime World
3. God Of Thunder
4. Great Expectations
5. Flaming Youth
6. Sweet Pain
7. Shout It Out Loud
8. Beth
9. Do You Love Me
10. Rock And Roll Party

Cd 2: Destroyer Era Demos
1. Doncha Hesitate-Paul Stanley demo
2. God Of Thunder And Rock And Roll-Paul Stanley demo
3. Its The Fire-Paul Stanley demo
4. Detroit Rock City-Paul Stanley demo
5. Love Is Alright-Paul Stanley demo
6. Bad Bad Lovin-Gene Simmons demo
7. Man Of A Thousand Faces-Gene Simmons demo
8. I Don’t Want No Romance-Gene Simmons demo
9. Burnin Up With Fever-Gene Simmons demo
10. Rock N Rolls Royce-Gene Simmons demo
11. Mad Dog-Gene Simmons demo
12. Night Boy-Gene Simmons demo
13. Star-Gene Simmons demo
14. Howlin For Your Love-Gene Simmons demo
15. True Confession-Gene Simmons demo

Cd 3: Destroyer Outtakes
1. Beth-acoustic mix
2. Shout It Out Loud-mono single edit
3. Flaming Youth-single edit
4. Detroit Rock City-single edit
5. Shout It Out Loud-mono single edit
6. Flaming Youth-mono single edit
7. Destroit Rock City-mono single edit
8. Beth-mono
9. King Of The Night Time World-alternate mix
10. Do You Love Me-mono instrumental
11. God Of Thunder-early instrumental mix
12. Aint None Of Your Business-instrumental
13. Detroit Rock City-instrumental
14. King Of The Night Time World-alternate mix
15. Great Epectations-early version
16. Flaming Youth-early version
17. Do You Love Me-early version
18. Shout Ot Out Loud-alternate mix
19. Aint None Of Your Business-outtake
20. Beath-take six-instrumental
21. Beth-instrumental
22. Do You Love Me-alternate mix
23. Detroit Rock City-car intro
24. Detroit Rock City-car crash

Cd 4: Paris L’Olympia 22nd of May 1976
1. Deuce
2. Strutter
3. Flaming Youth
4. Hotter Than Hell
5. Firehouse
6. She / Solo Ace Frehley
7. Nothin To Lose
8. Shout It Out Loud / Solo Gene Simmons
9. 100 000 Years / Solo Peter Criss
10. Black Diamond
11. Detroit Rock City
12. Rock And Roll All Nite

Blu-ray audio:
1. Detroit Rock City
2. King Of The Nightime World
3. God Of Thunder
4. Great Expectations
5. Flaming Youth
6. Sweet Pain
7. Shout It Out Loud
8. Beth
9. Do You Love Me
10. Rock And Roll Party
11. Beth-acoustic
12. Sweet Pain-original guitar solo