Destroyer is the fourth studio album by American hard rock band Kiss, released on March 15, 1976, by Casablanca Records in the US. It was the third successive Kiss album to reach the top 40 in the US, as well as the first to chart in Germany and New Zealand. The album was certified gold by the RIAA on April 22, 1976, and platinum on November 11 of the same year, the first Kiss album to achieve platinum. The album marked a departure from the raw sound of the band's first three albums.
Cover art by Ken Kelly
Original album cover before it was redesigned. It would be used for the 2012 remix release.
Kiss was an American rock band formed in New York City in 1973 by Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley, and Peter Criss. Known for their face paint and stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid-1970s with shock rock-style live performances which featured fire-breathing, blood-spitting, smoking guitars, shooting rockets, levitating drum kits, and pyrotechnics. The band went through several lineup changes, with Stanley and Simmons remaining the only consistent members. The final lineup consisted of them, Tommy Thayer, and Eric Singer.
The original line-up of Kiss in 1975 (L–R): Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Peter Criss and Ace Frehley
Kiss original lineup in 1974. L–R: Paul Stanley, Peter Criss, Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley
Simmons and Frehley share a microphone in 1978.
Simmons performing with Kiss in 1979