Destroyer

I had higher hopes for this but ended up thinking it was just so so. Beth was my fave track and got added to my 1001 albums playlist.

One of my fave authors, Chuck Klosterman, is a huge Kiss (and also weirdly, Billy Joel) fan, and he only gives this a grade of B. 13 other Kiss albums rate higher. He is a huge Steely Dan and Beatles fan as well. Never was big on this band, although their Top 40 hits are admittedly fun to sing along to, even though they seem somewhat plodding and formulaic to me, with no real swing/soul (same for Huey Lewis, sorry, Jeff). Their dressing up gimmick also bugged me. This was just OK. Weirdly, a great surround sound mix on Apple Music for a mid-70’s album. Not enough to get to a 3.

Definitely the first Kiss album I’ve listened to front to back. Besides “rock and roll all nite,” and “Beth,” I’m not sure I’d heard a Kiss song before this. But it was generally what I expected. Beth is a great song, the rest was reasonably fun. I don’t think they have a new convert to Kiss Army, but I didn’t hate it.

Pretty alright.

Shout it out loud

Very corny band, but Detroit Rock City rocks

Always thought of kiss as an American version of queen. Easily avoided

Classic rock which I like!

Detroit Rock City and God of Thunder are good.

Hard rock, heavy metal.

Didn't have high expectations, but this was more enjoyable than I thought.

kiss kasket

En Kiss han vivido de las rentas de su estupendos directos, pero no han hecho un disco bueno en su vida. Y mira que tienen. Este tiene dos canciones, Detroit Rock City y Shout it out Loud, que habrían sido un single de puta madre. El resto, se lo pueden llevar a una trampilla de esas que les gustan tanto.

Cool

Somehow far, far worse than I could ever imagine.

This is an album that carries emotional weight for me woven into memories of my brother's love for kiss and the tension with a father who didn't share that enthusiasm. That kind of early identity shaping music exposure, colors, the entire listening experience and for that reason alone Destroyer deserves and will receive a high 4.0 . And of course, Beth. Being my go-to lead track for any rock ballad list says a lot about how deeply this record has imprinted itself on my musical taste.

Hair rock

Glam rock

что с тяжёлой гитарной музыкой) некоторая нелепая, некоторая приятная

Comical. Bad.

Not a KISS fan, but okay for what it is.

KISS was a band I was aways aware of due to their inclusion is so much pop culture, such as Family Guy to name but one, but I never actually stopped to listen until today. I've heard so much of this type of music on this journey already (this is only my 66th album) that it's somewhat difficult to separate it all. I understand that KISS wasn't always hair metal, but some it is here for sure. "God of Thunder" is more of a hard rock track and I enjoyed this one a lot; epic vocals and, although repetitive, had a really catchy riff. Even after a couple of listens, "Great Expectations" and "Flaming Youth" I found hugely forgettable. "Sweet Pain" although fun, has that anthem feel to it which is growing slightly tiresome now. Despite this, some of the guitar work was great. Same could be said about "Shout it out loud" too. "Beth" was a wonderful change up; I am always a sucker for these emotional variations in albums and I've come to expect them as part of my criteria for what makes a truly great album. Overall, it was, unfortunately for it, more of the same of what I've heard from this genre; it definitely is a one trick pony in a lot of respects.

KISS deserves both the acclaim and the criticism. This album hits a core concept of rock, standing in the middle of their progenitors, Black Sabbath and their future-- the hard rockers, hair metalers and stylists like Def Lepard. They are both the inspired and the inspiration. And putting the classic ballad Beth near the end of the rock n roll anthems is just *kiss* 4/5

3.5 Big, dumb, stupid, fun. The hits are hits for a reason.

Good fun

Listening to this I could hear the influence on late rock and metal bands. Not my particular taste but I can recognise their contribution

I mean... why the hell not?

Not a half bad album. Love the start with Detroit Rock City. Enjoy the versatility of the album and how they can do more than the hard rock they look the part of.

Kiss is pop marketed as Rock. Sadly, this isn't the best or the worst example of Kiss music.

I was surprised by how tame KISS music actually is... Anticipated very edgy lyrics in keeping with their aesthetic but found this album to be very much bravado, very generic, almost a parody of what it should be. Cringe in a way I had to laugh at times, especially when he brags about his leather heels! , though mostly a bit boring. Its perfectly listenable 70s guitar, a bit dated but just unremarkable boring. Deducted a point once I saw that face reveal video

I’ve always thought Kiss were a bit of a satirical band (but in a very self aware way?) and after listening to Destroyer I’m still not completely sure, the ambiguity of it all makes it more fun to be honest. I found that this album felt a bit rock opera-y, it has very dramatic arrangements with layered guitars, backing choirs and sound effects which made it feel a bit theatrical at times. Vocals were fine, lyrics were a bit young wild and free, over the top, kiss always give this vibe of being larger than life while simultaneously singing about that most conventional things ever lol. I didn’t mind this album, it didn’t take itself too seriously, or at least it didn’t feel like it does. I can imagine the exaggerative/theatrical performance had mothers going cuckoo bananas at the time so there’s that.

China hait Kiss. Elle ne le prend surtout pas que Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley et Peter Criss acceptent leur médaille d'honneur de Trump l'année passé. Je passe outre; j'ai Destroyer en vinyle et en CD.

est-ce que j'écoute du Aerosmith? Du AC/DC? Du Def Leppard? Du KISS? Du Guns N Roses? Je ne saurais dire... Désolé, ça se veut pas méprisant, mais dans le créneau du rock classique des 70s au 90s, j'ai ben de la misère à départager et à apprécier pleinement.

Bon rock un peu dumb! Ça bien passé

It's just not that good

This was pretty bad, even by Kiss standards. When Gene starts attempting to sing on the third song, I had to check how much longer, and it was still too long, even with Beth yet to come. Not sure why this is on the list and I actually like a lot of 80s glam metal.

Eh.

It's a weird one to rate, but I personally didn't enjoy it really at all. It's just so plain sounding

It's perfectly fine, andhonestly not what I expected. I liked this significantly more than AC/DC, and it's way slower/tamer than what the KISS persona gives off. I thought there would be a bit more metal or hard rock in this hard rock. I think Detroit Rock City is probably the most fun song on the album, but digital streaming has no way to trim the first 90s of intro garbage, so it's not making my playlist. I also liked Great Expectations, but it's pretty corny and not really spectacular by any means. Could have skipped this and been ok.

The slower songs, and the ones that are a bit more like Power Pop, such as Flaming Youth are the better ones; otherwise it’s pretty generic rock ‘n’ roll of the era.

I'm not that familiar with Kiss but this album didn't seem to be as heavy as I was expecting for them. Doesn't seem particularly dated despite being 50 years old.

I, like many, went through my KISS phase. Being from the suburbs of Detroit this album was particularly huge. The opening of the first single always intrigued me as a kid. We were listening to someone do what we do all the time, listen to music in our car. I appreciate this more for the nostalgia and gimmick than as actual music that was ground breaking. Once their gimmick failed to keep people tuned in, they did the big reveal that I watched live on the now defunct MTV. Then they made some spectacularly cheesy and misogynistic 80s music (Lick It Up, anyone?). The song Beth started a trend for hard rock bands to record some sugary song (with an orchestra even!) that always seemed to climb up the charts. KISS has always taken themselves a bit too seriously and started a marketing trend that is unmatched. KISS coffin, anyone? Their recent worshipping at the MAGA alter was stomach churning, but my positive recollections of listening to them with friends and my siblings remain. Great memories but the music is meh.

God Of Thunder sounds like Spinal Tap's Big Bottom. In fact the whole thing is Spinal Tap without the charm.

70’s Rock ⭐️Detroit Rock City

3.1 I guess KISS have to be on here. 70s rock, helped spur the glam metal movement imo, super famous. But my god they are so mediocre. None of it is that bad, but it's really not much than that. There are so many better options out there. I'm very unsurprised that they didn't stand the test of time unlike a lot of other popular classic rock acts, and have gone in the way of the same glam metal bands they inspired.

Listening session: february 26th, while getting ready in the morning Listened to before: no Thoughts: I’ve always disliked Kiss and I tried to give this album an honest chance, but this is just not it for me Favourite track: Detroit Rock City

Interesting listen as I’m not that familiar with KISS outside of their biggest hits. It’s a mix of heavy rock and softer piano driven arrangements. Overall I think the songs are mostly throw away, trite material. Not ale tracks include Detroit Rock City, Shout It Out Loud, Beth.

Yikes. As bad as I thought it was going to be. OK, I can admit "Detroit Rock City" is solid (minus the drawn out intro found on my listen) But the rest of it is slop. (Double)

Corny as hell, I can't take them seriously. How is this music associated with macho-70's culture? Best Song: Detroit Rock City Rating: 5.5/10 Stars: 3/5

if you're looking for the softest hard rock in existence, the lightest heavy metal possible, look no further than KISS. this was the band's first studio material to release after their successful Alive! double-LP launched them firmly into rock music's mainstream. for some reason, they decided to follow (what's by all accounts) a pretty high-energy collection of live rock 'n' roll performances (and some overdubs to taste) with Destroyer, an album which, despite its title, is even more watered down than KISS already was, with multiple bells and whistles (courtesy of producer Bob Ezrin) which absolutely do not flatter this band at all. I'm talking orchestras, women's choirs, glammy keyboards and sensitive acoustic guitars. who gives a shit about any of that? I want riffs, dammit! I thought this band was supposed to be "hotter than hell" or whatever. "Detroit Rock City" might be the band's best song, and I only *kinda* like it; after that, the quality control leaps right out the window. I'll admit that these four guys play very well together, but I'm just not all that into the sound they create; in fact, I'm frequently actively annoyed by it. (Gene Simmons' singing voice is nails on a chalkboard.) strong 3/10.

Honestly, not as bad as I thought it would be. Still bad though.

Feels like a week album on their part. Songs felt disorganised

It surprises me that I haven't listened to more KISS -- hard rock and glam rock are a lot of fun and can make important statements in my opinion. So, I thought there would be more of that in this album? It was more vanilla than expected for a band who dresses the way they do and maintains a reputation of being hardcore. But I didn't hate it. 3 stars.

Great

Fun but also extremely hokey

Music 2 stars. Lyrics and vocals -1

This album makes me when to drink a case of beer and drive my dad's 69 Mustang at top speed. The good songs were awesome and the other songs were generic.

I never realized how boring and bland kiss is

Their best album

10

Please

Never really been a KISS fan but I like some of their hits - a greatest hits sort of band. This album only had one song I know, all the others evidently exist elsewhere, so that was slightly disappointing, nonetheless, this was a fun half hour or so. I’m not sure I’d choose to return but their appeal is ever apparent.

(22/100)

I knew Detroit Rock City, Shout It Out Loud, and Beth. It was nice and short. Wasn’t terrible.

They're like Meat Loaf if he was shit. The New Kids of the Block of glam rock.

Dumb and crass but occasionally entertaining. Favourite track: Detroit Rock City

Kiss has always been interesting to me, their style screams heavy, but their sound is anything but. Overall, I thought this album was a pleasant listen and I would add Kiss into my regular rotation.

Kiss psycho snorecus

OMG this is some rubbish. §Did these idiots never see Spinal Tap? They'd be more accurate wearing clown suits.A triumph of spectacle over music. Tried to think what could make it worse. A cover of the wife beating hypocrites horrible dirge Imagine or Blobbie Williams doing "guest" vocals. Horrible beyond belief. Do I have to give it a star?

Detroit rock city is an awesome song. But I hate Beth. I like some other stuff on here too. Was never a huge kiss fan. But enjoyed listening to this.

After listening to Detroit Rock City, I think that I may have had an incorrect view of what KISS actually sounded like. We'll see how the rest of the album goes, but I really enjoyed the guitar sound and the overall vibe of the music. Sonically, I enjoyed this album a lot more then I thought I would, I think prior to this I was under the impression that KISS was mostly screaming. I enjoyed the guitars and drums a lot. The music was varied and interesting. Thematically the album felt dark at times, I couldn't understand all the lyrics, but there were also some much lighter parts and I liked the introduction to the album.

#20. My first KISS experience, and my first one star review. I only know the band by reputation and the few songs I’ve previously heard on the radio. I thought this would at least be a fun listen, and I was genuinely shocked at how terrible it was. “God of Thunder” and “Great Expectations” were especially bad, almost bordering on parody. Good for KISS for being trailblazers in the rock showmanship department, and making a ton of money doing so, because if it was based solely on their music they would have been long forgotten.

This was painful. Gene Simmons is a 🤡

Well ok now! Lol

Destroyer fühlt sich für mich an wie KISS auf großer Bühne: laut, dramatisch und manchmal ein bisschen drüber. „Detroit Rock City“ packt mich jedes Mal, „Beth“ rührt – aber zwischendurch verliert das Album für meinen Geschmack etwas an Drive Ist aber ordentlich.

I can't leave zero stars, so I'm just going to say the one star goes to "God of Thunder" because it reminded me of "Big Bottom" by Spinal Tap.

If they took out all of the repeating lines, this album would be really short.

I was in elementary school when this came out and the stir caused by this album, even at my level was memorable. Everyone was talking about it. I had never heard of the band, but anything that caused such pearl-clutching from adults and wide eyed wonder by my peer group had to be worth listening to. I started my journey in Heavy Metal.

This album is killer. Really good 70s rock all the way through. “Detroit Rock City” is still an amazing song to this day. 4/5.

seems like pretty generic metal/rock, kinda liked it still.

Better than I'd expected it to be, that's not to say it was incredible and the genre still isn't really my thing but it was alright to listen to. I honestly though Kiss were more 80s than 70s, at least that's how they fitted in my head, I was going to say more around the time of Iron Maiden but Google tells me they were a 70s band too. If I remember correctly 'Detroit Rock City' and 'Flaming Youth' were some of the better ones, alongside 'Great Expectations' which felt like more of a ballad and was a nice change of pace. 68/100

It was okay. Generic 80s, felt kind of harmless. I'm sure it had some cultural impact at the time but looking back now there's not much to be said.

I admittedly have a love/hate relationship with KISS. I acknowledge that they had some fun, cheesy hard rock records from the 1970s up to 1982, before the band members took off their makeup and became every other glam metal band at the time. By the time they put the makeup back on, some of the magic was lost, as the band accepted their place as a legacy act, hellbent on extensive touring and merchandise. Also not helping matters was how much of an asshole bassist Gene Simmons turned out to be. Regardless, I come back to my first point, that they made some fun, cheesy hard rock records back in the day. If someone were to include such an album in their list of records to listen to before you die, it would probably be this one. Destroyer was a turning point for KISS, because they just had a commercial breakthrough with their live album Alive!, and to capitalize on the momentum, they brought in producer Bob Ezrin to take their sound to the next level. Now, Bob had previously worked with one of the band's influences, Alice Cooper, who at this point launched a successful solo career with Welcome to My Nightmare. If Bob could revitalize Alice's trajectory, he could do the same for KISS, and he put the band to task. He rejected most of the band's demos, as other outside songs and suggestions were brought in instead. He introduced them to orchestration, sound effects, and other such production techniques that were lacking in the group's first three studio albums. He even taught them basic music theory, because KISS were that inexperienced as musicians. As a result, Destroyer was the most refined sound you could get out of them, and it shows. There are some genuinely good rockin' tunes on this record, bolstered by the elevated songwriting and production. The opening "Detroit Rock City" sets the tone with electrifying riffs and basslines, with sound effects adding to the story of a man getting killed in a vehicle accident on their way to a show. From there, the bangers continued with the likes of "King of the Night Time World", "Sweet Pain", "Shout It Out Loud", "Do You Love Me", and even "Flaming Youth" with the use of a calliope in the hook. They even include a decent ballad in "Beth", as drummer Peter Criss took the helm with an earnest vocal delivery over the accompanying New York Philharmonic orchestra and Bob Ezrin's delicate piano playing. It is genuinely amazing how they pulled off such a sincere moment. That all said, this album is not perfect by any means. It is still a hard rock record about rock 'n' roll and sex, and your mileage will vary. For me, I felt I reached my threshold with "Great Expectations", with Gene singing about what he thinks this woman wants to do to him as a choir of children sang behind him on the hook. Yes, it is that skeevy. It certainly didn't help matters when the choir of "Great Expectations" returned for the hidden track "Rock and Roll Party" with the repetitive overdubbed vocals. Finally, for as much as Bob Ezrin did a good job with cleaning up the band's sound and introducing them to new production techniques, I can't stand the children screaming and making noises on "God of Thunder". If they weren't on the track, then it easily would have been my favorite song on the album. At least White Zombie and Death had the sense not do that for their covers. At the end of the day, I still had an overall good time with Destroyer. It is the finest hour that KISS ever had, and it certainly spoke to how getting the right producer matters. Now, if only the band members could rest on their laurels...

There's a million other classic rock bands who either play harder or with more virtuosity, so why not listen to them instead?

never heard much from KISS, except a couple of their hits. definitely never listened to anything from this album rating excludes the outro Detroit Rock City - 4/5 King of the Night Time World - 4/5 God of Thunder - 4/5 Great Expectations - 3/5 Flaming Youth - 3/5 Sweet Pain - 3/5 Shout It Out Loud - 4/5 Beth - 2/5 Do You Love Me - 3/5 Average score: 3.3/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️ pretty middle of the road in terms of enjoyment. a few fun tracks but i don't think they'll be very memorable for me personally

My rating 2.4. Even with Detroit Rock City and Beth this album is bad. It leaves me thinking what was the Kiss phenomena all about??? it seems to me it was all theatrics covering up mediocre song writing and musicianship

Surprisingly decent. First time listening to Kiss, not really understanding the hate.

Good reminder that KISS kinda sucked

Well, it finally happened....this is the ultimate "band that everyone I love loves" and I dont get it. So many musicians I admire, from ?uestlove to Jeff Tweedy to Tom Morello have cited Kiss as an influence, and furthermore I know Paul Stanley himself loves bands like Big Star, the Raspberries, etc. So there should be something to get into for me here...and yet, every time I hear them I think its more or less as stupid as the first time I heard it. There are some cool riffs (and guitar tones, shoutout Bob Ezrin) and fun energy underneath their pedestrian singing and lyrical obsessions over partying and their dicks, but you still leave feeling like without the makeup, they would just be another indistinguishable hair band. I respect theyre not too self-serious, but its still just a little too goofy to be the kind of campy I enjoy. The vocals are often comically bad. Its reeeeeaaally not that far from Spinal Tap, except its not satire. A Kiss greatest hits is probably more than enough, and in 2026 this sounds like an AI rendering of the dumbest excesses of a classic rock band.

"You watch me singing this song You see what my mouth can do And you wish you were the one I was doing it to." Pure. Fuckin. Poetry. Ok, so, it's Kiss, and despite the Beethoven, not really expected to stretch your musical tastes beyond "this is rock-'n'-roll, baby." In that regard, it certainly delivers.

I did use a private session for this one. I don't want Kiss in my algorithms. Kiss is to rock music what Starbucks is to coffee, it isn't the quality of the product, but the branding. Learn to play an instrument for six months, put on clown makeup, and gather three like minded individuals and you can form a Kiss like band.

i dont do hard rock

Although this was crap, I expected it might have been even worse.

Can't listen to Kiss, don't get why they're so big to be honest.

At times incredibly corny.

Top 3: 1. Detroit Rock City 2. King Of The Night Time World 3. God Of Thunder Least Favourite: Great Expectations Fairly boring. I feel like any song from this album is already done better by other bands/artists.

Great album, their second best album to Alive!, at least for me.

Favorite Track: Detroit Rock City

KISS er som den edgy broren til ABBA. Og nå er de begge hologrammer.

I hate this kind of glam rock.

Kiss, et mytisk band for alle barn. Ganske ordinær hard rock. Mange fengende rockelåter her, i tillegg til noen eksperimentelle eskapader. Great Expectations er skikkelig rar, og det funker faktisk for meg. Første halvdel er bunnsolid, mens siste halvdel er forglemmelig. Treer. Top 3: God Of Thunder, Detroit Rock City, King Of The Night Time Worldu

Overraskende kul denne!

Veldig usikker her. Detroit Rock city e jo ei av tidenes åpningslåta! Men andre halvdel av albumet var veldig slitsomt å høre gjennom. Massete å repetativt. Kiss på topp: Detroit Rock city, god of thunder, Great expectations Kiss på bunn: do you love me, sweet pain

Alt for mye nostalgi her til at jeg klarer unngå 5’ern.

Det e no helt greit. Detroit Rock City e 👌

Eh.. hørt imens jeg bakte kake. Helt whatever.

Begynner bra med energi og feststemning. Men så kommer God of Thunder, og sminken begynner å smelte. Dette er teite greier. Blir rett og slett for traust utover på plata.

YES. ART.

I like this. Gene Simmons is a jerk, but they have a great sound. I don’t understand how they always sound like a live show, but I suppose that’s what they were aiming for. This seems like another band that went into the business of making music instead of the music industry discovering them for their craft. Journey did the same, where everything turned into a money-making venture.

I didn’t like Kiss in 1976 when I was 12. I sure as hell haven’t changed my opinion now I’m a grizzled 62 year old.

you cant dis the kiss

Tämä KISS levy on jäänyt vähemmälle kuuntelulle. Tällä on hittejä mutta myös huteja. Ne hitit on omia suosikkeja, varsinkin ”Do You Love Me” potkii.

Points for "Beth." Just not my jam.

I only knew a few Kiss songs so I was kind of excited to get this album. Is this what Kiss sounds like?

What a weird band to get popular and be a cultural phenomenon.

I did not need to listen to this before I die.

Kind of bored with this one, KISS is a hit or miss with me. Some of their songs really rock but this album was just meh.

I didn’t know any songs but I like the rockness of it. Solid rock.

Yes, very metal, heavy and lightweight all at the same time, only consumable in small doses...

I really enjoyed this because I thought a kiss were a parody band. Then someone at work told me it's not a parody. But the question is, what is parody in art? Doesn't all art imitate life? Why is art imitating art any different? Am I having a gene simmons-based existential crisis?

Woah King Of The Night Time World feels like a sketch, it's so lame. This album makes me want to be a bully in the 70s. I want to stuff these guys in a locker. No band has a bigger distance between their mythos and their sound. Sure was a lot of lead in gas back in the day huh? Dweebs.

Never has a bands image and lore been so different from their music. The mixing is so bad at times. Just a cacophony of instrumentation that doesn't sync up. The whole package is sloppy. There are a few moments that almost tricked me into thinking that there was something. In the grand scheme of things sure KISS can be some dumb fun, but they almost have that U2 issue for me. They took up so much space in the collective consciousness that just isn't worth it. The money thrown at them that could have been spread around to local artists.

I've gotten used to the fact that this band is not metal and is barely hard rock. Their songs just don't match their onstage presence and pyrotechnics.

?? The band with the cat guy?

This was so bland. Like nothing really interesting in the rock, felt so straight shooter. I suppose the glam JoJo Bizarre Adventures visuals were a big part of the appeal to make up for how bland the music was. The only tracks that kind of worked for me were 1) "God of Thunder" because I could see how would wow audiences in live shows, but I don't like the kid screams in the background :/ and 2) "Do You Love Me", because it is so bland and straightforward, that it kind of works as ideal background music during union breaks back when i worked on a factory floor

I just assumed KISS was going to be lame. Starting off the album ... okay, Detroit Rock City is nostalgic for Guitar Hero, so a strong start. Then, the rest of the album was a snoozefest. 2/5 since Detroit Rock City wasn't a snoozefest.

I think I agree with Vaasavi on this one. KISS' contribution is primarily an aesthetic one to define glam rock/metal (and perhaps make it more acceptable manly men to be into). There are one or two good songs on this thing (Beth is my standout, which feels like an odd choice), but the rest are pretty fine.

My dislike of Kiss comes almost entirely from them doing the "bleeehhh" tongue thing. I've found it hard to cast them into the church of metal given the fact that there was even a nun in the twenties that was absolutely shredding on the guitar, and I credit much of their contribution to the genre an aesthetic one. That being said, as a rock album, I had fun with this. It's obvious why they were such a hit. The songs were fun and bright. Not all of them were that interesting to me, only a few real standouts.

Really couldn't get into this. Not sure if it's the Spotify version of the master or the actual content but it seems a bit thin. A couple of classic tracks, but I wouldn't go out of my way to listen to the album cover to cover again.

Almost offensively boring

Detroit rock city is a banger, the rest of the album, not so much

Heavy metal that is neither heavy nor metal? Hard rock that didn't? A concept-lite mediocre batch of rawk-theater.

Wow. Not what I expected. Went from rocking out the stadium to crooning at the piano bar.

Brisk, economical, working man’s rock. In some respects, doesn’t really match their provocative (for the time), clownish image.

Total snoozer

Hate KISS. Put this off for a while and this has not changed my mind

I mean I grew up on Kiss music so this one is a classic. Though it’s not my favourite of their’s, it still is filled with bangers.

DNF. This is was pretty tired. Some songs were tolerable, it's not the most offensive record ever, but it's just boring and predictable. Nothing was keeping me intrested.

Beth I hear you cause you are the only good thing on this album

Soooooooo Boooooriiiiiiiiing OMG just kill me please. This feels like eating plain rice for dinner every single day of your life. And undercooked rice at that. These guys manages to make even guitar solos boring, like in “Flaming Youth”. I have always loved their style with their cool make up and all that, but this was my first listen. Biggest dissapointment ever. And not even a cool Swans dissapointment where I feel like I’m being tortured. Just a huge and boring dissapointment. This took my joy away from Rock. I want Queens of the Stone Age jams, and young Arctic Monkeys vibes. Not the nursing home lullaies these supplied me with. A 5/10 from me. But seriously. I know these guys were really important, and “Do You Love Me” was actually good, so no offense to you if you like them.

Less metal than I expected

Impossible to argue with how iconic KISS are as an act. I'm sure their relevance is waning by this point, but even as a kid of the 90s Gene Simmons and the Kiss costume were instantly recognizable. So much so that some friends and I donned the face paint for Halloween early high school. As for the music they created, I think the general consensus is it is just fine. I mean glam metal isn't really my thing to begin with, but its hard to deny Detroit Rock City of its flowers as something of a 70s rock anthem. Otherwise, the songs here are fine, but ultimately forgettable. With that said, I do think that the vocals are top notch for the genre, though I could have done without the Meatloaf esq balladry of Beth. Pretty okay, but never will I ever be back. Probably should be a 2 in the context of this list, but it feels wrong... So the lowest of 3s

Detroit Rock City *might* be a top 100 song. Thought this would be straight shooting hair metal, but then we had some Randy Newman type shit in Beth. Couple songs also sounded like Bruce. Nothing wrong with some glam rock, but this album has some odd turns in it that threw me off a couple times. Shout-out the secret KISS level in Tony Hawks Pro Skater

KISS is so damn cheesy but you gotta love it some times. Detroit Rock City is an all time rock song. The rest of the album is so bland. Beth has no place at all being on this album.

Detroit Rock City is a fun one. God of Thunder is scary, don't really like it. Actively hating Great Expectations with a passion. That was some extremely meh rock.

Boom!!!

One of the first genderbent drag acts to make its way into the Boomer collective consciousness. The act is either radical rockstars or musical clowns depending on your tastes. I can't say I love it but they have some good tracks that I appreciated while speeding through the one way roads of downtown raleigh.

The first two songs are pretty good 89s butt rock but it falls off a cliff afterward. “Great Expectations” might be in of the worst songs ever written. The lyrics are cringey as hell, the performance is garbage and it feels like it doesn’t end. The second half of the album is just full of lazy songwriting and more terrible lyrics. I have a lot of time for silly, fun, rock music but this is just a pain to listen to. Albums like this are why people ultimately moved to buying a single track instead of a whole album.

I don't know why but I always underestimate Kiss - it's never going to be amongst my favourites but it's certainly not a bad album.

I mean the cheese is there but it’s hard to deny it’s a banger

This record was pretty good. It doesn’t sound like it came out in 1976. Post Disco rock and roll. I guess it was considered Metal back then? The ballads on this record suck. I know Beth is a huge song for them but my god is it bad. The lyrics in some of these songs are laughable: “you like my seven inch ….. leather heels”, and “My uniform is leather, and my power is my age” The latter sounding almost pedo. It’s hard to listen to this record knowing how shitty of a human Gene Simmons is. I hate that man. Honestly the drumming is worth noting. I don’t necessarily like all the parts that Peter Criss wrote, but they’re interesting. Guitar solos and riffs are great and honestly still hold up. This was still pretty good.

A bit meh

Super duper album. Im not a high fans bit this was extremely well produced maybe 2 songs too slow but at least they were in the middle to tone it down. Opening song fire with a flawless transition to the second song got me sold on this that I had heard for years and had not appreciated as it should

Fun glam hard rock

First full listen to a KISS album. Very distinct sound. Not the biggest fan of the band but okay album.

Good fun, plain and simple. Made me want to see them live.

This doesn't sound very good. I like Beth though. It's got very pretty production, even if the singing is still ass

Not at all into this overblown crap.

Destroyer gets a good mark from me. KISS isn't my complete absolute favourite or anything, but there are 3 tracks on this record that stand out as legit classics (Detroit Rock City, Shout It Out Loud, Do You Love Me) and the rest is fine. I know this is pretty cheesy sometimes, but it hits the bar for me.

мужики хорошо сделали

😎

That was a long 34 minutes. Expected Destroyer to be better, this listen was a let down. The Beth song was the best song, and it’s even that good. L = (1.0*s) And that’s for the tongue. J = (1.3*s) They’re all glitz and make up. Didn’t need to hear this album, ever.

I have always felt that hair bands are weak. Bunch of glam guys in make-up and high heels, screeching about how great they are and how much they get laid. The Knights In Satan's Service is one of the leads of this genre and without the movie "Detroit Rock City" and the KISS mini golf in Vegas, they would still end up in the very lame category for me. Destroyer is sub par but does have a the track that spawned the movie. Probably get another one from the group on the list and I hope it is better than this record...1.73 Starchilds.

Never been a big KISS fan and figured maybe there was something I had been overlooking over the years. After listening to Destroyer, evidently not as this album was an absolute travesty of wimpy arena rock. Is this really the best that KISS has to offer? How these guys got a huge following is beyond me if this is considered some of their best work. After Detroit Rock City (which is fine but really not that great in itself) you get 30 minutes of some of the lamest arena rock and wuss ballads. I couldn't believe how lame this whole album was. Shameful wimp-rock at it finest. KISS has always been a maligned band in my eyes. Whether you like their music or not, the facepaint, branding and live show antics are a reason to include them in musical fandom conversations I guess. They carved out a niche and somehow curated a rabid fanbase. They became bigger than their music and have some of the strangest cross pollination ever between bad movies, reality tv shows, pinball tables, casket sales and failed arena football teams. I'll always love Detroit Rock City (the movie) but feel like I can write off KISS pretty much entirely after this listen. 1.40 stars

Mostly rubbish, and a couple of morally very dubious songs. Spoiled my dog walk

This is a fun one. Some of it is a bit silly, but that's KISS. The big hitters are among my favourites (God of Thunder, Shout It Out Loud, Detroit Rock City), and Beth is Bob Ezrin production at it's finest (actually sounds very similar to his arrangements on The Wall). I'm not a member of the KISS army by any stretch, but this is a solid glam rock album.

Ok, this one was just a fun, silly romp. How on earth did people think these guys were luring kids to Satanism?

C’est parti, on s’attaque à du lourd aujourd’hui voir du très lourd. On va parler de la lourdeur du maquillage, des bottes compensées de quinze centimètres et des égos surdimensionnés. On va parler de Kiss et de l'album "Destroyer" Pour un gars comme moi, né en 1970, biberonné aux ondes interlopes et habitué à écouter de la "musique pas comme les autres" (gros clin d’œil à Bernard Lenoir, que son nom soit sanctifié, ceux qui savent, savent, les autres, allez réviser vos classiques de la bande FM du soir), se frotter à KISS, c’est un peu comme demander à un amateur de grands crus de s’enfiler un soda tiède et trop sucré. C’est pas que c’est toxique, c’est juste que… ça colle aux dents et ça n’a aucun goût de terroir. Alors, "Destroyer", déjà le titre est prometteur car on s’attend à se faire détruire, annihiler, réduire en cendres auditives… Oui, ça c'est sur le papier car au final qu’est-ce qu’on a ? On a un baiser. Mais alors, honnêtement, c'est un baiser qui pue de la gueule. Vous voyez ce genre de baiser de cinéma, technique, bien éclairé, avec la langue qui bouge exactement comme il faut pour la caméra, mais où on sent absolument aucune passion, aucune tripe ? Voilà, c’est ça cet album. Attention, ne me faites pas dire ce que je n’ai pas dit, ce n’est pas une purge absolue. Je ne vais pas faire mon snob élitiste (enfin, si, un peu, c’est mon fond de commerce après tout) en disant que c’est inécoutable. Techniquement, il y a du boulot. Et pour cause, ils ont embauché Bob Ezrin à la production, le mec qui a bossé avec Alice Cooper et qui bossera plus tard sur "The Wall". Le type sait comment faire sonner une caisse claire et comment arranger des cordes pour que ça fasse pleurer dans les chaumières du Midwest. La production est ciselée, c’est indéniable. C’est propre, trop propre. On pourrait manger par terre dans ce studio et c’est bien là le problème. Car moi, j’aime quand le rock sent la bière renversée et le mégot froid. J’aime quand la guitare grince, quand la basse te laboure le ventre. Ici, le son a par moment ce petit côté glam rock qui n’est pas sans déplaire – je ne suis pas insensible à un certain groove pailleté quand c’est bien fait, genre Bowie ou T. Rex – mais là, franchement, je n’accroche pas. C’est du hard, oui mais quel hard ? Et bien, ce n’est pas le bon hard. Ce n’est pas le hard qui te serre les couilles dans un étau industriel. Ce n’est pas le hard qui te fait te sentir sale et vivant. Non, c’est le hard pour les chevelus permanentés, c’est le hard pour les mecs qui passent plus de temps devant le miroir à ajuster leur spandex que devant leur ampli à chercher le larsen parfait. Écoutez l’ouverture, "Detroit Rock City", c’est censé être l’hymne ultime. Il y a les bruitages de voiture, le crash, le côté narratif… C’est du théâtre de boulevard avec des guitares électriques. C’est du Grand Guignol pour adolescents américains qui n’ont jamais entendu parler des Stooges (qui, eux, venaient vraiment de Detroit et savaient ce que c’était que de tout casser). Ici, tout est scénarisé, tout est contrôlé, on est plus proche de Broadway que du CBGB. Et puis, il y a "God of Thunder", Gene Simmons qui essaye de nous faire peur. « Oh la la, je suis le Dieu du Tonnerre ». Sérieusement ? Mec, ton « Dieu du Tonnerre » a l’air d’un comptable déguisé pour Halloween. Ça manque de tripes, ça manque de ténèbres, les vraies, celles qui te collent à la peau. Mais le pompon, la cerise sur ce gâteau indigeste, c’est "Beth". Ah, "Beth", la ballade. Le moment où le batteur (Peter Criss) prend le micro pour chanter une sérénade à sa femme avec un orchestre philharmonique au cul. C’est d’une guimauve… C’est tellement sucré que j’ai senti mon diabète grimper en flèche juste en écoutant les premières mesures. C’est fait pour les slows dans les boums de fin d’année, c’est fait pour passer à la radio entre deux pubs pour de la lessive. C’est l’antithèse de tout ce que je défends musicalement. Si je veux de l’émotion, je mets "Disintegration" des Cure, je ne mets pas un type déguisé en chat qui pleurniche parce qu’il rentre tard de répétition. Je sais, je suis dur, je suis peut-être injuste. Il y a des millions de fans de la KISS Army qui me pendraient haut et court avec mes propres lacets de Doc Martens s’ils lisaient ça. Ils diraient que je ne comprends pas le « fun », que je suis un pisse-froid intellectuel qui ne jure que par le post-punk dépressif. Et ils auraient peut-être raison. Mais on est sur mon blog, c’est mon carnet de bord, et c’est mon ressenti. Le problème fondamental avec "Destroyer", et avec KISS en général pour un gars comme moi, c’est l’artificialité. J’ai passé ma vie à chercher l’authenticité dans la musique. Que ce soit la rage nihiliste de Nirvana, la noirceur clinique de Joy Division ou les architectures sonores de Godspeed You! Black Emperor. Je cherche l’humain derrière le son. Chez KISS, je ne trouve que le produit. "Destroyer" n’est pas un album, c’est une brochure marketing pour vendre des figurines, des flippers et des cercueils (véridique, ça existe) à l’effigie du groupe. Alors oui, il y a "Shout It Out Loud" qui est un hymne de stade efficace. Oui, "King of the Night Time World" a une certaine énergie. C’est pour ça que je ne mets pas zéro car il y a un savoir-faire c’est indéniable. C’est carré, c’est pro, c’est américain, c’est une machine de guerre conçue pour remplir les stades et vider les portefeuilles. Mais est-ce que ça me touche ? Non. Est-ce que ça me donne envie de me lever et de crier ? Non. Est-ce que ça me donne envie de réécouter l’album ? Absolument pas. Ça me laisse froid, ça me laisse avec cette impression désagréable d’avoir assisté à un spectacle de marionnettes géantes et bruyantes. C’est du divertissement, ce n'est pas de l’art et moi, j’ai toujours eu du mal avec la musique qui n’est "que" du divertissement. Pour résumer : si vous aimez les permanentes, les solos de guitare joués avec les dents (mais des dents fausses, hein, des facettes), les paroles qui volent pas plus haut que la ceinture et les productions tellement léchées qu’on se voit dedans, "Destroyer" est votre Graal. Pour moi, c’est juste un bruit de fond luxueux. Un truc qu’on entendait à la radio dans les années 70 et qu’on oubliait aussitôt la chanson suivante commencée. C’est l’archétype du groupe que je ne pouvais pas saquer quand je bossais à la radio, celui qui représentait tout ce contre quoi le mouvement punk, puis post-punk, et enfin indie s’est construit. Donc, au final, la note sera un 2 sur 5. Pourquoi 2 et pas 1 ? Parce que, comme je l'ai dit au début, ce n’est pas une purge inaudible. Il y a de la mélodie, il y a de la structure. C’est juste que je n’accroche pas, c’est viscéral, c’est épidermique. Ça pue de la gueule, mais c’est un baiser quand même.

It was fine.

Classic album. Definitive Kiss. So many bangers. Kiss is definitely popcorn rock but this is it at its best.

Fun to listen to.

Still gonna lose my mind in Detroit rock city!

I can see how teenage boys in the 70s ate this up. Now it just seems kind of cheesy.

Crud but Detroit rock city is pure nostalgia

It’s ok, just never got the hype

Like a SNL parody of hard rock-with some of the worst lyrics ever sung by someone who can’t sing. Horrible.

Bob Ezrin finally made this band sound on record like they did at their live shows...Such an incredible record.

1/7/26. KISS was my dad's favorite band as a kid. But this album was meh. 6/10

While most of the appeal of this group is visual with their makeup, costumes, and pyrotechnics, the music is pretty good. The lyrics are somewhat ridiculous but that was part of the act.

Definitely a nostalgia wave for this one, brought me back to my childhood when I was a huge KISS fan. Some of their best songs on here--"Detroit Rock City," of course, but also "God of Thunder " "Shout it Out Loud," and "Beth." And some quirky stuff as well like "Great Expectations" and the plea for authenticity from a lover"Do You Love Me?" They were goofy with lots of shtick but, holy crap, they rocked and were great at what they did.

Cant get off to a much better start than Detroit Rock City, whatever way you cut it, that's just a great song. Still though, I found myself bored listening to this whole thing, which isn't great considering its only about 30 minutes long. It's just far too samey, and the only ballad, Beth, doesnt work for me at all. Could take it or leave it, but mostly would leave it

What’s big and dumb and not my idea of fun? This album. It’s the sort of record that makes you wonder if music was a mistake. I suppose I was able to sit through the whole thing, but the first three tracks were genuinely the worst time I’ve had during this challenge so far. The best thing I can say about it is that it was short.

This feels like the good version of that Finnish rock album I listened to a while ago. Catchy and it’s got a vibe and character to it. Fun listen. Ok but maybe I’m a little biased because it’s in JoJo

I don't understand KISS. Supposedly the hard men of US rock but they dress up, wear make-up and quite a lot of their songs are twee. Also, on the strength of this album, none of them can carry a tune in a bucket vocally.

Good music but eh lyrics

Tbh not a huge kiss guy but would like them live more I bet

Beth is sooo goated. Also great expectations was real funny and enjoyable. I think you really need the visual element of Kiss to really enjoy them though. Detroit Rock Citay!!!

Listened at work Detroit rock city + Beth

Yup, this album still works almost 50 years later! A nice surprise to see it pop up on this list, and great to hear it again

KISS is just not for me.

Didn't finish it, but didn't mind it. Beth was a surprising track. Prob won't listen again.

- A produção é muito boa, do Bob Ezrin que fez entre outros álbuns the wall. Tem elementos épicos, como orquestra, coral e efeitos sonoros. - Eu não sei que ideias novas eles trazem, a aparência do Secos e Molhados, a atitude do Stooges, a música de todas as bandas antes deles (Beth parece que saiu de um álbum dos Beatles)

5. Not my favourite Kiss album, but still a 5. I’m surprised Alive! isn’t on the list in its place, but I think there could/should have been several Kiss albums on this list. Destroyer saw the band trying a new approach in the hands of Bob Ezrin. Some classics songs on here that have stayed in the set for years and have stood the test of time. Kiss have never had the production they deserved though - never on the level of Led Zeppelin or Rush, and that is the case here. Destroyer still sounds ok though, and Ezrin’s input was necessary. Had they put out a continuation of their first three studio albums - despite them all being brilliant - they could have fizzled out. Destroyer need to happen in the way it did. You either get Kiss or you don’t. They had the songs to back up the theatrics though. Their influence speaks for itself. The greatest rock and roll band of all time in my opinion, and a big part of my life.

not my style

Hm, wenn nur ein Song hervorsticht hat das Album keine 4 Sterne verdient, oder? oooooder?

solid

Hab mir mehr erhofft von so einer legendären Band. Schade

Nothing too crazy, but some solid 70s pop rock. Fun jams, catchy tunes, pizzazz

its kiss yuck

They are more a product than a band. Definitely made some iconic tunes though.

Best songs were also the most overplayed and unwelcome.

Well Kiss, on here we’re always going to create diametrically opposition weren’t they. They kind of always have in the real world that was and the internet just magnifies that polarity, a society of adoration and hate. So they suck the worst ever or are gods. Don’t think they are either to be fair, nowhere as bad as people want to hate on, and unless you buy into the WWE type thing aren’t the greatest either. But I have a soft spot from my youth and so Going to have to drift towards the fun. Not all popular music needs to be dumb, and not all needs to be virtuoso, it can be anything along the continuum. Never been a proponent to be good rock needs maestro levels as a defining characteristics, unlike say classical music where it’s kind of important . World is full of technical rock musicians who did/do zero. If you want expertise, complexity across the board listen to great technical players playing someone like Mozart or Bach, not some pseudo rock ass. Like the Ezrin produced Alice album I heard a few days ago. This is 70s core elements of what rock was and it’s characteristics; energy, attitude and performance, very much of it’s time, and yeah a fair essence of the juvenile, but still fun to hear today, kind of take me back to my teen years, so punch the air. 4 Star

Enjoyed this a lot

Exceptional experiemces tied to this album make it a 4

fine

I have never understood the hype and popularity of this band. Such an odd combination, hyper sexual demonic looking leather clad men singing some of the gayest songs ever recorded.

I prefer my kisses with the perfect amount of tongue, and my music challenges with a lot less KISS.

Sounded exactly how I expected a Kiss album to sound, like some sort of Alice Cooper castoff. I'm not a big fan of Alice Cooper's brand of glam rock, so his castoffs are not going to be great. Indeed, this is a pretty awful collection of boring and predictable tracks. I was half hoping Beth might be good, seeing as it was some sort of breakout single, but it was slushy awfulness. The band sound like they turned up under duress and were forced to half-heartedly perform. Is it unredeemable? Yes, absolutely, one star.

Gene simmons 🫩

Honestly it was boring. Repetitive, bad lyrics with an occasional jammin’ groove that was ground to dust under Simmon’s repeated crow retching.

Yes, I know it’s a bit stupid, and KISS are very unpopular with music nerds, but I though that this was alright.

Man, they really send the on the nose sex stuff huh? Detroit Rock City rules.

If you are a KISS fan this album needs no introduction, there are so many classics from the band on here. Detroit Rock City is a banger of an opener and God Of Thunder in my opinion works better live but the album version is still great. Honestly though there are a few duds on here. Great Expectations is one of my least favourite KISS tracks. I also saw them play Flaming Youth live once and I’ve never seen a crowd die as fast in my life. Overall I’m giving this five stars because it’s the only KISS album on here and I’m sure I can be forgiven for having one biased score. They definitely deserve a place on this list but it should’ve been either their debut album, not a bad track on it and Black Diamond might be the best song they ever wrote, or Alive! to give a flavour of the band at their best, as a live act. Personally I would have Music From The Elder because someday the rest of the world will wake up and recognise its genius lol. Top Track - God Of Thunder

No pants were involved in the writing and/or recording of this album.

classic

A great man once said "Whatever you think of KISS, musically or otherwise, no band was more determined to put on a good show". Not an exact quote but very close, and that great man was Geddy Lee of Rush. I've never particularly looked for any music by Kiss minus "I was made for loving you" and the very occasional Love Gun, so I knew what I was expecting and this was more or less as expected. But I ultimately agree with the sentiment, I think all of this album has a very upbeat enjoyable energy, it may not be the creme de la creme of rock music but it doesn't have to be to be enjoyable. I was surprised how much of this album is bass forward, and I very much appreciate it. It stops the album being majorly one note with the guitars and I think if the album of the same year, Boston, had done this here and there it would resonate a touch more with me. That being said, and I imagine this is lost on a lot of people listening to only this and the occasional other hit, but the production of this album is a lot cleaner and more ambitious than the previous raw rock albums that came before it in the discography. As a result, and with another direct comparison to Boston, this album is just a touch too clean for the sound I'd want from KISS I think. The songs are catchy, the riffs are solid but it's just not interesting. Totally serviceable. But where Boston had downs, it had those because it had major ups and interesting ideas. No song on this album is as musically interesting as Foreplay. I also think, as mentioned right at the start, the clean feel means that even more than before you can't quite get the same feel as you would seeing KISS live when I imagine they were at their best. That being said this album was massive, probably because it was clean enough to finally be so but it does feel almost mechanically made to be popular, like there's a metaphorical lack of light in their eyes. A perfect commercial rock album, 30 minutes of slightly sexy but ultimately not too sexy to be marketable music. It sort of gives me very similar feelings to "This Year's Model", just in a different flavour but with all the same criticisms. Especially in the view of, if I were alive in 1976 would I actively listen to this? No, I'd be listening to Rising by Rainbow, 2112 by Rush and Boston by Boston. 1976 is actually a REALLY good year for rock so this album is definitely too safe to leave an impression. Best songs: Beth (Lovely change of pace) Worst songs: N/A Rank compared to everything else so far: 23/29 (below Coat of Many Colours, above Come Away With Me)

I have incredibly negative things to say about the Kiss Army, Gene Simmons, and the discography at large. I'll spare you the details. This album itself is mostly chud. Maybe 2 great songs + 1 good song + 1 okay ballad. But like the riffs are tight, the drums groove and the rock harmonies aren't too gone for my ears. Love the band's performance on Detroit Rock City. Will always be in the pantheon of rock greatness. Average out all my negative sentiments and the tolerable music you'll get 3 stars. Fuck you Gene Simmons. RIP Ace Frehley

I was expecting something more for a band I had heard so much about. The album was strangely quiet and gave me Christmas vibes towards the end. The best song was the one that was the most different to the rest of the album.

Sounds like every 80s rock band but somehow worse

Don’t love kiss :(

Not one of my favorites

An early work by an influencial rock band.

Nothing special here, it sounds samey, but the sound kicks ass nevertheless.

I'm not a huge KISS fan at all, in fact I despise most of their music. I dunno, it's just not up there with other 70's hard rock bands. Sure they try the glam hard rock route, but there's not a lot of substance behind it. Boring lyrics, boring guitar work. Best songs on this album: Sweet Pain Detroit Rock City Skippers: Beth (god awful) Do You Love Me God of Thunder Great Expectations. 2.44 / 5 stars

- Shameless cock rock - On the one hand, fairly predictable and shallow, on the other hand, pretty good fun - Nothing that's going to leave a lasting impression on me to be honest.

Sounds to me like the prototype of all the uninspiring, long-hair, wannabe-rockstars records of the 1980s

1* so many clichés 5* they were first to quite a few of those cliches 3* overall

Oh, I remember when this came out. The day it went on sale, my friend and I rushed out to the local Twin Fair (in the Southtowns of Buffalo, NY) to buy it. We took it over to his house and played it very loudly in his father's quadaphonic stereo system. I thnk my ears are still ringing. In those days, when an album came out, it was an event. You'd get the vinyl LP (yes, there were 8 track tapes and cassettes available as well but nothing compared to an LP). You'd study the artwork, repeatedly read the lyrics (if included) and study the liner notes. There's nothing like that today.

Fine again

Detroit Rock City is an absolute banger. I like everything about that song; the sloppy drums, the harmonizing solo, the average lyrics... It all just works. Beth is pleasant too. I know Peter Kriss sucks. I know he can't sing. And I know he probably didn't write it. But it has a clumsy pleasantness to it all. The rest of the album though... You've got a bunch of Gene Simmons songs that are a bit perverse and awful (at best). Paul Stanley songs all seem to follow the same format. I knew Shout it Loud was on the album, but second guessed myself it was it on two or three songs first. 3 stars. 12 o clock, I gotta rock! (What a line!).

Oh hell yeah, it’s Friday afternoon and school is out. You and your friends have big plans to party hard. You’ll start at your mate Diesel’s house cos his parents are away you can smash some beers without being bothered, and then you’ll head out. Where you’ll go? That’s the best part. You don’t even know. You crack into some beers and order some pizzas. You realise you don’t actually have much to catch up on with your friends, cos you’ve just spent the whole day together at school. Time to head out then? Actually, you haven’t heard of any parties going on tonight, and not everyone has fake IDs. Might as well just finish all your beers and regroup later. Actually, that pizza was quite filling and now your drunkenness has plateaued thanks to those 4% beers. You don’t even want to go out. Might just crash on Diesel’s couch.

Detroit Rock city, Yes!. Everything else was meh. I was made for greatest hit albums should be theor mantra. One good song on each album, followed by filler

I feel like I’m in the minority here as I actually like KISS. I saw them live in 2022 and it was genuinely one of the best shows I’ve been to. I will say however, KISS don’t have a lot of substance to them. Their hits are bangers but the rest is pretty shit. Having said that, I liked about half the album and those were the ones they played during the show I saw. The rest were pretty average.

some good and some mid but its rock so...

Not bad

This is #day491 of my #1001albumsyoumusthearbeforeyoudie challenge, and… most likely I wouldn't flip the station if this were on a classic rock radio. Otherwise, there's next to zero chances I'd ever choose to put this on my own. Let it be a 2 out of 5. Looking forward to #day492.

You know what, it's exactly what it says it is. And Beth is a great song.

Good album. Has some of my faves on it including Beth.

> The Beatles Gene Simmons sucks, but KISS rules

Cringe and corny. Did not need to listen to this before I die

Fun, good times. Weird band members that only got weirder

7/10

Because 0 is not an option

This is my first Kiss album. I was familiar with a few of the songs. I came into this with the opinion that Kiss is more or less Bon Jovi but uglier and with fewer good songs. I come away more or less unswayed from that opinion.

Percent

Incredibly repetitive. Beth was the best song?!

Someone once said to me "There's no such thing as a GOOD kiss song" and I decided to investigate, and you know what I found out? Their songs are FUN and they ROCK, but none of them are actually GOOD... 3.5 Stars.

C’est fou à quel point j’étais un peu hype d’avoir un album de Kiss, groupe mythique auquel j’ai accordé très très peu de mon attention. Ben il y avait peut être une bonne raison de pourquoi j’ai rien entendu d’autre que les 3 mêmes hits: c’est suuuuuuuper plate, genre royal. Chaque tounes est insipide, y’a rien de catchy ni même easy listening, c’est totalement poche, littéralement une parodie de hair metal avant le hair metal. Je comprends pourquoi ils se maquillent maintenant: c’est des arnaqueurs qui ont tellement honte de leurs carrières qu’ils doivent se cacher la face.

Another fairly bland listening experience. It's not without it's own merits, but it just didn't strike me as anything out of the ordinary.

This is a very uncool album, with every song being about rock n roll despite the music delivering a fairly pop version of the genre. But is it a bad album? The first three songs lead you to believe it's not. The opener has great drumming and "God of Thunder" is reminiscent of doom metal with its big riffs and chorus. After that though things plunge straight into cheese with the dramatic "Great Expectations." The album picks up a bit from there but then gets to "Beth," a limp ballad with lame lyrics about ruining a relationship because you want to play rock with the boys. "Do You Love Me?" isn't much better - it's clear at this point the band's only subject matter is being in Kiss. This isn't mean to be a deep album, but the formulaic songs and choruses that are driven into the ground mean it's not very fun either, despite having a couple legitimately good songs.

I didn’t know what to expect and wasn’t impressed either.

3.49/5 I don't really get why so many people rated this album so bad. Guys, you need to chill ^^. Although I'm not the very biggest fan of Glam Rock/Glam Metal either, you can't deny that KISS pioneered the genre before most people knew about its' existence. For an album from '76, this is actually not bad at all. Sure it's in good company with so many other good Rock albums from that period, but that comparison doesn't make "Destroyer" bad. It actually says a lot if you still know about this album today despite of the competition surrounding it. Musically, it's straight-forward, slightly theatrical Glam Rock. It sticks out due to their approach and showmanship, and regarding how successful KISS were back in the day, there can't be that many bad things to say. Sure, it's dated, but it's from fucking 1976. I can't of an album from the same time period that doesn't feel dated 😅 Yeah all in all, not the best, but better than many other things we've had to listen to so far. I think close 3.7 is deserved.

da bin ich ja mal gespannt...- furchtbar! c

Que Temuco beth

Not a fan at all.

KISS is a band I kinda grew up with, maybe missed the beginning part of their career but picked it up soon enough that a lot of my friends were super into them. I never got too involved as an alt/ weirdo, but listening now to this.... I mean it is pretty darn entertaining. I actually kind of like it. So yeah, this is actually a pretty darn good album. Also of note is that Gene Simmons is kind of a cool psycho- actor type and definitely storied for a while back in the day.

Unlistenable

An album with rocks in its head that also rocks. I actually liked the quieter songs on this the most (Great Expectations & Beth). Better than I expected, while not being something I plan to revisit all that much!

Classic, fun. Beth is one of my favorite songs ever.

I’m not even going to listen to this because I fucking hate KISS

Imagine if Kiss were even halfway decent musicians or songwriters. They would be the most fun band ever. Unfortunately they suck.

Well, they certainly were popular, but if they hadn't had the makeup gimmick I'm sure no one would know who they are. Really bad music. The best song is Beth...which is saying a lot.

This album is no good, but its influence is inarguable.

Being from the Detroit area means I have to think Detroit Rock City is cool as hell. Except why the fuck are they driving down 95? It’s 94 or 75! Boy I sure hope someone got fired for that blunder. When I was a kid I was fucking terrified of KISS because I saw Gene Simmons spit blood and shit. I actually think it’s kinda cool that they’re actually massive dorks making massive dork music but look like weird assholes. The music is surprisingly fine. It’s like McDonalds. You know it’s not good for you, but sometimes you want those fucking fries. I know I do. This is a good album cover too. It’s like a comic book no one would read. Instead of the avengers they’re like. The Morons or something. God of Thunder is so fucking stupid. Why dos anyone take this band seriously. I’m at the airport rn just riffing. And then the ballad that mentions their biggest hit is so fucking funny. This rules I’m sorry. It’s so bad it’s good.

Does it hurt my musical cred that I like this better than most punk?

Not for me!

In my early teens, I was a big Kiss fan. Well, listening to this made me aware that their main talent was the show, not the music.

Good listen!

Some iconic songs but mostly bland, ridiculous and highly egotistical

I was wanting it to be heavier throughout the album

Now I've finally listened to a whole Kiss album. They're just like not that good of a band, but kudos on them for going so far with the image to distract people from that fact.

This was better than I thought it would be, different from what I expected. Not a 4, but a solid 3 and easy listening. Maybe it's a 4 if I was at a BBQ and it was 80 degrees and sunny out... I miss the summer

I would've thought I'd enjoy it more given that I've heard Detroit Rock City and Shout It Out Loud previously. But truthfully, if it wasn't for those two tracks, this album would probably be no more than a 2.

Hmmm... I sort of like this but not as much as I expected I might. My brother was super into Kiss when I was a kid, but it wasn't my bag. Still sort of isn't.

My hot take: these guys would not be widely famous without the makeup. They seem like a very average rock band. Not bad, but definitely not too special 🤷‍♀️

Didn’t age well since I thought much more of this when it came out when I was in Jr high. But couldn’t actually give it a 2 star either - so 2 1/2 rounded to 3.

Ok, wow…I got through the first 2 tracks and thought “huh, this isn’t as bad as everything is making it out to be” and then God of Thunder came on and yes, it is. It just was all downhill from there. Great Expectations…really, Beethoven? I have heard other artists use that specific sonata’s melody before but at least those artists used it well. Shout It Out Loud was pretty good. And what the fuck was Rock and Roll Party at the end? At least this album is fairly short. And it was pretty bad, but it definitely wasn’t boring.

cheesy af

Good album.

2,8/5

I feel I should probably be listening to this in an American muscle car, cruising along a highway with the windows down and the music up, not sitting wrapped in blankets on a freezing afternoon in England. I'm sure the setting would make a difference in the rating. This isn't horrible, it's just Kiss, everything you expect from Kiss, in a very Kiss kinda way.

Classic kiss record .Probably their best

This was a fun listen. I like shout it out loud a lot and Beth is beautiful

Solid album Not their best but pretty good still

No thanks

Simplistic and cringe worthy. I can see why the kids liked it though.

This is the first time I've actually listened to this album and I was surprised to see it was only 34 minutes long. There are some of their big hits as well as some other great songs that I have never heard before. It's not bad but I suspect their secret was in the live performance. Never saw them live but know several people that are obsessed. Too bad Ace Frehley just passed away, he seemed to really rock. I'm not exactly a fan but the album was not bad and probably rocked. I suspect the things I don't really like are Paul and Gene's personalities. They both seem a bit much.

As cheesy as you would expect but shockingly not in a bad way. 3.5

Ita just not for me. I dont think its bad in any particular way, just that its bad for me. It opens pretty well with Detroit rocl city. That song is the highlight of the record but even then its not really that good. The bass has this little tripplet thing that is quite nice. The only other song that gave me anything was shout it out loud but even then it wasn't good enough to throw it a like. All the others are just nothing. I cant say ive ever liked gene Simon's vocally. And the music isnt captivating in any way. I didnt hate the listen but I would have picked alot of other records before this.

There are a lot of people who will look you dead in the eye and tell you that KISS sucks. Those people are correct.

avera

Excellent production but KISS are just pretty bland. They're significant for putting commerciality above creativity and marketing above music, but that doesn't make it an amazing listen, they just sound like watered down versions of other bands.

Te corny

Mercifully Short. Sadly Shit.

Overrater

Never was a Kiss guy and I guess I'm still not.

Ressurected mix. Álbum em si: coeso, intercalando clássicos consagrados com regulares agradáveis. Só forçaram um pouco em alguns efeitos sonoros.

The best track on the record is “Beth”, while “Shout it Out Loud” and “Detroit Rock City” were minor hits on AOR. I haven’t heard those two for quite awhile. The remaining tracks are forgettable. Overall this is pretty standard 70’s rock.

Cool album cover. Reminds me of BB Comics. That's probably the best part of this album, though. I was torn between a 2 and 3, but it has good energy and didn't drag, so I'll go 3.

"Most kids were infatuated with the looks of Kiss, not their music"- KISS's Spotify description 2025