A great follow-up to the success of Alive!.
    Detroit Rock City remains one of KISS' best songs (I love the news/driving car intro).  That opening guitar is one of the most memorable riffs in music.  And the crashing segue into King of The Night Time World shows the creativity that Bob Ezrin brought to the band.  God of Thunder is Gene at his demonic best (even though Paul wrote it).  The whole gothic-theme of the song epitomizes the image Gene was trying to create for himself as The Demon. Shout It Out Loud is basically Rock and Roll All Nite Part 2; Beth is one of the best (but heinously over-played) power ballads to this day; and Do You Love Me? is a great closer.  Sweet Pain has great lyrics with Gene reaching new levels of sleaze.
    Bob Ezrin really took KISS in a different direction with Destroyer.  Rather than make another hard rock album, Ezrin used a lot of studio effects and strange layering of songs to achieve the distinct sound that made Destroyer special.  The creativity that was put into Destroyer doesn't always work, though.  Flaming Youth has its moments, but doesn't quite measure up to the caliber of the rest of the material.  The choir in Great Expectations makes a bad song even worse.  Fortunately, though, Great Expectations is the only bad song on Destroyer.  This is a great album and it really got the ball rolling for KISS.

Interesting facts:

• After the success of Alive!, KISS was now opening for bands that were headlining for them only a year or two earlier.  Examples include Black Sabbath and Blue Oyster Cult.
• Word-of-mouth was very poor on the experimentation that KISS took with Destroyer.  Fans who were won over by the band's earlier hard rock sound were put off by the choirs and unusual instruments.
• King of the Night Time World is actually a parodied title of the Elvis song King of the Whole Wide World.
• The newscaster at the beginning of Detroit Rock City is actually Gene.
• The kid in the recording of God of Thunder is Bob Ezrin's son, David.
• Former Alice Cooper guitarist Dick Wagner actually plays lead guitar on Sweet Pain and Great Expectations; this became a trend hereafter, with Ace playing bass on many songs and other guitarists filling in for Ace.
• Gene plays rhythm guitar on Great Expectations.
• Two singles (Shout It Out Loud/ Sweet Pain and Flaming Youth/ God of Thunder) were released and were poorly received causing Destroyer to sell miserably until Detroit Rock City/ Beth was released as the third single.
• Beth, originally written in 1970 and titled "Beck", was actually the B-side of the Detroit Rock City single but an Atlanta DJ began playing the song and it took off.
• Ken Kelly painted the cover for Destroyer.  He would do the cover for Love Gun the following year.
• Destroyer's Japanese release is subtitled Army From/Of Hell.
• Destroyer eventually peaked at # 11 on Billboard's album chart.
• The success of Beth translated into increased sales of Destroyer and KISS began a massive world tour with a "wasteland" stage set-up.
• KISS originally wanted a car crash like the one heard at the beginning of Detroit Rock City to occur on stage at EVERY show on the tour; plans for this were obviously nixed due to safety reasons and costs.
• On the Destroyer tour, KISS used a string of soon-to-be-successful artists as opening acts: Rush, Cheap Trick, Scorpions, and Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band; later artists would include Judas Priest (1979), Iron Maiden (1980), Motley Crue (1983), and Queensryche (1984).
• Kim Fowley, who co-wrote King of The Night Time World and Do You Love Me? was the sven gali behind such 70's groups as Slade and The Runaways with Joan Jett and Lita Ford.
• Songs such as God of Thunder, King of the Night Time World, and Flaming Youth fueled rumors that KISS stood for "Knights/ Kids In Satan's Service".
• Detroit Rock City was based on an earlier song that KISS performed only in concert called Acrobat.

Interesting Fact:

• The Originals was so successful that after Love Gun was released in 1977, a second compilation called The Originals II, was released in Japan and contained Destroyer, Rock and Roll Over, and Love Gun.  The Originals II is one of the hardest KISS sets to find because of its foreign release and limited number of copies.
• In Japan, The Originals was subtitled The Whole Picture of Hell.
• Peaked at # 36 on Billboard's album chart.

    This is the second best KISS album of all!
    With the exception of Baby Driver and Love 'Em and Leave 'Em, every song is great.  I will admit though that for a Peter song, Baby Driver is probably my favorite. Calling Dr. Love is the real standout here.  It is one of Gene's best. Hard Luck Woman, is another good Peter song though the sappy ballads are getting a little trying.  I Want You and Makin' Love are 2 of Paul's better songs from the 70's.  The acoustic intro to I Want You is a personal fave.  One song that I seem to like more and more each time I hear it is Mr. Speed.  It is another one of those songs that just was forgotten amongst the dearth of material the band released in such a short period of time.
    This has to be KISS' sleaziest album to date with constant innuendo (See You In Your Dreams) or blatant sexual connotations (Take Me, Ladies Room, Love 'Em and Leave 'Em).  Not that that's a bad thing!  Ace's guitar work is fantastic here and the band is at their musical peak.  Even though they are churning out the albums by this point, Rock And Roll Over is the best KISS album of their peak period (1976-9).

Interesting facts:

• KISS recorded Rock and Roll Over in the Star Theatre in Nanuet, New York to capture a "live" sound.
• After deliberating whether or not Rock and Roll Over should continue in the experimental vein of Destroyer or return to their hard rock roots, the band chose the latter.
• Rock and Roll Over was the first KISS album to ship platinum--1,000,000 copies sold!
• Hard Luck Woman was written by Paul for Rod Stewart but Stewart showed no interest in recording the song.
• Love 'Em and Leave 'Em contains the line, "You want to sit in my driver's seat, if you do it's alright with me," which was originally a line from the song Drive Me Wild, that became Rock and Roll All Nite.
• Gene plays rhythm guitar on See You In Your Dreams.
• More free stuff: this time a sheet where fans could order various KISS paraphernalia, and a sectioned sticker of the album cover.
• The Japanese release is subtitled Rock Fire From Hell.
• Rock and Roll Over reached # 11 on Billboard's charts.
• Three promotional clips were recorded for Rock and Roll Over--I Want You, Hard Luck Woman, and Love 'Em and Leave 'Em.
• December 12, 1976--Ace is electrocuted on stage in Lakeland, Florida after he touches a metal handrail.  Apparently, he sent a current through himself after holding his guitar with one hand and the handrail with the other; faulty wiring was blamed.  After blacking out and tumbling down the stairs unconscious, Ace is revived and after 20 minutes, comes out and plays the show despite the fact that he can't feel his fingers.  What a trooper!
• KISS tours Japan for the first time in March 1977 and is overwhelmed by the frenzy that awaits them as hundreds of delirious fans throw themselves on the limousine carrying the band.  KISS played 4 Japanese cities in a week to 48,000 fans and broke attendance records set by The Beatles in the 1960's.

    This being the last of KISS' studio releases during their height of popularity, Love Gun does not quite live up to Rock and Roll Over but is slightly better than Destroyer.
    Two big disappointments here: Hooligan (do you get the feeling that I'm not a big fan of Peter Criss) and Then She Kissed Me (file this under the category "What Were They Thinking?!"). Hooligan is too awful for words.  Peter's crappy singing voice is really accentuated on this song, proving why his material was never used by the band.  And Then She Kissed Me...come on, boys!  What the hell are you doing?!
    However we finally get to hear the Space Ace belt out a tune--Shock Me--and was it ever worth the wait!  I wonder if Ace was inspired by his electrocution 7 months earlier?  Great guitar work, great vocals, just an all-around great tune.  Love Gun is one of my top 5 KISS albums because of Shock Me, I Stole Your Love, the title track, and Plaster Caster.  These are some of my favorite KISS songs ever and they really stand out. I Stole Your Love and Love Gun are in the same vein as Makin' Love, C'mon and Love Me, et al, but this type of song is what Paul does best.  What can I say about Plaster Caster?  It is truly a Gene original and the tongue-in-cheek subject matter makes for an entertaining song.  Got Love For Sale is a bit weak, though.  Christine Sixteen is a bit of a departure musically (not lyrically, of course) for Gene and one can see where his musical vision was headed (his solo album exemplifies this same type of experimentation).  I'm still up in the air over the sound of Tomorrow and Tonight (I think its those female back-up Motown-style singers) and the bizarre Almost Human (but it's a Gene song so I like it nonetheless).

Interesting Facts:

• Shortly before Love Gun was completed, a Gallup poll indicated that KISS was the most popular band in the US, beating Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, and the Eagles.
• Love Gun was the second KISS album to ship platinum.
• Love Gun was the first album to have all four members contribute vocally.
• On the same day that Love Gun was released, Marvel Comics shipped its first KISS comic which reportedly contained the blood of Gene, Paul, Ace, and Peter in the ink.  The issue would quickly sell 800,000 copies and become Marvel's best-seller of all time.
• KISS set a new record on the charts as they were the first band in history to have 4 albums on Record World's top 100 at the same time: Alive!, Destroyer, Rock and Roll Over, and Love Gun.
• Love Gun was the last album released by KISS to include all four members in the recording studio together at the same time.
• Paul plays bass and rhythm guitar on Love Gun and all guitars on Then She Kissed Me.
• Gene plays rhythm guitar on Almost Human and Plaster Caster.
• Free stuff this time included a cardboard "Love Gun" that could be used as a pop-gun when assembled, and another KISS order form.
• Ace was so nervous when recording his vocals for Shock Me that he sang them lying down in the studio so he wouldn't have to look at anyone.
• A song written by Peter and Stan Penridge called Love Bite was rejected for inclusion on Love Gun for being "too raunchy".
• A sampling of Christine Sixteen is used in Tone-Loc's 1989 hit song, Funky Cold Medina.
• Gene discovered Van Halen around this time and helped them get their first recording deal.  He produced the Van Halen demo in early 1977.  It contained two songs: House of Pain, which would later appear on Van Halen's album 1984, and Runnin' With The Devil which appeared on their first album.  Rumors have circulated that Gene had ulterior motives; with the problems surrounding Ace and Peter, a new guitarist and drummer was being shopped around for by KISS and Eddie Van Halen and Alex Van Halen fit the bill perfectly.  This role would take on greater significance ten years later as Gene moved into producing new acts and away from his duties with KISS.
• The guitar solo that Ace Frehley plays on Christine Sixteen is an exact duplicate of the solo played by Eddie Van Halen on the original demo he and his brother Alex recorded with Gene Simmons in 1977.
• The Love Gun cover was done by Ken Kelly, the same artist who painted the Destroyer album cover.  Kelly also painted album covers for Rainbow and Manowar.
• Love Gun reached # 4 on Billboard's album charts--their highest-charting release to date.
• August 25-26, 1977--KISS records 2 shows at the LA Forum to be used as live material for their next release, Alive II.

    Well, I guess it was inevitable that following the success of Alive! and the three subsequent studio albums, Alive II would be released.  The first 75% of Alive II is packed with live hits from Destroyer, Rock and Roll Over, and Love Gun.  Detroit Rock City, I Stole Your Love, and I Want You are the best songs on the album.  Ace's guitar solo in Shock Me, and Peter's drum solo and Gene's bass thumping in God of Thunder also stand out as highlights.
    However the fourth side of this 2 LP/CD release is mostly filled with rubbish; they are songs that the band churned out to fulfill contractual obligations.  Rocket Ride is a great song and shows what we've missed by not having Ace Frehley sing until the band's sixth studio album!  Larger Than Life is your typical Gene raunch but isn't too bad.  The other three songs though are just drivel!

Interesting facts:

• The five new songs recorded for Alive II were done so partly due to contractual obligations and partly because KISS didn't want to repeat material from Alive! which was released only 2 years earlier.
• The shows that were recorded for Alive II had the most special effects and amplifiers ever used on stage.
• Of the new tracks, Ace Frehley only played on Rocket Ride; Rick Derringer played lead guitar on All-American Man and Bob Kulick played lead on the other three tracks.  Ironically, it was Bob Kulick that was passed over for Ace to join the band originally.
• Reached # 7 on Billboard's album charts.
• Any Way You Want It, an old favorite of Gene's, is a remake of the original Dave Clark Five song.
• Rocket Ride is performed entirely by Ace and Peter.
• Original promotional pressings of the Alive II album mentioned the inclusion of the songs Take Me, Hooligan and Do You Love Me on the album cover.
• KISS originally wanted to record Jailhouse Rock as the fifth track for Alive II, but reconsidered after Elvis' death only 2 months earlier.
• Peter once reported in an interview that Hard Luck Woman and Tomorrow and Tonight were not live recordings but were done in the studio with crowd noises mixed in later.
• KISS included a full-color book called "The Evolution of KISS" which chronicled the ever-changing look of the band over the years, some removable tattoos, and another merchandise sheet as bonus items in Alive II.

    Released only in Japan, The Originals II is EXTREMELY rare.  I have never even seen a copy of this album.  It contains KISS' most commercially successful recordings: Destroyer, Rock and Roll Over, and Love Gun.  Because the KISS catalogue was so sparse in Japan, Casablanca decided to release The Originals II exclusively in Japan to capitalize on the market.
    Obviously, the content of the collection speaks for itself.  KISS was at their peak during 76-77 and the albums exemplify what KISS wanted to do--play music and entertain their fans.
    As with The Originals, if I ever find a copy of this, I think my heart will stop beating permanently.

Interesting facts:

• Included in the package was lyrics, a photo book, and 4 KISS masks.
• The Originals II has fetched a price of $325 U.S..  It is highly collectible.
• Overview of Hell, Part II is the subtitle of The Originals II Japanese release.

    Double Platinum is a fantastic collection of KISS' greatest hits.  However, the majority of the original songs were remixed, and some were changed significantly.
    The band recorded a new version of Strutter, which is pithy compared to the original.  It's been "grooved-up" with a hi-hat and a swishy thing.  The intro to Rock Bottom tagged on at the beginning of She is a nice touch; Hard Luck Woman has an extended acoustic intro which is kind of nice.  Black Diamond loses the droned ending of the original by repeating the opening verse at the end.  Calling Dr. Love has a nifty feel to it with the slurred intro.  I almost prefer this version to the original.
    Only a KISS fan with the most acute knowledge (like myself and those of you who have made it this far down the page) would pick up on the majority of the retooling done to the songs on Double Platinum.  I can't say too many negative things about Double Platinum; after all, it IS KISS' greatest hits!  It is a very comprehensive package of the big songs though, of course, there are a few omissions that I would have liked to see included (Shock Me, being the best example).  My only complaint is the weight of Paul material here versus that of Gene.  They are all indisputably grade A material but a couple of the rawer tracks like Goin' Blind, Parasite, and Watchin' You could have been added to rough things up a little.

Interesting facts:

• After touring and recording constantly for nearly 4 years, KISS decided to take a break so they released Double Platinum to fill the gap between new material.
• The remixes, done by Sean Delaney, a former KISS roadie, had the bass and drums boosted and the vocals and guitars compressed to capitalize on the popularity of the incoming dance craze--disco.
• Peter and Ace were beginning to show their unhappiness at being in KISS, so Double Platinum also gave the band members time to record their respective solo albums.
• Double Platinum reached # 24 on Billboard's album chart.
• The original album, with a shiny silver embossed cover, was packaged with a miniature "Platinum" award which read, "This Platinum Award Is Presented To _________________ With Our Gratitude.  Thank You For Helping Us Make  Double Platinum Success".  Included as well were embossed illustrations of the band members by Eraldo Carugati, the same artist who would create the covers for the solo albums released 5 months later.