KISS’s Landmark Release Destroyer: Resurrected Newly Remixed by Original Producer Bob Ezrin

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SANTA MONICA, CA, Jul 16, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) — “Destroyer boasts plenty of sound effects, orchestras, and choirs that paved the way for other bands to rip them off for many years to come… easily one of the best albums in the Kiss canon.” – Pitchfork

Ken Kelly

KISS is regarded as one of the most influential rock and roll bands of all-time and holds the honor as one of America’s top gold-record champions. On August 21, 2012, Universal Music Enterprises (UMe) will release KISS’s 1976 multi-platinum, landmark album Destroyer: Resurrected, newly remixed from the original master tapes by the album’s original producer, Bob Ezrin. Ezrin pulled the tapes from the vaults and painstakingly remixed the entire album, enhancing the sound and bringing out its rich texture and vibrancy, while keeping the integrity of the original recording intact. Destroyer: Resurrected will also include rare and unreleased recordings rediscovered during the remixing process, plus the originally intended cover artwork.

Hot on the heels of their breakthrough hit album Alive!, KISS released their fourth studio album Destroyer which is considered the most ambitious studio recording of KISS’s ’70s catalog. Bob Ezrin, who had previously worked with Alice Cooper, was brought in to produce the album and among the production flourishes Ezrin introduced to KISS were sound effects, strings, a children’s choir, reversed drumming and the eerie, echoing sounds of screaming children over Gene Simmons’ vocals on “God of Thunder.” Upon its release, Destroyer reached the No. 11 position on the Billboard Top 200 and, with the help of the surprise top-10 hit “Beth,” was their first album to go platinum.

Originally released as the B-side to the single “Detroit Rock City,” “Beth,” — the heart-yearning ballad co-written and performed by drummer Peter Criss — was quickly picked Continue reading