How long ago, exactly? 1976. In the late fall of 1975 thru the winter of 1976, KISS ALIVE! put KISS on the map as a live band, spawning the top-ten hit 'Rock And Roll All Nite.' After years of struggle and hardship, the four members [Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss] were now expected to follow up that success with a studio record, to prove to their record label that this was no gimmick.
The band went outside their comfort zone, called on Alice Cooper's producer Bob Ezrin and, on the Ides of March, 1976, "Destroyer" was released to a hungry KISS Army.
Then things exploded.
You have to understand, this record moved KISS from 'rock stars' to part of the national consciousness. Those four faces became as recognizable as the Coke logo. The album only had nine songs on it, but several of those are still part of KISS' live set. 'Masterpiece' is a bit much when describing a rock album, but 'Destroyer has long been hailed by many critics and fans as 'the best KISS album in their catalog, and 36+ years later, most of it stands up well.
So, why try to 'fix' something that ain't broke?
Tuesday [7.31] the band released "Destroyer [Resurrected]', a remixed version of the 1976 classic. My first thought when seeing the title was 'I didn't know it had died!' But, being curious, I downloaded this iTunes exclusive this week to see how it was different from the version I have lived with and listened to constantly since I was a toddler.
The album begins with an audio scene: someone listening to a news report on the radio about a Michigan youth killed in a head on collision the previous night. Then we flashback to that fan, as he gets in his car and makes his way to 'the midnight show' while listening to 'Rock And Roll All Nite' from KISS ALIVE. Why am I mentioning this? Because the first noticeable difference on this remixed album came forty seconds in, when I heard the car door slam shut. It had much more bass than I remembered and it made me go 'Whoa! Okay...let's see what else has been changed.'
Ah, how soon my hopes were dashed.
On the opening song, 'Detroit Rock City', Ezrin and company do indeed have a lot more bass in the mix and it almost sounds like Peter Criss' snare drum has a damper on it. It's more dense, almost like a floor tom. But then, Ezrin messed up the best musical moment on record in KISSTORY. At the 3:55 mark of the song begins the 'dual guitar solo' that truly is KISS' best sounding sonic moment...and Ezrin and company inserted a background vocal track over part of the solo. The same thing happened to this section of 'Detroit Rock City' when it was included on the 1978 Greatest Hits package 'KISS Double Platinum' but on this 2012 remix, the vocal is louder and even more annoying.
I was crestfallen. No matter what improvements have been made sonically, that one decision basically ruined it for me.
So, what improvements were made? Well, the drums are definitely turned up louder in the mix than they were in 1976. In fact, Peter's rolling intro to 'King of the Night Time World' was so far out front, I heard notes/beats I had never heard before [the first two notes he plays on snare were completely hidden in the original mix]. Overall the album is a bit 'dirtier' and has lost some of the gloss that made it seem so jarringly different from its predecessors upon its release. I know why they did that, but I have heard the gloss for most of my life. I miss the gloss.
One of the other classic songs from Destroyer is Gene's show stopper, 'God of Thunder.' I've never really cared for the studio version, though Ezrin did go out of his way to create a very scary audio landscape, even using audio of his two kids screaming into a microphone, drenched in reverb, to make it seem like they were being terrorized by The Demon. It still packs a punch years later, but the only notable difference with the new remixed version is that the kids' screaming and yelling has been moved up in the mix, so they are even more annoying than they were on the first version.
'Shout It Out Loud' didn't sound all that different. This song became the Ezrin calling card for decades, so most of the gloss was left in tact. Maybe the background vocals are a bit more prominent.
'Beth' was the song that brought KISS an entirely new audience when it went from a B-side throwaway to multi-platinum hit, and the changes to this song are subtle, but they are perfect. The acoustic guitar is brought out front, truly competing with the strings for attention.
'Sweet Pain' is the only song that sounds radically different, with a completely different guitar solo. I don't know if this was recorded in 1976 or 2012 (no liner notes until the CD and LP versions are released later this year) but I can guarantee you that, whenever it was done, it was not recorded by Ace Frehley. Dick Wagner played the solo on the original LP and I don't know if the remixed version simply includes an alternate take from that session, or if someone [named Tommy Thayer!] recorded a new solo. I doubt the truth, whatever it is, will ever be known.
So, bottom line: I'm not sure the reason this was released, apart from the obvious Gene $immon$ motivation. Some long time fans will like the new sound. It won't win any new fans, and if a new fan finds this version of Destroyer first, then I remind you KISS Army that it is your duty to make sure that new fan hears the original 1976 version.
If this leads to a remixed/re-imagined re-release of 'Music From The Elder', which was also a Bob Ezrin project, then we're all done for.
Barry
08.03.12
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