And the rest of the album isnвЂ™t far behind it. After the sloppy Rolling Stones vibe of Dressed to Kill, the dynamic massed guitars, power chords and precision of вЂњDetroit Rock CityвЂќ comes as a shock вЂ“ and who knew Gene could play bass like that? Anthemic, galvanizing, stadium-ready and even oddly moving in its utter dedication to goofy teenage rock вЂnвЂ™ rolldom, they never wrote a better show-starter than this. Jumping around onstage in massive platform boots in the midst of fireballs while firing rockets from your guitar isnвЂ™t a recipe for sterile perfection, but who wants sterility?ДЄlthough itвЂ™s far from sterile, Destroyer itself is about as close as Kiss got to a polished sound in the 1970s, in its own way as clean and sophisticated as the disco-inflected Dynasty would be three years later. Disc Three is 22 alternate mixes, instrumentals, outtakes etc., while the last disc is a collection of unreleased live tracks from 1976 that prove again what the fans already know вЂ“ that shorn of the studio makeover that smoothed off the rough edges of Alive!, Kiss in the mid-вЂ70s were even more exciting. Disc Two consists of 15 previously unreleased demos, many familiar to fans from the array of Kiss bootlegs that have proliferated since the вЂ70s, but here in better sound quality than ever before. The original album is there in the 96kHz 24-bit Blu-ray format, somewhat tweaked, with an acoustic version of вЂњBethвЂќ in place of the usual version and with AceвЂ™s original solo on вЂњSweet PainвЂќ in place of the familiar Dick Wagner one, but Disc One showcases a remastered version of the Destroyer that fans know and love. Gotta love it.ДЄnd then, more importantly вЂ“ if that isnвЂ™t blasphemy вЂ“ thereвЂ™s the music. Plus, there are brand new tacky extras like iron-on logos, bumper stickers, posters, an interview newspaper, a hardcover book and a whole lot of etc., because thatвЂ™s how Kiss rolls.

There are vinyl and digital editions, but in its most lavish version, the album is a 4-CD + Blu-ray Audio box set and includes a wealth of the kind of tacky rubbish that we true Kiss fans lap up facsimiles of the 1976 Kiss Army Membership pack including certificates, newsletters, press photos and bios. This prestigious 45th anniversary edition is so insanely super deluxe that they should probably have waited a few years for the 50th, but fans, especially wealthy ones, wonвЂ™t be complaining. Whereas the songs on the bandвЂ™s previous studio album, 1975вЂ™s Dressed to Kill, sounded scruffy, loose and even (in the best kind of way) a bit rushed, Destroyer feels polished, anthemic and impregnable. The participation of outside songwriters seems to have pushed Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons вЂ“ and to be fair, Peter Criss and Ace Frehley too вЂ“ to sharpen their skills. There were several secret ingredients to its success the visionary Alice Cooper producer Bob Ezrin, a pinch of maniacal svengali Kim Fowley and, perhaps more to the point, hitherto unheard of levels of discipline and hard work on the part of the band itself.

Huge, shiny, dynamic, catchy-yet-heavy while being both musically sophisticated and calculatedly dumb in the inimitable Kiss style (and above all, fun), itвЂ™s perhaps the apogee of US 1970s macho/camp glam rock. From the classy, iconic cover artwork by Ken Kelly вЂ“ tenuously related to Frank Frazetta family-wise but artistically his direct descendant вЂ“ onwards, this was Kiss, not just on a larger-than-life, but a giant scale. Following on from the breakthrough success of 1975вЂ™s storming (if somewhat polished in the studio) Alive!, Destroyer feels, from its opening chords, like the big one the band had been working towards.

In terms of genuine, street level rock вЂnвЂ™ roll thrills, Kiss have never quite bettered their first three studio albums, but it was number four, 1976вЂ™s Destroyer that catapulted them into the platinum sales stratosphere and it remains one of their greatest and best-loved records.

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