10 Perfect Hard Rock Albums Everyone Tried To Copy

After the Flower Power generation caved in, rock and roll didn't really seem all that concerned with presentation anymore. If you were to look at any other band to come out of the bluesy rock scene around that time, you'd hardly tell them apart, each of them going up on stage with jeans and T-shirts and letting the music do the talking for them. The members of KISS never were the greatest musicians though...so they were going to blow you away by giving you the greatest show you've ever seen.

Fresh off of the live release Alive!, Destroyer was the first time the energy of a KISS concert translated over to vinyl, bringing the same kind of urgency that you get from the live gig, whether that's the anticipation of going to the show on Detroit Rock City or Gene Simmons playing up his Demon persona on the song God of Thunder. As much as some of these songs may have been hard edged, there was still a party atmosphere behind everything as well, like the anthemic sounds of Shout It Out Loud and creating the first true power ballad with the song Beth.

KISS may have been the first of their kind, but the rest of the rock scene tended to look a lot different once they reached the masses, with bands getting more into the theatrical side of the show and wanting to give their audience a good time instead of just rocking out on stage. Destroyer might not have been the most technically gorgeous album ever made by any stretch, but both glam rock and hair metal are still living in its shadow to this day.