5. Rock And Roll Over (1976)
The band hired control freak/musical genius Bob Ezrin (Alice Cooper, Pink Floyd) to produce the angular bombast of Destroyer, their fourth studio album which was released in March 1976. It was KISS as viewed through an orchestral filter and saw every note planned to within an inch of its life. Sonically it was a radical departure from their earlier albums and earned a muted response from the normally rabid KISS Army. Destroyer only eventually turned over big numbers because Peter Criss' string laden ballad Beth became an accidental hit with Mums and Dads across America. The follow-up had to be a return to the low slung, dirty rock n' roll which had made their name. No orchestra, no piano, no weird sound effects and no Boys' Choir on this album. They recruited Eddie Kramer (Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix) who had helmed the previous year's KISS Alive! opus to man the soundboard and, a short 8 months after Destroyer had hit the shelves, released this classic. KISS took over the Star Theatre in Nanuet, New York for the Rock And Roll Over recording sessions and it's the resulting live edge which puts it amongst the very best of their albums. That and the songwriting. Exquisitely consistent, this album contains top-notch tunes from start (I Want You) to finish (Makin' Love). This is the band's first studio album with absolutely no filler. Aside from the blistering opening and closing songs the album features KISS fan favourites Calling Dr Love, Take Me and Love 'Em And Leave 'Em. The Paul Stanley penned Hard Luck Woman was originally written for Rod Stewart, but in the end was given to Peter Criss to sing. It reached #11 on the Billboard charts giving KISS another big hit, and was subsequently covered by Garth Brooks on the KISS tribute album Kiss My Ass (1994). The only thing missing from this disc is a song written by Ace, but his searing solos more than make up for that. Rock And Roll Over is a band rediscovering what made them special.