KISS - Destroyer

Today's selection was directly influenced by a belated birthday gift I received today in the form of an Ace Frehley Zippo.

 He's my favorite member of KISS and hope to one day master the guitar solo from Detroit Rock City within my lifetime...

KISS holds a rather special place in my heart...  when I was a child, I would spend a number of weekends with my family at flea markets.  At the tender age of 5 (1982), I recall seeing a lot of second hand KISS memorabilia in the form of posters, t-shirts, patches and toys.

The posters were fucking intoxicating.   4 guys in costume & face paint, rocking out and pyrotechnics firing off in the background.  I think my mom got me about 6 posters and I hung them on my wall for about 2 years before ever getting around to hearing what they actually sounded like.

My cousin Matt heard that I had never actually heard the band and got me Destroyer on cassette.  They didn't exactly pair up with the sound I had for them in my head... but I never took it out of my personal walkmen.

I know every single lyric, bass lick, guitar note and drum kick on the album.  My apartment is filled with a number of strange knickknacks featuring the sleeve work of the album...  and if I don't hear any objections from my family, I hope to outfit my niece with her first KISS shirt in the near future. 

I recall listening to this album last year when they remastered it (again) and re-released with the full sleeve art.  I've been meaning to actually get it on Vinyl, because it's the only format I don't have it in.

My favorite track on the album is a deep cut on the second side titled - Do You Love Me.  A song delving into the doubts of actually being loved by beautiful lady and chalking up her companionship to all the perks that come with hanging with KISS.  

Other standout tracks:

Artist: KISS
Album: Destroyer
Producer: Bob Ezrin
Label: Casablanca
Recorded: Record Plant Studios

KISS - Pinball

While attending the Rally With No Name a few weeks ago I got a chance to visit an arcade called “Pinballz”.  The place is just what you’d imagine it would be…  a place with a shit load of pinball machines.  They also have a number of Arcade Games that make people in their 30’s and 40’s reminisce of a time not that long ago…

While there I ran across this gem. KISS Pinball.

A.K.A. the first thing I buy after moving into a house.

Truth be told… the pinball table was pretty pedestrian.  The objectives were minimal and the game can abruptly come to an end because of the vacant space in the middle of the table.  This still didn’t stop me from playing it a number of times tho’.