KISS: To Release "Destroyer" Deluxe Edition With Original Cover Art

KISS bassist Gene Simmons has revealed that producer Bob Ezrin is currently remixing the band’s legendary 1976 album "Destroyer" for re-issue in “Deluxe Edition” form sometime in 2012, complete with unreleased tracks and re-instating the original label-rejected cover art as displayed above.

There’s no word on what new songs will be included, but Simmons told Planet Rock that the band’s upcoming new album "Monster" harkens back to the classic "Destroyer" sound, and that the new record will be joined in record stores by a 10-hour DVD (possibly taking the place of "KISSology IV"?’) and a four-foot high, three-foot wide book.

Artist Ken Kelly, who did both the rejected and the eventually used versions of the "Destroyer" art, as well as the band’s "Love Gun" cover, explains below why the record label didn’t want to use his original version of the art.

Apparently, Casablanca felt the destruction in the background made things look too violent, as if the band was just escaping after destroying a city. (Yeah, so?) So Kelly started working on the version we all know and love, only to have to start over a third time when the band got new stage costumes. You can purchase prints of all three of Kelly’s Kiss covers at his official web store.