Got ‘Sonic Boom’? These are the other 5 releases that you must own!

Get a full feature with Paul Stanley on the past, present and future of Kiss in this month’s Metal Hammer magazine – on sale now!

KISS
Casablanca, 1974
As far as debut albums go, they don’t come more action-packed than Kiss’s self-titled masterpiece. Most bands take whole careers to write songs as great as Black Diamond and Strutter, Kiss did it from the start.
BEST TRACK: Cold Gin

ALIVE!
Casablanca, 1975
The album that broke Kiss into the mainstream, Alive remains one of rock’s landmark live albums. You wanted the best? Here it is, bitch.
BEST TRACK: C’mon And Love Me

DESTROYER
Casablanca, 1976
Frankly, your record collection has a gargantuan hole in it if this isn’t sat on your shelf. Almost faultless (even the most ardent of Kiss fans can’t defend Great Expectations), Destroyer is essential to anyone who claims a love of rock.
BEST TRACK: God Of Thunder

LOVE GUN
Casablanca, 1977
As well as giving the world one of the greatest title-tracks ever, Love Gun is the last Kiss album to receive universal acclaim from fans and critics alike. And, as everyone knows, a Kiss show can’t fail when opened with I Stole Your Love.
BEST TRACK: I Stole Your Love

REVENGE
Mercury, 1992
Kiss may have been as relevant in 1992 as the cassette tape is now, but Revenge is a corker of an album. That the band recorded it shortly after the death of drummer Eric Carr only makes it an even more remarkable achievement.
BEST TRACK: Unholy