Kiss Destroys Anaheim ’76 captures Kiss in the midst of a major transformation.
The newly released live album finds Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss playing in front of 42,000 people during an Aug. 20, 1976 show at Anaheim Stadium, their largest audience to that point.
That massive crowd was a clear indicator of the massive fame Kiss had gained from the multi-platinum success of 1975’s double live album Alive! and their 1976 studio follow-up Destroyer.
Creative change was also in the wind, as Destroyer found Kiss tackling more sophisticated and polished music than on their previous three studio albums, the result of having been taken to music “camp” by producer Bob Ezrin.
Read More: Rock’s Top 100 Live Albums
It’s impossible not to compare Anaheim to Alive! and 1977’s Alive II, live albums that are burned into the memory of any longtime Kiss fan.
It’s jarring when the closing instrumental section of “Let Me Go, Rock ‘N Roll” cuts off so quickly, or when “Hotter Than Hell” gives way to “Nothin’ to Lose” instead of “Firehouse,” but you’ll adjust after a couple of listens.
The album sounds great – lively and punchy, with Simmons’ bass particularly coming through loud and clear. And the concert certainly doesn’t lack for energy. Perhaps extra amped up by performing in front of such a large crowd, Kiss plays every song at about 110% of their normal speeds.
However unlike the groove-sacrificing “million miles an hour” tempos they used during the early ’80s, this pace is infectious and seems like the result of legitimate excitement – or maybe nerves.
Both Alive! and Alive II were famously heavily re-worked and edited in the studio, resulting in exquisitely-sequenced records that over-promise in terms of what you could actually expect at one of the band’s shows.
It’s an effect similar to one created by the Alive II gatefold photo – which found the band blowing up all the pyro used during a show at once, during a rehearsal, something you’d never see at one of their actual concerts.
By comparison, Anaheim is filled with more normal between-song breaks and the occasional awkward transition. Frehley’s solo section gets a bit boring when you can’t see his guitar fly up into space. But this only adds to the album’s charms.
Along with the relatively unvarnished live shows included in 2025’s Alive! and Dressed to Kill box sets, Kiss Destroys Anaheim ’76 offers the most accurate representation of what it was really like to see classic Kiss at their peak.
You can see where Kiss Destroys Anaheim ’76 ranks among Kiss’ live albums below.
Another Archival Kiss Live Album is On the Way
Our Kiss live album rankings will need to be updated again shortly. The group recently announced that they will release a massive box set edition of their 1976 album Rock and Roll Over on Nov. 6, complete with an 18-song live album from the three shows the band performed in Tokyo in April 1977.
Those recordings were originally intended to be used for 1977’s Alive II, but most of that double album instead came from shows in Los Angeles.
By our count, the Tokyo 1977 release will be Kiss’ 19th live album, just one shy of the number of studio albums they released during their career.
Presumably at some point a live album / concert video from Kiss’ ‘End of the Road’ farewell tour will also be released, perhaps alongside the band’s long-brewing documentary.
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Gallery Credit: Matthew Wilkening
