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KISS
SONIC BOOM
(ROADRUNNER 2009)

REVIEW BY VILLE KRANNILA / DECEMBER 2009

“Sonic Boom” is something many never thought would see the light of day, I certainly didn’t believe it either and forgot the grand rule of the Kiss world: never say never. Both Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley have stated as recently as couple of years ago that new Kiss studio album would absolutely “not happen.” According to Simmons no one buys CD’s anymore and Stanley refused to do it unless he was given complete control over production and choosing the songs. And besides, nothing they could ever do would top something like “Love Gun.” However, the Kiss twins are world famous on eating back their words, so here we are 11 years after “Psycho Circus” and a brand new Kiss studio album “Sonic Boom” is upon us.  

Stanley got his way and had the final say in everything, producing the album and blocking the second rate Simmons-material. Of course when was the last Kiss album released where every track by Paul Stanley was a winner? Uh, “Dynasty”..? 

Even with all its good intentions 1998’s “Psycho Circus” was a critical and commercial failure. The expectations were sky high and under pressure Simmons and Stanley caved in. Fresh (though still not sober) from outstanding Kiss reunion tour, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss were pushed aside and session musicians and ghost drummers brought in. The album got made on schedule but the fact that its best song “Into The Void” was Ace’s tune, speaks volumes. After two cruel world tours and rapidly rising tension, Peter left the band in 2000 and Ace followed suit couple of years later. Criss would return for one more tour, but his playing had deteriorated to a point where the band had no choice but to replace him. Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer stepped in, took over their predecessor’s make-up and the band kicked off endless string of tour dates mostly in the US and Japan. All original members worked on solo albums, eventually some of them were good (Ace), some average (Paul), some crap (Peter, Gene). Excluding the excellent retrospective “Kissology” DVD’s, the last new release by the band was 2003’s “Kiss Symphony: Alive 4.” 

The new burst of activity came in form of “Alive ‘35” tour in 2008, new costumes, playing the classic 1975 live record from start to finish and also touring Europe for the first time in almost 10 years. And now finally the long awaited new studio album is in our hands. Let’s go through it track by track: 

Modern Day Delilah 
The album openers have traditionally been great anthems in the Kiss world, and first single “Modern Day Delilah” is no exception. Excellent and heavy guitar riff carries the song along with Paul Stanley giving a classic delivery, he belts out the trademark “oh yeah!” and “listen!” often enough to make sure this is Kiss you are hearing. The chorus is good with backing vocals supporting, Gene’s voice is up on the mix as it should be. This track sounds mostly like something from the early to mid-1980’s, “Lick It Up” or “Animalize.” 

Russian Roulette 
Gene’s turn to prove himself. Decent enough melody, good bass line though the reference to 1970’s Kiss material is maybe too obvious. I do have a sneaking suspicion this song is one of the rejects from earlier Kiss albums. It’s better than anything Gene had on “Psycho Circus” so a promising start nonetheless. 

Never Enough 
This tune has already been accused of ripping off Poison’s “Nothin’ But A Good Time” and I have to admit there is a certain similarity. This isn’t one of my favourites although it’s not bad by all means. It’s one of those songs that kind of strives to sound like “Shout It Out Loud” but ends up being more like “Raise Your Glasses.”  

Nobody’s Perfect (Yes I Know) 
A classic Gene Simmons stomper, it’s his shining moment on the album and one of only two songs he’s written all by himself. On others Stanley has helped him out (at least that’s how I think it has happened, knowing how much Gene writes and what is the overall quality). This is a great track, really good to hear Gene on top form again. Backing vocals are reminding me of something from “Lick It Up” again. 

Stand 
At first I didn’t like it one bit and almost pressed the skip button after two minutes, since then it’s grown a bit but it’s still the worst song on the album. The chorus is weak, it’s cool Paul and Gene trade off verses but it simply doesn’t work in a song like this. It’s Paul trying to re-write “God Gave Rock’n’Roll To You” and since GGRNRTY isn’t exactly a masterpiece, the effort is pointless.

Hot And Cold 
The chorus sort of sticks but otherwise this is the same mediocre plodder we were used to get from Gene 20-25 years ago.  

All For The Glory 
The first Eric Singer lead vocal on a Kiss record. While Eric has sung classic Peter Criss-numbers “Black Diamond” and “Nothin’ To Lose” in concert for several years, this is the real deal. Quite surprisingly it’s one of the album’s top three tunes, mostly written by Paul, it’s Stanley’s style but Eric’s voice really works on the song. Melody is great and guitar riff really stands out!

Danger Us 
Pretty substandard number. It’s the kind of half tempo anthem Paul can toss out in his sleep. Not much to say about this one. 

I’m An Animal 
Same as above, somewhat weak song. Gene tries his best to push the demon persona but ends up sounding more like a pussycat than dangerous animal here. Musically it’s alright but they should have reworked the chorus and vocal melodies to suit the message better. 

When The Lightning Strikes 
Tommy Thayer debuts his voice here and he does okay job. Unlike Eric Singer, he’s not as professional on his singing and also “When The Lightning Strikes” is no match for “All For The Glory.” Tommy’s no Ace Frehley either despite the similar lead guitar style but for what it’s worth, he does fine within Kiss’ musical framework. At this point I might prefer the Revenge-era but it’s a fine line. 

Say Yeah 
Another feel-good sing along track that bookends the album with “Modern Day Delilah”. It’s also the second song so far debuted live from the new album. The track’s catchy but at the same time it’s very similar to Paul Stanley’s “Live To Win” solo record . While this would have been roughly the best song on that album, here I don’t think the “Say yeah, yeah, yeah” chorus makes that good of an impact. Maybe it will grow on me and overall this one’s a decent tune. 

The limited edition includes a bonus CD “Kiss Klassiks” which sees the band re-recording 13 of their most well known hits. They are very faithful versions right down to the last note and you have to give credit for Stanley and Simmons being able to sing them as well as they do. They have really worked on the original phrasings. While you can hear it’s 2009 and not 1979, it’s much better than some of the vocal overdubs they have done on the old stuff in the past. Especially impressive is “I Was Made For Lovin’ You” – a song I’ve really grown tired of mostly because of the risible live versions from the last 15 years. Paul sings it respectfully interpreting the verses softly like they were originally done instead of ruining it with the usual screaming.  

For collectors the only rarity is “Black Diamond” with Singer’s voice offering something totally new. Add to this, the package also has a DVD with six songs from group’s Buenos Aires concert last spring. It’s nothing to get excited about as camera work is quite pedestrian and well, let’s just say the band is not on fire here. Best to stick with “Kissology”-series if you want a visual treat. 

What’s the final judgement then? Well, “Sonic Boom” is not Kiss’ greatest effort, it’s probably not going to make it even to my personal top-10. Basically there’s three great songs: “Modern Day Delilah,” “Nobody’s Perfect” and “All For The Glory.” The rest is above or below average at best. I don’t think there’s a song here that tops “Into The Void” from “Psycho Circus,” which proves the original band’s uniqueness. But even with couple of weaker tracks, taken as a whole it is the most cohesive Kiss-album since 1992’s “Revenge.” It’s basically taking the bands sound back to its roots - even if most of it sounds like 1980’s more than anything. It’s still great to have Kiss back and hopefully more albums will follow. But should “Sonic Boom” be the end of it, it’s a good way to go out.