With “Sonic Boom” 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, \u201cDynasty\u201d..?<\/p>\n
Even with all its good intentions 1998\u2019s \u201cPsycho Circus\u201d 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 \u201cInto The Void\u201d was Ace\u2019s 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\u2019s 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 \u201cKissology\u201d DVD\u2019s, the last new release before “Sonic Boom” by the band was 2003\u2019s \u201cKiss Symphony: Alive 4.\u201d<\/p>\n
The new burst of activity came in form of \u201cAlive \u201835\u201d 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 finally after that the long awaited new studio album made it to our hands. Let\u2019s go through it track by track:<\/p>\n
Modern Day Delilah<\/strong><\/p>\n The album openers have traditionally been great anthems in the Kiss world, and first single \u201cModern Day Delilah\u201d is no exception. Excellent and heavy guitar riff carries the song along with Paul Stanley giving a classic delivery, he belts out the trademark \u201coh yeah!\u201d and \u201clisten!\u201d often enough to make sure this is Kiss you are hearing. The chorus is good with backing vocals supporting, Gene\u2019s voice is up on the mix as it should be. This track sounds mostly like something from the early to mid-1980\u2019s, \u201cLick It Up\u201d or \u201cAnimalize.\u201d<\/p>\n Russian Roulette<\/strong><\/p>\n Gene\u2019s turn to prove himself. Decent enough melody, good bass line though the reference to 1970\u2019s Kiss material is maybe too obvious. I do have a sneaking suspicion this song is one of the rejects from earlier Kiss albums. It\u2019s better than anything Gene had on \u201cPsycho Circus\u201d so a promising start nonetheless.<\/p>\n Never Enough<\/strong><\/p>\n This tune has already been accused of ripping off Poison\u2019s \u201cNothin\u2019 But A Good Time\u201d and I have to admit there is a certain similarity. This isn\u2019t one of my favourites although it\u2019s not bad by all means. It\u2019s one of those songs that kind of strives to sound like \u201cShout It Out Loud\u201d but ends up being more like \u201cRaise Your Glasses.\u201d<\/p>\n Nobody\u2019s Perfect (Yes I Know)<\/strong><\/p>\n A classic Gene Simmons stomper, it\u2019s his shining moment on the album and one of only two songs he\u2019s written all by himself. On others Stanley has helped him out (at least that\u2019s 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 \u201cLick It Up\u201d again.<\/p>\n Stand<\/strong><\/p>\n At first I didn\u2019t like it one bit and almost pressed the skip button after two minutes, since then it\u2019s grown a bit but it\u2019s still the worst song on the album. The chorus is weak, it\u2019s cool Paul and Gene trade off verses but it simply doesn\u2019t work in a song like this. It\u2019s Paul trying to re-write \u201cGod Gave Rock\u2019n\u2019Roll To You\u201d and since GGRNRTY isn\u2019t exactly a masterpiece, the effort is pointless.<\/p>\n Hot And Cold<\/strong><\/p>\n The chorus sort of sticks but otherwise this is the same mediocre plodder we were used to get from Gene 20-25 years ago.<\/p>\n All For The Glory<\/strong><\/p>\n The first Eric Singer lead vocal on a Kiss record. While Eric has sung classic Peter Criss-numbers \u201cBlack Diamond\u201d and \u201cNothin\u2019 To Lose\u201d in concert for several years, this is the real deal. Quite surprisingly it\u2019s one of the album\u2019s top three tunes, mostly written by Paul, it\u2019s Stanley\u2019s style but Eric\u2019s voice really works on the song. Melody is great and guitar riff really stands out!<\/p>\n Danger Us<\/strong><\/p>\n Pretty substandard number. It\u2019s the kind of half tempo anthem Paul can toss out in his sleep. Not much to say about this one.<\/p>\n I\u2019m An Animal<\/strong><\/p>\n 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\u2019s alright but they should have reworked the chorus and vocal melodies to suit the message better.<\/p>\n When The Lightning Strikes<\/strong><\/p>\n Tommy Thayer debuts his voice here and he does okay job. Unlike Eric Singer, he\u2019s not as professional on his singing and also \u201cWhen The Lightning Strikes\u201d is no match for \u201cAll For The Glory.\u201d Tommy\u2019s no Ace Frehley either despite the similar lead guitar style but for what it\u2019s worth, he does fine within Kiss\u2019 musical framework. At this point I might prefer the Revenge-era but it\u2019s a fine line.<\/p>\n Say Yeah<\/strong><\/p>\n Another feel-good sing along track that bookends the album with \u201cModern Day Delilah\u201d. It\u2019s also the second song so far debuted live from the new album. The track\u2019s catchy but at the same time it\u2019s very similar to Paul Stanley\u2019s \u201cLive To Win\u201d solo record . While this would have been roughly the best song on that album, here I don\u2019t think the \u201cSay yeah, yeah, yeah\u201d chorus makes that good of an impact. Maybe it will grow on me and overall this one\u2019s a decent tune.<\/p>\n The limited edition includes a bonus CD \u201cKiss Klassiks\u201d 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\u2019s 2009 and not 1979, it\u2019s much better than some of the vocal overdubs they have done on the old stuff in the past. Especially impressive is \u201cI Was Made For Lovin\u2019 You\u201d \u2013 a song I\u2019ve 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.<\/p>\n For collectors the only rarity is \u201cBlack Diamond\u201d with Singer\u2019s voice offering something totally new. Add to this, the package also has a DVD with six songs from group\u2019s Buenos Aires concert from 2008. It\u2019s nothing to get excited about as camera work is quite pedestrian and well, let\u2019s just say the band is not on fire here. Best to stick with \u201cKissology\u201d-series if you want a visual treat.<\/p>\n What\u2019s the final judgement then? Well, \u201cSonic Boom\u201d is not Kiss\u2019 greatest effort, it\u2019s probably not going to make it even to my personal TOP-10. Basically there are three great songs: \u201cModern Day Delilah,\u201d \u201cNobody\u2019s Perfect\u201d and \u201cAll For The Glory.\u201d The rest is above or below average at best. I don\u2019t think there\u2019s a song here that tops \u201cInto The Void\u201d from \u201cPsycho Circus,\u201d which proves the original band\u2019s uniqueness. But even with couple of weaker tracks, taken as a whole it is and remains the most cohesive Kiss-album since 1992\u2019s \u201cRevenge.\u201d It\u2019s basically taking the bands sound back to its roots – even if most of it sounds like 1980\u2019s more than anything. The last five years have been a struggle for the band but “Sonic Boom” was still a decent enough comeback to justify its existence.<\/p>\n
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