Can anyone really<\/i> pinpoint what the last true Kiss album was?<\/p>\n
People may bemoan the fact that Ace Frehley and Peter Criss aren\u2019t the people behind the famous greasepaint anymore, but it has been well documented on the Web how Kiss often used guest musicians or doubled up on instruments, so the idea of what band truly is Kiss is pretty much moot so long as Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley are still running the show.<\/p>\n
The group\u2019s last studio effort, Psycho Circus<\/i>, left a lot of people wondering if Kiss should have called it a day. Eleven years later, their most recent studio effort, Sonic Boom<\/i>, suggests there still is some life in the Kiss engine, even if they still coast more often than they should.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a bit of reverse Dorian Grey-type aging going on with Kiss. Guitarist Tommy Thayer does try to mold his solos as if Frehley were playing them, so there\u2019s not always as much flash as he could be capable of. That said, his fretwork fits the band well. As for the drum work, there\u2019s never been a question of Eric Singer\u2019s capabilities, so he fills the role more than adequately.<\/p>\n Musically, Sonic Boom<\/i> starts off \u2013 well, with one hell of a bang. I can\u2019t say that \u201cModern Day Delilah\u201d was the best choice for a leadoff single, but given a few listens, it proves to be much catchier than a lot of recent (read: in the last 20 years) tracks that Kiss has recorded. But the true driving force is heard when Simmons takes the lead vocal over on \u201cRussian Roulette\u201d \u2013 a track that, if Kiss were smart (and no one ever claimed Kiss didn\u2019t know how to market themselves), they would put out as a single immediately<\/i><\/b>. Stanley and Simmons have hinted in interviews that the music on Sonic Boom<\/i> is reminiscent of 1977-era Kiss, and this track shows there was proof to that boast (In fact, it\u2019s better<\/i> than Love Gun<\/i>-era Kiss.)<\/p>\n For about the first 15 minutes of this disc, Kiss simply cannot do any wrong. The first sign of weakness comes with the cut \u201cStand,\u201d a number that sounds like the boys were trying too hard to write a rock anthem. But this slip is almost completely forgotten when \u201cHot And Cold\u201d kicks in \u2013 and, no, this isn\u2019t a cover of Katy Perry\u2019s song. Sure, some of the lyrics are a bit formulatic (\u201cWell \/ If it\u2019s too hot \/ You\u2019re too cold \/ If it\u2019s too loud \/ You\u2019re too old\u201d), but as much as one would like to lambast Kiss \u2013 dammit, they fit<\/i>!<\/p>\n Kiss has always been a band that tends to rely on filler material too much \u2013 and with an 11 year gap between studio albums, the fact that any made it on this disc is simply a crime. But between \u201cStand,\u201d \u201cAll For The Glory,\u201d \u201cDanger Us,\u201d and \u201cI\u2019m An Animal,\u201d there\u2019s plenty of filler still present here. And, sadly, it does distract from what really is one of the better Kiss releases in recent history.<\/p>\n One could argue that rock \u2018n\u2019 roll is a young person\u2019s game, and with it comes all the lewdness and debauchery that would make Hugh Hefner look like an amateur. But, seeing that Simmons is 60, do we really need to hear him singing about sex on songs such as \u201cRussian Roulette\u201d and \u201cYes I Know (Nobody\u2019s Perfect)\u201d \u2013 songs I otherwise thought were fantastic? Seeing that I\u2019m within sniffing distance of turning 40 myself, I should feel like there\u2019s hope of me scoring later in life, but it\u2019s getting to the point of it being a little creepy hearing Simmons call for a nubile young lady to take off her clothes.<\/p>\n Kiss does close the disc on a strong note with \u201cSay Yeah,\u201d another track that could easily become a hit single, and is much closer to the rock anthem I think they wanted to record than \u201cStand\u201d could ever dream of being. With this song, Kiss does leave the listener wanting more.<\/p>\n Sonic Boom<\/i> \u2013 at least the copies that were initially available \u2013 comes with a bonus disc, Kiss Klassics<\/i>, which features rerecorded versions of some of the band\u2019s best-known songs. Diehard fans might wonder why such a disc is even necessary, but for those who can\u2019t afford tickets to any of the Alive 35<\/i> shows, this might be the second-best thing to seeing the show live. (The next-best thing, of course, is the bonus DVD, Kiss Live In Buenos Aires<\/i>, that also is packaged in the set. I have yet to get to the DVD, but it doesn\u2019t matter, because the final rating is based on the new album only, not the bonuses.)<\/p>\n Sonic Boom<\/i> definitely shows that, despite 35 years of slugging it out, Kiss can still surprise with some outstanding material, as well as bore with subpar stuff.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":30100,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[5731],"rating":[5612],"class_list":["post-41739","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-kiss","rating-rating-b-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41739","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41739"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41739\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=41739"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=41739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}