Review | KISS ‘Sonic Boom’

Sonic Boom

After swearing off the writing and recording of a new KISS record for years, Paul Stanley felt it was time. “I think the band has become so strong live, with the lineup that’s been stable for quite a while. I thought we had a great album in us.” One condition was that Stanley must produce it. “I wasn’t interested in making another KISS album that was going to be confused, diffused or unfocused.” With everything in place and everyone on board, KISS began working on ‘Sonic Boom‘ their first studio album in eleven years.

I have been a KISS fan since day one. My first concert was KISS with Rush opening (see My First Concert) in 1975, and have since seen them numerous other times. I loved their first three studio albums, ‘Kiss‘ (1974) ‘Hotter Than Hell‘ (1974) and ‘Dressed to Kill‘ (1975) and of course, ‘Alive!‘ (1975). When ‘Destroyer‘ (1976) came out my loyalty started to wain, how dare they do a sappy slow song, ‘Beth’ I hated it. ‘Rock and Roll Over‘ (1976) and ‘Love Gun‘ (1977) were the last KISS albums I would buy, I was pretty much done with the band at that point. How insane was their album output back then though, six studio and one live album in a four year span.

Kiss Reunion

I again saw KISS when they reunited in 1996 (which by the way was my sons first concert). It was like a form of time travel, the band wore costumes from their earlier days and only played songs from that era, it was amazing. But when they released ‘Psycho Circus‘ in 1998 I wasn’t interested, I somehow new it would be bad. I’ve never heard it, and I was right, I believe KISS didn’t even like it. Regarding the recording of ‘Psycho Circus’ Stanley recently commented, “It’s very hard to be in the studio with four guys who have their own sense of what we should be doing and oftentimes unfortunately in the past we’ve had situations where people were more concerned with having their songs on the album rather than having the best songs on the album. Or dealing with lawyers when we should have been dealing with band members. It was not productive.”

When I heard the first single off Sonic Boom, ‘Modern Day Delilah” I was impressed. The song definitely sounded like vintage KISS, as promised by both Stanley and Gene Simmons. “We have 4 tunes recorded. If you’re a fan of our stuff from about 1977, you’ll feel right at home” said Simmons. I was skeptical but very interested in what the rest of what ‘Sonic Boom’ would sound like. Was ‘Modern Day Delilah’ going to be the only song worth listening to?

I didn’t have any expectations that KISS would turn the rock music world upside down or revolutionize rock and roll with their new ground breaking songs, I expected classic KISS, nothing less, nothing more, and ‘Sonic Boom’ delivered. This is simple, stripped down rock music, from four guys that sounded like they were loving what they were doing and didn’t care what anyone else thought.

I have heard all of ‘Sonic Boom’ now, and I am pleasantly surprised and impressed with the record.

KISS is a legendary iconic rock band that has been around for 35 years and have outlasted numerous flash in the pan music fads, such as disco (though they did throw their hat in on that with the song, ‘I Was Made For Loving You’ which was horrible) punk, new wave, hair metal, grunge, and so on. Unlike those other genres and bands, they are still around and going strong, with new fans joining the KISS Army all the time. Although I never expected the band to do another studio album, they did, and it’s a good one.

Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons of Kiss

They still write some cheesy corny lyrics like, Gene’s song ‘Hot and Cold’ “Let me introduce you to pleasure, I will seduce you my treasure” or Paul’s ‘Danger Us’ “Danger you, danger me, danger us” but then these guys have never been mistaken for Lennon/McCartney, their biggest hit and one of the great rock anthems of all time contains the lyrics, “I wanna rock and roll all night and party everyday.” This album is vintage KISS and everything they have ever stood for, nothing less, nothing more.

The songs are full of catchy melodies and lyrical hooks that can’t be denied and move along at a steady 4/4 beat. With the exception of the song, ‘I’m An Animal’ which slows down a bit with a heavier riff and features Gene singing lead vocals, quite well I might add. Gene’s voice is still strong and powerful with somehow, a youthful tone to it. He is 60 years old and living proof that a clean life style (drug and alcohol free) has a lot going for it, not to mention a few 1,000 (give or take a few) women along the way to keep him young at heart, and yes, he still writes about getting laid on most of his songs.

The infectious, ‘Say Yeah’ is the album’s anthem and should be a rousing audience sing along when they play it live, assuming they do. Paul handles lead vocals on this one and he too sounds reinvigorated and energized on the mic.

Tommy Thayer

I don’t know if Tommy Thayer has been playing Ace Frehley’s guitar leads so long that they are ingrained in him, but I swear it sounds like Ace is playing some of these solo’s. Not to take anything away from Tommy, he is a talented accomplished player. I know Gene and Paul have never been fans of what they called “Bumble Bee” type guitar solo’s, and have always preferred more melodic basic leads that stay in line with their basic songs. Tommy’s guitar sound is rich and full on this record, more so than on any other KISS album and that’s a credit to him, he brings something more to the table than just being Ace’s replacement. I know this won’t go over well with Ace fans, but Tommy is by far the best guitarist KISS has ever had. He also sings lead vocal on, ‘When Lightning Strikes’ and it struck me (no pun intended) that he kind of sounds like a combination of Paul and Gene vocally, which is not a bad thing.

Eric Singer

Nothing much can be said about Eric Singer’s drumming, I know he’s a consummate professional and experienced drummer in his own right, but he is limited to what he can do within the frame work of these songs, which again are all 4/4 and extremely basic, but then who am I to talk, this is the gig of a lifetime, so rock on Eric!  He is solid as a rock behind his kit, which sounds explosive and powerful on this record. Eric also has lead vocal duty on the song, ‘All For The Glory’ which was written by Stanley and Simmons and he does a nice job.

Paul Stanley did exceptional work producing this album, getting the most out of himself and the band. As I said the guitars have a live full sound and the drums pop. I find it hard to believe but as I listen to this record in my headphones while I write this review it’s starting to grow on me, and there really isn’t a throw away song on here, and that’s a credit to the entire band and Paul as the producer. Also, according to Billboard 200 as of the week of October 16, 2009 ‘Sonic Boom’ is #2, selling over 108,000 copies in it’s first week of release, looks like KISS is still ALIVE and ‘Sonic Boom’ is something more than less.

Album Rating: 3-1/2 stars out of 5

Favorite Track: I’m An Animal

One Response to “Review | KISS ‘Sonic Boom’”

1. kerry says:

   October 26, 2009 at 6:21 pm

   I’ve been a KISS fan for ever, my first KISS album was KISS Alive, which I found in a road ditch in Elk Falls Kansas, out side my aunts house in 1975.
   I was so excited, my first kiss record. I played that thing until it wouldn’t play anymore more. That is how I feel about Sonic Boom. Favorite track, ALL FOR THE GLORY
   Eric Singer sounds just like Peter Criss to anyone that doesn’t know the KISS line up today would think it was Peter.