Kiss - Sonic Boom (WALMART EXCLUSIVE 2CD/1DVD) 10/06/09

[B5Erik]

I'm hearing Classic KISS (specifically "I Want You," and "Firehouse") meets Revenge era KISS meets Led Zeppelin on, "Modern Day Delilah."

That song is already in my Top 20 KISS songs. I can't stop hitting, "Replay!"

[SkullOrchard]

I'm not crazy about the album cover, but the song clip kicks ass.

[KillerCannibal]

Clip sounds pretty good, but that cover sucks. Seriously.

[Suprmallet]

I think it's meant to have a Rock and Roll Over vibe, but meh.

[Lemmy]

All this, and a Detroit show, too...with the new stage and costumes! KISS will play Cobo Arena one last time on Sept. 25 (it's being demolished soon afterward, unfortunately), and they will have the new stage/oufits, but will be playing the entire "Alive!" album in it's entirity. WOW!!!

[Hokeyboy]

The album title sucks. The album cover is EXTREMELY disappointing.


But I haven't heard the single yet (blocked at work), and from all I hear from the faithful, here and elsewhere, is that it's great! And in the end, it's the music what counts.

[d2cheer]

Originally Posted by B5Erik

HOLY SHIT!!!

SAMPLE OF NEW SONG, "Modern Day Delilah," up now on KISSonline.com - and it is FREAKING AWESOME!!!!!!

10/06/09 cannot come soon enough!!!

I like the cover, reminds me of their older ones...

[brianluvdvd]

The cover doesn't bother me that much as it does kinda have a retro feel to it. But it also looks a little cheap. I think they would have been better served with an drawn cover like Destroyer, Love Gun or Rock And Roll Over.

The title does suck but most album titles suck.

The snippet of music sounds really damn good though. Good guitar groove and Paul's voice sounds really strong.

[atlantamoi]

Song was okay until the chorus. Was that album cover a Jr. High art project?

[bigjim25]

Disc 2 - Length 53:30 (Lead vocals)
1. "Deuce" (Gene Simmons)
2. "Detroit Rock City" (Paul Stanley)
3. "Shout It Out Loud" (Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons)
4. "Hotter Than Hell" (Paul Stanley)
5. "Calling Dr. Love" (Gene Simmons)
6. "Love Gun" (Paul Stanley)
7. "I Was Made For Lovin' You" (Paul Stanley)
8. "Heaven's On Fire" (Paul Stanley)
9. "Lick It Up" (Paul Stanley)
10. "I Love It Loud" (Gene Simmons)
11. "Forever" (Paul Stanley)
12. "Christine Sixteen" (Gene Simmons)
13. "Do You Love Me" (Paul Stanley)
14. "Black Diamond" (Eric Singer, intro by Paul Stanley)
15. "Rock And Roll All Nite" (Gene Simmons)

DVD recorded April 5th, 2009 in Buenos Aires, Argentina on the Kiss Alive/35 World Tour
"Deuce"
"Hotter Than Hell"
"C'mon and Love Me"
"Watchin' You"
"100,000 Years"
"Rock & Roll All Nite"

The cover artwork was created by artist Michael Doret who has worked with Kiss previously for their 1976 album Rock and Roll Over. Myself I was planning to pay $12 for the regular CD and this is just an added bonus.

[Giantrobo]

Originally Posted by brianluvdvd

The cover doesn't bother me that much as it does kinda have a retro feel to it. But it also looks a little cheap. I think they would have been better served with an drawn cover like Destroyer, Love Gun or Rock And Roll Over.

yeah but it's more like 80's Retro.

[Giantrobo]

Originally Posted by atlantamoi

Song was okay until the chorus. Was that album cover a Jr. High art project?

This cover and the cover for Ace's new cd both suck. They look like a kid created them.

[Jason]

Digging the new song. This is what Psycho Circus should have sounded like. Album cover isn't much, but really, who cares?

Is the second CD the same disc that they released in Japan last year?

[freshticles]

The more I look at that cover, the more I realize how unbelievably awesome it is. I'm stoked. Song sounds good too.

[Lemmy]

Originally Posted by Jason

Is the second CD the same disc that they released in Japan last year?

Yes, the same exact one. I'm glad now that I didn't shell out the $35 for the import! A sweet bonus.

[nodeerforamonth]

Sounds very 80s KISS to me, not 70s. I'll still buy it. $12 for all that is a great deal.

[B5Erik]

After listening to the one minute sample I'm hearing a lot of things musically

The riff is kind of like, "Firehouse," meets, "God of Thunder," played with a, "Heart of Chrome," intensity and the, "I Want You," groove.

Vocally it's a real blending of their 70's and 80's styles as well.

And it's VERY well written and performed. The audio production seems to be damned good, too. (The sample is at a low bitrate, so you can only get an idea of what the actual CD will sound like - but sonically it sounds VERY promising.)

If the rest of the album follows suit it's gonna sound like Rock and Roll Over meets Revenge. That's not a bad thing.

[Indy Jones Fan]

I have to agree with those commenting that the new single sample sounds more like 80's KISS than 70's. Yes, that cover art is horrible but I'll get over it. I'm just glad we're getting new KISS music after all these years. My only regret is that Ace and Peter aren't playing on it.

[lovgun7]

gotta agree with everyone ... the cover looks like a bad photoshop job ....

BUT $12 bucks for a 3 disc set ??????

[B5Erik]

From RollingStone.com:

http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdail...ber-6th-album/

KISS “Born Again” With Walmart’s “Sonic Boom”: Band Talks New LP
08/17/09

“Is there any way to play it back on a man’s level?” says Gene Simmons, requesting more volume and rolling his eyes at Conway Studios in Los Angeles. Kiss are finishing up Sonic Boom, the band’s first new studio album in 11 years, and the God of Thunder wants to hear the songs played back at maximum loudness.

The band announced today that the 11-song Sonic Boom will be released October 6th in the U.S. and Canada exclusively in Walmart stores. The album will be part of a three-disc set that includes a CD of re-recorded greatest hits and a live DVD from a recent tour stop in Buenos Aires. The band will celebrate the new LP at a September 25th gig at Detroit’s Cobo Arena.

Back at the studio, Simmons and lifetime musical partner Paul Stanley radiate supreme confidence as they reveal the new songs, which reflect the same charged in-your-face sensibility, if not the actual sound, of their classic ’70s work. The album was produced by Stanley and is the first to feature the current lineup of guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer (who replaced founding members Ace Frehley and Peter Criss early this decade).

Kiss have remained active as a hugely successful touring act around the world, but the new album is a surprise from a band that hasn’t released a studio album since the disappointing Psycho Circus in 1998. “We tried to do a Kiss album, and it was an ill-fated attempt because there was no real band,” says Stanley, relaxing behind the control board at Conway. “For a band to make a great album, it has to share a common purpose, and we didn’t have it.”

In the years since, the lucrative Kiss licensing juggernaut rolled on, both Simmons and Stanley released solo albums, and the Simmons family became reality TV stars. And Kiss played the old hits to massive audiences around the planet. “Things happen when they’re ready,” says Stanley. “We couldn’t have made this album without Eric and Tommy. I’ve known Eric now for 20 years. He’s been in and out of the band, and the best times are when he’s in.”

Kiss started jamming and collecting song ideas in December, and by the spring began recording as a band live in the studio to analog tape. “Modern Day Delilah” is classic hard rock with thundering guitars and a wailing Stanley vocal. There’s a ’70s guitar grind to “Yes I Know (Nobody’s Perfect),” and thundering pop hooks within “Russian Roulette,” as Simmons sings, “You got me where you want me . . . take a bite,” before unleashing a ripping Thayer solo.

“The great thing about these tunes is that we can reproduce them live. Just four guys,” says Simmons, standing in black leather and cowboy boots with silver tips. “We don’t have to prove anything to anybody. All the nay-sayers who didn’t understand it, we walk on their graves in our 8-inch platform heels. If you want to say rebirth or born again, you’re goddamn right. There’s a sense of pride here. When you get up onstage with these guys, you look over and you go, ‘Wow, I’m in KISS.’ ”

[B5Erik]

The cover was done by Michael Doret, who also did the cover for Rock and Roll Over:



At first I was really disappointed in the cover, but I'm starting to warm up to it - especially when you look at it next to RARO.


And, has been noted here a few times, the cover doesn't really matter - it the music that counts, and so far the music is excellent....

[Giantrobo]

Yeah, late 80's KISS. Not bad, just not 70's KISS....

[Lemmy]

I wish they'd have gone with Ken Kelley as cover artist instead....he did the cover to Destroyer, and I believe Love Gun as well. I always thought that the cover to Rock And Roll Over was the weakest cover of the 70s KISS LPs.

That said, I'll still buy this on release day. The cover is the least important part of this release, IMO.

[B5Erik]

The first full, track by track review:

http://thequietus.com/articles/02534...k-album-review

It's long, so I'm editing it down a little...

KISS' New Album Sonic Boom Reviewed Track-By-Track

Mark Eglinton , August 19th, 2009 08:44

Modern Day Delilah

Given the eleven years since their last barely passable studio album – 1998's Psycho Circus it seemed unlikely that Kiss would ever release another album of new material... However, we didn't expect them to knock one out of the park this early with this heaving, sweating lump of fabulous groove straight from 1975. "Yeah yeah" are the first words to exit Stanley's mouth and immediately our ears are pricked to what is not stylistically a typical Kiss track, a circular, bass heavy riff driving everything along. The net result is your immediate desire to renew that direct debit to the 'Kiss Army'... it really is that good.


Russian Roulette

The first of Gene Simmons's vocal contributions and as they go, this isn't at all bad. In fact the years have been pretty kind to the 'god of thunder', and his voice has actually developed more than a semblance of melody. It's raw, punchy and lyrically the usual innuendo ridden stuff... which we've heard often before but here's it's done with a freshness of attitude that's been absent for a long, long time.


Never Enough

Classic Kiss and this could easily fit into their live set without being noticed as a brand new track... This is obvious single material, if such things exist anymore, and is Kiss at their best. They've remarkably managed to summon the best attributes of their past without sounding dated, while at the same time making it all sound relevant to now—brilliant.


Yes I know (Nobody's Perfect)

Simmons's rumbling bass drives this fairly standard Kiss number along in a way that it hasn't for years (apparently he was really motivated in the studio) Not just that, he sings too, and tunefully does it. Chunky and not overly overdriven guitar combined with that satisfying emphasis on bass give this a solid feel with some more good-time lyrics, as you'd expect...


Stand

This one will completely divide opinions. Initially a straight-ahead rocker in the vein of the classic 'Strutter' which at no time threatens to dissolve into a 'Crazy Nights' or 'God gave Rock 'n' Roll To You' type anthem; until it does exactly that with a cheesy, cheesy chorus which no other band on the planet would get away with. Not content with that, it even dives into a multi-vocal layered mid section before returning to the huge stadium rock chorus which you could imagine appearing in some awful teen movie. Though it works, it's probably the closest relative to some of their late 80s and early 90s howlers.


Hot And Cold

Cowbell-accented drums and more classroom innuendo punctuate this chunk of typical Kiss fodder (think 'Calling Dr Love'). It all sounds very live and not in any way over-produced (seemingly no Pro-Tools were used anywhere on the record)... the song's easily good enough to forgive him such childishly dated folly.


All For The Glory

Drummer Eric Singer, who has assuredly hammered out rock-solid backing thus far, lends a hand on vocal duties with fabulous result. This is absolutely solid gold stuff reminiscent of Destroyer era Kiss, but with the nastier edge of later incarnations like Creatures of the Night. Tommy's solo is absolutely killer too - what talent he's brought to the band.


Danger Us

"Danger you, danger me, danger us!"— terrible, terrible lyrics but again the track bails itself out of the mire in grand style. Starting with a quietly picked guitar intro before fading satisfyingly (why do bands not fade-in much these days?) Aerosmith like riff and Stanley's most effective vocal outing on the record. You get the impression that they're all really enjoying this stuff and again Simmons's sonorous bass rumble is very much in evidence, aidded by Stanley's own intentionally Spartan studio production.


I'm An Animal

A huge, lumbering riff of Zeppelin-esque ('Dazed and Confused' springs to mind) proportions and another Simmons vocal characterise this beast of a track bristling with stalker menace. Similar in nature to let's say 'War Machine' off Creatures of the Night it stomps emphatically all over some of the tedious filler of recent albums. "I'm an animal, and I'm free" Gene divulges, and who the hell are we to argue. This is fast becoming Simmons's showpiece and surely his richest vein of contribution in their history.


When Lightning Strikes

'Musical singers' continues with guitarist Tommy Thayer wrestling control of the mic this time around. He in no way disappoints, dialling in a pretty effective vocal effort that many more established singers would die for. More cowbells and a riff that's been done before give way to a straight-forward bridge/chorus. The closest you'd get to 'stock' material but in the context of the quality of the album generally that's probably being overly critical.


Say Yeah

When we expect filler we instead get utter killer, and if you're not singing this in the car or the bath you've no business whatsoever reading this review. Again, Stanley's vocals are a revelation – wielding an insanely addictive hook reminiscent of 'Tears are Falling' from the Asylum era but much, much better. Thayer's solo is brilliant too and resembles a lot of the stuff Bruce Kulick (surely their most underrated axe-man) came up with; fitting the song brilliantly and carrying no excess fret flab whatsoever. The Kiss of 2009 have left the building, and what a way to sign off...

I'd call that a ringing endorsement.

[Jason]

So is anybody thinking about going to the "one last time" show at Cobo Hall? It's a seven hour drive for me (each way). but it would be pretty cool. They're going to do the entire Alive! performance (without the drum "solo", hopefully) Ticketmasher says tickets are $45-$120, which isn't too bad.