B5Erik

The release date has been set for the new KISS album, Monster - October 16, 2012. Produced by Paul Stanley and Greg Collins this is the follow up to 2009's fairly successful Sonic Boom album.

The band members have said that this one will be similar to Sonic Boom, only heavier and riffier.

They just released the first single from the album in time for The Tour (KISS' summer tour with Motley Crue as special guests).

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To me that sounds like equal parts, "I Stole Your Love," "Danger Us" (from Sonic Boom), and Sammy Hagar's, "There's Only One Way To Rock." It's an uptempo, high energy track with some good riffs and a good solo from Tommy Thayer.

Monster will be released almost exactly 3 years from the release of Sonic Boom.

Spiderbite

Isn't that what they have said every album since their weepy hit "Forever" from Hot In The Shade?

This song is just eh. I wish they would get away from trying to make every song sound like an "anthem song." Gene & Paul need to hang up their boots if you ask me. They are almost getting as bad as Brian & Roger in beating a dead horse. Queen is dead and Kiss has been dying a slow painful death for too many years (and this is coming from a huge fan of both groups).

But I am a sucker and will buy this album anyway...dammit.

Giantrobo

Yeah, KISS...Paul in particular speaks in Sound Bytes. NOTHING sounds genuine and from his heart. He always gives the same bullshit line about how "this album" will be XYZ more than the last one. Whatever Dude.

B5Erik

Not really, they just always compare the new album to Destroyer. Hell, Paul said that Crazy Nights was going to be similar to Destroyer.

But, so far, the band members have been dead on with the Heavier & Riffier comments. Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer have both said the same things about the album, and they aren't prone to hyperbole like Gene and Paul are...

But that's what they do! That's what they've always done. It's a little late in the game to try and do something different like The Elder or Carnival of Souls, don't you think?

KISS will be done soon enough. I don't think they'll make it past their 40th Anniversary in 2014 (the 40th anniversary of their 1st album).

I'm betting that Monster is actually really good. Tommy and Eric are both fans of the band from the 70's and they have been helping keep Paul and Gene focused on what does and doesn't sound like KISS.

Sonic Boom was certainly a good album.


As you should!

And I'll bet you'll like it, too.

JeffTheAlpaca

Will this be another Wal-Mart exclusive?

Evan Meadow

That's what I was wondering.

As for how long they'll keep touring and doing albums, I'd say they'll stop when the R&R Hall of Fame finally stops ignoring them and has them inducted.

But then again, the guy who runs the HOF has hated Gene Simmons for years and that's why most people think they're still not in there yet.

Jason

Hell, this is better than anything on Sonic Boom. Here's hoping the whole album delivers this type of thing. I don't want complex, modern, or edgy. This is what they do best.

MANBREASTS

I saw you can pre-order it on Amazon but for 15.98, I hope its cheaper at Wal-mart.

B5Erik

No. It will be available through all the usual CD retailers. Those that are left, anyway. WalMart included...

islandclaws

I can't wait to hear Tommy Thayer's track about his Spaceman character!

New song is about what I expect out of new KISS, and that's good enough to secure my money.

Spiderbite

Not really. Unmasked is the perfect example of no anthem type songs and I personally love that album (though I know I am in the minority on that one). Dynasty is free and clear. The early albums only have a few cuts that would really qualify as anthem-esqe.

It just seems that Psycho Circus and Sonic Boom seem to have every other song trying to sound alike. They haven't made a good anthem song since "All Hell's Breaking Loose" in my opinion. And for those of you who love "God Gave Rock & Roll To You," this I will never understand. Shitty remake of a song that was shitty in the first place. I despise that damn song. I know Kiss wanted it to become their next Shout It Out Loud or I Love It Loud, but the song is far too lame for that. Ugh.

I just think the last couple of albums are really missing the catchy, hummable tunes that their early stuff (or hell, even most of their 80's stuff) had. Gene's most recent solo album had more catchy tunes than Sonic Boom or Psycho Circus had combined and it paled in comparison to most of Kiss' back catalog.

Just my opinion though and I still look forward to the new album though.

I wanted to see them when they came he at the end of this month with Motley Crue but decided to pass since second tier seats were going for $185 (sticker price!)! Ridiculous.

Indy Jones Fan

This first single impresses me much more than when I heard Modern Day Delilah for the first time.

Hokeyboy

That track is embarassingly awful. And the overbearingly loud production doesnt begin to hide the idiotic lyricis and bland, generic riffage. Feh.

The Cow

I kinda like this one, it should play well live.

I agree with brianluvdvd that 'God Gave Rock and Roll' needs to go (should never have been done). And is there ANYONE that EVER liked 'Shock Me' (other than Ace)? Very disappointed they are still sticking that one in sets.

Hokeyboy

Always loved Shock Me. Cant imagine any Kiss fans really hating it...unless Thayer's singing it.

B5Erik

Yeah, but after Dressed To Kill with Rock and Roll All Night they did move pretty heavily into anthem territory. I've got no problem with that. The new song is pretty darned good, so I don't mind the anthemic aspects of it in the least. Anthemic stuff can be fun and entertaining.

Gotta disagee there. Modern Day Delilah is one of the band's best tracks ever - and it's damned catchy! Say Yeah was pretty darned catchy, too. Yes I Know (Nobody's Perfect) was catchy as well - even When Lightning Strikes and Danger Us were really catchy. Whether you like them or not is up to you, though.

October 16th.

Motley Crue being on the same bill was enough to contain my enthusiasm, but when I saw that nosebleed seats were going for $95 I decided to pass as well. At $50 I might have gone, but $95 for crappy seats? No thanks.

Hell Or Hallelujah has grown on me. At first I thought it was just OK, but the more I listen to it the more I dig the I Stole Your Love-esque riffs and the overall energy and enthusiasm of the song.

Jason

Maybe their next album will be about a young man's quest to follow his dreams, where he is caught between the grandiose forces of order and chaos, while traveling across a lavish and colorful world of steampunk and alchemy, with lost cities, pirates, anarchists, exotic carnivals, and a rigid Watchmaker who imposes precision on every aspect of daily life.

Deadman31

is the new album named after Tommy Thayers head?

Spiderbite

Yeah, I have always liked Shock Me but I listened to every side of my copy of Alive II until I wore the records out. Is Thayer really singing it live?

I wish they would do a B-sides/Album cut tour on a small scale for the major fans. They kind of did that with the Kiss Conventions awhile back before they reunited and it was awesome. The crowd was small enough at the one I attended (in Atlanta) that you could shout out a request and they would try to play it. I requested "Larger Than Life." Gene tried playing the beginning bass lines and Paul, Eric and Bruce looked at him like he had two heads. He tried it again, looked at them, looked at me and then said "I give up." I was disappointed but also pleased that I stumped them.

Most people were shouting out songs from The Elder and Unmasked...most of which they did not attempt. They did do "World Without Heroes" and "Shandi." I wish I had written the set list down when I was there. I still have the program they gave you. I think I paid $100 or $150 to attend but it was worth it. I also got my "special" white records of Alive III signed by the guys while I was there.

Barth

Holy crap, please tell me that is a joke, fake, or photoshop?

Hokeyboy

B5Erik

Photoshop...

statcat

It sounds very generic to me. I think at this point Gene and Paul are releasing this stuff for a few extra bucks of course.

I was watching Kiss Rock the Nation a little bit a few weeks ago. Do these guys even play completely live anymore? I could hear Paul's rhythm guitar playing as he waved his arms up in the air. It happened a bunch of times and I cracked up laughing. Also there were parts where I could hear his voice and he wasn't even near the mic. It seems like they use pre-recorded backing vocals too?

B5Erik

You do realize that this sounds, "Generic," because they're doing stuff that sounds like KISS. They've been doing this stuff since 1974 and a lot of bands have borrowed from their style over the years - making the very style they specialize in (a style they helped pioneer) inherently sound a bit generic. The new song is very much in line with, "I Stole Your Love," and would have sounded fresh and almost revolutionary in 1977 (it's also got a lot of 80's styling too).

You have heard of studio overdubbing, right?

Animalize Live Uncensored is much more heavily overdubbed. All of Paul's vocals were redone for that one (he's a perfectionist, and doesn't like raw live recordings for home video release).

As for his guitar playing - watch his fretting hand. He often slams his fingers down on the fretboard and pulls them off then slams the next chord. It's not a great way to play, but it allows for notes that are in key and on time to make some noise while he's doing his thing. When that technique doesn't work as well as he intended it to he overdubs that chord or passage in the studio for the video release.

nodeerforamonth

This.