Since I mentioned the new KISS album Sonic Boom in my Ace Frehley Anomaly review, I figured I’d buy it and write something up about it in comparison. I had heard a few clips and wasn’t impressed. It’s hard to really call it KISS since Ace and Peter aren’t on it, but then again, Paul and Gene were the principle writers and singers anyway, and they began cutting Ace out of recordings as early as 1976’s Destroyer album (apparently, Ace didn’t want to be interrupted during a card game to record guitars for “Sweet Pain”).
Also, I think it’s important to note that this is the first KISS original album since 1998’s Psycho Circus, which didn’t feature much playing of Ace and Peter (Ace only played on two songs, Peter on one), even though they were officially in the band at the time.
Before I get to the music, I have a little rant about the album packaging to get out of the way. The cover artwork is reminiscent of one of my favorite albums, 1976’s Rock and Roll Over, which I thought was pretty cool until I read today on Wikipedia that they actually hired the same artist (Michael Doret). If this guy had done more than one KISS album, that would be different, but the only KISS albums he did were Rock and Roll Over and Sonic Boom, and they are pretty much the same cover done twice. I’d be more interested in seeing a modern collaboration with Ken Kelly who did the band’s Destroyer and Love Gun covers.
The first single on the album was written and sung by Paul Stanley. I’ve always been a fan of Paul’s voice and songwriting. He has arguably the most unique voice in rock n’ roll, and Paul’s songs were some of my favorites as a kid. As a singer, the Starchild’s still got it (my friend Hector told me that in Cuba they refer to him as the Puta, or whore). Not the classic KISS sound that has been tossed around in the album’s promo talk, it sounds a lot like something the band would have done in the 1980’s. It must suck to have to compete with your past when you’ve written such classic songs as “Strutter”, “Love Gun” and “Hotter Than Hell”. It’s not the album’s strongest song, but I can see why it’s the first single. The verses have a very explosive over the top feel that only Paul Stanley can pull off. It’s a perfect announcement that KISS is back, similar to the title track of Psycho Circus.
“Russian Roulette”, a Simmons/Stanley track, performed by Gene, is in the same ‘80s vein. The ahhs at the end of the choruses remind me of “Achilles’ Last Stand” by Led Zeppelin.
The next few songs have a closer sound to the band’s ‘70s music, arrangement-wise. “Never Enough”, “Yes I Know (Nobody’s Perfect)”, “Stand” and “Hot and Cold” are all mid-tempo rockers, not tainted by the ‘80s metal that began to creep into KISS’ post classic period starting with the Creatures of the Night album.
The best of these songs, maybe the strongest on the album, are “Never Enough” (Stanley/Thayer) and, surprisingly to me, the Gene Simmons-penned “Yes I Know (Nobody’s Perfect)”. The melodies on these songs are some of the best on the record.
“Stand” has a Destroyer-era “Do You Love Me”, Paul Stanley-preacher vibe. It’s a bit of a power ballad in the choruses, but the verses rock. It’s a catchy song with a nice harmony section toward the end.
“Hot and Cold” suffers from the cheesiest of Simmons’ lyrics. The chorus melody is ok. It actually grows on you if you give it a chance…
“All for the Glory”, written by Stanley/Simmons is sung by drummer Eric Singer, and I’ve heard both Michael Butler (on his Rock and Roll Geek Indie Cast) and Armitage of the Paranoid Squirrel podcast, say it sounds like the Hellacopters. It’s growing on me as I listen. I wish Paul sang it, I think it’d be the best song on the album if he had.
“Danger Us” gives us more mid-tempo rock riffing similar to early KISS. The verse melody is strong but by the pre-chorus it loses me. The chorus picks it up a little in its second half, it’s a great hook, but there is just enough filler in the pre-chorus melody to annoy me.
“I’m an Animal” features Gene on vocals (co-written by him, Paul and Tommy Thayer). It’s similar to “Russian Roulette”. The “I’m an animal, and I’m free” hook is good, it takes a few listens.
As derivative as you might expect a song called “When Lightning Strikes” to be, it shouldn’t surprise you that the main riff was lifted from a Head East song (I picked this up from listening to a Sonic Boom track-by-track review done by Michael Butler and his co-host Jasper on the Good Clean Fun podcast). The verse melody is strong, but the chorus melody and lyrics are pretty bad. The song was written by Thayer/Stanley, and is sung by Tommy. The vocals sound good, I almost thought it was Gene.
Tommy Thayer is a competent guitarist to be sure, and he cops Ace as good as anyone could, but it’s still not Frehley. This band will always be half KISS, half tribute band. That is until Paul and Gene retire and put a tribute band on the road. Maybe Gene’s kid will play the Demon role, while Tommy and Eric become the only actual members of some version of the band that featured actual original members. I don’t understand why they don’t just kick Ace a few thousand dollars to come in and record the solos. It would make all the difference in the world.
The last song on the album is Stanley’s “Say Yeah” and it’s good. The melodies are catchy, lots of vocal harmony, and some guitar harmonies as well. There’s a nice acoustic breakdown leading to the last chorus. It’s got a more modern feel that is refreshing.
Getting back to Ace vs. KISS, I am tempted to say Ace wins this round. The four standout tracks on Sonic Boom: “Never Enough”, “Yes I Know (Nobody’s Perfect)”, “Stand” and “Say Yeah” are catchier songs than anything on Ace’s record from a pop songwriting perspective, but I think I like Anomaly better. What I’ll probably end up doing is deleting my least favorite songs on Sonic Boom and the instrumentals on Anomaly from my iTunes to create my own ‘09 KISS playlist.
Disc Two, KISS Klassics, is re-recordings of KISS hits. I probably won’t even listen to them all the way through. I listened to part of “Deuce” and had to turn it off. I’m just too used to the originals. I will say that three discs for $12 is a great deal. I was surprised by the nice price (Disc Three is a live DVD).
I think Paul and Gene should be forgiven for keeping the band going the way they have. Gene said recently on the Howard Stern Show that when you see Batman, it’s not always the same actor. I sort of see his point. Plus, they did write over 90% of the great songs, and there were b-songs even on early KISS albums. Not everything they wrote was a hit, and it’s clear they are still doing their best to create good music (it’s also worth noting that there are no outside co-writers on this album). There are a few gems here, and I just might get a ticket for their LA Staple Center show in November.
My father is an avid early music listener and since I was a kid has been involved in chamber music groups as a recorder player. When I was in fourth grade, before I became obsessed with KISS and guitars, I took recorder lessons for a few months from his teacher.
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