Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Deuce
2. Detroit Rock City
3. Shout It Out Loud
4. Hotter Than Hell
5. Calling Dr Love
6. Love Gun
7. I Was Made For Lovin' You
8. Heaven's On Fire
9. Lick It Up
10. I Love It Loud
11. Forever
12. Christine Sixteen
13. Do You Love Me ?
14. Black Diamond
15. Rock And Roll All Nite

Disc 2:

1. Deuce
2. Hotter Than Hell
3. C'mon And Love Me
4. Watchin' You
5. 100,000 Years
6. Rock And Roll Nite

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #845 in Music
• Released on: 2009-10-05
• Number of discs: 3
• Formats: Special Edition, Box set

CD Description
Legendary US metallers Kiss re-entered the studios at the end of 2008 to record for the first time in ten years with 'Sonic Boom' being the result. Produced by co-leader Paul Stanley and written by all four members the album sees them return to the classic heavy metal sound that graced their albumsin the late 1970's while managing to keep it sounding as fresh as ever. This special edition version also includes the Japanese only release 'Jigoku-Retsuden' as well as a bonus DVD featuring live tracks taken from the bands 2009 show in Buenos Aires.

Customer Reviews

You wanted the best, well this will certainly do...!
Got the new Kiss CD today, two days before it hits the shops (cheers to Amazon) and it's considerably better than the last few releases from Gene and Paul.

The limited edition comes with a CD of Kiss Klassics (their spelling not mine!) and so the question is: would any of the Sonic Boom songs make a 'best of' CD in the future? The answer is surprisingly - yes. One song stands out for me as being of the old school kiss-style that will become a fan favourite and it is the track 'Yes I Know (Nobody's Perfect)' which to me sounds like the new 'Ladies Room'. For this song alone I'm glad I bought the album.

The other songs are fairly good thumpers but nothing to make you delete Love Gun or Destroyer on a full mp3 player in favour of Sonic Boom. I would say however that the guitar work on the new CD is very, VERY, good. Tommy seems to have found an Ace sound but then turned it up to 11.

If you are a Kiss fan I think you'll find this to be a worthy addition to the collection and you'll love 'Yes I Know'. If you don't own any Kiss CDs then the limited edition gives you the new stuff, the classics and a DVD so you can see some of the type of live show that made them superstars.

Vintage sound, but not vintage songs
KISS, the self-proclaimed "Hottest Band In The World", have spent most of the last decade under fire - and a lot of the criticism has come from their own fans.

Back in 1998, when recording began for "Psycho Circus", the KISS Army was still buzzing from the band's spectacular '96-'97 reunion tour. However, when they found out that Paul and Gene had kicked Ace and Peter out of the studio, and completed most of the new album with stand-ins, many fans felt cheated. When Ace and Peter were thrown out of the band completely a couple of years later, and replaced with doppelgangers (Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer, wearing Ace and Peter's make-up), the discontent grew even stronger. A phoney "farewell" tour proved to be yet another deception, and 11 years spent releasing mountains of merchandise (including the infamous KISS Kondoms and KISS Koffins) but, crucially, no new music has even led some to question if KISS are a real band anymore. "They never were a real band," sneer long-time critics. "Just an over-the-top novelty act."

To that, I say: KISS have done damage to their legacy in recent years, but if they were never a great band to begin with, they wouldn't have a legacy at all, to harm or to enhance - and their legacy is built as much on musicianship as it is on showmanship, as any of their classic studio records (which require no added visual theatrics) will attest. It's been far too long since KISS reminded fans and critics alike that they are not only a real band, but arguably the GREATEST rock band of the 20th century...and what better way to do that than by surprising us all with a brilliant comeback album?

In the build-up to "Sonic Boom", Paul and Gene have talked up the "classic KISS sound" of the new record...and in this respect, the hype is on the money. The production, the guitars and even the vocal arrangements take you straight back to the band's 70's era, which is likely to please a lot of older fans.

Lead single "Modern Day Delilah" opens the record with a chugging riff, and Paul's perennially crisp and commanding vocal tone, but when it fails to break out of it's mid-tempo canter, the song feels a little too comfortable for comfort. "Never Enough" is more energetic, and Paul punctuates the finish with a full-blooded shout of: "Give it to me!" For a brief moment, "Sonic Boom" seems poised to live up to it's title. Instead, the album falls back into mid-tempo purgatory, with a collection of songs too complacent to demand your full attention. Gene's vocals are particularly listless, even bored, bringing back memories of the mid 80's when (by his own admission) he was more interested in his acting career than contributing to the band. He wakes from his slumber just once, on the down n' dirty "I'm An Animal", which is reminiscent of "Watchin' You", but let down somewhat by a throwaway lyric.

To his credit, Tommy Thayer takes up much of the slack with lead guitar work that is consistently impressive, and in places, truly magnificent. His singing is mediocre (and ironically not dissimilar to Ace's), but Eric Singer shows he is more than capable of carrying a tune. Unfortunately, both their solo spots ("When Lightning Strikes" and "All For The Glory", respectively) are no better than fillers. Also, Thayer has only 3 co-writing credits (Singer has none), which reinforces their "hired hands" status.

"Danger Us" offers up one of the band's worst-ever lyrical puns: "Danger you, danger me, danger-us!", while "Stand" and "Say Yeah" aim for anthemic without coming close to emulating "Shout It Out Loud" or "Rock and Roll All Nite". The 15 re-recordings offered as bonus tracks are barely worth mentioning - we were all happy with the originals, so why bother?

"Sonic Boom" achieves a vintage sound, but contains nothing that could be described as a vintage KISS song. There are a couple of good tracks, but far too many fillers to qualify this as proof of any persisting vitality in the band. When judged against their illustrious back catalogue, this ranks alongside albums like "Animalize" or "Asylum". Not a triumphant return, then - but at least KISS have finally remembered that being in a band is about more than merchandise margins and nostalgia.

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue
Something Old - Included as a bonus CD here are re-recorded versions of 15 Kiss Klassics. Recorded back in August 2007. I once read in a magazine article that the band were going to issue it free with a Sunday paper (near the time of their Download headline act). To my knowledge they never did but we can get it here. Though let's face it. Do we really need another re-tread of these tracks ?

Something New - Sonic Boom - 11 new tracks in the style of the classic 70s Kiss. I was slightly disappointed hoping for an AC/DC "Black Ice" comeback album. It's good but lined up to the tracks on the Klassics CD, it's clearly not classic.

Something Borrowed - That's the use of Ace & Peter's make up by Tommy Thayer & Eric Singer. It gives the impression that this is the classic 70s line up when it isn't. Tommy & Eric are talented enough that they should have their own make up design and stand on their own 2 feet.

Something Blue - The 30 minute DVD is close to bootleg quality. The sound ain't very good. Check out the Kissology DVDs for live Kiss.

Overall more Ker-ching that Kerrang but a welcome distraction.