The Year Of KISS: Sonic Boom (2009)

“Made Of Fire, Made Of Heat…..“

The KISS trip down memory lane proved extremely successful for the band from the mid 1990’s to 2002. Ace Frehley left the band permanently that year. Peter Criss left the band three times starting with his first exit in 2001and his final, permanent exit in 2004. With each Criss exit, the band replaced him with their drummer from the first half of the 1990’s, Eric Singer. The move proved to be controversial due to the fact that Singer wore the Cat facepaint that Peter Criss wore throughout his original and reunion runs with the band. Ace Frehley continued playing with Singer in the group. When Frehley eventually exited, Tommy Thayer replaced him and wore the Spaceman makeup. Peter Criss played along with Thayer each time that he reunited with the band as well. I only mention this because neither Criss nor Frehley had any problem playing with Singer or Thayer in the band until both of them exited the group permanently. Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons continued successfully touring with Singer and Thayer and continue to do so to this day. The only thing missing prior to 2009 was an album of original music featuring Singer and Thayer. That all changed on October 6, 2009 with the release of Sonic Boom.

The group had been teasing about new music for a few years prior to the release of the album. When the album was officially announced, the group went into full promotion mode. The group made appearances all over television, did countless interviews in magazines and on the web, did commercials, and locked in an exclusive release deal with Walmart. As part of the deal, Walmart would be the sole location where listeners could purchase the album and “KISS Korners” were set up in the stores featuring all of the band’s remastered albums, the Sonic Boom album, Mr. Potato Head KISS figures, KISS M&Ms, throw blankets, t-shirts, and more items. KISS makeup and wigs were also on the shelves in the Halloween department. I actually purchased the album, a throw blanket, and some of the M&Ms a day earlier than the actual release date as did a number of other people in the United States as Walmart mistakenly put the album out a few days early at many of their locations.

The album featured eleven songs and included a second disc featuring fifteen classic KISS songs re-recorded with the current lineup and a DVD featuring six tracks recorded live at a concert in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The constant promotion and exclusive deal with Walmart proved to be an excellent move as Sonic Boom sales catapulted the album to the #2 spot on the Billboard 200. This was the highest debut for a KISS album, beating out Psycho Circus which debuted at #3 in 1998. This was also the longest amount of time (eleven years) to pass between two KISS albums of original music. Three singles were released from the album. The first one, Modern Day Delilah, peaked at #50 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks Chart. Say Yeah was the second single and managed to reach the #1 spot on Russian charts. The final single released from the album was Never Enough. It only charted on the Billboard Heritage Rock Tracks chart, reaching #30.

Track Listing:

1. Modern Day Delilah (Single)
2. Russian Roulette
3. Never Enough (Single)
4. Yes I Know (Nobody’s Perfect)
5. Stand
6. Hot And Cold
7. All For The Glory
8. Danger Us
9. I’m An Animal
10. When Lightning Strikes
11. Say Yeah (Single)

Personnel: Paul Stanley (lead and backing vocals, rhythm guitar), Gene Simmons (lead and backing vocals, bass), Eric Singer (lead and backing vocals, drums), Tommy Thayer (lead and backing vocals, lead guitar), Brian Whelan (piano)

With an extremely slim amount of personnel (all four members of the band and Brian Whelan providing piano work), this album sounded very tight and in sync. The band sounds great on this album. Paul Stanley sang lead vocals on four tracks and shared lead vocals with Gene Simmons on Stand. Simmons provided lead vocals on four tracks in addition to the shared vocals with Stanley on Stand. Both Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer sang lead vocals on one song each. Paul Stanley wrote or co-wrote nine tracks on the album. Gene Simmons wrote wrote or co-wrote six tracks. Tommy Thayer co-wrote three songs on the album.

As I already stated, this album is tight and the band sounds great together. I know that a lot of people signed off on KISS after the exit of Ace and Peter, but those folks don’t know what they are missing. Eric Singer is arguably the best overall drummer that the band has ever had and Tommy is a much bigger influence than he is given credit for by fans. Simply listen to the three tracks that he co-wrote for Sonic Boom and you can hear a noticeable difference in those tracks when compared to the rest of the album. In fact, the track that he sang lead vocals on, When Lightning Strikes, is one of my favorite songs on the album. The other tracks that he contributed to are favorites as well. Never Enough feels like a mid-1980’s hair rocker. The plodding, pounding I’m An Animal fits Gene’s Demon persona to perfection. It’s also a great song to hear live. A lot of fans claim that this album reminds them of a lot of music from the prime KISS era of the late 1970’s and Modern Day Delilah is probably the song that proves this point the most with Tommy Thayer’s very Ace-like solo. Say Yeah is solid, features a great chorus, and also happens to be the one track from the album that has continued to be played live. In all honesty there isn’t a bad track on the album with possibly the exception of the lyrically challenged Danger Us. Written and sung by Paul Stanley, it’s the weakest track on the album in my opinion.

As far as the second disc in the set, it’s actually a re-release of the album from KISS’ 2008 CD/DVD combo Japan release Jigoku-Retsuden. It features fifteen of KISS’ most popular tracks re-recorded by Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Eric Singer, and Tommy Thayer. The only vocal change is in Black Diamond, where Singer sings the lead vocal originally recorded by Peter Criss. The rest of the songs are fronted by Simmons or Stanley and include many of the band’s concert staples such as Detroit Rock City, Love Gun, Calling Dr. Love, and Deuce. It also includes Forever, Heaven’s On Fire, and Lick It Up from the No Makeup era. It’s a very good album with much slicker production than the original recordings of these songs.

KISS gained new fans, won back some old ones, and drove a few even farther away with the release of Sonic Boom. No matter what anyone else believes, I think that this is one of KISS’ best releases from their entire career. It reminded a lot of folks of the band’s older material but with a fresher spin on their sound. The cover reminded a lot of people of the classic Rock And Roll Over album cover which is no surprise since artist Michael Doret did both covers. Heck, even the way that KISS plastered their faces and music all over television, social media, and the airwaves was reminiscent of the band’s heyday in the 70’s. Overall, Sonic Boom is a love letter to the past with an eye focused on the band’s future. If you don’t own it, grab a copy. Snag some of those M&Ms if you can still find them as well!

Thanks for checking out my post. Be sure to check out the photo of yours truly below hamming it up in full Demon makeup and a Sonic Boom tee! See you next week when I finish out The Year Of KISS with their final studio album released in 2012, Monster!