Black Adam (2022)

“Tell Them The Man In Black Sent You.”

Sometimes the world needs a big, loud movie that simply entertains. The plot remains simple and predictable. The action occurs often and with a ton of slow motion moves that highlight the strength, speed, and powers of the heroes and villains. Those elements, with a larger than life anti-hero thrown in for good measure, is exactly what you get with Black Adam (2022). It’s nothing special but it is very fun.

Spoilers follow…..you’ve been warned!

In the film we are given a brief origin story of the creation of Teth-Adam/Black Adam (or that’s what we are led to believe). From there we find ourselves in modern day Kahndaq, a Middle Eastern country being oppressed by a collective known as Intergang. A small group of resistance fighters are in search of the legendary crown of Sabbac, hoping that it can be used to fight Intergang. When they find the crown they are attacked by Intergang mercenaries. One of the resistance fighters, Adrianna, releases Teth-Adam from his grave and he destroys the Intergang squad. Teth-Adam then breaks out of his tomb to fight even more Intergang mercenaries. Eventually one of them hits him with a missile that subdues him but Adrianna and her brother, Karim, save Teth-Adam and bring him to Adrianna’s home to recover.

Teth-Adama awakens in the bedroom of Amon, Adrianna’s son. Amon tries to convince Teth-Adam that he is the champion of Kahndaq and that he must protect his people from Intergang. Teth-Adam goes into action when Amon gets in trouble with Intergang guards and immediately attracts the attention of Amanda Waller and the Justice Society. She calls on Hawkman/Carter Hall, to assemble a team to stop Teth-Adam. Hawkman gathers up Dr. Fate/Kent Nelson, Cyclone/Maxine Hunkel, and Atom Smasher/Albert Rothstein to help him and the group arrives in Kahndaq in the middle of one of Teth-Adam’s attacks.

The group slows Teth-Adam down but cannot stop him. After Ishmael, one the resistance fighters thought to be dead, reveals that he is the leader of Intergang and wants the crown of Sabbac in order for his family to rule Kahndaq once again, the Justice Society and Teth-Adam work together to defeat him and Teth-Adam agrees to be imprisoned for eternity…..until Ishmael manages to return from Hell with the powers of Sabbac. The Justice Society battle him with Dr. Fate managing to hold him off just long enough for Teth-Adam to return. Sabbac is destroyed and Teth-Adam takes on the new name of Black Adam, protector of Kahndaq.

I enjoyed this movie. It didn’t break any new ground in superhero films but that wasn’t expected in the first place. Despite a few nods, a “super” appearance in the mid-credits, and the presence of Amanda Waller in the film, it was free of all of the weight of the DCEU, managing to be a standalone film. The action did get weighed down a bit by all of the slow motion shots, but overall it was pretty good. The CGI was decent. Thankfully the film was rather dark so the limitations of the CGI were hidden fairly well. Sabbac was the weakest CGI creation in the bunch. He looked obviously fake. As much as I loved seeing Hawkman on the big screen, I wasn’t a fan of his suit design in the film. Dr. Fate was handled extremely well and Atom Smasher and Cyclone were pretty much window-dressing. They were in the movie but didn’t really add much to it.

The cast was surprisingly strong. Dwayne Johnson definitely looks like Black Adam in the film and he does a pretty decent job of acting as well. Pierce Brosnan was perfection as the all knowing, all seeing Doctor Fate. Sarah Shahi was fine as Adrianna. Mohammed Amer provided plenty of humor as Adrianna’s brother and Bodhi Sabongui did a great job as her son, Amon. Quintessa Swindell and Noah Centineo, Cyclone and Atom Smasher, did fine in their severely limited roles. Marwan Kenzari was sufficient as Ishmael/Sabbac. The real standout to me in this film was Aldis Hodge as Hawkman. He commanded every scene that he was in, even the ones that included Pierce Brosnan.

Black Adam, specifically the film’s apparent poor performance and the shakeup at Warner Bros. involving James Gunn, has been in the news a lot recently. As they say, bad news is still news, so I hope that more interest is generated in this film with all of the talk about Dwayne Johnson locking horns with Gunn and others over the future of Black Adam. It really is a solid action film and I hope that more people discover it. With Marvel losing steam, it’s the perfect time for DC to push their big heroes.

Thanks for checking out my post. I hope that you get to check out Black Adam if you haven’t seen it yet. It’s much better than the critics say and it’s a whole lot better than Marvel’s recent superhero offerings.

McFarlane Toys DC Multiverse Gold Label DC Rebirth Shazam (2022)

“Holy Moley!”

Just say the word, right? Well, apparently the folks at McFarlane Toys decided to say the word and produced a beautiful figure in 2022’s DC Rebirth Shazam. The figure was released late this year as a Gold Label action figure. It is exclusively sold at Walmart and has already been spotted on Ebay for two and three times its retail price. It’s an amazing figure but it isn’t worth more than its retail price of around twenty bucks.

The figure comes with a collector card, DC figure base, an extra set of hands, and lightning accessories that can be attached to his arms. The figure arrives in box with closed fists that can be swapped out for the open hands that are in what I would call a “so what?” position. The lightning accessories are the exact same ones you can find with the recent Endless Winter Black Adam figure. Those bolts aren’t the only things that Shazam shares with Black Adam and I’ll get into that in the next paragraph.

Shazam’s body is the same mold as the one used for the Endless Winter Black Adam. The closed fists are also the same ones used on Black Adam. The only differences body-wise in the two figures are the additional open hands included with Shazam, the different colors on the two suits, the head sculpts, and the lightning bolt across the chests of the figures. On Black Adam, the bolt is essentially a neck piece. On Captain Marvel, the bolt is attached to a cape. The similarities shouldn’t shock anyone due to the fact that the two characters are essentially drawn the same on the page as well.

Captain Marvel, ughhh, Shazam, has fairly decent articulation. He isn’t as poseable as many other figures in McFarlane line, but he can be placed into some excellent poses. The biggest issue that I see most people having with this figure is getting him to stand up without a base. The cape makes Shazam very, very top heavy and he has a tendency to fall back as a result. While the included figure base works well enough, I will probably upgrade this figure to a waist-supporting base. It would have been great for Shazam to come with a flying base, but McFarlane Toys seems content with only providing that type of base with Superman figures.

It’s really cool to have this figure in advance of the upcoming Shazam! Fury Of The Gods film. There’s actually going to be at least one McFarlane Toys DC Multiverse Shazam figure released for the film based upon Zachary Levi’s likeness, so I’m most likely going to get that figure as well. Until then, have a look at one of the Shazam figures from the first film compared with the DC Rebirth Shazam and the Endless Winter Black Adam in the photo below.

Thanks for checking out my post. We’re in the homestretch for Christmas and New Year’s Day, so get ready for my End of the Year post, the final The Year Of KISS posts, and at least one more action figure review.

McFarlane Toys DC Multiverse New 52 Red Robin (2022)

“Time Drake….a.k.a. Red Robin.”

The first three “core” Robins in DC Comics have carved out their own paths as superheroes after retiring as the Boy Wonder. Dick Grayson became Nightwing, who has gained his own fan following over the years. Jason Todd, despite being beaten to death by the Joker in a fan-voted poll, reemerged as the antihero, Red Hood. Tim Drake, the third Robin, has always been treated, at least in my opinion, as the third wheel of the bunch. It’s as if the Bat Family is introduced as Batman, Nightwing, Red Hood, Robin (Damian Wayne), Batgirl, Batwoman, Alfred, Batwing, a few other people, and that other guy, Red Robin. Maybe it’s just my own perception, but Time just doesn’t seem to get the respect that many of the other Bat characters. That being said, he has managed to get a pretty sweet action figure from McFarlane Toys.

Please note that the back of the box and the collector card images make it appear that Red Robin has “dragonfly” styled wings. He does not. The image only shows the wings in both the opened and closed positions.

The figure is based upon Tim Drake’s New 52 look as Red Robin. I know that it isn’t necessarily his most popular look but I personally love it and wish that he would have kept some version of it with DC Rebirth. The figure comes with the standard collector card and a DC figure base and one lone accessory, Red Robin’s bo staff.

The detailing on the figure is great. The numerous belts (so many belts) all have amazing textures. Specifically, Tim’s utility belt looks great and you can actually see the clasps on the pockets. The suit also features Red Robin’s insignia on his chest, belt, and shoulders. The propulsion pack and wings also look amazing. The wings can be opened up or tucked under the propulsion pack. Tim’s bo staff is pretty plain but it does come with a few minor details on it. The coloring on the figure is primarily deep red and black with yellow on Red Robin’s cross-chest double belt and flesh tones on Tim’s face. His articulation is excellent and is only hindered if the wings are open.

I have zero complaints about this figure. He looks amazing, is easy to pose, and looks almost exactly like the character in the comics. He’s almost the perfect action figure and he looks great on the shelf with the rest of the Bat Family.

Thanks for reading my review. I highly recommend this figure to not only Tim Drake/Red Robin fans, but to DC Comics fans in general and anybody that can appreciate a beautiful action figure. McFarlane outdid themselves with this figure and I love it!

McFarlane Toys DC Multiverse The Flash Wally West (2022)

“My name is Wally West. I’m the fastest man alive.”

Lost in the Speed Force for ten years, Wally West made his triumphant return to the pages of DC Comics in the DC Rebirth universe. His return came with a new suit as well, and McFarlane Toys has given the world a new DC Multiverse figure of that version of Wally West. I honestly don’t know a whole lot about Wally, but I do know that his Rebirth costume is one of my favorites, so I decided to pick him up and see just how cool this figure really is.

The figure looks great. It features a ton of details including texture changes in the suit, Wally’s wavy red hair, and a raised silver bolt across his chest. Wally technically comes with six accessories, although all of them are Speed Force bolts that can be attached on Wally’s back, calves, heels, and forearms. One drawback of having these bolts is that there are peg holes on Wally’s arms, calves, and back that are extremely noticeable when you don’t have the bolts in place. Wally also comes with a collector card and a base.

The figure’s articulation isn’t hindered at all. You can move and pose Wally all sorts of ways. The only problem that I find is that his ankles are a bit loose, so posing him in a running position can be a bit tough unless you have a second base to support his lifted leg while he is in “motion.” I had a similar issue with my CW’s The Flash Barry Allen figure but that figure’s ankles were stronger. My Barry Allen from the Snyderverse Justice League Film has been standing on one foot since February and has only collapsed on one occasion due to the fact that one of my co-workers slammed his hand against his counter and shook my display shelf.

Other than the peg holes in the arms, legs, and back, I don’t have much to complain about for this figure. I was a tad leery of the Speed Force bolts but they’ve grown on me and I actually really love how they look on Wally. He looks great on my shelf and he’s got me thinking that I may need to dedicate one entire space on my shelves just to Flash figures. Of course, if I’m being honest with myself, I could easily have a Batman shelf, a Superman shelf, and a Robin shelf at the rate that I’m acquiring these figures.

Thanks for checking out my post. I have three more McFarlane Toys DC Multiverse figures that I plan on reviewing before the year ends, so be on the look out for them. See you again real soon!

Dead End (2003)

“We should have left earlier.”

Somehow I managed to miss out on this sleeper hit way back in 2003, but discovering Dead End late one evening this week was a pure delight! This independent road thriller has a ton of things going for it and far exceeded my expectations. It was written and directed by Jean-Baptiste Andrea and Fabrice Canepa and features an amazing cast loaded with familiar character actors that horror fans will love.

Believe it or not but this film is actually a Christmas movie! It takes place on Christmas Eve night while Frank Harrington is driving his family and his daughter’s boyfriend to visit the in-laws for the holidays. Becoming sleepy, Frank decides to take a “shortcut” to keep things interesting so that he will stay awake. It doesn’t work, however, and he soon dozes off, almost hitting an oncoming vehicle. Finally awake, Frank continues to drive but stops when he sees a young woman dressed in white on the side of the road. The family picks up the woman and her infant (who is ridiculously quiet) and decide to take her to a cabin that they passed by earlier on the road. When they arrive at the cabin, people start vanishing one by one only to be discovered later by the survivors. They also witness a black hearse driving down the road with the vanished person in the back begging for help. This happens moments before they find the body of the missing person. The survivors continue to drive hoping to make it to a small town called Marcott. How many survive? Will they ever reach Marcott? Watch the film to find out what happens!

This film was a nice surprise. Sure, it isn’t perfect and there are much better horror films out there, but this movie checks off all of the right boxes to make it a very enjoyable flick. It has an amazingly solid cast featuring Ray Wise (Twin Peaks, Robocop, Jeepers Creepers 2, The Journey of Natty Gann, Swamp Thing), Lin Shaye (Insidious, The Grudge, Alone In The Dark, There’s Something About Mary, Ouija), Alexandra Holden (Wishcraft, Drop Dead Gorgeous, Dark Reel, Friends), and Steve Valentine (Crossing Jordan, Mars Attacks!, Spider-Man 3). The film also stars Mick Cain (The Bold And The Beautiful), William Rosenfeld (credited as Billy Asher, executive produced Zombeavers, among other films), and supermodel Amber Smith.

The film plays out like an episode of The Twilight Zone, with characters doubting themselves and others and turning on one another. Also like The Twilight Zone, it takes place almost entirely in one setting, a long stretch of road. In all honesty the plot is very predictable and the viewer is ultimately left to decide who will actually make it out of the film alive, if anyone at all. Wise and Shaye (as wife, Laura) turn in great performances. Wise is especially fun to watch as his sanity begins to unravel. Amber Smith doesn’t have much to say or do in this film as the mysterious woman in white, but she makes an impact with her brief performance. Billy Asher (as boyfriend, Brad) and Mick Cain (as son, Richard) both turn out nice performances with Cain being the most annoying character in the movie. The real star, in my opinion, is Alexandra Holden as Marion, the Harrington’s daughter. She has to deal with a ton of emotions right off the bat in the film and continues to struggle with them and be strong for others as the situation becomes worse.

If you enjoy highwayman horror or shows like The Twilight Zone, give Dead End a look. It’s a really enjoyable watch and I think that you’ll like it. It’s available on Tubi to stream for free as of this writing.

Thanks for checking out my post. See you again real soon!

McFarlane Toys DC Multiverse Hawkman (Black Adam Movie, 2022)

“We’re here to negotiate your peaceful surrender.”

I still haven’t been able to see the recent Black Adam film despite absolutely wanting to check it out. I’ve been extremely busy lately with auto repairs (saved over four hundred bucks doing a job by myself), my son’s soccer games and practices, extended hours at work, and a whole host of other things. Thankfully the film has arrived on streaming services so I might finally see it this weekend. Until then, I’ve been looking at all of the toys produced for the movie. I’m not terribly impressed by the Spin Master line which, in all honesty, is a bit sad, but the McFarlane line has been much better overall. I’ve seen all of the McFarlane Black Adam figures in the wild with the exception of Cyclone and Sabbac. With so many decent figures to choose from, I threw down a little money on Hawkman since he’s one of my favorite characters from the comics.

Hawkman looks pretty nice. The figure’s color palette is a tad dull for my tastes as Hawkman’s costume is made up of gold, deep maroon, and what I see as dark olive. The detailing on the figure is amazing. His helmet is attached to his head but looks as if it can be taken off (believe me, I tried). The wings are detachable and can be expanded to varying lengths. The figure is also very heavy for a McFarlane figure. Hawkman’s articulation is pretty limited, especially by his armor. He does look great on display, however, and that’s pretty much all he’ll ever do as long as he’s in my collection.

Hawkman comes with the standard collector card and a DC base. Not counting the wings, Hawkman comes with only his mace as an accessory. The mace is very top heavy and will actually bend over time unless Hawkman holds it near the spiked ball. With his wings in place, Hawkman is also top heavy. You can use the mace to balance him out a bit, but you’ll definitely want to keep him on his base. The wings on his helmet also bend quite easily. As you can see in some of the photos above, one of the wings on his helmet was jutted way out of position. I’m displaying the figure with the wings on his back in a position that will hopefully fix the helmet. One other major thing that really bothers me about this figure (and a few others) is that McFarlane did not supply a flight base for the figure! Hawkman literally has wings! Why doesn’t he come with a flight base like Superman?!?!?!?

Hawkman is a pretty good figure. He’s a much better hero, however, and I hope to see McFarlane take another shot at this character, be it based upon a film, TV series, or comic, in the near future.

Thanks for checking out my post. I have quite a few other toy reviews coming so be prepared!

Treevenge (2008)

The Trees Strike Back

With axes in hand, a team of Christmas tree farmers mow through a patch of trees. They burn some that aren’t worth keeping and ship the rest off to be wrapped up for Christmas tree retailers. What they don’t know is that the trees are tired of the sadistic tradition of having their family members chopped down to sit in homes for Christmas. This year, the trees fight back!

Clocking in at about sixteen minutes, this Canadian Christmas short film features a ton of gore, a few “sacred cow” moments where children (including an infant) are brutally murdered, more strong language per capita than any Quentin Tarentino flick, and plenty of laughs and callbacks to other films.

If you’re looking for a funny flick with ties to films like Hobo With A Shotgun, this short will be right up your alley. If you can’t stand gore, child or animal deaths, or tree brutality, stay away. This short is definitely not for everyone but it is something different to watch this Christmas. I liked it fine enough, but I’m sure that plenty of people that I know just won’t get this film.

Thanks for checking out my post. I’ll be posting about a few more Christmas flicks as we get closer to the big day!

Wednesday (Netflix, 2022)

“I prefer spooky.”

Despite plenty of callbacks to the original series and films and nods to everything from Edgar Allan Poe to the Headless Horseman, Netflix’s latest series, Wednesday, is much, much more than a nostalgic trip for fans of all things creepy and kooky. Yep, Wednesday is one of the best new series to make its gloomy way to the streamer. I watched the entire series over the weekend and I absolutely loved it.

While catching the many references and Easter eggs in the series was fun, the actual plot of the show was much more interesting. In the series, Wednesday (Jenna Ortega) is sent to Nevermore Academy, a school for outcasts (and the alma mater of her parents), after getting booted from too many public schools. As the days pass at the academy, Wednesday is pulled into an investigation involving a series of grisly murders outside of the school and nearby town of Jericho and also discovers that her father might be a murderer. She forms an uneasy bond with the local sheriff, Donovan Galpin (Jamie McShane), as they attempt to uncover the truth about the brutal murders. She also develops a relationship with the sheriff’s son, Tyler (Hunter Doohan). At the school, Wednesday locks horns with Principal Weem (Gwendoline Christie), befriends the “normie” teacher, Ms. Thornhill (Christina Ricci), and deals with the day to day life of a typical teen in school (but with werewolves, vampires, sirens, and more).

The series has a very “Hogwarts meets Sherlock Holmes” vibe to it. Although the kids at the school aren’t divided into houses like Ravenclaw and Slytherin, they definitely have cliques. There are also a lot of stereotypical characters in the school that all prove to be more than their stereotypes in the long run. There’s Joy Sunday as Bianca Barclay, a siren who happens to be the most popular girl in school. Then you have Percy Hynes White as Xavier Thorpe, the angst-ridden artsy heartthrob who has the ability to bring his paintings to life, some of which can be quite violent. The show also has the nerdy loser with a heart of gold, Eugene Otinger (Moosa Mostafa), who really loves bees and is the lone member of the school’s beekeeping club, the Nevermore Hummers, until Wednesday joins up with him. Last but not least we have the quirky remote and ultimately best friend of Wednesday, Enid Sinclair. Enid is played by Emma Myers and she is the polar opposite of Wednesday. She’s a werewolf who has yet to change who loves bright colors, pop music, and pretty much any and everything that Wednesday despises.

Of course, no series about one member of the Addams family would be complete without at least an occasional appearance by the rest of the gang. Joining Guzman and Catherine Zeta-Jones are Isaac Ordonez as Pugsley, Fred Armisen as Uncle Fester, and George Burcea as Lurch. All of them have fairly limited time on the screen, especially Lurch, but the series manages to have some of its most touching moments with these characters. Specifically, Wednesday is extremely protective of her younger brother, Pugsley, and the duo share a very touching moment late in the series.

Perhaps the biggest star of the series outside of Wednesday is, at least in my opinion, Thing. Yes, Thing is just a hand but he manages to steal nearly ever scene that he appears in throughout the series. Thing is extremely expressive and communicates his messages to the rest of the characters (and the audience) without saying a word. He’s portrayed by Victor Dorobantu, a magician, and he is essentially Wednesday’s right hand man (pun intended) throughout the series. Dorobantu’s performance is amazing and almost moved me to tears.

All of the cast is strong but Jenna Ortega blew me away with her portrayal of Wednesday. Her emotions are revealed in subtle movements and glances. Gwendoline Christie is another favorite of mine in the series as is Jamie McShane. Along with those that I’ve already mentioned, the rest of the cast includes Riki Lindhome as Dr. Kinbott, the town therapist, Tommie Earl Jenkins as Mayor Noble Walker, William Houston as Crackstone, a pivotal figure in the history of Jericho who plays a key role in the series, Georgie Farmer as Ajax, a student at Nevermore who happens to be a gorgon, and Calum Ross as Rowan, a student at Nevermore with telekinetic powers.

This series is surprisingly heartwarming. Tim Burton, who directed the first four episodes and executive produced, definitely has his stamp on the series but it isn’t as obvious as it has been throughout the rest of his projects. That’s a good thing in my book as I don’t immediately think, “Oh, this is a Tim Burton project,” right off the bat. I simply watched the series as it was and enjoyed it. I believe that you’ll enjoy it as well.

I’m sure that Wednesday has something for everyone. There’s mystery, suspense, a little bit of romance, and Pilgrims! This is a fun series and I absolutely love it. If you haven’t watched the series yet, give it a shot.

Thanks for checking out my post. Let me know what you thought of this series in the comments section. See you real soon!

McFarlane Toys DC Universe Infinite Frontier Robin (2022)

Heir To The Demon Throne!

Swooping in with all of the cocky style expected of him, Robin (Damian Wayne) from DC’s Infinite Frontier Future State story arc has arrived with his own action figure! There’s also a Gold Label Unmasked version sold exclusively on the McFarlane Toys website and on a few of those pesky scalper sites as well. As much as I love Batman, Robin is definitely starting to make a dent in my DC Comics figure and comic book collection. In fact, I probably have more Robin figures, books, and statues than I have of any other DC character except for Batman. In any case, let’s take a look at this great figure!

Robin comes with the standard collector card and base as well as a lone accessory, his sword. The sword looks great and easily fits into Robin’s right hand. He features a flowing black cape with a yellow interior, grey high tops with green laces and faded red soles, and his suit is primarily grey with faded red trim. His utility belt is lined with silvery white snapped pockets.

I really love the attention to detail on this figure. His shoes are a particularly cool highlight and I love the grid-like look of his shirt and pants. I have to be honest and say that this particular outfit is one of my least favorite Robin suits from the comics, but I do like it on this figure. Robin is also very poseable with only minor limitations at the shoulder (as always seems the case with McFarlane’s DC figures). He’s also about an inch and a half shorter than other figures in this line in order to maintain scale. That doesn’t bother me but I did want to mention it for collectors who might be curious about the scale.

This is a pretty brief review but I have very few complaints about this figure. He looks great, has solid articulation, and stands on my shelf with ease. I definitely recommend picking up this figure, especially if you are a Robin fan!

Thanks for checking out my review. See you again soon!

The Year Of KISS: Psycho Circus (1998)

“I wanna leave but I can’t get away….”

With the recording of Carnival Of Souls: The Final Sessions all but forgotten, KISS rode a wave of nostalgia that started in 1995 with the reuniting of the original band on MTV Unplugged. KISS was once again at the top of the world, as the original members went on a reunion tour that ran through 1996 and 1997. Intent on staying at the top, KISS headed into the studio to record their first new studio album with all four of the band’s original members…..sort of. Recording for Psycho Circus began in January of 1998 and would last until April of that year. Although it was promoted as the first album to feature Paul Stanley, Peter Criss, Ace Frehley, and Gene Simmons together since Dynasty (1979), Criss and Frehley’s images were used much more than their actual musical abilities.

The album was released in September of 1998 to much success. It’s supporting tour, the Psycho Circus World Tour, also proved to be very popular with fans. A massive onslaught of promotions were put into action to pump up the reunited band’s image and tons of gimmicks were used on the tour, with music videos, and with the album itself. It was a lot like KISS’ gimmicks in the 70’s but on a much bigger scale. Some of the more notable things used by KISS included a 3-D music video for the title track, 3-D sequences on the supporting tour, and multiple versions of the album including a Japanese release with pop-up images and a lenticular version (the version that I personally own).

Screen cap from the Psycho Circus video.

The album featured ten tracks with one bonus track on the Japanese release. Three singles were officially released and a fourth one (I Finally Found My Way) was released as a promotional single. The first single, Psycho Circus, peaked at #1 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Chart and hit the top ten lists of four different countries. We Are One, the second single, topped out at #18 on the Norwegian charts but failed to chart in the United States. The final single, You Wanted The Best, reached #22 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Chart. The album debuted at #3 on the Billboard 200, one of KISS’ best album debuts.

Track Listing:

  1. Psycho Circus (Single)
  2. Within
  3. I Pledge Allegiance To The State Of Rock & Roll
  4. Into The Void
  5. We Are One (Single)
  6. You Wanted The Best (Single)
  7. Raise Your Glasses
  8. I Finally Found My Way
  9. Dreamin’
  10. Journey Of 1,000 Years

Personnel: Paul Stanley (lead and backing vocals, guitars, bass), Gene Simmons (lead and backing vocals, bass), Ace Frehley (lead and backing vocals, lead guitar on Into The Void and You Wanted The Best), Peter Criss (lead and backing vocals, drums on Into The Void), Kevin Valentine (all other drums), Tommy Thayer (all other lead guitars except where noted), Bruce Kulick (lead guitars on Within and additional guitars), Shelly Berg (piano, orchestrations), Bob Ezrin (Fender Rhodes piano)

As you can tell from the personnel list, the contributions of Ace Frehley and Peter Criss were limited. Criss only played drums on one track and Frehley only played lead guitar on two tracks. In fact, only Into The Void (written by Frehley and Karl Cochran) features all four members performing together. Paul sang lead on four tracks. Gene sang lead on three tracks. Both Ace and Peter sang lead vocals on one track each. All four members traded off lead vocals for You Wanted The Best. Bruce Fairbairn produced the album. Stanley had five co-writing credits. Simmons had four writing credits. Frehley had one co-writing credit. Bruce Kulick, Holly Knight, Karl Cochran, and Bob Ezrin all had one co-writing credit and Curtis Cuomo had two.

I really enjoyed this album. It was the second album that I purchased from the band on its initial release. A friend of mine actually let me borrow his copy (as my copy of Hot In The Shade was gathering dust) and it re-ignited the spark for my interest in the group. In fact, you could say that Psycho Circus pushed me over the edge into being a full-fledged fan of the group. I love Into The Void. It’s my favorite track on the album. A very close second is Psycho Circus. You Wanted The Best and Within are two other tracks that I really enjoy. Even though most of the tracks aren’t truly the “original” KISS, they are still great tracks with strong lyrics (a weak spot for KISS in my opinion) and a massive sound. The only real clunker for me was I Finally Found My Way. To me it completely derails the pounding sound of the rest of the album.

Naysayers dislike the album because it isn’t “really KISS” and that’s a shame because this album is a really strong rock record. It’s not as good as Revenge or Creatures Of The Night, but it can hold its own against anything else that the band put out in the 1980’s and 90’s. It was great to see the original members back together again and up to their old tricks on the stage. Ace would eventually leave the group for good in early 2002 and was replaced by Tommy Thayer (in full Spaceman costume and face paint). Peter Criss would leave in 2001, return in 2002, and leave again for good in 2004. He was replaced by Eric Singer (in full Catman costume and makeup) on all three occasions. The addition of Thayer and Singer in costume was controversial, but fans old and new continued (and still continue) to support the band. In 2009, eleven years after the release of Psycho Circus, KISS would release their first album of new material featuring the so-called imposters, Sonic Boom. I’ll take a look at that album and its follow-up, Monster, next month to finish off The Year Of KISS!

Thanks for checking out my post! I’ll see you again real soon!