Rustyn Rose | Examiner
A new Kiss album is always an exciting affair. It raises the adrenaline of fans and blood pressure of the band’s detractors. Kisscontinue to give haters something to gripe and snipe about. Meanwhile, they continue to headline arenas and are once again churning out quality heavy rock. On July 30, the band released the track listing and artwork for the band’s forthcoming album, “Monster”.
The band’s previous studio effort, 2009′s “Sonic Boom”, proved the band still has more than a little gas in the creative tank. Bassist and co-founder Gene Simmons along with guitarist and co-founder Paul Stanley continue to remind us why they are, “the hottest band in the world.” New members, guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer have both been in the band longer than original members Ace Frehley and Peter Criss. Despite not officially joining Kiss until 2002, Thayer was the primary guitarist on the band’s 1998 “reunion” effort, “Psycho Circus”.
Kiss will release their 20th studio album, “Monster”, on October 16 through Universal Music Enterprises. Just as in the band’s heyday, all four members wrote and sang on the new record. Once again Stanley produced, and no outside writers were used.
Offered Simmons:
“There are no symphony orchestras, boy choirs, keyboards, outside producers or songwriters on this album. The best thing we did was to turn inwards to ourselves. Tommy and Eric have revitalized this band with a work ethic and the talent to back it up. This is a real band effort. Kiss has become a behemoth. We’re going where no bands have gone before.”
Offered Stanley to VH1 Radio:
“’Monster’ is really the culmination of everything this band has been in the past and where we’re going. When we did ‘Sonic Boom’, it was a big task for us because we were saying, ‘How do we define who we are today without losing who we’ve been?’ So, that was a tall order for us, but once we got that under our belts, we wanted to go back in and Monster is far, far beyond anything we’ve done in terms of ‘Sonic Boom’ and yet it’s right up there with some of the best stuff we’ve done. It’s Kiss.”
Of course Simmons is renowned for his braggadocio, still, if “Monster” is half as good as Gene or Paul would lead us to believe, it’s still going to be a beast. The album’s first single “Hell of Hallelujah” proves the band can still pen memorable anthems.
“Monster” track listing (iTunes version):
- Hell Or Hallelujah
- Wall Of Sound
- Freak
- Back To The Stone Age
- Shout Mercy
- Long Way Down
- Eat Your Heart Out
- The Devil Is Me
- Outta This World
- All For The Love Of Rock & Roll
- Take Me Down Below
- Last Chance
- Right Here Right Now