From: Stephen Wilkinson

Just got a cassette copy of "Psycho Circus" on the 29th of July, and I must say that after the first listen, I was somewhat disappointed. But I decided that like with any album I listen to, I will give it at least a half dozen spins before totally coming to a conclusion. Well, these are my thoughts after a dozen spins. "Psycho Circus" is a pretty good song, most likely what will open the new show. More like early 90's KISS than anything in the 70's. "Within" should have been on Carnival Of Souls, which I actually loved. It is dark, real heavy and later I'll explain why I think it's on here. "I Pledge Allegiance" is a great straight ahead rock and roll song with a pretty decent solo from Ace. This, as well as the other songs of Paul's you'll find him in top vocal form. "Into The Void" is a pretty good track from Ace, although it sounds like it should have been on a Frehley's Comet record. "We Are One" is a cool, Beatle-melody type song. "You Wanted The Best" is something I just cannot hang with. I'm sorry, but it seems so contrived. It's lyrically about the fans wanting KISS to get back together and sounds like they wrote the lyrics at a business meeting. "Let's write this song where we let people know that we're back, that the fans were right and that we'll give them what they want. And we can all trade off on lead vocals to get that feeling of unity.Yeah, that's the ticket!" I'm sorry, but the chorus to this song just STINKS!!! "You Wanted The Beeeeeeeeeeeest!" Very unoriginal, not very cool eeither. It actually drives me up the wall. "Raise Your Glasses" is a good song HOWEVER, it is not a good KISS song. It sounds like they reworked Bon Jovi's "Edge Of A Broken Heart" or something off of "New Jersey" and had Paul sing on it. Sorry, but this one just about made me throw up. "I Finally Found My Way To You" is Peter's ballad that is pretty decent, complete with orchestration a'la "Every Time I Look At You" and piano (big surprise). "Dreaming" is different, very cool, kind of how "Magic Touch" was a different standout track on Dynasty, this gave me that kind of vibe. "Journey Of 1,000 Years" probably won't appeal to most fans. It is different. I couldn't help but notice the orchestration sounds like Alice Cooper's "Elected" in the middle section. OVERALL REVIEW: This album is akin to Destroyer in the sense that it is not a straight ahead album like Rock And Roll Over, but rather a culmination of songs that bring across different vibes.To compare song to song, "Psycho Circus" is this album's "Detroit Rock City", "Within" is this album's "God Of Thunder", "I Pledge Allegiance" is akin to "King Of The Nighttime World", "Into The Void" is not really akin to anything on Destroyer, "We Are One" is akin to "Great Expectations", "You Wanted The Best" is akin to "Shout It Out Loud" in vibe and attitude, "Raise Your Glasses" is similar in vibe to "Do You Love Me", kind of going out on a limb here, "I Finally Found My Way To You", akin to "Beth" (duh), "Dreaming" is not really like anything on Destroyer, and "Journey Of 1,000 Years" is kind of akin to . . .well, nothing in particular, but the overall feel is that it is trying to recapture the "taking it to the next step" theory of Destroyer. I'm not saying it's a carbon copy of Destroyer, but I think they used Destroyer as a blue print the way they used the Love Gun stage as a springboard for the reunion tour. If you're looking for Destroyer or any other album by the original band from the 70's era, you won't get it here. They seem very content with moving forward and not trying to recapture that 70's sound, which would probably sound very contrived anyway. It will stand or fall on its own merits, so if you are thinking that the original band will give you that 70's sound, be prepared to listen to this with open ears and an open mind. I have found that after a dozen listens, I am more comfortable with it. I don't think it will land in my top 10 favorite KISS albums though. Definitely worth buying, hopefully the band will give us another studio album after this. I wouldn't want to have this be the last studio album of my career if I were them. Hopefully, after the next slew of compilations that they throw at us, they will again give us a studio album that is something that they will want to be their crowning achievement. It's hard to say how many studio albums they have left in them. God bless KISS!

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