From: Spirithm

Having been a huge KISS fan since 1976, I have been waiting anxiously, as everyone has, for the new KISS "reunion" album "Psycho Circus". This album, despite what myself or others think about it, will be considered a very important milestone in KISSTORY, regardless of who plays on it, or the quality of the songs found on the album.

I obtained a copy of the album recently, and have listened to it extensively as every die-hard KISS fanatic would. I must say that I agree with many of the reviews of this record by the fans...it was slightly disappointing.

I had the same reaction to this record that I had to Crazy Nights when I listened to it the first time through when it was released. That album was so different from any preceding it, that it was hard to grasp at first. Crazy Nights was one of KISS' biggest selling albums, and most of the songs on it were well done, and the musicianship was supurb, especially Bruce's. However, it was too polished in its approach, and the lyrical content overall was banal. I find this to be the case with "Psycho Circus".

First of all, I hated the idea of a "Circus" theme, which is something that KISS has regretted trying to do back in the late seventies. It appeals to children, not to adults, overall. I decided to ignore the album title, and hope that the maturity of the music would provide salvation for the project. Unfortunately, we see Paul Stanley co-writing with Holly Knight again. Right from the beginning of the title track, I knew, when I heard Paul singing about make-up running down his face, that there was more trouble again. KISS is famous for repeating the same mistakes over and over again, and here is another example. The lyrics to several of the Paul songs are embarrasingly cliche and predictible. He is singing about himself and about the band, as opposed to things that the fans can personally relate to. This is what I call the Judas Priest syndrome. When Priest started singing songs about being Defenders of the Faith, and every other song on the Ram It Down album was about themselves as heroes or saviours of Metal, they began to look like caricatures of themselves, and quite silly. Their music suffered, because they were trying to force themselves to write certain themes that they thought would appeal to the fans. It only exposed their lack of understanding of their true fan base. Well, KISS is doing just the same thing. (I should say, Paul Stanley is doing this.) The songs he is involved with sound like stuff from the late '80s, and are a sharp departure from the maturity and creativity of his Carnival of Souls work.

Gene, however, has stepped up to the plate on this disc, as he consistantly has since his outstanding work on Revenge and COS. He is showing that he has grown since the late '80s, and has a darker side to his writing that he hasn't brought to the band's music since the Lick It Up days. (It should also be noted that this is the first time since Lick It Up that Gene has sole writing credits on a song!) Although I miss the really mean Gene voice (we'll hear it again on the tour), he is presenting songs that require a different approach. I appreciate the efforts of Simmons to continue to surprise us and reach different levels of his talent in the studio. All the Gene songs on this record are superb, especially "Within" and its sister song "Journey of 1000 years"...this is Gene as we've never heard him. It has elements of the Elder crossed with Carnival of Souls...very heavy, while yet melodic and at the same time, haunting. Incredible lyrics as well!

Poor Ace is hardly featured on this album (again!!!!!!!!!). He really has a rough time with certain producers. His vocals and guitar playing on the track "Into the void" are classic Ace, sounding very true to the original KISS sound. Ace seems to be the only member of KISS who can deliver this quality to songs on a consistant basis. He hasn't changed in over 20 years!!!!!! Although everyone wants Ace to grow, I think we all love the fact that Ace can be relied upon to play really good rock and roll, and his lead guitar is always a welcome feature on any KISS tune. However, his lead guitar work can only be heard on three of the new songs on Psycho Circus...namely, "I Pledge Allegience...", "You wanted the best..." and "Into the void". That is definately not Ace playing on the title track, or any of the Gene songs, or the other Paul songs, including the one sung by Peter. The other songs feature usually some sort of lead "phrases", similar to stuff Bruce Kulick was doing on Carnival of Souls. This album can be compared to the Destroyer album in two ways: there is a wealth of diversity on the album, and Ace Frehley hardly wrote or performed any solos for the album. On Destroyer, Bob Ezrin wrote the guitar solo ideas to "Detroit Rock City", "King of the Nighttime World", "Great Expectations", "Shout It Out Loud" and "Do You Love Me" (not to mention Ace's complete absence from songs like "Beth" and "Sweet Pain"). I find the same thing to have happened on Psycho Circus, with Ace being relegated to play on certain songs that might go over well live, and having Stanley or others provide the rest of the mediocre lead work. Overall, as an Ace fan, and being a keen observer of past KISSTORY, I was dissappointed to hear Ace's work diminished once again. Too bad!!! The stuff he DID play was dynamite...his style was just not able to fit on most songs on this album. The "Destroyer Syndrome" at it again!!!!

I am convinced that it is indeed Peter Criss who is playing on the album. The drumming is incredibly basic, even for a KISS album...and for those of us who have known and seen Peter Criss over the years, including on the reunion tour, we know that Peter has indeed lost much of his earlier drumming style, choosing to provide a Dr. Rhythm backbeat with limited drum fills just to keep the songs tight and uniform. The drumming on the album isn't poor, it is simply uninspired...except on tracks like "Journey..." or "Into the void". Peter only plays about three different beat patterns in his original work, and they are resurrected on Psycho Circus. They have even updated his drum tone, to reflect the tone he had on the reunion tour, which was very heavy, compared to his early years in the band. There is nothing on this album that Peter Criss himself is incapable of doing, although I wouldn't doubt that KISS brought in a studio musician to help. I just can't imagine paying an extra musician to play that bad!!!!!!! So, I will stand behind the assumption that it is Peter Criss playing on the entire album, based upon careful comparative listening of his recent solo CDs, club and reunion live performances.

I am pleased to see the return of the Destroyer costumes this tour...I was afraid when I saw the Psycho Circus action figures, but now that I have seen the photos of KISS in the new Destroyer outfits, I am relived!!!!!!

Overall, the tour will be incredible. I am still reserved about the entire "Circus" theme that they seem enthralled with for this tour, but I know that the KISS live show will be at least as good as the last tour. I have no fear about that.

I am still disappointed overall by the new KISS album, and I rank it as a "3" on a scale of "1 - 5"...there are some really good songs on here, but there are also some of the most awful songs that Paul ever wrote on here as well. Some of them make songs like "Silver Spoon" and "King of Hearts" sound over-written!!!!!

Let's just hope that there is a big interest in this album, and that the single does well, because we are KISS fans first and foremost, no matter what they release and how we perceive it. If this album serves to extend the ranks of the KISS army, then who am I to pass judgment? I love KISS, I will always support them, and even if they do things that disappoint on occasion, they are still the HOTTEST BAND IN THE WORLD!!!!! Long live KISS!!!!!!!

KISS ASYLUM -- KISS Museum News Archive Features Tour Dates Photos