Not going to spend a lot of time defending KISS. You either like it or you don't. Not much middle ground. You either get it or you don't. If you get it, it makes sense. If you don't you say ignorant things.
On to the new CD.
There was much hyperbole about the cover and the fact that they got the artist who did RARO to work on this one.
RARO (here) was an iconic cover and captured the essence of the band at that moment in time.
The cover for the new CD titled Sonic Boom (here) seems forced and out of place. It doesn't fit in this era.
I've only heard a snippet of one song, the first off the tracklist, but if it is indicative of the remainder? Ugh. The band had shown maturity and range with the almost ignored Carnival of Souls and even, to a degree, on Revenge.
The minute-long clip I heard from this CD, however, is a big step backward. It's like they mashed All Hell's Breaking Loose with Hide Your Heart.
I'll buy the CD with hopes that there is at least one song that endures, but I expect there won't be. (Get the proper usage of hope and expect, Prowler?). Pity. I was hoping for one last good album from the band. maybe one final kick to grow their legend.
While well intentioned, I don't think this will be it. When i heard that Paul was producing it, I had my concerns. His recent solo CD was pretty weak. I get the same sense here. Paul was always the last person to grasp what was going to work. He, after all, got pissed that he wasn't singing God of Thunder and bucked that for a while. Yeah, Paul, that would have woked so much better with YOU spitting blood and flying to the rafters.