By Ray Paul

Having to wait 12 years is a test of any fan's patience, and the criticisms aimed at the band living on past glories certainly seemed justified. So here we have the first new release from KISS since "Psycho Circus." Gone are Frehley and Criss, replaced by Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer. As a longtime KISS fan, I had all but given up on anything new, especially as Gene Simmons had been very verbal regarding his views on internet piracy and new material, so it was a surprise to hear the band were in the studio not so long ago.

Kicking off with "Modern Day Delilah," the familiar "yeah, yeah" from Paul Stanley takes us into familiar KISS territory. There is a hard edge to the guitar work, and instantly I noticed Tommy Thayer's guitar solo is right out of the Ace Frehley guitar solo book. It's nice to hear Gene and Paul's vocals up front singing together on the chorus as they used to in the early days.

A thundering start to "Russian Roulette" has Gene's gut-bucket bass high in the mix, and a very AC/DC type of riff introduces the song. Again, the song is at a mid-pace, and it's more of a lazy early '90s feel to Gene's voice with a big vocal gathering round the mic for the chorus. It's a good song. Taking us back to the kind of stuff the band were releasing in the late '80s and early '90s, "Never Enough" is a traditional Paul Stanley fanfare and reminded me of "I Just Wanna" from Revenge. There's some nice work from Gene in the bass department for anyone missing some of his more traditional work from the early days.

Congratulations to John Wicker, Tiany Baclagan and Jessica Harper... you are the three winners of the KISS SONIC BOOM Contest!

John, Tiany and Jessica will each receive a Paul Stanley Washburn guitar autographed by KISS! And get this -- the guitars were signed backstage in Detroit after the band's historic shows at Cobo Arena!

Thanks to the 10,000 members of the KISS Army who entered our SONIC BOOM Contest!

By Hazel Savage

From the band that surely need no introduction, get your face paints out -- it's KISS time.

Hoorah! After a spate of recent shows, KISS have a new album out and all the classic rock fans can rejoice again because it's actually good. You find yourself asking, "but is it as good as 'Love Gun' or 'Rock And Roll All Nite?'" To be fair, it's not far off. It's a real stomper with catchy tunes and awesome production. First single "Modern Day Delilah" pretty much sets the tone, and if you get the special edition release you get a "KISS Klassics" disc with re-records of all their hits -- fun. A great introduction for new KISS fans and a rollicking good album for the old-school.

Rock 'til you drop. Or at least until you can't do it anymore.

For B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Roger Daltrey and so many other active icons of rock and blues circuits, those are words to live by. And 35 years after influential NYC quartet Kiss came on the scene with its self-titled debut and immediate follow-up Hotter Than Hell, they too are back touring the world and releasing new music.

Released last month exclusively to Walmart as a three-disc set, Sonic Boom is Kiss's 19th studio album and first since its 1998 album Psycho Circus. Disc one has 11 new tracks, disc two has 15 re-recorded Kiss Klassics, and disc three is a six-song excerpt from a Kiss show this past spring.

Age is of no concern to this band - half of whose members are pushing 60 years of age. Nor does it show on record or in concert for these make-up-wearing mega rock stars. Founding member and rhythm guitarist/singer Paul Stanley still has his dynamic vocal range and knack for writing instant hard rockin' classics, like album opener "Modern Day Delilah."

The "In The Studio" radio show interviews Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons to discuss the 35th anniversary of Alive! Paul and Gene discuss the band's beginnings, KISS concerts in their early years, as well as the new album, Sonic Boom, and the current state of the recording industry.

Photos by Hans J. Kok

This week was KISS Week at the number one radio station in the Netherlands, 3FM. In his show, which is also broadcast on TV, Dutch TV celebrity Giel Beelen played Sonic Boom over and over for an entire week.

On Friday, Giel awarded a grand prize to two avid Kiss fans from the Netherlands, who will travel to Houston on December 5th to see KISS!

In the finale episode, Dutch tribute band Kiss on the Rocks was interviewed and performed "Modern Day Delilah" and "Strutter" in front of an audience of millions.

Holland loves Sonic Boom!

By Nako Martinez
Translated for KISSonline by Jill Cataldo

Rating: KKKKK out of KKKKK

KISS has built a masterpiece: Simmons and Stanley demonstrate a return to form

KISS have always been grand masters of entertainment in the world of rock. Everyone was saddened the year Gene Simmons told the media in a press conference that there was not going to be another new new KISS album. Luckily, the good state of Paul Stanley, producer of Sonic Boom (whose recent solo disc was also brilliant) influenced the band to return to the studio, and in three months' time created an LP filled with vitality, happiness, cacophony and glamour.

Beginning with the almighty "Modern Day Delilah," segueing into the guitar riffs of "Russian Roulette" and the staples "Never Enough" and "Yes I Know (Nobody's Perfect)" the album certainly proves that this quartet's intention was to recapture the sound that they had in their earliest beginnings. Then, by the time we're almost halfway through the LP, we're flying. It's such an unloading of energy that literally pulls you in. The disc is filled with memorable melodies, big backing vocals (Eric also takes the lead vocals,) great guitar riffs in the style of "Deuce," and Tommy Thayer's solos are spectacular.

Entering the second half of the album, we're rocked and rolled again by "Hot and Cold," (pure American sound,) the upbeat guitars and memorable refrain of "All for the Glory" (certainly you'll like what you hear here; it's highly memorable) or the personality of the rocker "Say Yeah," which closes this body of work.

Without a doubt, this is one of the very best albums in KISS's entire career. It's as hot as an inferno, yet the disc is fresh with attitude and power, without a single filler song present. This is a moment to savor. We consider this disc to be immortal.

By Jody Rosen

The new KISS record is a chamber-pop concept album about the plight of migrant workers. Just kidding.

On their 19th studio effort, the glam-rock war horses smear on the greasepaint and blast out odes to rocking all night and partying all day. KISS are a piece of Americana... this big catchy record passes that test.

Key tracks: "Never Enough," "All For the Glory."

KISS played "Say Yeah" from Sonic Boom for the first time in Atlanta last night! Enjoy!

By Tim Grierson

KISS have been the godfathers of good-time rock for 35 years. Having unleashed their best album in years, they're still not ready to hang up their platform boots. Paul Stanley explains how they're showing the pretenders how it's done.

Paul Stanley is a man in perpetual motion. At 57, he and his bandmates in KISS are days away from the next leg of the group's seemingly never-ending Alive 35 tour, and he's so consumed with last-minute details that he had to postpone our initial interview in Los Angeles to focus on rehearsals before catching a flight to Detroit, where the band will kick off the tour. Later, relaxing in the band's Motor City hotel, KISS's venerable guitarist and vocalist takes a moment to reflect on the group's recent record-breaking concert tallies.

"In the last year," he says, "we played to about a million people. Our tour of Europe was our biggest and most successful ever. We did 30 shows in about three months and played probably to about three-quarters of a million people. And then after that, we did the stadiums of South America, playing to somewhere between 30,000 and 80,000 people a night. And then we went on to Canada and did 15,000 to 90,000 people a night. It's been a terrific year for us."

Their terrific year will end with another milestone -- the release of Sonic Boom, the band's first studio effort since 1998's Psycho Circus, an album that neither their fans nor KISS themselves recall all that fondly.