Sonic Boom 2 CDs + Live in Buenos Aires DVD

Product Details

Product Reviews

(3 stars) - Kiss will never recapture their glory days, but continue to put out music that pleases diehards
I've been a die-hard Kiss fan since the early 70s. To me, there are two Kiss bands; the original line up with Ace and Peter and then there's everything else Paul & Gene did using the Kiss name. And I generally like it all, although they will never be the original band again. Sonic Boom goes after the classic Kiss vibe, and does a decent job of capturing it. Tommy and Eric in Ace and Peter makeup is stupid but also seems like... something only Kiss would do. Anyway I like this album better than stuff like Hot In The Shade, but it's not as good as Animalize or Creatures of the Night. I put Sonic Boom in the same ranking as Psycho Circus I guess. To put Sonic Boom in the same class as Love Gun or any albums that came before 1978 is ridiculous. But for major Kiss Armyers like myself, it's another album for the collection and gives me a Kiss-fix for 2009.

(4 stars) - needs more than just 1 spin
1st Spin didn't do it for me. My 1st impression was : "Yup. That's KISS...(well, almost) Nothin' special...nothing 'WOW' !....
but by the 3rd or 4th try, it started sinking in. I found myself singing along, and actually being emotionally affected by this album.
I felt happy to be ALIVE! -pardon the pun-, empowered, proud to be a KISS Fan, and ready to find the nearest Club to go dance like a fool,
and "Rock & Roll All Night, & Party Every Day !"
Hmmm.....isn't that what KISS music is meant to feel like ?! Yup ! OK, well then dammit : MISSION ACCOMPLISHED, Soldiers !
One very striking feature on this disc is the INCREDIBLE sound quality of the mixing. Not too HOT, not too WEAK, not too MUDDY
....JUST PERFECT: LOUD & PROUD, & POWERFUL. Your speakers will get good exercise from playing this disc !
Notice it was Produced by Mr. Paul Stanley Himself ! Paul is so under-recognized for his talented contributions to the Music World.
Here, he finally gets a chance to shine, and PROVE what He is capable of.
Paul designed the 'Iceman' guitar for Ibanez; Co-Produced the innovative Buzz-Feiten Guitar-Intonation System, and so much more.

The Members of KISS are perfectly capable of playing ANY Style or Genre of Music they want to.
If you have listened listen to any of their Solo efforts,
you know this is true. The point is : when they come together for the purpose of making a KISS Record,
IT SOUNDS LIKE KISS, and NOBODY else but KISS can do that !
Pretty cool of Gene & Paul to let Tommy & Eric each have a Track of their own on this album also : "When Lightning Strikes",
and "All for the Glory". I have read plenty of reviews dissing this record. Of course some of the lyrics are cheesy enough to make you cringe.
Seems to me that's always been the case...SO WHAT ?! I really don't think any KISS Song would sound too great with really deep introspective 'Joni Mitchell'-stlye lyrics anyway. It sure didn't work when they tried it on 'The Elder' ! And if you wanted to buy a new disc that was going to rip the paint off the wall, and scare the crap out of your pets, then you should have gotten the new Megadeth instead ! KISS is KISS. Sorry, they aint gonna make another METAL ALBUM OF THE DECADE at their age ! Why should they be bothered at all with trying to IMPRESS ANYONE, after 35 Years of being 'Living Legends' ?! ROCK OUT, write catchy simple tunes, enjoy themselves,and make The Fans shout "F--- Yeah !" Fine by Me, I'd rather have SOME KISS, than NO KISS at all ! So, are you gonna hear ME Dis this record ? NOPE ! Happy to have it. Leave the Dissing to the crappy albums that DESERVED Dissing. Like : "Crazy Nights", or "The Elder". This album is a FAR CRY from any of those mis-directed, identity crisis, "Gee what do we do next?"-cursed LP's. Yes, this album could have been BETTER; but 'Sonic Boom' is pretty cool enough just the way it is. It is straight-up In Your Face, Rockin' Riffin' Kick-Ass & Party Down, Good Ol' KISS....and the more I listen to it, the more I like it ! Hats off Fellas ! IMHO, you hit another HOME RUN !
I will admit that I Re-Mixed the Track Sequence onto a BLANK, and Customized it to go from 'A' Songs to 'D' Songs, in order from Best to Worst ( there ARE no 'F' Songs ), and my Custom Mix is MORE EXCITING than the original sequence.
Here's my Track List: (1-Delilah, 2-Stand, 3-Never Enough, 4-Animal, 5-Hot & Cold, 6-Lightning, 7-Nobody's Perfect, 8-Danger Us, 9-Glory,
10-Say Yeah, 11-Russian Roulette)

As for ACE's latest disc, "Anomaly" .......not much to say............different, ......1/2 as good .....shame.

I wish that KISS would have stayed the ORIGINAL Band, after the Reunion. Everybody does.
HOWEVER.....think of how awesome it would be if they also kept Eric Singer & Bruce Kulick as the 5th & 6th Members ?!
They could have left them out of Make-Up, or even let them develop their own Characters,
but they could have filled in the weak spots left by Peter Criss's Bersitis/Arthritis/Carpel Tunnel;
and whatever affliction besides AGING has obviously affected ACE's Guitar playing.
KISS Fans already accepted and respected Eric & Bruce as true KISS Band Members,
so how powerful of a 'Juggernaut' would "Super-KISS" be ?!
....with 2 Drummers, and 3 Guitarists ?! I think they missed a Golden Opportunity to REALLY Rule the Rock World,
and "Wear the Crown", as it were.
The other thing I wish they would have done: On this New Tour, they should have come out ALONE; NO SUPPORT ACT.
They could have played this ENTIRE New Disc "Sonic Boom" for the Fans, taken a 45-min. break, then did all the Old Classics for their 2nd Set. Hell, RUSH does it. YES did it. Pink Floyd did it. Metallica used to do it. The Rolling Sones did it. Don't gimme that crap, they're too old ! I know I am not the only Fan frustrated by paying BIG MONEY to see them play for barely 2 hours. It's just over too soon !
Anyway Amazonians.........there's my little 'ol 2 cents-worth. Have a Dice Nay ! :p
And Oh yeah, PS......GET SONIC BOOM !
And TURN IT UP REAL LOUD !

(1 stars) - They need Ace's Help
They sure could use Ace Frehley's & Peter Criss's help,no creativity.Maybe Gene may learn to play more than two chords,even Johnny Cash knew more than that.....And could use Bruce too!

(2 stars) - Rick nailed it!
Rick, you nailed it buddy. I have just a few words to add to your review. First of all, I followed the band religiously for over 25 years and have seen them several times with and without makeup. The Revenge tour was my favorite.

Anyway...Kiss played in Pensacola, Florida last month and my best friend lives in a nearby town. One of his friends roommates works at the hotel next to the civic center there and delivered two chicken sandwiches to Gene's room after the show. Surprisingly, Gene left a nice tip for the guy delivering the sandwiches. But, the guy tried explaining something about the delivery to Gene and Gene told him he was talking to loud and that he didn't need to talk so loud. That's a shock from a guy that sings "If its too loud, you're too old". Funny, A Lick it Up shirt from 1983 can say that quote on the back of a shirt and it can be lyrics in a "new song", but it can't work when delivering chicken sandwiches to the scrivener of the quote. Just another example of Gene's capitalistic nature at it's finest. I think the guy should have used that quote, but he would have gotten fired.

For years I listened and believed the comments of "This is about the fans". I gave that idea up about 6 years ago when Alive IV (yeah whatever, Metallica rocked the symphony thing the right way) came out. I'm sure Gene believes he invented the idea of a symphony album first, just like he invented air, the internet, and heavy metal (uh, see Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath before Kiss). I sure wish they could smell what they are shoveling because it sure doesn't smell good.

One more thing in my rant. J.J. French nailed it "That Metal Show" when he talked about what the Kiss brand had become. If you can find it on a rerun or on the Internet check it out. Or, watch an interview with Dio from the Wacken festival.

Cheers to you Rick!

Again, if it's too loud you're too old, unless it is a gimmick to line their wallets more.

(4 stars) - If this is the last album of new matieral I will gladly accept!
Great album the whole way though. I roll my eyes during "Danger Us", but there is no denying that the album is catchy. It sounds like 70's KISS, and as a long time fan, am I am little suprised that a band that could just play the same 19 songs over and over would come up with a new album to make the die hards feel like teenagers again.

I see that the current tour set-list only contains 1 song from this album. It's rare that I want a band that has been around this long to play the new stuff, but this is a good album and I would love to hear more than just one song live.

Good album great songs, Paul and Gene are in top form, the tour comes to LA in just 2 weeks, I'm there and can't wait. Unlike a lot of bands that have been around for 30 years, once the guys put that makeup on I feel like I'm 12 years again. That alone is worth the price of this cd/dvd combo.

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