Kiss - Sonic Boom (2009)

See, this is where it gets tricky. Reviewing a band such as Kiss, I feel a weight of expectation, and, given their thirty-year history, there is always going to be references to their “peak “ material.

It has been over ten years since Kiss released their last record, but you wouldn’t know it listening to this one. Having gone from being one of the world's biggest bands, slowly merging into a nostalgic act reminiscent of pubescent analogies on a Saturday night living in a small town.

"Sonic Boom" delivers eleven new songs about girls and partying, which is kinda weird, considering their age. But, somehow, these old men deliver, sounding just as good as "Destroyer" and "Rock and Roll".

I hate to use the cliché, but Kiss have done what most classic rock bands have done; they made an album based on the elements which made their earlier albums legendary.

Hell, even the artwork looks like it came straight out of the 1970s!

Starting with Modern Day Delilah, Paul Stanley bombards you with a angst-driven adrenaline anthem worthy of damaging your eardrums. This qualifies as one of best tracks the group has ever recorded.

Its placement at the front of the album, however, is a double-edged sword: on the one hand, it will instantly win over longtime fans; on the other hand, it sets the far too high for the ten tracks that follow.

Recorded on analog instead of digital studio has given the record its vintage sound, giving it that 1970s authenticity driving everything further into a feeding frenzy of cliché rock and roll.

Gene Simmons roars “If it’s too loud, you’re too old”. The stripped-down, retro sound will please veterans of the KISS army.

Kiss are what they are and "Sonic Boom" is what the title implies: an explosion of rock and roll. Thirty-five years into their career, face-painted rockers KISS know they're preaching to the converted, and what the converted want is some approximation of the albums the group created during its '70s-era heyday.

In that regard, "Sonic Boom" hits the mark.

Assuming that "Sonic Boom" turns out to be KISS' final studio creation, it's a much higher note for the group to go out on than "Psycho Circus".

RATING: 4 out of 5

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