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RUFKMKISS – Sonic Boom Album Review
September 14, 2009 by Loose Cannon
Filed under Album Reviews, Music, New Content, News, Top Picture
Before you read this, read “True Confessions of a KISS-aholic” to understand how the hell the clowns at RUFKM obtained a copy of Sonic Boom and why we are wasting time writing a review. Or don’t.
RUFKM received Sonic Boom at our headquarters yesterday. This was a complete surprise. Since then, I have listened to it in full about 7 times. I gave it the car test, the home stereo test, and the headphone test for production quality. KISS is not music you absorb slowly; you instantly know if it rocks so I don’t need to digest this over the next couple days.
When bringing that hot chick over to the house for the first time, you MIGHT want to remove these from the mantle.
There are quite a few reviews out there for Sonic Boom already that break the album down in a detailed track by track fashion. For that reason, I will try a different approach. Enjoy.
Truth in Advertising: Paul and Gene are on a relentless press tour right now preaching the KISS gospel and making outrageous claims that this is this is the best KISS album in over 30 years, a blend of Rock And Roll Over and Love Gun, and that they can levitate, see through walls, have the cure for the H1-N1 virus, etc.
Bullshit. However, it is a nice blend of 70′s, some of the stronger 80′s tunes, and a touch of Revenge. “Modern Day Delilah” is a perfect example of this as it combines the vibe of “I stole your love” and “I want you” with the guitar tone from Revenge.
The fact is that there are some great moments on the album and some cringe-worthy ones as well. With the exception of “Say Yeah” at track 11, they stack all the solid tracks in the front of the album.
Cover: Awful. Looks like the quality of a bonus card you get in a pack of KISS trading cards with a stick of stale gum. However, it will fit in nicely with the Wal-Mart decor.
The album cover? Simply. Fucking. Awful.
Gene Songs: Gene’s best two songs are right up front – “Russian Roulette” and “(Yes I know) Nobody’s Perfect.” These two tracks actually do fit in the 70′s vibe. Then comes the before mentioned cringe-worthy moment of “Hot and Cold” which causes the same amount of pain to my ears that Michael Madsen inflicted on that dude’s left ear in Reservoir Dogs.
Paul Songs: It’s been just a couple years since Paul’s solo album Live to Win and if you think he got that style of songwriting out of his system…. think again. The ghost of Desmond Child is alive and well in the studio. With the exception of “Modern Day Delilah.” these are all 80′s anthems… but better than normal. ”Never Enough” strangely reminds me of Poison’s “Nothin’ But A Good Time.” ”Stand” is the 2009 “Shout it out Loud” or “God Gave Rock and Roll to You” and I can’t resist a Paul/Gene tradeoff vocal. It’s over the top but still works for me.
Tommy/Eric Songs: Why? I am not a hater and was thrilled when Singer was back on drums and Peter was back out……. but “All for the glory” and “When Lightening Strikes” are pointless and just as bad as their titles. Both these tracks stink worse than Bigfoot’s nutsack after a triathlon. However, this will present a perfect opportunity to take a piss if they play these live.
Lyrics: Just as insightful as ever.
Musicianship: Paul’s voice sounds great, so does Gene’s. The production is solid and highlights Gene’s Godzilla-like bass playing. Singer is top notch on the drums as usual. And for you Tommy Thayer Haters out there…. sorry, but he does a great Ace Frehley, I was really impressed. What’s 
sad is Tommy’s solos are better than Ace’s own solos on his just released Anomaly.
Summary: It’s better than expected and does not suck. I can see them fitting several of these easily in their set list and most of the choruses are already embedded in my brain. Here’s the breakdown.
Solid: Modern Day Delilah, Russian Roulette, Never Enough, (Yes I Know) Nobody’s Perfect, Say Yeah
Decent: Stand, I’m an Animal, Danger Us
Steaming Turds: Hot and Cold, All for the Glory, When Lightening Strikes
bs—this is a piece of shit through and through, only mdd is slightly ok, its truly a boring ridiculous trite, pile of crap. the only thing remotely a throwback is the production. the songs are simple, repeated choruses over and over. If you like the cool old stuff, the good songs from elder, anything remotely like carnival of souls, DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONT BUY THIS.
“If you like the cool old stuff, the good songs from elder, anything remotely like carnival of souls”
I’m hoping this was a joke.
All the songs you dislike are the songs I’m really digging alot. I guess this album has music for everyone. I give this album a huge 10. Lovin this so much. KISS IS BACK BABY!!!
Just best KISS music in ages
Shockstar. You are a deep man in a shallow pool.
Seriously, this is a really bad album. While I do give them bonus points for effort, this album isn’t even as good as the horrible “Psycho Circus” disc. It’s just track after track of boring, lame, cliche-ridden crap. The lyrics are downright embarrassing and musically the whole thing is unimaginative, derivative and extremely dull. I wish Kiss would stick to doing their awesome live shows and forget about trying to produce new material, if this is the best they can come up with then the tank is truly beyond dry.
Totally agree. I think people assumed this would be the worst thing in the world and since it’s only half as boring and crappy as expected, people seems surprised and somehow think this is good.
The production is way too slick and clean, no grit, the songs are crappy 80′s Crazy Nights era and the “snthems” were cliche 30 years ago.
I was actually hoping it would be halfway decent, by MDD is the only listenable song.
No matter what type of album Kiss would make today, there would be detractors among its fans. Some want “Revenge”-style Kiss, some want “Crazy Nights”-style Kiss, some can’t get past the fact that the two weak links are no longer in the band.
While it’s not an A+, Sonic Boom is much better than I expected. The songs are fun, tight, and harken back to all eras of the band. Those looking for deep insight in the lyrics can wait for the next Rush album. I think Kiss came through big time with Sonic Boom.
This album is terrible. The only song I seem to like is Yes I Know (Nobody’s Perfect), cause it reminds me of some of the cheesy old Gene songs from the 70s… which is more for nostalgic reasons than anything. Otherwise, I would have rather not heard this CD. Have you heard Alice Cooper’s new Halloween Anthem? That Blows almost more than this entire album. Amazing.
It is a near perfect album, there are certainly more highs than lows, but not everyone is going to like it because some people are just anti-KISS.
MDD is Pauls kick ass song on the album and Animal is Genes. That should satisfy the Revenge fans.
Hot and Cold and Nobody’s perfect are good for the Rock and Roll Over, Love Gun, nostala fans since they basically are Love em Leave em and Plaster Caster.
Pauls stuff is just 80′s arena rock because that’s what he loves and what he does best as you can clearly see here. Awesome stuff in my opinion.
Tommy and Eric get token tracks just like Ace and Peter used to in the 70′s for a bit more nostalga.
And Stand is on the album to remind us that they can still totally suck when they want to and to give everyone something to bitch about!!!
Voila!! The perfect Kiss album. Something for everyone end of story.
I use to be a huge KISS fan, since I was a kid back in the late 70′s. When they put the makeup back on and did the reunion tour it was a kick ass thing. Then they did an not-so-great but better-than-nothing new album. Then they did the farewell tour. It was one of the best concerts I have ever seen. My cousin agreed and he was an anti-KISS person. That was back in like 2000. So much for a “farewell”. Then the same crap that caused the first break-up started happening again and soon Ace and Peter were gone. We’d seen this before though.
The first time around when Peter Criss left he was replaced by Eric Carr. Eric Carr didn’t wear the Catman’s makeup though. He was a fox or some shit. Then Ace left and was replaced, badly, by Vinny Vincent. Gee, Vinny Vincent didn’t wear Ace’s makeup though, he was….well, I’m not exactly sure what the fuck he was supposed to be, but at least it wasn’t Ace’s. And they moved on, made new albums,eventually took off the makeup, etc, etc.
I kind of understood when Peter left that the show, with makeup, needed to go on. And I kind of understood when Ace left, and Peter was back, that the show needed to go on. Makeup and all. But when it got to a point when neither Ace’s or Peter’s makeup was being worn by the original, then it felt KISS was a sham. Lead of course by Gene Simmons with Paul Stanley following closely behind. All of a sudden it became obviously clear it was only about the money. They talk about giving the fans a show… Ace is not Ace and Peter is not Peter…but you still want the audience to pretend that they are? What in the holy fuck, KISS?
It was like Gene Simmons going back in time and spitting on the younger KISS-zealot me. And not with the cool blood either. Just his nasty, greed-ridden saliva. It left me no longer feeling proud to call myself a KISS fan. The whole thing was now just this cheap gimmick. Wow, all of a sudden I see what the KISS haters felt all those years ago! And NOW they did what I hoped they wouldn’t do. The one thing I felt they SHOULDN’T do. Make a motherfucking NEW album, while still “in” the ORIGINAL makeup… BUT with two hired studio musicians instead of Ace and Peter. That is nothing against Thayer or Singer, they are lucky to have the gig I suppose. Gene and Paul are pissing on Ace and Peter’s characters and pissing off a lot of fans in the process.
If Gene and Paul wanted “KISS” to continue, they should have had Thayer and Singer in their own, new and distinct makeup. But that’s not what they are SELLING. KISS no longer exists. This 4-piece bucket of chicken-fried shit is all that’s left. BOOM!
Amen to that! Been a fan since 1973… they played in my highschool with Rush and I was hooked. Saw EVERY concert they had in Chicago from “74 until “79. I bought anything AND everything that had their name on it that they threw on the shelves… ehhhhh… except the toilet paper. Ace has ALWAYS been my favorite, but I still followed both his solo career and the newly invented KISS in the 80′s and 90′s. Saw the band ONCE without makeup, and that was enough for me. Swore I would never go again unless they reunited. Got my wish… and let me tell you that I spent thousands of dollars traveling around the country during those 4 years. I took friends and family… wanted to show them what I had talked about for years.
THIS incarnation of “KISS” is NOTHING but a farce… and I refuse to be duped any longer. TAKE OFF THE MAKEUP ASSHOLES! It’s DONE! Remember the “FAREWELL TOUR”? That means GOODBYE!!!!! How much money do Gene and Paul need to squeeze out of their fans before they hang up the spandex???? Oh and then why don’t you release an album ONLY at WALMART?????? HUH? WTF is that about? Could they possibly sell out any more than they already have? I heard MDD and I liked it, but guess what. There is no WAY in hell that I am giving Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley another dollar of my hard earned money. Pay for you facelifts some other way……
This CD sounds nothing like the 70s. This fits in nicely with Crazy Nights and Revenge. And the tired, boring same-old setlist that they’re playing needs to be changed. They need to dig out some rarely played gems like Flaming Youth, Domino, and All Hell’s Breaking Loose, since, only true Kiss fans will be shelling out $150 plus for this show.
And they can give us a great show without the makeup, which is what I personally would prefer at this point.
The reunion (which was over 13 years ago) was great for those who haven’t seen them the original members with the makeup, but now they’ve worn the makeup longer than they had in the 70s. Then again, do we really need to see the face of a 60-yr-old Simmons and a 57-yr-old Stanley? Provided they didn’t replace themselves, after all, how would we know?
Wow John!
I have to admit that’s the most passionate and complete dissertation on why Kiss isn’t Kiss anymore I’ve ever read.
However I must say I happen to like whatever it is now as much or even more in some cases than what it was before because:
1) I was always of the opinion that the band was 90% Paul and Gene anyways.
2) I’ve always respected that those two stayed committed to the project and made it evolve into all different phases and forms over the years to keep it viable.
3) Let’s not forget the countless other bands that market themselves as “Whoever” but are currently made up of the creative core of the original band and one or two new guys. Hmmmm…Metalica comes to mind right off the bat. According to your arguement they should have packed it in or changed the name of the band after Dave Mustaine was punted. And then there’s the Beatles…
I think you see my point.
First off, thanks (I think, lol) for recognizing my “passion” on the subject. KISS has long been 90% Gene, 9% Paul and 1% for whoever is left. And now they are milking the original lineup for all it’s worth. I’m not saying KISS should have broken up when it was no longer the original members. And they didn’t. They carried on as a ‘new’ KISS.
What if Kirk Hammet was made to dye his hair blonde to look like Dave Mustaine? Or if Jason Newsted had to dye his hair brown, grow a moustache, wear bell bottoms and get a Misfits tattoo so he could pretend he was Cliff Burton? Or if Ringo Starr had to get a nosejob???
Imagine if Keith Richards left the Rolling Stones and they got Slash to fill his spot to record a new album and tour. But instead of Slash’s trademark tophat and curly hair covering his face, he had to dress and act and play exactly like Keith Richards. So is it still Keith Richards or Slash in a costume? If they needed a drummer, they could just dye Dave Grohl’s hair white and have him pretend to be Charlie Watts too! No one’s gonna care and no one’s getting ripped off, right? It’s STILL the Rolling Stones!! That’s exactly what KISS has done with Tommy Thayer as Ace and Eric Singer as Peter. It’s a ‘new’ KISS lineup PRETENDING to be the ORIGINAL KISS.
I hope you can see my point.
1. KISS has never been the real KISS since Ace and Peter left and never will be. 70′s
2. Unmasked KISS was a different Band. Not even close to the original but some catchy songs came out of them. 80′s and 90′s
3. Half Kiss – Today’s Kiss is a fraud, It’s still fun to see the great shows and hear the old songs but in my heart there is something missing. 00′s
4. Quarter Kiss – I was at the show 2 years ago, where Paul was rushed to the hospital and Gene, Tommy and Eric did the show without him. That was different!
5. Sonic Boom has a few good songs I like. Never Enough, Nobody’s Perfect, and When Lightening Strikes. Tommy’s “When Lightening Strikes” sure sounds like an Ace song, rip off!
6. Ace’s Album, Anomaly, is like I told-ya! kick’s Sonic Boom’s ASS!!!. Outer Space so totally rocks dude! I got to hear Outer Space, Sister and Space Bear in a concert at the Viper Room the weekend before his album was released. Pain in the Neck, Foxy and Free, Too Many Faces, A Little Below The Angels, and cover of Fox on the Run are all classic Ace!!!
kiss suck big time with this album.ace frehley rules
I think if you’re like me and have bought most of the KISS albums then you won’t be extremely disappointed by this one. This is a solid KISS album, but not one of their best. How many great albums does one band have? Most only have 1 in their entire career, KISS has 2 (Destroyer and Revenge). Anyone who says the other albums were great is either full of crap or living in la-la land. Yes, I’m calling you out… people who think “BAY-BA-BAY-BA-BAY I want you!” is a great lyric…or “Laaaaaaa-a-a-ve Guuuu-u-un” should be sent into outer space as mankinds greatest achievement. I’m not bashing those songs…but please get a grip, this is KISS not Mozart.
I do think it’s false advertising to say this fits right in with ’70s KISS, a few of the cheesier Gene songs certainly have that sound, but Paul’s stuff sounds more like Crazy Nights than Love Gun.
“I’m An Animal” for me, is the best song, by far, on the record. But I actually don’t hate “Stand”, I agree it’s cheesy as all hell, but again…this is KISS we’re talking about.
You are deaf as fuck. Paul’s voice sounds like shit on this record, especially on “Never Enough”.
Bunch of dipshits out there acting like they ‘know’ music.
This album does NOT suck.
It’s not great either, but it’s pretty good.
you yanks, dont know good music when it hits you in the face…. KISS is the greatest rock band to come out from the USA… and yet all you yanks love to diss them, for every one person that loves KISS here is 1,000 that hate them or they just jealous? ……….and the moderators here dont have the balls to post my last few comments LOL
There are a lot of KISS cover bands out there and now KISS is just another one of them. Time for Paul and Gene and their massive manipulative ego’s to let some fresh Talent take their places in the make up and lets hope they allow these kids to write their own songs. coz the Fat lady is singing and it sounds like she is holding a greasy hamburger in the process.
A STROKE IS INEVITABLE
Sonic Boom is a good album for a KISS cover band. In actuality, it bites my crank. Ace’s new material is miles ahead of this mediocre effort. Gene and Paul are a couple of anal retentive control freaks who don’t even care about bastardizing the other guys who formed the band by allowing scabs to don their personas. KISS can get bent.