Who picked up Sonic Boom today?

My awesome wife picked this up for me today and it is AWESOME!

This is the album KISS fans have been waiting for! Classic hard rock. Sounds like a mix of 70's and 80's KISS.

We've all heard Modern Day Delilah by now, and I love it -- it has lots of groove, and would fit in really well on Alive! (And it DID in fact sound great live at Cobo among all the Alive classics!).

Russian Roulette is classic Gene, although it sounds more like something from Hot In The Shade than 70's era KISS. Absolutely rocks!

Never Enough is an upbeat classic KISS rocker and sounds like something that could have been on Love Gun. Radio friendly hard rock.

Nobody's Perfect -- now this is classic, 70's sounding KISS from Gene! Pure rock'n'roll.

Stand -- Paul & Gene sing together, like in the old days... excellent track about friendship -- and NOT in any cheezy way---very uplifting, in the same way as songs like Shout It Out Loud.

Hot & Cold - another Gene rocker. Upbeat, major key rock with some cowbell on the chorus.

All For The Glory -- Eric's first chance to sing on a KISS studio album (well, not including the Japanese version of the re-recorded songs, featuring Eric on Black Diamond). This song flat out ROCKS -- definitely one of the heavier songs on the disc. Eric's voice sounds great!

Danger Us -- Starts with a moody guitar before kicking into overdrive. Love Tommy's tone on this one. Classic Paul rocker!

I'm An Animal -- Gene's always been great at the monster songs: God of Thunder, Almost Human, Unholy, etc., and here it is on Sonic Boom! Slow and heavy on the groove!

When Lightning Strikes - Tommy's first lead vocal. You know this is gonna rock as soon as you hear the cowbell... I like Tommy's voice! Nice punchy song that rocks when it opens up during the pre-chorus. Really rock'n'rolly.

Say Yeah -- this has a very 80's feel to it, would have fit in great on Killers alongside stuff like "Nowhere To Run."

Overall - an EXCELLENT record! This is great! Definitely worth the wait!!!

And -- for 12 bucks, to get the album, plus the "Kiss Klassics" cd, plus the live in Buenos Aires DVD...again, KISS has gone above and beyond for the fans!

I got it, and I'm loving it so far! Sounds like classic KISS to me.

I got it, it's good.

2 CDs and a DVD for $12. That's a good value.

What does everyone think of the re-recorded classics or the DVD?

I think Klassics kinda sux but Paul's & Gene's voice hold up rather nicely except on I Was Made For Lovin' You , the DVD is cool.

ultmetal wrote:

What does everyone think of the re-recorded classics or the DVD?

The "Klassics" disc is kinda hit and miss for me. I think they did a great job with the non-makeup era songs, making them heavier and taking away most of the 80's cheese, ut the new versions of some of the older songs sound a bit strained. Paul's vocals are pretty good, but Gene just sounds like he's lost something with age.

Haven't watched the DVD yet.

I may get it. I like what I've heard, but I've never been a huge Kiss fan.

I have a few albums, but none of them really grab me.

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What does everyone think of the re-recorded classics or the DVD?

I dig the Klassics disc... I am always into alternate versions, so I think it's cool. It's nice to be able to hear songs like "Hotter Than Hell" with outstanding production. With that song, for example, I love the original album, and I love the Alive! version, and sure, the production on those albums is part of the nostalgia, and part of the "charm" of the albums...but this new one sure sounds good cranked up!

Watched the whole DVD last night. It was cool, kind of a mini-concert. The highlight for me was 100,000 years. I think the only thing keeping it from being totally awesome is that it's only 6 songs!

By the way, does anyone know what the crowd was singing between the songs?

Overall, an excellent package!

ultmetal wrote:

What does everyone think of the re-recorded classics or the DVD?

Haven't listened to it yet.Sonic Boom is terrific and the dvd is a good watch although I imagine I'll only watch it a couple of times.

I grabbed it and I am spinning it now. Very good album. Nice mix of old and new and extremely enjoyable to hear. I haven't got to the classiks or the DVD yet. Peace.

This is awesome! But then again, I've liked just about everything this band have put their name on.

Got it today and love it. I bought the Jigoku-Retsudan CD in Japan when it was released, so I've already heard the KISS Klassics disc. It's good. Their voices have held up very well over the years, but of course, some songs lack the passion they were delivered with back in the seventies.

I was at Wal-Mart earlier getting something else and my guitar player Nikki came in and got it...we chatted about it for a few minutes...laughed at the Kiss potato heads...talked about the record and left. LOL!

No KISS Korner at my local walmart!

According to Hits Daily Double, the companion web site of music industry tip sheet HITS, KISS' new album, "Sonic Boom", is on track to sell between 150,000 and 175,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release, giving the masked rockers a beeline on their first chart-topping release ever.

Looks like KISS will have their first #1 album!

I got it. I'll listen to it this weekend.

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But then again, I've liked just about everything this band have put their name on.

Agreed! I'm one of the few who actually digs Unmasked (I always wish they wouldn't ignore this in their shows...stuff like Is That You and Naked City would sound great live!) and The Elder (which I love, especially on these rainy fall days!).

Any of you guys notice the weird high end swooshy sound that's very reminiscent of lower quality mp3s runnin' through every single song on the disc?

I was on the phone with DNA Mastering (the people who mastered Sonic Boom...a VERY well respected mastering house in California) about an hour ago. I don't believe that what they submitted is what we're hearing on the cd. They're gonna go out and buy a copy of the disc and let me know if that's what they submitted. I'm quite positive that it isn't...they'll probably be horrified with what's on the disc. Doesn't sound like standard quality cd audio to me.

A lot of people aren't noticing it yet, but a LOT of people are. I'm just wondering if anyone here has noticed it.

later...Cliffy

Let us know what they say Cliffy. Will be interested to hear what they do if it is wrong.

I listen to it in my car and on my computer. Sounds okay from here.

Metal Misfit wrote:

I listen to it in my car and on my computer. Sounds okay from here.

Can you email me a high end copy of a song (320 kbps mp3 will be fine)...a lot of the people have the same problem I do, but I'd love to know if it's truly all the cds or just some of 'em.

cliffenstein@gmail.com

It sounds a little flat but I just figured thats how it was mixed. Its not bad and not really that noticeable, but it definetly could have sounded a little clearer.

If theres something wrong with this disc too like what happened with the Twisted Sister Stay Hungry Reissue this is getting annoying. Why isn't someone catching these errors sooner? Are they themselves listening to lesser quality files than what goes onto a cd?

I think it happens with older bands, because they've been doing it so long they no longer bother with the finer details. That leaves plenty of room for mistakes to happen that go unnoticed by the band.

thejokeriv wrote:

No KISS Korner at my local walmart!

The Kiss Korner at my Wal-Mart was a joke. A few dozen CD's, potato heads, blankets, M&M's & Family Jewels DVDs...thats it. No shirts...no Kissology DVDs...and the CDs were mostly the different best-of's.

When Black Ice came out, AC/DC & Angus were all over the store! All the AC/DC remasters were on sale, the new CD was taking up a large amount of rack space, and there was AC/DC hats/shirts/pajamas/etc

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

thejokeriv wrote:

No KISS Korner at my local walmart!

The Kiss Korner at my Wal-Mart was a joke. A few dozen CD's, potato heads, blankets, M&M's & Family Jewels DVDs...thats it. No shirts...no Kissology DVDs...and the CDs were mostly the different best-of's.

When Black Ice came out, AC/DC & Angus were all over the store! All the AC/DC remasters were on sale, the new CD was taking up a large amount of rack space, and there was AC/DC hats/shirts/pajamas/etc

My local Walmart had all the older albums on sale for $5. They also had some of the compilations for $7. They didn't have any of the non-makeup albums from the 80's, but they did have the debut through Love Gun for $5. They had the potato heads, blankets, M&M's, the Family Jewels DVDs, the first Kissology DVD, new minature action figures, collector's cards and even the new Ace Frehley CD! They had a big cardboard KISS poster in the middle of it all. The poster had a anti-theft device wrapped around it, so I guess they figure Kiss fans are gonna steal stuff.