Monster (Image: Classic Rock Magazine)
Paul Stanley’s strong, unique voice leads the attack on lead single Hell or Hallelujah, providing a very high standard for the rest of the album. Freak and Long Way Down – the second single to be released from the album – also see the Starchild unleashing raw power on the microphone to devastating effect. The guitar on Freak has a sound similar to that of many songs from Sonic Boom, but with a tune more fitting to earlier releases such as Destroyer.
Gene Simmons takes over vocal duties for Wall of Sound and Back to the Stone Age amongst others, and silencers the doubters over his performance. The Demon certainly has some power left in the old vocal chords and growls home a show to be proud of. Whether or not his live performances can match up remains to be seen, but there is no doubting his ability to produce a decent record.
Most surprisingly, and for me the stand-out song of the album, is the turn of Spaceman Tommy Thayer on the vocals on Outta This World. Whilst Thayer has covered the vocals before, none of his efforts have impressed quite like this: he gives us the catchiest song on the album by a mile, and also a strong contender for a third single release. Eric Singer’s All for the Love of Rock & Roll is also a good quality tune, but is set to remain an album release rather than hitting the heights of radio.
All in all, this is definitely the best material KISS have turned out since Revenge at the very least. While not their very best album of all time, there is a lot of promise here and the supporting tour cannot come soon enough.
4/5.
