{"id":23971,"date":"2012-11-20T07:58:59","date_gmt":"2012-11-20T12:58:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=23971"},"modified":"2013-02-05T16:40:56","modified_gmt":"2013-02-05T21:40:56","slug":"kiss-monster-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2012\/kiss-monster-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Kiss | Monster<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Nikiforos Skoumas<\/span>
\n– Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"KissWhether you look at the States, South America, Japan or Europe, Kiss never had a problem selling out arenas; especially now that the European market gets to enjoy a major tour every couple of years by the iconic group, it is hard to counter-argue that Kiss are a global phenomenon in the new millennium. <\/p>\n

Never the less, the creative future of Kiss was very much in doubt up until 2008, at which point the quartet decided to move forward with a new, all-original studio album, Sonic Boom<\/em>. Now it seems you can not stop Kiss from releasing new material, enter the second post-reunion studio album Monster<\/em>. Monster<\/em> is also the second album to be recorded by the current Kiss line up of front man Paul Stanley, bassist Gene Simmons, lead guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer. <\/p>\n

In many ways Monster picks up where Sonic Boom<\/em> left off; once again opting for a late \u201870s \u2013 early \u201880s style of hard rock only this time capitalizing exclusively on their heavier\/more outrageous side. As the promo sticker puts it: \u201cNo filler, No Ballads, just full-throttle rock ‘n’ roll.\u201d And that is precisely what they deliver, 12 slices of classic-sounding hard rock. Seasoned fans should remember that the more diverse albums (Destroye<\/em>r and Dynasty<\/em> in particular) were the ones that elevated Kiss\u2019s career into stardom, still, the purpose of Monster<\/em> is merely to cement the group\u2019s existing reputation as one of the most authentic rock groups of all time. <\/p>\n

Sure enough, if you are looking for retro-heavy-hard-rock you certainly got that with Monster<\/em>. From the exaggerative \u201cHell or Hallelujah\u201d to the aggressive \u201cWall of Sound\u201d to the sing-along \u201cFreak\u201d you know Kiss got everything right on this 19th studio effort. Sonic Boom<\/em> was a huge step in the right direction, as most fans and critics were keen to point out, but Monster<\/em> is Kiss more confident with the kind of performing edge that was once found on their earliest works. <\/p>\n

The interesting thing about Kiss is that the hype that surrounds them is rarely proven wrong, when you hear the quartet has a great album in the works what you get is a great album. They promised it, we\u2019ve been expecting it, now it\u2019s time to enjoy it!<\/p>\n

Genre: Rock, Hard Rock<\/p>\n

Line Up:
\nGene Simmons \u2013 bass guitar, vocals
\nEric Singer \u2013 drums, vocals
\nPaul Stanley \u2013 rhythm guitar, vocals
\nTommy Thayer \u2013 lead guitar, vocals<\/p>\n

Track List:
\n01. Hell Or Hallelujah
\n02. Wall Of Sound
\n03. Freak
\n04. Back To The Stone Age
\n05. Shout Mercy
\n06. Long Way Down
\n07. Eat Your Heart Out
\n08. The Devil Is Me
\n09. Outta This World
\n10. All For The Love Of Rock & Roll
\n11. Take Me Down Below
\n12. Last Chance<\/p>\n

Label: UMe<\/p>\n

Web: http:\/\/www.kissonline.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n

HardrockHaven Rating: 8\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Nikiforos Skoumas – Columnist — Whether you look at the States, South America, Japan or Europe, Kiss never had a problem selling out arenas; especially now that the European market gets to enjoy a […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6772],"tags":[6476,4746,1103,475,5096,6261,2387,6475],"class_list":{"0":"post-23971","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-arcrvws2012","7":"tag-eric-singer","8":"tag-gene-simmons","9":"tag-hard-rock","10":"tag-kiss","11":"tag-monster","12":"tag-paul-stanley","13":"tag-rock","14":"tag-tommy-thayer"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23971","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23971"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23971\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}