anyone?

I think I'm the only ol' school KISS fan left on the entire org..so I'll give my 2 cent review...

I'll be honest..I wasn't blown away by it when I first heard it. It didn't grab me like "Revenge" did back then.

But after giving it a few more spins and driving around with it, I have to say it's a really good (and cool) rock record. It's not heavy (like "Creatures") and it's not a de-tuned metal record (like "Carnival Of Souls"), it's just a good rock record.

It's a totally different sounding record than "Sonic Boom". "Monster" sounds like a modern 2012 KISS record without them constantly going back to the past.

And it's also probably the 1st KISS record (since "Hotter Than Hell") where I can hear their influences and who they like....Humble Pie, MC-5's, Cream, Mountain, The Beatles, a little AC/DC and a lot of Zep.

One of the best songs on the record is "All For The Love Of Rock And Roll" sang by Eric Singer. It sounds like it could have been on "Rock And Roll Over". Gene's song "Devil Is Me" is slick too.

Another cool song is "Freak". The rumour was that Lady Gaga was going to sing backgrounds on this.

Some of the lyrics on 1 or 2 of the songs are cheesy..(But KISS are the kings of that)..but overall, it's a good record. It has a different sound that I haven't heard on any other KISS records from the past.

I am a longtime KISS fan and am enjoying Monster very much. It totally rocks - almost like every song is an anthem. Nothing sappy or too commerical. KISS seems to be finding its groove after so many years, kind of like AC/DC. Don't try to expand, don't get too commerical, just do what you do best: balls to the wall meat and potatoes Rock n Roll.

And it works, which is a great complement. It's good to see Tommy and Eric get the spotlight too. Tommy's Outta This World is one of the best songs on the album, imo.

Honestly, I can't imagine anyone calling themselves a KISS fan and not liking this album.

all ive heard is ripoff riffs that lead to the same ole non-ACE kiss dreck...

Eh, kiss pretty put out the same record everytime. I heard a few tracks but they where cheesy 3 chord rock.....

Eh i am just not that into kiss the older i get.

I have only given it a few listens so I don't feel qualified to offer a concrete opinion but one thing that I noticed is that the album seems to be lacking the requisite celebratory anthem dedicated to the fans (think "Raise Your Glasses" or "Stand").

I thought that the itunes bonus track ("Right Here Right Now") was one of the better songs and really should have been included on the cd.

I did think that the mix/sound was a bit too muddy/compressed. Of course we shouldn't expect lush productions from Kiss but the album doesn't sound as good as Sonic Boom did.

I thought that the first half was appreciably stronger than the second but I may change my mind the more I listen to it.

Someone mentioned Revenge and I will always be disappointed that they never did a proper followup to that album with Bob Ezrin. It really is one of their very best albums and I would argue that it has less filler than their "classic" seventies albums.

[Edited 10/28/12 14:30pm]

rialb said:

I have only given it a few listens so I don't feel qualified to offer a concrete opinion but one thing that I noticed is that the album seems to be lacking the requisite celebratory anthem dedicated to the fans (think "Raise Your Glasses" or "Stand").

I thought that the itunes bonus track ("Right Here Right Now") was one of the better songs and really should have been included on the cd.

I did think that the mix/sound was a bit too muddy/compressed. Of course we shouldn't expect lush productions from Kiss but the album doesn't sound as good as Sonic Boom did.

I thought that the first half was appreciably stronger than the second but I may change my mind the more I listen to it.

Someone mentioned Revenge and I will always be disappointed that they never did a proper followup to that album with Bob Ezrin. It really is one of their very best albums and I would argue that it has less filler than their "classic" seventies albums.

[Edited 10/28/12 14:30pm]

Revenge is probably my 2nd favorite Kiss album! it's not an emberessing mess like a lot of the albums

The lyrics where funny, and not funny in an OMG this is so cheesy & awful way. Like the band actually had a sense of HUMOR when they did that album.