Kiss: Sonic Booms Good and Bad

On October 6th Kiss released their first album of new material in 11 years, Sonic Boom. Though the current lineup includes a fake Ace Frehley and a fake Peter Criss, I still went out and bought the CD. It's pretty good, but not as good as the classic original lineup releases. Of course even the most die-hard Kiss fan would have to admit that it wasn't all great in the good old days. Here's one fan's list of the best and worst of Kiss.

Album
Best: Alive!- The one that broke the band. Taking great songs that were horribly produced on the first three studio albums and giving them the balls they deserve in a live format.
Worst: Unmasked- By far the wimpiest sounding album the band ever made. Crunching guitars replaced by crappy synthesizers.

Producer
Best: Eddie Kramer- Producer of several of the band's classic albums, he edges Bob Ezrin who produced the landmark Destroyer but helmed the misguided Music from the Elder.
Worst: Vini Poncia- Produced the wretched Peter Criss solo album, the watered down Dynasty, and the absolutely horrid Unmasked.

Album Cover
Best: Destroyer- Arguably the most famous Kiss image, Ken Kelly's painting of the band marching through the wreckage of a ruined city.
Worst: Asylum- A post-makeup 80's release, this half-assed Andy Warhol rip off features the band's faces spotted with fluorescent colors. Edges cartoon strip Unmasked because I can't give all the worsts to that album.

Costumes
Best: Alive!- Most fans like the Destroyer costumes best, but I like the more sleek Alive! costumes better.
Worst: Music from the Elder- Gene Simmons in a ponytail? Paul Stanley with a Loverboy-like headband? A confused Kiss tries to capitalize on the new wave movement, with disastrous results.

Solo Album
Best: Ace Frehley- Hardest rockin' of the four, the unexpected hit album edges the very good Paul Stanley.
Worst: Peter Criss- The worst album ever released under the Kiss logo, perhaps under any logo. Lame covers, poor love songs and devoid of any hard rock. Vini Poncia's reward for producing this piece of junk: he got to work on the band's next two albums. Welcome to Kiss' walking through the desert aimlessly stage.

Gene Simmons Song
Best: Deuce- How can you not like a song whose opening line is "Get up and get your Grandma outta here"?
Worst: She's So European- Of all the wimpy songs on Unmasked, and that would be all of them, this is the wimpiest.

Paul Stanley Song
Best: Love Gun- Title track of their great 1977 album, this concert staple always gets the audience crazy. The Alive II version features some great guitar work by Ace Frehley.
Worst: Just a Boy- A lot of people actually like this song. I'm not one of them.

Ace Frehley Song
Best: Rip It Out- The lead song from his solo album, this is Ace at his songwriting, guitar playing and singing peak. His signature song Shock Me and much of his earlier work is close, but he just seemed to have the most confidence during this period.
Worst: Torpedo Girl- Most of Ace's songs during the Vini era were pretty good. This one, not so much.

Peter Criss Song
Best: Baby Driver- Most people would say Beth, but I much prefer Peter when he is screaming his lungs out, ala Black Diamond. Hooligan is also a fun song.
Worst: Entire Solo Album- Hard to pick just one.

Kiss Character
Best: Gene Simmons- The fire breathing, blood vomiting Demon is the face of Kiss.
Worst: Vinnie Vincent- His was not so much a character as a symbol: hieroglyphic face.
Dishonorable Mention: The Fake Ace and Peter- Guys, if you want to keep the makeup with two new band mates, fine, come up with new characters.

There's one fan's perspective on a variety of Kiss related subjects. I'm sure Kiss fans have their own opinions on this list, good and bad, as we are never short of opinions when it comes to our favorite band.

Now get up and get your Grandma outta here.