''Sonic Boom'' is the nineteenth studio album, and the first in 11 years, by the rock band
Kiss
A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...
Conway Recording Studios
Conway Recording Studios is a recording studio in Hollywood, California.
People and awards
Conway started in the early 1970s as a mastering studio. In 1976, the studio began recording albums, including projects by Elton John and Stevie Wond ...
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
Paul Stanley
Paul Stanley (born Stanley Bert Eisen; January 20, 1952) is an American musician who is the co-founder, frontman, rhythm guitarist and co-lead vocalist of the hard rock band Kiss. He is the writer or co-writer of many of the band's most popula ...
Paul Stanley
Paul Stanley (born Stanley Bert Eisen; January 20, 1952) is an American musician who is the co-founder, frontman, rhythm guitarist and co-lead vocalist of the hard rock band Kiss. He is the writer or co-writer of many of the band's most popula ...
Tommy Thayer
Thomas Cunningham Thayer (born November 7, 1960) is an American musician and songwriter. He is the lead guitarist and vocalist for the American hard rock band Kiss. He was also lead guitarist for the band Black 'n Blue.
Early life
Thomas Cu ...
, and
Eric Singer
Eric Singer (born Eric Doyle Mensinger; May 12, 1958) is an American drummer. Associated with the hard rock band Kiss since 1991, he has also performed with artists such as Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper, Lita Ford, Badlands, Brian May and Gary ...
. It was also the first to feature lead vocal performances from Thayer and Singer. Stanley stated, "the purpose of this album isn't to let people know that we're still around – it's to let people know we can still knock out anybody who's out there!".
Album information
A fan-routed North American tour promoted the album along with international shows throughout 2010, which included the band headlining the Rock am Ring festival in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. The cover artwork was created by artist
Michael Doret
Michael Nicholas Doret (born July 19, 1946) is an American designer, lettering artist, and illustrator based in Los Angeles. He has created logos, album covers, magazine covers, and art for various brands in media, advertising, and sports, in ...
who had worked with Kiss previously to create the cover of their 1976 album ''
Rock and Roll Over
''Rock and Roll Over'' is the fifth studio album by American rock band Kiss, released in 1976. It was recorded at the Star Theatre in Nanuet, New York.
Album information
To get the proper drum sound, Peter Criss recorded his tracks in a bathroo ...
''.
Wal-Mart
Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...
is the exclusive distributor of the album in the US and Canada, selling it as a three disc package including the album, ''Kiss Klassics'' (a completely re-recorded greatest hits album that until now had been exclusively released in Japan as ''
Jigoku-Retsuden
''Jigoku-Retsuden'' (地獄烈伝, which roughly translates to "Legends from Hell / Hell's Legends"), also known as ''Kissology'' and ''Kiss Klassics'', is a limited-edition CD/ DVD set released in 2008 by the band Kiss, exclusively in Japan. ...
)'', and a six-song live DVD recorded April 5, 2009, in
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
,
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
as part of the South American leg of the
Kiss Alive/35 World Tour
The Alive 35 World Tour was a 2008–2009 concert tour by Kiss to celebrate their 35th anniversary. It was the band's first major tour since the Rock the Nation World Tour in 2004. On the tour, Kiss played in Europe for the first time since the ...
.
The album was sold as a
digipak
Optical disc packaging is the packaging that accompanies CDs, DVDs, and other formats of optical discs. Most packaging is rigid or semi-rigid and designed to protect the media from scratches and other types of exposure damage.
Jewel case
...
including a 20-page booklet. The album's first single was announced on the band's official website to be "Modern Day Delilah". The album was also released on limited edition 180 gram vinyl and was pressed into five colors (red, green, black, blue and purple) with 1000 copies pressed of each. "Modern Day Delilah" was announced and released as the lead single from ''Sonic Boom'' on August 19, 2009, to radio. It was Kiss' first single release in 11 years, the last being " You Wanted the Best" released in 1998.
The music video for "Modern Day Delilah" leaked online on the first days of December and was officially released on December 9, 2009, and premiered on Yahoo!. The video is topped and tailed by footage of giant sized members of Kiss walking through Detroit. The video went on to top UK music video channel Scuzz's "Most Rockin: Viewer Request Show" chart on December 3, 2009. The single was released as downloadable content for
Guitar Hero 5
''Guitar Hero 5'' (initially referred to as ''Guitar Hero V'') is a 2009 music rhythm video game developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. It is the fifth main installment in the ''Guitar Hero'' series. The game was released internat ...
and
Band Hero
''Band Hero'' is a spinoff video game as part of the ''Guitar Hero series'' of music rhythm games, released by Activision on November 3, 2009, for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii and Nintendo DS consoles. The game is struct ...
on November 19, 2009, along with the singles "
I Was Made for Lovin' You
"I Was Made for Lovin' You" is a song by American hard rock band Kiss, originally released on their 1979 album, ''Dynasty''. It was released as the A-side of their first single from the album, with "Hard Times" as the B-side.
History
The s ...
" and "
Lick It Up
''Lick It Up'' is the eleventh studio album by American rock band Kiss. Before its 1983 release, the band members appeared on MTV without their trademark make-up. It was the first public appearance without make-up by the band, and their first ...
". Modern Day Delilah peaked at #50 on the Billboard Rock songs chart. The song was used for their opening song for the
Sonic Boom Over Europe Tour
The Sonic Boom Over Europe Tour (full title: ''Sonic Boom Over Europe: From the Beginning to the Boom'') was a concert tour by American rock band Kiss in support of their 19th studio album Sonic Boom, which was released in October 2009.
The tour ...
and The Hottest Show on Earth Tour.
"Say Yeah" was added to the shows on the Sonic Boom Tour/Alive 35 North American Tour 2009. Later on, it was mentioned during Kiss' Facebook concert broadcast that "Say Yeah" was going to be the next single off ''Sonic Boom''. On December 5, it was announced that the single would be released to radios on December 8. The single was released on the second week of January 2010 in
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
. "Say Yeah" also hit #1 on February 5, 2010, on a Russian Radio Chart after debuting at #11. "Never Enough" was released as the next radio single from ''Sonic Boom'' in early June 2010 and was mentioned on KISSonline.com. The song was not incorporated into the band's setlist on its 2010 Summer Tour of the US and Canada.
The song "Modern Day Delilah" was also used in 2015 for the movie '' Scooby-Doo! and Kiss: Rock and Roll Mystery'' along with the second disc's rerecorded versions of "
Rock and Roll All Nite
"Rock and Roll All Nite" is a song by American rock band Kiss, originally released on their 1975 album '' Dressed to Kill''. It was released as the A-side of their fifth single, with the album track "Getaway". The studio version of the song pe ...
Detroit Rock City
"Detroit Rock City" is a song by the American hard rock group Kiss, released on their 1976 album ''Destroyer''. The song was written by Paul Stanley and producer Bob Ezrin.
The song is one of the band's most popular and is a classic rock staple ...
".
Reception
The album received generally positive reviews from critics. ''Sonic Boom'' debuted at #2 on the ''Billboard'' 200, selling 108,000 copies in its first week of release.Caulfield, Keith and Monica Herrera "Michael Buble Beats Kiss on Billboard 200"
billboard.com
''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the music ...
. October 14, 2009. The #2 position was the highest mark ever reached by the group, beating the #3 debut of '' Psycho Circus'' in 1998. The album finished 2009 with 238,000 units sold and finished 2010 as one of Billboard's Top 50 Rock Albums.
Metal Hammer
''Metal Hammer'' is a heavy metal music magazine and website founded in 1983, published in the United Kingdom by Future, with other language editions available in numerous other countries. ''Metal Hammer'' features news, reviews and long-form ...
listed the album in 13th place on the list ''Metal Hammer Albums of 2009'' list.
Metal Hammer
''Metal Hammer'' is a heavy metal music magazine and website founded in 1983, published in the United Kingdom by Future, with other language editions available in numerous other countries. ''Metal Hammer'' features news, reviews and long-form ...
' Metal Hammer Albums of 2009 Retrieved September 2, 2011. Since its release, Sonic Boom has received Gold certification in Norway.
Track listing
Disc 2
Bonus CD
Compilation
Compilation may refer to:
*In computer programming, the translation of source code into object code by a compiler
**Compilation error
**Compilation unit
*Product bundling, a marketing strategy used to sell multiple products
*Compilation thesis
M ...
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
,
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
(Recorded on April 5, 2009, at the
River Plate Stadium
Estadio Monumental (), officially Estadio Mâs Monumental for sponsorship reasons,C'mon and Love Me"
#"Watchin' You"
#"100,000 Years"
#"Rock and Roll All Nite"
Personnel
Kiss
*
Paul Stanley
Paul Stanley (born Stanley Bert Eisen; January 20, 1952) is an American musician who is the co-founder, frontman, rhythm guitarist and co-lead vocalist of the hard rock band Kiss. He is the writer or co-writer of many of the band's most popula ...
Tommy Thayer
Thomas Cunningham Thayer (born November 7, 1960) is an American musician and songwriter. He is the lead guitarist and vocalist for the American hard rock band Kiss. He was also lead guitarist for the band Black 'n Blue.
Early life
Thomas Cu ...
–
lead guitar
Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featu ...
, vocals
*
Eric Singer
Eric Singer (born Eric Doyle Mensinger; May 12, 1958) is an American drummer. Associated with the hard rock band Kiss since 1991, he has also performed with artists such as Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper, Lita Ford, Badlands, Brian May and Gary ...