After touring heavily through 1988, KISS went back into the studio in the summer of 89 to record their final album to ring out the 80s. Aiming for a more stripped back sound, the presence of keyboards has been forgotten here and with 15 songs you'd thing the band were hitting some pretty creative highs. However, this is one of the main problems with the album:it sounds like a band fatigued with a flat production and flatter writing.
Track List
1.Rise To It-Opening with some nice slide guitar which is a nice addition, this is an okay opener. Right away you can tell how much flatter this album sounds compared the the last three or four albums. Everything feels a bit too blended with eachother. The chorus is nice but feels a bit tired.
2.Betrayed-The energy on this one is pretty nice but the verses feel a bit underwhelming. Gene sounds his weakest here out of all the 80s albums. Again, a nice simple chorus but would hit harder if the production was amped up more.
3.Hide Your Heart-This is the first song on the album that I quite like with some catchy segements and the chorus, as generic as it is with the chanting, it definitely is made for a live setting.
4.Prisoner Of Love-I like the rhythm of this one but I wish the drums just sounded a tad bigger. Genes vocals work a little better on this one with a nice swagger to it. Simple but a hidden gem here.
5.Read My Body-This one feels like a track left all the way back from the "Animalize" album. The lead guitar feels buried here which is a shame as Bruce gives a damn good solo. A bit of a forgettable song honestly. It feels incomplete in parts.
6.Love's A Slap In The Face-This is personally one of my least favorite KISS songs just for how bored it sounds. I know there were some tracks that used electronic drums which, when you have Eric fucking Carr, makes no sense. Anyways, it definitely feela like they used them here. The chorus literally repeats what "hide your heart" did. Bruces leads however sound a little bit more vicious here.
7.Forever-Easily the best and most well known song here. This was KISS biggest hit since "Beth" and it deserves it. Kulicks acoustic solo is great and is something different for the band that works great here. The chorus is huge and gets stuck in your head as well. KISS, especially in the 80s, knew how to write great ballads.
8.Silver Spoon- This one has a good energy to it with Pauls vocals sounding great throughout. Its catchy and the instrumentation sounds better than on most of the album. Bruces solo is still a bit buried in the mix but its a great solo still.
9.Cadillac Dreams-KISS almost steal a bit out of Aerosmiths playbook on this track with the horn section which I love. This is a fun track with a good rhythm to it you could dance to easily.
10.King Of Hearts-This is a great melodic rocker with that good 80s pounding rhythm to it. It builds to the chorus nicely with some nice walking bass in the pre chorus. This song probably has the beat solo from Bruce on the album as well.
11.The Street Giveth and The Street Taketh Away- Featuring Tommy Thayer on electroacoustic guitar, this one is very middle of the road for me. It just feels very generic structure wise.
12.You Love Me To Hate You-This isn't a bad track though if it sounded a little bigger it would benefit from it. Pauls low vocals are a nice addition but again it feels a bit tired.
13.Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell-This is a slower tune with with some nice riffing but again it sounds a bit tired. Luckily the last two tracks pick up.a bit.
14.Little Caesar-I like the blusier feel on this one but the real draw is that finally FINALLY Eric Carr gets to sing on a studio track. After showing live that he has the voice, we finally get it here. Its a little bittersweet as a lot of material Eric and Bruce had was heavily cut. Check out Eric's album "Rockology" for what happened with alot of these songs.
15.Boomerang-The bands one of their most tired albums with a banger and one that lets Eric and Bruce fly freely. I really wish the drums sounded like they did on "Asylum" though as they still feel a bit pushed back still. Still this is one of the highlights on the album.
Overall, this album gets a 5.5 out of 10. This is easily my least favorite KISS album for just how tired and flat it sounds. Its too oversaturated with mediocre songs which makes it a slog to get through. There are some gems here and there but its mostly forgettable. If this album had a bigger sound i think it would be remembered at least a little fonder. The band toured heavily in 1990 on the album but this would be the end of an era. Eric Carr would be diagnosed with cancer and in 1991, one of my favorite drummers would pass away leaving behind a damn good legacy. Eric Singer would officially take the job as the band would move onto the next album in an ever changing music scene.
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