Legendary Band\u2019s 20th Studio Album, first single \u201cHell or Hallelujah\u201d available July 2 Internationally and July 3 in North America <\/p>\n
\u201cThe music is all hard-edged \u2014 they call it ”thunderock” \u2014 and throughout their electrical storm solid craftsmanship prevails.\u201d \u2013 Rolling Stone, 1978<\/p>\n
\u201cNice to hear some things never change.\u201d Spin, 2009
\n\u201cWe\u2019re a real, flesh-and-blood rock and roll band with people who\u2019ve spent 40 years doing what we believe in.\u201d \u2013 Paul Stanley, 2012<\/p>\n
LOS ANGELES, June 29, 2012– Rock legends KISS return with Monster, the 20th studio album in their historic career, set for release in October through Universal Music Enterprises. The 12-track, straight-ahead rock \u2018n\u2019 roll album features collaborations among all four members\u2014including co-founders Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons and longtime members guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer\u2014in an album that shows the band at the top of its game. And that\u2019s saying something, considering their illustrious, 40-plus year history\u201428 U.S. gold albums, the most gold records for any American rock band, 40 million sales in the U.S., and a total exceeding 100 million worldwide.<\/p>\n
Monster is the group\u2019s first studio album since the band\u2019s 2009 smash success, Sonic Boom, and was also produced by Paul Stanley with Greg Collins at Conway Studios in Hollywood, CA, and The Nook in Studio City, CA. <\/p>\n
The band\u2019s first single, the full-throttle, autobiographical rocker \u201cHell or Hallelujah,\u201d will be available digitally on Monday, July 2, internationally, and on Tuesday, July 3, in North America. Stanley calls the album\u2019s lead track, \u201ca battle cry that encapsulates the entire record\u2026 one way or another, we\u2019re going to do it our way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Monster represents KISS\u2019 nod to the music that first inspired them to pick up their guitars and flame-throwers and don makeup to entertain millions. The group goes back to their own beginnings with the Who-like \u201cFreak,\u201d while Gene lives up to the title track\u2019s declaration on the raucous rock of \u201cBack to the Stone Age\u201d and the bludgeoning \u201cThe Devil is Me.\u201d Even guitarist Thayer takes a turn on his own with \u201cOutta This World,\u201d a tribute to his KISS \u201cspaceman\u201d character, while drummer Singer provides the vocals (and the back story) for the arena anthem \u201cAll for the Love of Rock & Roll.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are no symphony orchestras, boy choirs, keyboards, outside producers or songwriters on this album,\u201d promises Gene Simmons. \u201cThe best thing we did was to turn inwards to ourselves. Tommy and Eric have revitalized this band, with a work ethic and the talent to back it up. This is a real band effort. KISS has become a behemoth. We\u2019re going where no bands have gone before.\u201d<\/p>\n
On July 4, the day after \u201cHell or Hallelujah\u201d hits digital retail in North America, KISS crosses the ocean for its very own Tea Party, performing an Independence Day show at The Forum in London, a holiday most certainly not celebrated in the U.K., though this show might just offer some reparation for that bitter defeat in 1776. The concert will serve as a benefit for the British \u201cHelp for Heroes\u201d organization, which raises money for its wounded, sick and injured troops. The band owes its own debt of gratitude to the English, admitting that Monster is influenced by the country\u2019s great, legendary rock groups who influenced and inspired them to pick up their instruments in the first place.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re all Anglophiles in this band,\u201d says Simmons. \u201cAmerica may have invented rock and roll, but England knew what to do with it. They gave us the Beatles, the Stones, Led Zeppelin and the Who.\u201d<\/p>\n
Timed to coincide with the release of the Monster album is the deluxe coffee table, limited edition KISS MONSTER, a collection of artworks, 126 photos from the band\u2019s 40-year career, including never-before-seen images from the world\u2019s greatest rock photographers. The three-foot high, two and a half feet wide and two-inch thick Monster will be available in copies signed by all four band members and limited to only 1,000 copies worldwide. More info at www.kissonline.com and www.kissmonsterbook.com. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Legendary Band\u2019s 20th Studio Album, first single \u201cHell or Hallelujah\u201d available July 2 Internationally and July 3 in North America \u201cThe music is all hard-edged \u2014 they call it ”thunderock” \u2014 and throughout their electrical storm solid craftsmanship prevails.\u201d \u2013 Rolling Stone, 1978 \u201cNice to hear some things never change.\u201d Spin, 2009 \u201cWe\u2019re a real, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":295,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2022","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press_releases"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.livestagemusic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2022","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.livestagemusic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.livestagemusic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.livestagemusic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/295"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.livestagemusic.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2022"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.livestagemusic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2022\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.livestagemusic.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.livestagemusic.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2022"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.livestagemusic.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}