KISS

KISS veer toward pop on this rather atypical album, taking a few pages out of Journey's book. Helping them to re-imagine the power ballad were Diane Warren and Desmond Child, who wrote three of the disc's tunes. Child's "Bang Bang You" restores the band to its naughty ways, while Warren's "Turn on the Night" showcases what a superb stylist Paul Stanley really is. Bruce Kulick adds some old school guitar heroics, showing that they really haven't gone totally soft on us. And in case that wasn't clear, "Crazy Crazy Nights" gut punches you with its splatter gun drumming and anthemic choruses.