Paul Stanley Calls ‘Monster’ The Album KISS Never Made [VIDEO]

The buzz is particularly strong for Kiss' upcoming studio set, Monster, due out on October 9th. The collection, which is the band's first original studio set since 2009's Sonic Boom, is the second to feature their latest lineup of Gene Simmons on bass, Paul Stanley on rhythm guitar, Eric Singer on drums, and lead guitarist Tommy Thayer. As with Sonic Boom, production duties were handled by Stanley and Greg Collins. Collins is best known for his mixing and engineering work for such artists as U2, No Doubt, and Red Hot Chili Peppers, among others.

Paul Stanley told us that he's particularly excited with the material on Monster, if for no other reason than it captures the band in a high point in its long and storied career: "With this album, we're totally at home with who we are, what we are, out past, present, and future. And I wanted us to take any blinders off so to speak. I wanted to unleash us, and let us be exactly who we are today. There's no getting away from our past -- nor would we want to -- but we're pumped! We're in top form, and the best way we can put it is, I didn't want us to make and album we once made, I wanted us to make the album we never made."