Released by: Metal Blade Records
Release Date: July 6th, 2018
Genre: Hard Rock
Links: https://www.kissin-dynamite.de/en/
Line Up:
Johannes (Hannes) Braun – singer
Ande Braun – guitarist
Jim Müller – guitarist
Steffen Haile – bassist
Andi Schnitzer – drummer
Tracklist:
I’ve Got the Fire
You’re Not Alone
Somebody’s Gotta Do It
Ecstasy
Still Around
Superhuman
Placebo
Breaking the Silence
Waging War
One More Time
Heart of Stone
Wild Wind
No Time to Wonder
Sometimes a band will tweak their sound after a few albums of sticking close to the sound of their first album. There’s nothing intrinsically wrong with that, except for those that will cry, “SELL OUT” or worse. Personally, I don’t have an issue with a tweak here or there. A drastic overhaul of your sound will probably not do it for me unless that sound goes from something I hate to something I love, but that makes sense. Anyway, Kissin’ Dynamite has tweaked their sound some on their latest release Ecstasy. And I can’t imagine that they will disappoint the longtime fans, but who knows.
For starters, the tweaks, though minor, made a significant difference for me. Instead of teetering somewhere between a melodic metal band meets 80’s Hard Rock (those elements are still prevalent) they’ve added a bit of an AOR feel to their songs, leaning heavily on the melodic side of things. Not that there hasn’t always been a great catch to the songs, but I’m feeling it much more on Ecstasy. Tracks like “Superhuman,” “You’re Not Alone,” “Ecstasy,” “I’ve Got the Fire,” and “Wild Wind” all tap into what makes melodic music so much fun: they’re catchy as hell, they have an inspirational feel to them, and the songs just sound great. The rest of the album is pretty awesome too. In spots, they seem to be taking a bit of a modern hard rock approach to their sound without losing the essence of Kissin’ Dynamite, but not enough modern sound to detract for me. For some reason, the multiple spins I have given this album have made me evaluate that this might be their best album thus far. I’ve enjoyed their other albums a lot, but none nowhere near as much as I have this one.
Ultimately the Kissin’ Dynamite fans will decide whether they’re on board with the tweaks or not. Sometimes fans can be pretty finicky about a band they love altering their sound even slightly. Personally, I think by adding these few changes to their sound have made them stand apart from others in their genre. At times I have found some of their earlier work to be a little too cookie cutter for me, despite liking their music. They’ve never been a band that I was like, “Yeah let’s jam some Kissin’ Dynamite!” With Ecstasy, I might change my mind on that.
Written by: Chris Martin
Ratings: 8/10
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