Shortly before Kiss embarked on its nostalgic, highly profitable reunion tour of 1996, Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley seemed to be planning a more contemporary route to world domination. Their album Carnival of Souls was recorded in 1995, prior to original Kissmen Ace Frehley's and Peter Criss's reentry into the band, and it sounds more like Seattle revisited than "Detroit Rock City." The album's lumbering rhythms, and ex-guitarist Bruce Kulick's quavering string bends, are reminiscent of Badmotorfinger-era Soundgarden, and Stanley's vocals wobble and wail, stopping just short of rocketing into a high-pitch falsetto. As derivative as it is, however, Carnival of Souls is pretty gripping. Sure, the ballads are clunkers, but many of the other tracks are undeniably compelling, alternating between atmospheric verses and bracing, teen-spirited choruses. It's just a shame that Kiss's renewed emphasis on recapturing the box office with 20-year-old material will probably prevent the band from growing and evolving even further. --Jon Wiederhorn