I don't know much about the personalities of Kiss except the obvious Paul and Gene, but I'm guessing there's a reason why Peter and Ace are no longer involved. And I LOVE Psycho Circus. To me, it's exactly what I want to hear from these guys after their peak-era. Catchy songs and anthemic type choruses. The ballad does suck so I agree with Stadler there, but everything else is pretty great. I also think Hot In The Shade is better than any 70's album besides Dynasty so there's also that.
Sonic Boom has Say Yeah, which is a top 10 Kiss track for me and All For The Glory is a big favorite of mine too. If Monster is in the vein of SB, then I'm sure I'll be happy with it.
My opinion only, but for Paul, it's art and business; I've met him twice, and I think he's a very serious guy, but he has something to say in his "art" and there's a creative streak that never really gets totally buried under the nonsense. For Gene it's fun and business; I've met him twice as well, and he genuinely seems to enjoy the parts that most artists hate; the meet and greets, the fan interactions. He also has hundreds, if not more, songs written. Some are good, some aren't, but he IS a musician too, Rick Nielson and some other critics notwithstanding. For Ace, it's art and the party, and that's where this runs afoul of Paul and Gene. I like Ace a lot, but I think Ace has that rock star "I don't give a fuck", and it's not always fun at that point for everyone else. He's not a great player, but he is a unique player; you kind of always know it's him, which is high praise, but he's a liability in a band like Kiss. He just is. For Peter, it's... I don't know. "Peter Criss and business"? I've never met him, myself, but in reading his biography and countless interviews, he's really not a team player, and has an inferiority complex. Around two strong, confident people like Paul and Gene, that's going to be a problem. If you read his book, he takes responsibility for NOTHING. NOTHING. It was Paul and Gene's fault for his substance abuse; it was Paul and Gene's fault for his songs not getting on the record. it was Paul and Gene's fault for this, for that, and the other. Paul and Peter's frequent co-writer, Stan Penridge, both maintain that Pete didn't write all or even most of Beth himself, he just sang it. Yet to hear Peter tell it, "Beth" carried the band through the 70's and they wouldn't have achieved stadium success without it and they OWE him. I saw his last tour - the co-headlining tour with Aerosmith - and he SUCKED. Worst performance I've ever seen by a headline, household name act (and I've seen Ozzy while he was drinking and Steven Tyler fall off a drum riser off his tits). The rest of the band picked it up, but I'm convinced to this day there was a drummer behind the stage covering him. And HE had the nerve to put a "tear" in his makeup implying HE was being fucked over.
Sorry to divert the thread again, but...
I think I'd like to see Alice live at some point. I worry that now it's past the glory days, but from all I've heard it's still a strong show, and his band is solid.