Honestly I can't see how Psycho Circus can be called contrived while the last two albums can't. To me, the last two albums are the most contrived things the band has ever done, save for maybe The Elder (which is a fine album anyway). Psycho Circus just sounds like Kiss being Kiss, writing rock tunes with a modern flair, they've always done that. Sonic Boom and Monster sound like desperate attempts at rewriting Love Gun. Not to say those albums don't have good songs, I think Sonic Boom has solid moments, but both albums just sound like Kiss parody to me. I will save more of my whining about these albums for when Stadler gets to them, however.
Psycho Circus itself is a solid album. I don't love it, it starts to fall apart in the middle, but the first four songs are Kiss at their best. I think the last two songs are pretty interesting though. I particularly like how Journey Of a Thousand Years has a melody from Psycho Circus, a rare Kiss nugget!
I could do without I Finally Found My Way and We Are One (I would agree that these songs sound contrived), but honestly I don't have a problem with anything else on the album.