Creatures of the Night

This article is about the Kiss album. For other uses, see Creature of the night (disambiguation).
Creatures of the Night
Studio album by Kiss
Released October 13, 1982
Recorded July – September 1982
Studio The Record Plant Studios, Los Angeles, CA
Genre Heavy metal
Length 38:47
Label Casablanca
Producer Michael James Jackson, Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons
Kiss chronology
Music from "The Elder"
(1981)		 Creatures of the Night
(1982)		 Lick It Up
(1983)
Singles from Creatures of the Night
  1. "I Love It Loud"
    Released: October 13, 1982
  2. "Killer"
    Released: November 1982
  3. "Creatures of the Night"
    Released: April 1983
Alternative cover
The 1985 re-release cover pictures then-new lead guitarist Bruce Kulick (bottom right).

Creatures of the Night is the tenth studio album by Kiss, released in 1982. It is the band's last for Casablanca Records, the only label for which Kiss had recorded up to this point. The album was dedicated to the memory of Casablanca founder and early Kiss supporter Neil Bogart,[1] who had died of cancer during the recording sessions. It is also the band's last album recorded with Ace Frehley credited as an official member (until 1998's Psycho Circus), and its first album with Vinnie Vincent as the initially uncredited lead guitarist (Vincent would later be credited, but not featured, on the cover or the 1985 reissue of the album).

Album information

The album represented a conscious effort by Kiss to return to the hard rock style that had helped them achieve commercial success with Destroyer and Love Gun. Their pop-oriented albums Dynasty and Unmasked had started a decline in popularity that reached rock bottom with 1981's Music from "The Elder". By 1982, Kiss knew it needed to deliver on their earlier 1980–81 promise of a heavy record, which they had failed to deliver.

The first key ingredient was songwriter/guitarist Vinnie Vincent, who was soon to replace Ace Frehley as the band's new lead guitarist after being introduced to the band by album co-writer Adam Mitchell.[2] Frehley played only on one track for Creatures of the Night, even though his face (for contractual and commercial reasons) was still featured on the album cover. Frehley had been pushing the band to do a heavy rock record since Dynasty, and by the time of "Creatures Of The Night" he was fully disillusioned with the band, and that combined with a prescription medicine dependency (began after a car wreck) lead to his leaving the band during the recording of the record. On the tour, Vincent was introduced with his Egyptian Ankh make-up, designed in a hurry by Paul Stanley. In 1985, Kiss re-released the album in their non-make-up state with a cover featuring Gene Simmons, Stanley, Eric Carr and then-current guitarist Bruce Kulick (even though Kulick did not play on the album). Vinnie Vincent had long since departed the band (being twice fired) by 1985.

By 1982, Kiss's popularity in the US had plummeted due to changing music tastes and their near abandonment of hard rock. 1979's Dynasty, while commercially successful, alienated many fans with the disco-flavored track "I Was Made For Lovin' You". 1980's Unmasked fell further into pop music---and was Kiss' first album not to achieve platinum status since 1975's Dressed to Kill. The band did not even tour the US for Unmasked, and it was also soon faced with its first lineup change: founding member Peter Criss, who had not participated in any of the Unmasked recording sessions, officially left Kiss in 1980. He was replaced by Eric Carr.

Fan hopes were raised in late 1980 when Kiss announced that they were going to record their heaviest record yet. Instead, the band released Music from "The Elder" in late 1981, a concept album originally intended to complement a film called The Elder that was ultimately never filmed. The album was storyline-based and had ballads, a short orchestral piece, and different lyrical themes. The album failed to achieve gold status, and having cancelled their US Unmasked Tour just a short time before, the band then called off the planned tour for Elder. Frehley soon left the band.

Kiss' label situation had changed as well. Casablanca Records founder Neil Bogart had sold the label to its distributor PolyGram, and went on to briefly form The Boardwalk Recording Company before being diagnosed with and later succumbing to cancer. Using a clause in their Casablanca contract that gave the band an option to leave the label if Bogart did, Kiss became free agents and signed a multimillion-dollar deal with Mercury Records. Mercury, a label also owned by PolyGram, reverted the band to their "old" label, though in name only.

When recording sessions for Creatures of the Night began in July 1982, Kiss was essentially a trio. Frehley still made appearances with the band but had nearly ended his musical involvement with Kiss. Frehley looked completely out of sorts in promotional appearances for the album; in cases where the band was lip syncing to recorded tracks, it is obvious that he did not know the material. It was only after the album was released and a short promotional tour of Europe was completed that Frehley officially left Kiss. The lead guitar replacement for Frehley for the Creatures of the Night Tour/10th Anniversary Tour in the US was Vinnie Vincent, who adopted the "Ankh Warrior" make-up.

Musically, the progressive rock stylings of Music From "The Elder" and the pop of Dynasty and Unmasked were completely absent from Creatures of the Night, making it the heaviest album the group had made at that point.[3] "I Still Love You", the only ballad on Creatures, was still heavier and darker than any ballad Kiss had released in earlier years. Also contributing to the heavy sound was Carr's drumming style, which was more similar to John Bonham's style of drumming than to Criss', a jazz-influenced drummer.[4] Some of the earliest pressings of the album mistakenly contained one full side of John Cougar's American Fool. Both Kiss and Cougar were under the umbrella of Mercury Records at the time. Today, those albums are highly sought after by Kiss collectors.

Creatures of the Night is the first Kiss album to have all lead vocal duties handled by either Simmons or Stanley exclusively. All previous studio releases by the group contained at least one song with lead vocals by another band member. The band released a video for "I Love It Loud", which received moderate airplay on MTV. In it was a stage setup that featured Carr's drum kit as a giant metallic tank with an exploding turret. Flames and explosions were also in abundance, as Kiss attempted to produce a video that reflected the music on Creatures of the Night. Frehley did appear in the video as the rhythm guitarist, with Stanley shown playing the seven-note solo.

Though Kiss had used "ghost players" on previous albums, most notably Bob Kulick and Dick Wagner, Vinnie Vincent handled most of the lead guitar as a session player and co-writer before being added as the full-time replacement for Frehley, though like Carr, as an employee and not a full member. Blues guitarist (and friend of album producer Michael James Jackson) Robben Ford contributed two solos in what he described as one of his weirdest gigs.[5] Mr Mister guitarist Steve Farris (who was considered as a replacement for Frehley but was thought to not have "the right look") provided the solo and lead fills to the title track. Co-writer Adam Mitchell also contributed guitar work to the title track. Though often given credit for playing the solos on "Keep Me Comin" and "Danger", Bob Kulick admitted in a 2011 interview that none of the studio work he did on Creatures made it to the album.[6]

Three different covers of the album exist: the 1982 original issue, the 1985 reissue (featuring Bruce Kulick, who was not a member of the band for Creatures of the Night, and the rest of the band without make-up), and the 1997 remastered version (same photo as the original, but with minor variations in the logo and lettering). On the 1985 non-make-up release, the song "Creatures of the Night" is remixed, and "Saint and Sinner" and "Killer" are interchanged from side to side with each other. The bootlegged Vinnie Vincent cover has not been released on CD, but an extra rare Vincent cover has been called "Hiding from Tomorrow". There is also a bootlegged LP which shows up on eBay from time to time which states to be a Brazilian promo version with Vincent in make-up airbrushed over Frehley. Initially this copy fetched upwards of several thousands of dollars, but it is nothing more than a common bootleg.

In 2016, Ace Frehley's Origins, Vol. 1 album included a cover of “Rock and Roll Hell”.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[7]
Rolling Stone[8]
Pitchfork Media(1.5/10)[9]
Vista Records(4.25/5)[10]

Creatures of the Night was certified gold by the RIAA on May 9, 1994.[11] In Brazil it was certified gold in 1983 for sales of 100,000 copies.[12] Despite positive reviews, the album did not return the band to the commercial success they had held five years previous, and despite charting higher than The Elder (#45 compared to The Elder's #75), Creatures of the Night would not attain gold status until 1994.[11] The album would receive critical recognition years later with both Kerrang! and Guitar World magazines placing the album at #5 on their lists of best hard rock albums in 1982.[13][14] Carr noted in an interview that Creatures is his favorite Kiss record that he played on.[15] Simmons and Stanley, who have generally been dismissive of the band's post-1977 albums, considered Creatures to be one of their stronger efforts.

The album tour began shortly after Christmas and spanned the first five months of 1983, with the band's itinerary focused entirely on North America (three concerts were also played in Brazil) in an attempt to rebuild their diminished US fanbase. Unfortunately, the Creatures Tour was no more successful than the last North American tour in 1979 with numerous half-empty arenas and shows cancelled due to insufficient ticket sales. "War Machine", "I Love It Loud", and "Creatures of the Night" remain concert staples to this day.

Track listing

No. TitleWriter(s)Lead vocals Length
1. "Creatures of the Night"  Paul Stanley, Adam MitchellStanley 4:02
2. "Saint and Sinner"  Gene Simmons, Mikel JappSimmons 4:50
3. "Keep Me Comin'"  Stanley, MitchellStanley 3:55
4. "Rock and Roll Hell"  Simmons, Bryan Adams, Jim VallanceSimmons 4:11
5. "Danger"  Stanley, MitchellStanley 3:54
6. "I Love It Loud"  Simmons, Vinnie VincentSimmons 4:15
7. "I Still Love You"  Stanley, VincentStanley 6:06
8. "Killer"  Simmons, VincentSimmons 3:19
9. "War Machine"  Simmons, Adams, VallanceSimmons 4:14

Personnel

Additional musicians

Release history

Charts

Album

Chart (1982) Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart[16] 33
Dutch Albums Chart[17] 34
German Albums Chart[17] 42
Italian Albums Chart[18] 25
Norwegian Albums Chart[17] 31
Swedish Albums Chart[17] 22
UK Albums Chart[19] 22
US Billboard Pop Albums[20] 45

Singles - Billboard (United States)[21]

Year Single Chart Position
1983 "I Love It Loud" Mainstream Rock Tracks 22

Singles - Austrian charts (Austria)

Year Single Chart Position
1982 "I Love It Loud" Pop Singles 76

Singles - UK Albums Chart (United Kingdom)

Year Single Chart Position
1982 "Creatures of the Night" Pop Singles 34

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/Sales
Brazil (ABPD)[22] Gold 100,000*
United States (RIAA)[11] Gold 500,000^

^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

  1. ↑ Kiss - Creatures of the Night back album cover. Casablanca Records. Retrieved April 8, 2012.
  2. ↑ KISS Asylum: KISS Thought Vault: Issue #9
  3. ↑ MusicMight Kiss biography. Retrieved April 8, 2012.
  4. ↑ Rubin, Jon KISS Rocks' Exclusive 1989 Interview with Eric Carr. kissrocks.com. Retrieved April 8, 2012.
  5. ↑ KISS Related Recordings ;News update January 2013
  6. ↑ Metal-Rules.com News, Interviews, Concert Reviews » BOB KULICK – producer, guitarist – part2
  7. ↑ Creatures of the Night at AllMusic
  8. ↑ "Kiss: Album Guide | Rolling Stone Music". rollingstone.com. Retrieved 8 August 2011.
  9. ↑ "Kiss: Creatures of the Night: Pitchfork Review". pitchforkmedia.com. Archived from the original on 2003-02-19. Retrieved 8 August 2011.
  10. ↑ "VISTA RECORDS - KISS - Creatures of the Night (1982)". vistarecords.proboards.com. Retrieved 8 August 2011.
  11. 1 2 3 "American album certifications – Kiss – Creatures of the Night". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
  12. ↑ "Quem KISS Teve - Parte 3". Retrieved January 7, 2012.
  13. ↑ "Kerrang!'s list of hard rock albums in 1982". Retrieved April 10, 2011.
  14. ↑ Guitar World Readers Poll of the Top 10 Guitar Albums of 1983. Retrieved August 24, 2011.
  15. ↑ Valentino, Thomas Eric Carr Interview. kissasylum.com. Retrieved April 8, 2012.
  16. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  17. 1 2 3 4 KISS - Creatures Of The Night - swisscharts.com
  18. ↑ Hit Parade Italia - ALBUM 1982
  19. ↑ KISS | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company
  20. ↑ "Kiss Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums" at AllMusic. Retrieved February 11, 2010.
  21. ↑ "AllMusic Billboard singles". Retrieved 2009-01-27.
  22. ↑ "Brazilian album certifications – Kiss – Creatures of the Night" (in Portuguese). Associação Brasileira dos Produtores de Discos.
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