Talking about Kiss means delving into a long career filled with successes, such as their albums “Destroyer” (1976), where they surpassed their technical and musical abilities with producer Bob Ezrin, or the beloved and controversial “Dynasty” (1979), an album that captivated the masses with a sound more oriented towards pop and disco. However, after this work, the band experienced a decline with the albums “Unmasked” (1980) and “Music From The Elder” (1981), the former drastically softening their sound and the latter experimenting with conceptual work, creating false hopes that it would be “the heaviest album of the band.”
By 1982, the original lineup of Kiss was virtually extinct, with Eric Carr joining the band to replace Peter Criss, and subsequently, their most recent addition, Vinnie Vincent, who would collaborate and co-write some of Kiss’s biggest hits. Vincent later sued the band after feeling undervalued a combination of immense talent and a significant ego.
“Creatures Of The Night” was released in October 1982, marking their last album with Casablanca Records and the final one featuring makeup. From a marketing perspective, it was their last album featuring guitarist Ace Frehley, who didn’t play on it but appeared on the cover for promotional purposes.
What can we hear?
Kiss’s return to rock and one of their heaviest albums. With their new lineup, they achieved a different sound recognizable from the “blue” on the cover of “Creatures Of The Night.” It was the first album in Kiss’s history where each song was exclusively sung by either Gene Simmons or Paul Stanley, with no more mix of voices.
The ’80s are undoubtedly present, with a production that accentuates Eric Carr’s drums, as heard in the intro of “Creatures Of The Night,” reminiscent of John Bonham’s style from Led Zeppelin, or the guitar vibratos of Vinnie Vincent’s grand solos. Vincent brought a new level of freshness to the band, introducing a guitar style very different from Ace Frehley’s, leaning closer to the Glam Rock scene of Los Angeles.
“Creatures Of The Night” marks the introduction to Kiss’s unmasked era, featuring Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley at their peak vocal performances, having had to train their voices after straining them on albums like “Rock N’ Roll Over” (1976) or “Hotter Than Hell” (1974).
The Great Return of Kiss in "Creatures Of The Night"
Part of Vinnie Vincent’s ego, besides being a virtuous guitarist, was that he co-wrote some of Kiss’s big hits on “Creatures Of The Night,” such as “I Love It Loud” or “War Machine,” two of Gene Simmons’s most iconic songs in their live performances. There’s also the ballad “I Still Love You,” sung by Paul Stanley, possibly one of Kiss’s darkest and most romantic songs, with an epic melody radiating pain and melancholy, along with a guitar solo that strikes directly at the heart.
Another song co-written by Vincent is “Killer,” sung by Gene Simmons, with a voice that at times tends toward the guttural. In this series of songs, we find more substantial riffs, undoubtedly a change in Kiss’s lead guitar, approaching the virtuosity competition of the ’80s.
“Creatures Of The Night” is, overall, a dark album, a combination of their classic Hard Rock with Heavy Metal touches reminiscent of Black Sabbath, as seen in “War Machine,” with a heavy intro later sweetened by Gene Simmons’s voice through a melody that wholly evokes his character.
The Injustice of "Creatures Of The Night"
Despite this being one of Kiss’s most glorious albums, and possibly their darkest, the fallout from their two previous works, which displeased their die-hard fans, took a toll. During their promotional tour, accustomed to filling any stadium worldwide, they witnessed the decline of their career half-capacity venues, and low sales, among other setbacks.
However, Kiss’s creativity and resilience never wavered. A year later, they returned to captivate the masses by removing their makeup for a few years and involved Vinnie Vincent again in the composition process for their next album, “Lick It Up.”
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