Throwback Thursday: Creatures of the Night, by Kiss

By 1982, Kiss was starting to get in a bit of trouble. Concert tickets were not selling very well and their album sales had plummeted due to the band venturing into pop and then prog-rock. By this point original drummer Peter Criss was out and replaced by the late Eric Carr. Lead guitarist Ace Frehley was technically still a member of the band, but was disillusioned with everything and also had a drinking and medication problem. Kiss's solution? Bring in some fresh blood and make the hardest rocking album possible. The result: Creatures of the Night.

Creatures of the Night is where former lead guitarist Vinnie Vincent silently made his debut in Kiss (though his predecessor's face is still on the cover of the record despite having not played a single note on it). He is credited for co-writing six of its nine tracks. Also contributing to the writing process was Adam Mitchell, Bryan Adams, Jim Vallance, and Mikel Japp. This is certainly a return to form for Kiss, though the drum sound booms and pounds a lot more and the soloing is a lot more melodic and fast due to the change in musicianship.

"I Still Love You" is actually one of my favorite songs on the album despite it being a ballad of sorts. Putting Paul Stanley's cheesy lyrics aside, it actually has a bit of a Bridge of Sighs era Robin Trower vibe to it in terms of its overall musical sound. It's laid back in some regards, yet at the same time in pounds in some serious emotion. Vincent does some of his best soloing on the entire record here. It is melodic and incredibly full of professional technique.

The title track "Creatures of the Night" definitely sounds pretty reflective of the era in which it was created. Very early 80's metal. Vinnie Vincent smokes his predecessor with his flashy yet technically proficient playing. It honestly has a bit of a "Over the Mountain", by Ozzy Osbourne kind of atmosphere to it. It has a pretty driving, intense, yet melodic presence and is more than enough to get one's head banging and air guitar being shredded.

You can really tell that Kiss was trying hard to make a serious comeback with Creatures of the Night, yet they still fell rather short. As good as the music is, it just doesn't have that fun charisma the classic albums like Destroyer, Love Gun, or Kiss had. Probably because only half the original band was still there. That said, I still feel this album is probably what saved Kiss's career because it started them back in a more commercially viable direction.

Creatures of the Night, by Kiss receives 3 out of 5 stars.

Track List:

1. Creatures of the Night
2. Saint and Sinner
3. Keep Me Comin'
4. Rock and Roll Hell
5. Danger
6. I Love It Loud
7. I Still Love You
8. Killer
9. War Machine

Buy the album on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Creatures-Night-Remastered-Version-Kiss/dp/B000VZJMAI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1528432000&sr=8-1&keywords=Creatures+of+the+Night