Kiss 15: Creatures Of The Night

Somehow Kiss still had a recording contract, and since they didn’t know how to do anything else, they recorded another album. But while Ace Frehley was still depicted on the cover of Creatures Of The Night, and would appear in the first video, he didn’t play a note on the album. Among the ringers they brought in—including such odd choices as Robben Ford and Jimmy Haslip—was one Vincent Cusano, who was credited with co-writing three of the songs. He’d make his mark in an even more visible way soon enough.

For the first time in five years the band did what they did best, which was to rock out. And that they do, beginning with the title track, sneered by Paul Stanley. We hear a touch of keyboard, but not in a dated way. It’s a good thing lyrics were included on the inner sleeve, as we can barely understand what Gene Simmons is singing about on “Saint And Sinner”, and Paul has the same problem on “Keep Me Comin’”, but at least that has a catchy chorus despite the suggestion. “Rock And Roll Hell” is another collaboration with Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance—a joke that almost writes itself. “Danger” is a retread of the high-speed shuffle that drove “Love Gun”, and actually sounds like something that could have been on one of their older albums.

If anything would have sold the album, it was “I Love It Loud”, another statement of purpose for a band that already had several. From Eric Carr’s “Kashmir”-style drums to the chant, the simple chorus to Gene’s interjections, they managed to create another classic, complete with false fade and return. Only then can they insert the requisite ballad, this time in the form of “I Still Love You”, which Paul asserts for six minutes. The fast riffing and misogynistic lyrics of “Killer” reinstate their badassery, and “War Machine” is more mercenary posing from Gene.

While Creatures Of The Night wasn’t the return to commercial form they’d hoped it would be, the album still holds up. Once the band’s catalog started selling again, the Mercury label reissued it with a new cover that still didn’t accurately represent who played on it, while remixing and shifting a few tracks; the original cover was reinstated a decade later when the catalog was remastered.

The album’s 40th anniversary was a cause for celebration in some quarters, and the band delivered again. The Deluxe Edition added a smattering of demos, outtakes, and live tracks to the original mix. But true Kiss Army enlistees would have wanted the Super Deluxe five-CD box, which boasted two full discs of demos and outtakes (including the four new songs released everywhere but the U.S. on Killers) and two full discs of live recordings from the tour, culminating in nine minutes of assorted and indexed sound effects. The requisite Blu-ray had the Atmos and surround mixes of the album, which could be enjoyed while thumbing through the book and ephemera.

Kiss Creatures Of The Night (1982)—3
2022 40th Anniversary Deluxe Edition: same as 1982, plus 16 extra tracks (Super Deluxe Edition adds another 51 tracks plus Blu-ray)