Kiss were a band I was never quite sure what to make of. I got into them through their double live
Alive II album, and though I did buy some of their earlier albums --- notably, the ones from which the songs on that live album were taken, so the likes of
Rock and Roll Over, Love Gun, Destroyer, that kind of thing --- somehow I never got the same feeling from their studio recordings as from that live album. I kind of lost interest in them around the
Dynasty/Unmasked era, but unlike most fans I rather enjoyed
Music from The Elder.
Nevertheless, I never bought another Kiss album, but my brother did, and lucky in a way for me that he did, as he inadvertently purchased what was to be their “last chance saloon” album, the one that would pull them away from the pop precipice over which they were headed and return them, both to the hard rock/heavy metal on which they had built their reputation, and also to favour, both with their fans and the music press.
Creatures of the Night --- Kiss --- 1982 (Casablanca)
Perhaps ironically, it was at this time that Kiss as a band were fragmenting, with Peter Criss leaving altogether and Ace Frehley still with the band, but not recording this album and leaving shortly afterwards. Only Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons would remain of the original crew, and despite an offer from guitar legend Eddie Van Halen to replace Frehley, they decided to go for someone who was seen as less well known, Vinnie Vincent, who would later work with John Waite and, with further irony, Peter Criss on his solo material. And just as the lineup had changed and was changing dramatically, so would the music. Kiss fans and the music press had been underwhelmed with their last three offerings, 1979's
Dynasty, which featured the awful disco homage “I was made for lovin' you”, (the sound of Kiss fans' jaws hitting the ground in stunned disbelief could be heard all the way from Detroit Rock City to The Firehouse) its followup
Unmasked (perhaps presaging the Kiss-world-shattering event three years later, when Kiss would ditch the makeup forever, and leave behind one of their most potent marketing tools) and of course the triple
Annus Horriblus was completed with
Music from The Elder, literally, the soundtrack to a movie that did not exist.
So something serious had to be done. Kiss were either going to sink and disappear as their fans deserted them in droves, or turn it around in one last herculean effort. The departure of, pretty much at this stage, two of the original members would put a further strain on the fans' loyalty, so if this next album didn't cut it, then short of just calling it a day and going their separate ways, maybe surviving as solo acts, Kiss were going to find it hard to regain the trust and respect that they had spent so long earning.
It's not surprising, then, that this turns out to be the heaviest album they had recorded since
Hotter than Hell in 1974. It is, in every real sense, the album that saved Kiss. Because of
Creatures of the Night there was a resurgence in interest in the band, and although the album hardly broke the charts wide open, it re-established them as a
bona fide metal act, and showed they still had teeth. True, stadiums were still half-empty and ticket sales very poor, leading to some cancellation of gigs, but there was a sense of something in the air, and soon Kiss would regain their popularity, perhaps paradoxically as they truly unmasked. For now, even the guys who had left were being replaced by ones almost as good, and people were listening to this album and saying “Ace who?” Well, they probably weren't, but it's clear Vinnie Vincent was well up to the job, and you can't really detect too much difference between his playing and that of Frehley.
The intention to bury the memory of the last three albums is evident right from the first chords, as the title track powers out at you. Paul Stanley is in fine voice and seems to have a note of defiance in his voice, and you get the feeling this album could as easily have been titled something like
Not Dead Yet, a point the two remaining band members plan to prove. It's a good heavy opening, though it doesn't really give new boy Vinnie Vincent a chance to show what he can do on the frets, as he doesn't feature on the title track, guitar duties being taken by Mr. Mister's Steve Farris. Simmons takes over vocals for “Saint and sinner”, a slightly slower, blues-based tune. When he sings
”I'm not gonna fall on my knees” he could be talking to the fans, assuring them that Kiss are back and it is business as usual. It's not, to be fair, the strongest of tracks and for one with such a title it kind of has a little of a whiney tone for me, but now we hear the first solo from Vincent, and it's pretty sweet, again kind of slide/blues affair.
“Keep me comin'” is much more like the Kiss of old, dirty, nasty guitar and powerful riffs, a sense of the old swagger coming back, that feeling you got in the seventies that Kiss owned the world, ruled it and only suffered other bands with bad grace. It's Stanley back on the mike, and Vincent shows his chops in no uncertain fashion, and the old Kiss tongue-in-cheek
double entendre is present in a song for the first time in five years. If the next track sounds like a Bryan Adams track, well that's because “Rock and roll Hell” is co-written by Simmons with the Canadian soft-rocker and his partner in crime, Jim Vallance. In fairness through it's not a bad song, marching along on an ominous, threatening groove, but when it hits the chorus you could swear you were listening to
Reckless or
Cuts Like a Knife. It doesn't soften up the album though thankfully, and is heavy enough to get a pass, plus the chorus is certainly memorable.
We go for broke then with “Danger”, which returns us to the days of “Detroit Rock City” and “Calling Doctor Love”, where Stanley at times manages a quite passable Ronnie James Dio, then the first of three songs Vinnie Vincent co-writes is also one that would go on to become a favourite and a mainstay of their live performances. “I love it loud” sort of affirmed their mission statement, that they were dropping any idea of pop songs and softer material and going for the throat, doing their best to be seen again as one of the heaviest and loudest bands in the world. They wouldn't; they had way too much competition and to be honest they had always been known more for their stageshows and pyrotechnics than their songwriting ability, but this is a good clarion call. With a kind of “We will rock you” idea mixed with “Rock of Ages” by Def Leppard, it's a powerful, defiant, unapologetic call to arms, reflecting a sentiment that surely even Manowar would have approved of. When Simmons intones
”I love it” and the rest of the band take up the chorus
”Loud! I wanna hear it loud! Right between the eyes!” you can hear the determination to leave their last three years behind, and mostly I believe it worked.
They can't get away without one ballad though, and “I still love you” has an atmospheric guitar opening that's sort of progressive in its flavour, then the drums from Eric Carr cut in and it reminds me more of something Journey would write, but it's still a good song and it kicks up sufficiently for the chorus to qualify as a power ballad, with some fine soloing from guest musician Robben Ford to help it on its way. You can certainly hear the passion leaking from every word of Stanley's vocal and the guitar buildup in the middle leads into a great emotional solo, then “Killer” knocks everything back up to ten and we're back in the heyday of
Love Gun and
Destroyer, while Gene decides to partner up with the Adams family (hah!) again for the closer.
“War machine” lays down a marker with big snarly guitars and thumping drums, a growled vocal from Simmons and a warning:
”Better watch out! Cos I'm a war machine!” After several years of staggering along in first, and trundling somewhat in circles, the Kiss machine was back on track and gunning for ya!
TRACKLISTING AND RATINGS
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
As I perhaps overqualified above, this was the album that saved Kiss, though there were still half-empty arenas and much refunding of ticket money as gigs were cancelled due to lack of interest. It wouldn't be till the next year, when Kiss would reveal their true faces to the world for the first time in their careers, that they would write the album that would return them to the glory days of the seventies. Having proved that they were more than just four guys in makeup, they could then drive on and really reinvent themselves. None of that, though, I believe would have happened without this album. After
Music from “The Elder” the fans were deserting them in droves, and had this album proved another limp-wristed, lacklustre affair, perhaps Kiss would never have got the chance to really grasp the nettle and go for it, and maybe their decade-long career would have ended here, instead of continuing to this day, with varying degrees of success.
But if in 1982 you were sick of disco anthems and weak ballads, and wondered where the real Kiss were, and if they would ever return,
Creatures of the Night would have given you hope that there was life in the old Destroyer yet.