Label: Mercury Records (US), 824 154-2 M-1
Style: Hard Rock, Heavy Metal
Country: New York City, U.S.
Time: 38:51
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 262 Mb
Charts: US #45, AUS #33, GER #42, NLD #34, NOR #31, SWE #22, UK #22. US: Gold
The first album of Kiss with guitarist Vinnie Vincent. 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.
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).
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.
(therockreview.net/kiss-creatures-of-the-night-eng/)
Album recorded and mixed in the analog domain - AAD. That is, a minimum of digital processing.
A=Analog. D=digital. The first letter stands for how the music was recorded. The second letter for how it was mixed. The third letter stands for the format (all CD's will have D as the last letter).
01. Creatures Of The Night (04:01)
02. Killer (03:18)
03. Keep Me Comin' (03:56)
04. Rock And Roll Hell (04:12)
05. Danger (03:54)
06. I Love It Loud (04:15)
07. I Still Love You (06:06)
08. Saint And Sinner (04:51)
09. War Machine (04:14)
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