AtomicCrimsonRush
“Creatures of the Night” was a definitive step in the right direction for Kiss who had become poppy, commercial and conceptual. They totally disbanded the progressive rock of “The Elder”, the mainstream pop of “Unmasked” and the disco of “Dynasty” to turn to a heavier metal sound in their songs. The result is their heaviest work in years and one of the last great Kiss albums before the onslaught of 80s mediocrity they were about to embark on sans makeup and costumes.
Unfortunately Ace was a phantom on this album. He appeared on the cover, he appeared in the photo sessions but he was completely absent from the recordings. This was all kept a secret at the time and I was deceived into thinking he had changed his guitar style. Of course the reason is another guitarist took his place, Vinnie Vincent.
Simmons is exceptionally good on this, with some of his heaviest vocals such as ‘Saint and Sinner’, ‘Killer’ and the single that charted well ‘I Love It Loud’. I remember the killer video clip for this, one of the best in the canon. The best songs on this include ‘Creatures of the Night’ with Paul superb on dynamic vocals, and the song rips along at a roaring pace with drums bashing in rhythm by Carr. He is exceptional on this album. Sadly it was the last shining light of Carr’s shortened career as he died of cancer that year.
'Rock and Roll Hell’ is one of the best tracks with some wonderful storyteller lyrics, “been under fire 16 years, just waiting for his time to come... he’s gonna’ fight it, might even steal a guitar, cos he can’t see what he’s become... get me out of this rock and roll hell, I need to get away, get me out of this rock and roll hell.” It is a song about the substance abuse of Ace. I love the riffs on this and it has a strong bass groove.
Another classic is the ultra heavy riffing ‘War Machine’ with Simmons in scintillating form; “Gonna bite the hand that feeds me, gonna turn the tide, set the demons free and watch them fly!” The chorus is dark and heavy and this was a metal sound that the band was exploring to shed their poppy radio sound.
‘I Still Love You’ was the ballad of the album sounding a lot like Stanley’s solo album, one of his best. The makeup was no longer exciting and the band made a groundbreaking decision to get rid of the makeup indefinitely after this album, especially as a new member was about to be announced and Eric had passed on. The timing seemed perfect. However they would never be the same without it. The magic would simply fizzle out. Overall this album is well worth getting hold of, and it marks the departure of the heavy non commercial sound. After this I am afraid it is all downhill until “Revenge” is released.