Back from a long weekend of fun in Vancouver, it was an adjustment to return to work today. While over there I dropped into Scrape Records on East Broadway If you like hard rock and heavy metal, this is the store for you. I picked up five albums (including a couple by Rainbow, one Manilla Road, one Cirith Ungol and a guilty pleasure - Judas Priest's "Turbo").
I then went over to West 4th, excited to continue my success at Zulu Records, but I was disappointed. They appear to be converting over to vinyl (they used to be about 50/50). I love vinyl, but losing another independent CD shopping location was a bummer. Speaking of bummers...
Disc 383 is...Creatures of the Night
Artist: KISS
Year of Release: 1982
What’s Up With The Cover?: The four heads of the band featured in full kabuki-style makeup. The problem is that Ace Frehley (lower left) doesn't even play on this record, so the record cover isn't just boring, it is inaccurate.
How I Came To Know It: I've known KISS since I can remember speaking, and the first record I ever bought ("Destroyer" - reviewed back at Disc 210) was a KISS record. I bought "Creatures of the Night" many years after it came out, partly because I took my time going through KISS' back-catalogue, and partly because it had a bad reputation. I eventually broke down because I wanted to have the single "I Love It Loud."
How It Stacks Up: Not counting two solo efforts, I have ten studio albums by KISS. It is not without some sadness that I name "Creatures of the Night" my least favourite of these, so tenth.
Rating: 2 stars.
My favourite feature of "Creatures of the Night" is its length; it is short. Since most of the review to follow is unkind, let me clarify that this album is not truly awful or unlistenable - I did see fit to award it the coveted prize of 'average' with 2 stars. However, it is a deeply disappointing KISS record, particularly for a long-time fan of the band like me.
The first thing this record is missing is Ace Frehley's artistic grounding. Yes, Vinnie Vincent is a more than competent guitar player, but his style just isn't the right fit with this band - Frehley's 'alien guitar' rock is what Paul and Gene need to take their relatively simple hooks to the next level. If Paul Stanley loved being famous, and Gene Simmons loved being rich, Ace Frehley loved playing rock and roll. KISS albums without him are never the same.
In fact, the general feel of this album is well outside of KISS's sweet spot. For all of my early teen associations with KISS as a metal band, they are first and foremost hard rock veterans with a sound firmly grounded in the seventies. They took to eighties metal readily enough, but under its influence they lost some of their grotesque charm.
The lasciviousness of Paul Stanley's voice is lost on "Creatures of the Night." The mix has his tone sounding thin (which it isn't) or shouty (which it is - at least on this record). To which some of you would say, "well - isn't metal music about shouting?" No, it isn't. Singing loud doesn't mean shouting - for quintessential examples, see Dickinson, Bruce and Halford, Rob.
Stanley is game to try though, and fights ably against production decisions that play against his strengths - notably on the single "I Love It Loud" which is actually a pretty excellent rock song. He is also good on "Rock And Roll Hell" although this song just had me thinking of similar KISS songs from earlier in their career that were better.
When they do tone it down, for the power ballad "I Still Love You" they are pale imitations of their earlier work. The song is a hot mess that gets away from glorious shock-rock tracks from earlier in their career (think "Shock Me", "Christine Sixteen" or "Goin' Blind" - and those are just off the top of my head). "I Still Love You" is a painful six minutes long, and comes off as a pale imitation of the Scorpions' "Still Loving You" even though the latter wouldn't be released until two years later.
Lyrically, this record is painful, even for KISS. Their lyrics have always been a little silly, but in an over-the-top way that makes you not want it any other way. The lyrics on "Creatures of the Night" are just as silly, but they lack the smarmy charm of earlier work. There are so many examples I'd like to quote, but here's a quick sampling. From the title track "Creatures of the Night":
"Searching in the darkness
Running from the day
Hiding from tomorrow
Nothing left to say."
Actually, KISS - there is plenty left to say, because you've told me next to nothing with these lines. If you listen carefully to the rest of it, the song could be about vampires, but even if that were true, lines like 'nothing left to say' are indicative of a writer's worst enemy: laziness.
How about these from the song "Danger":
"Danger, danger
Give me danger, danger, give me
Give me fires that endlessly burn
I've passed the point of return."
Not only does this song insert a catchphrase for no apparent reason except to serve a rhyme, it doesn't even get the phrase correct. Yeesh.
I was going to gripe about the fact that Bryan Adams (yes - that Bryan Adams) cowrites two of the songs, but the songs are two of the better ones on the record, "Rock and Roll Hell" and "War Machine."
"War Machine" in particular, was a nice surprise, coming as it did as the final track on the album. It has a powerful guitar lick, and is well sung throughout. It is a very metal-sounding song, but KISS rises to the occasion and delivers a powerful track that left me feeling (a little) merciful. I believe it is Gene Simmons singing, and while Simmons will never win a singing competition, his voice suits this style of music fairly well. The song is even strong lyrically, telling the tale of a mechanical weapon of war that rises up against the human race, "Terminator" style.
In closing, "Creatures of the Night" isn't a great record. It isn't even a particularly good record, but KISS soldier through poor production decisions, the loss of Ace Frehley, and even Bryan Adams and never stop trying to give the best product they can. On a few tracks they even succeed. And on that note...
Best tracks: I Love It Loud, War Machine
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