Music / Creatures of the Night

The original 1982 cover.

^{Click to see the cover for the 1985 reissue} 

Creatures of the Night is the tenth studio album by KISS, released in 1982. It was also the last to feature the band in make-up until the 1998 release of Psycho Circus, although for Eric Carr it would be his last featured make-up appearance. Despite appearing on the cover, Ace Frehley is completely absent on the album, as he was in the process of leaving the band at the time (not unlike Peter Criss and Unmasked). This marks the first appearance with Frehley's replacement Vinnie Vincent, albeit initially uncredited. It was the last KISS album to be published under the band's old record label Casablanca Records (its founder Neil Bogart died the same year that it was published) before Casablanca went defunct and they switched to Mercury Records. Since both labels were owned by PolyGram, some early copies of the album would be misprinted with one side of songs from John Cougar Mellencamp's album American Fool.

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Tracklist:

Side One

1. "Creatures of the Night" (4:02)
2. "Saint and Sinner" (4:50)
3. "Keep Me Comin'" (3:55)
4. "Rock and Roll Hell" (4:11)
5. "Danger" (3:54)

Side Two

1. "I Love It Loud" (4:15)
2. "I Still Love You" (6:06)
3. "Killer" (3:19)
4. "War Machine" (4:14)

Principal members:

• Eric Carr - drums, percussion, vocals, bass
• Gene Simmons - lead vocals, bass, guitar
• Paul Stanley - lead vocals, guitar
• Vinnie Vincent - guitar, vocals

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"You'd better watch out, 'cause I'm a trope machine":

• Album Title Drop: "Creatures Of The Night".
• Alliterative Title: "I Love It Loud" and "Saint and Sinner".
• Based on a Great Big Lie: Ace Frehley is featured on the original 1982 cover and credited despite never actually working on the album itself.
  • The 1985 re-issue features Bruce Kulick on the cover with the other band members without make-up.
• Cover Version: "Rock and Roll Hell" was actually originally a song by BTO. Jim Vallance, who wrote the original version, co-wrote the revised version with Bryan Adams and offered it to Kiss. Simmons then added another verse to make the song more of Kiss' own.
  • Ace Frehley covered the Kiss version on his cover album Origins Vol. 1.
• Darker and Edgier: This is considered to be the heaviest album they created at the time of its release.
• Dedication/In Memoriam: To Neil Bogart, the founder of the band's label Casablanca Records, who died during the recording sessions.
• Dress Rehearsal Video: "I Love It Loud" has a music video that shows the band doing this.
• Epic Rocking: The six-minute "I Still Love You".
• Face on the Cover: All four band members on the original 1982 cover, with Ace as just a cover-only appearance.
• Fake-Out Fade-Out: "I Love It Loud".
• Femme Fatale: "Killer".
  Her love is a gun, her love is a blade, she's a killer
  Bitch is insane, she deals in pain, she's a killer
  Ooh, she'll cut you clean, then she'll watch you bleed
  So obscene, she's what I need, she loves to hear me scream
• Glowing Eyes: All four band members had their eyes glowing on the original 1982 cover.
  • This continues into the music video for "I Love It Loud", where by the end, a bunch of teenagers with glowing eyes (most likely hypnotized by the video) walk out into the street, where the band members (also sporting glowing eyes) are waiting.
• Heavy Meta: "Rock And Roll Hell".
• Intercourse with You: "Keep Me Comin'".
  Hands on my shoulders now, you're getting bolder
  Your fears are slipping away
  Each little bite lets me know that you're ripe
  You're thinkin', maybe you'll stay
  Now that you're burning to know
  How far you're willing to go?
  Now that it's under your skin
  Now that you're lettin' me in
  You gotta keep me comin', keep me comin'
• Obligatory Bondage Song: "Killer"
  Black lace, stiletto heels, she's a killer
  Crack the whip, submission trip, she's a killer
• One-Word Title: "Danger" and "Killer".
• Person of Mass Destruction: "War Machine".
  Armageddon's just a matter of time
• Power Ballad: "I Still Love You."
• Precision B-Strike: "Killer"
  Bitch is insane, she deals in pain.
• Record Producer: Michael James Jackson, Paul Stanley, and Gene Simmons.
• Title Track: "Creatures Of The Night"

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