Maps of Music

Creatures of the Night (1982)

Where the lyrics of Creatures of the Night take you, and where it was really made.

The cover shows Ace Frehley, but he did not play on the album.

Key places

Recording at The Record Plant, Los Angeles (1982)

Recording site Record Plant Studios — The album's recording credit names The Record Plant in Los Angeles as the studio. The listed coordinates are for the studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recording at Mediasound Studios, New York City (1982)

Recording site Mediasound Studios — The recording credit lists Mediasound Studios in New York City as a recording location for this album. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Creatures of the Night: tenth studio album by American rock band Kiss, released in 1982
• Last album for Casablanca Records, the only label Kiss had recorded for up to that point
• Dedicated to the memory of Casablanca founder Neil Bogart, who died of cancer during the recording sessions
• Last Kiss album recorded with Ace Frehley credited as an official member
• First Kiss album with Vinnie Vincent, initially uncredited as lead guitarist
• Last Kiss album with the trademark makeup until Psycho Circus in 1998

Background

• By 1982, Kiss's US popularity had fallen because of changing musical tastes and the band's move away from anthemic hard rock
• Dynasty (1979) sold well but alienated many fans with the disco-flavored I Was Made for Lovin' You
• Unmasked (1980) was Kiss's first album since Dressed to Kill (1975) not to reach platinum, and the band did not tour the US for it
• Peter Criss officially left in 1980 and was replaced by Eric Carr
• Music from The Elder (late 1981) did not restore the band's status and did not reach gold, and the planned tour was called off
• Casablanca founder Neil Bogart sold the label to distributor PolyGram in 1980
• Kiss used a clause tied to Bogart's death in its Casablanca contract to leave the label and signed with Mercury Records

Recording

• The album aimed to return to the hard rock style that had brought success with Destroyer and Love Gun
• Vinnie Vincent was introduced to the band by album co-writer Adam Mitchell and soon replaced Frehley as lead guitarist
• Recording sessions began in July 1982, when Kiss was essentially a trio
• Frehley did not play on the album because of alcoholism and a prescription medicine dependency
• Robben Ford, a friend of producer Michael James Jackson, contributed two solos
• Steve Farris provided the solo and lead fills on the title track, and Mitchell played guitar on it
• The album is the heaviest the group had made up to that point, with 'I Still Love You' as its only ballad
• Carr's drumming was closer to John Bonham's than to Criss's jazz-influenced style

Cover

• Frehley's face appears on the cover for contractual and commercial reasons
• Three official artwork variations exist: the 1982 original, the 1985 reissue, and the 1997 remaster

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Kiss was formed in New York City in 1973 by Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss.
• The band traces its roots to Wicked Lester, a New York rock band led by Simmons and Stanley.
• Their first performance took place on January 30, 1973, at the Popcorn Club (later Coventry) in Queens.
• Casablanca Records signed the band on November 1, 1973, as the label's first act.

Members

• The four original members were Stanley (Starchild), Simmons (Demon), Frehley (Spaceman) and Criss (Catman).
• Eric Carr replaced Criss in 1980; Vinnie Vincent, Mark St. John and Bruce Kulick later held lead guitar.
• Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer formed the final lineup.

Career

• Kiss became one of America's most successful rock bands in the late 1970s, with a 1977 Gallup poll naming them the most popular band in America.
• The band unmasked in 1983 and reunited the original lineup for the 1996 reunion tour.
• The band announced its retirement after its final show at Madison Square Garden on December 2, 2023.
• Kiss was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on April 10, 2014.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Kerrang! and Guitar World each placed it at No. 5 on their 1982 end-of-year lists
• Reviews were positive, but the album did not return Kiss to the commercial success of five years earlier

Reappraisal

• In 2022, Guitar World named it No. 4 of The 25 greatest rock guitar albums of 1982
• Carr said in an interview that it was his favorite Kiss record he played on

Records

• Charted at No. 45 in the US, higher than The Elder (No. 75)
• Certified gold by the RIAA on May 9, 1994
• Certified gold in Brazil in 1983 for sales of 100,000 copies
• A 2022 super deluxe edition came out in several formats, including CD, vinyl and streaming, with 103 songs in total

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The Frehley-era band image was rebuilt for the tour, when Vincent played lead guitar in Frehley's place and wore an Egyptian Ankh makeup designed hastily by Stanley.
• Stanley described the album title in a 1982 interview with Record Mirror as meaning that everyone is a creature of the night.
• Robben Ford described his contribution as one of his weirdest gigs.
• Kulick admitted in a 2011 interview that his studio work did not make it onto the album.
• Carr's drumming was pushed heavier, in line with his drum style closer to John Bonham than Criss.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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