Creatures of the Night
| Creatures of the Night | ||||
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| Studio album by Kiss | ||||
| Released | October 13, 1982 | |||
| Recorded | July – September 1982 | |||
| Studio | The Record Plant Studios, Los Angeles, CA | |||
| Genre | Heavy metal, hard rock | |||
| Length | 38:47 | |||
| Label | Casablanca | |||
| Producer | Michael James Jackson, Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons | |||
| Kiss chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Creatures of the Night | ||||
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| Alternative cover | ||||
The 1985 re-release cover pictures then-new lead guitarist Bruce Kulick (bottom right).
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   |
| Rolling Stone | |
| Pitchfork Media | (1.5/10) |
| Vista Records | (4.25/5) |
Creatures of the Night is the tenth studio album by Kiss, released in 1982. It is the band's last for Casablanca Records, the only label for which Kiss had recorded up to this point. The album was dedicated to the memory of Casablanca founder and early Kiss supporter Neil Bogart, who had died of cancer during the recording sessions. It is also the band's last album recorded with Ace Frehley credited as an official member (until 1998's Psycho Circus), and its first album with Vinnie Vincent as the initially uncredited lead guitarist (Vincent would later be credited, but not featured, on the cover or the 1985 reissue of the album).
The album represented a conscious effort by Kiss to return to the hard rock style that had helped them achieve commercial success with Destroyer and Love Gun. Their pop-oriented albums Dynasty and Unmasked had started a decline in popularity that reached rock bottom with 1981's Music from "The Elder". By 1982, Kiss knew it needed to deliver on their earlier 1980–81 promise of a heavy record, which they had failed to deliver.
The first key ingredient was songwriter/guitarist Vinnie Vincent, who was soon to replace Ace Frehley as the band's new lead guitarist after being introduced to the band by album co-writer Adam Mitchell. Frehley played only on one track for Creatures of the Night, even though his face (for contractual and commercial reasons) was still featured on the album cover. Frehley had been pushing the band to do a heavy rock record since Dynasty, and by the time of "Creatures Of The Night" he was fully disillusioned with the band, and that combined with a prescription medicine dependency (began after a car wreck) lead to his leaving the band during the recording of the record. On the tour, Vincent was introduced with his Egyptian Ankh make-up, designed in a hurry by Paul Stanley. In 1985, Kiss re-released the album in their non-make-up state with a cover featuring Gene Simmons, Stanley, Eric Carr and then-current guitarist Bruce Kulick (even though Kulick did not play on the album). Vinnie Vincent had long since departed the band (being twice fired) by 1985.
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