Creatures of the Night

Alister (February 13, 2009)

Everyone says Destroyer was KISS shining achievement. No doubt it was KISS' defining release and has some great songs ... it was just shined and polished in production a bit beyond what I like in a classic KISS record.

I've always been a fan of RAW KISS. Those hungry records like their very first release, Hotter Than Hell and Rock n Roll Over. With fame and popularity, KISS lost that raw power for a long time. And if anything "good" did come out of commercially over flooding the market with solo releases, toys, disco, pop and a concept record, it was CREATURES OF THE NIGHT! KISS painted themselves into a major corner with over-commercializing their brand and product. There was nothing else they could do but release the heaviest record they possibly could ... and this is exactly what CREATURES is ... the hardest rocking KISS record ever released, bar NONE Period.

And I apologize but ... anyone who believes Michael James Jackson's production work even slightly compares to the shine of Def Lep's Mutt Lange Pyromania fame is dead wrong. Now Mutt Lange's work with AC/DC on Highway To Hell IS much more akin to this record. Make no mistake, this record was recorded raw and on the fly. This album was recorded on a strict budget because, well, KISS was going broke from lavish over spending. The guitars are loud raw nut-crunching and the leads carry and sustain with more feedback you'll ever hear on a KISS record. The highlight is the bombastic Eric Carr's effort. Eric wanted his drums to sound louder than cannon fire ... the result? They put Eric in a gymnasium with the exit doors open to record a majority of the tracks which equaled an almost overkill in the precussion bottoms ... but nobody was complaining. KISS would later delve back into over-producing and polishing their product, (see Crazy Nights)... but if you want the rawest, hardest rocking KISS record in their vast catalog, look no further than Creature Of The Night.