KISS - Crazy Nights

180-gram LP

Kiss celebrates its 40th anniversary and its induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame with a series of individual 180-gram vinyl reissues from the band's celebrated catalog, including their 1998 effort Psycho Circus on vinyl for the very first time! 

Among the titles returning to record store shelves are the band's self-titled debut and sophomore Hotter Than Hell albums (both from 1974) as well as their double-live 1975 breakthrough album Alive! - which was already reissued back in 2008. Also arriving are 1975's Dressed To Kill, 1976's Destroyer, 1979's Dynasty, 1980's Unmasked, 1983's Lick it Up, 1984's Animalize and 1992's Revenge. Look also for 1976's Rock And Roll Over, 1981's Music From The Elder, 1989's Hot In The Shade, 1987's Crazy Nights and 1997's Carnival Of Souls.

In September of 1987, Kiss reached for pop-rock super-stardom by releasing the keyboard-heavy album Crazy Nights. To hear them tell it, they probably wouldn't make the same choice again, says Ultimate Classic Rock.com

The group had packed stadiums and been one of the biggest rock acts of the '70s with their blend of well-written melodic hard rock and over-the-top theatrics, but had seen their career decline after several ill-advised attempts to conform to the changing trends of disco and pop. Add to that the loss of two original members and a seemingly desperate attempt to regain relevance by removing their trademark makeup, and the group had a lot to prove in the early-to-mid-'80s.

Crazy Nights became a worldwide hit for Kiss and a platinum album in the United States. Gene Simmons' participation on the record was limited by his pursit of outside interests, such as acting and producing other groups. The bulk of the work on Crazy Nights fell to Paul Stanley, whose pop instincts dominated the record. Stanley brought in producer Ron Nevison, who had lately demonstrated a penchant for rejuvenating the careers of aging rock acts like Heart and Ozzy Osbourne by getting them to work with outside pop writers on crossover material. He employed that approach with Crazy Nights, and although it yielded commercial singles like "Crazy Crazy Nights" and the power ballad "Reason to Live," it also resulted in a synth-drenched record that to some sounded like Kiss was unsuccessfully chasing the styles of much younger bands.