I don’t blame them for trying to get people to pay attention to COTN with a new cover/mix - it’s excellent and was criminally underrated at the time! I don’t remember the band doing any press for the new release of COTN at the time - it just showed up in the record store, IIRC. I’ve long suspected/assumed the record company did it without much/any involvement from KISS to - what else - sell records, but I’m happy to be proven wrong about that. FWIW, I’ve never thought of it as them and/or the record company “rewriting history” as much as trying to get the public to pay attention to a great record. As for the drum sound, it is massive and perhaps the remixes were designed to pull it back but, to my ears, there’s not much difference between the two versions. What promo did he cut on Gene? As for Ace’s behavior, the name of his autobiography says it all - “No Regrets”. Really, Ace? No regrets at all? Oh, OK…
First, let's be clear...only the TITLE track is remixed, the rest is remastered with a slight low-end cut. Second, the reason it was reissued with a non-make-up cover is fairly simple, they had success with Lick It Up and Animalize and they strongly believed in Creatures and wanted to give it another shot. And yes, you may be right about the live tracks as songs like War Machine went over like gangbusters with the crowd. I know I was at an Animalize show and someone behind me heard it and said to their buddy "what album is this song on??!!" Third, yes, some reviews at the time called the drums "boomy" and that the guitars were buried hence the low-end cut. Fourth, I think if I remember correctly there was minimum push for the new Creatures...print ads. I do remember I had to go to several record stores on release day to find a copy. EDIT: Originally they were going to have Bruce re-do all the leads but clearer heads prevailed and they left it as is.
I did not know that! When Ace did his own version of “Rock and Roll Hell”, I thought there was a slight chance they’d have Ace do new leads for the COTN tracks and release a “Creatures of the Night” resurrected…but I suppose that will never happen for many good reasons. Even so, it’s a fun idea to this KISS fan’s ears…
Not to my memory/awareness. The no-makeup cover apparently came out in 1985, but I'm sure I wasn't aware of it then. On the other hand, I was incredibly busy at the time (and for a long time from the early 80s), between military service, school and gigs, but I never stopped following KISS or any of the other artists I was into, at least as well as I could follow them given my other activities. I'm pretty sure I didn't run into the no-makeup cover of Creatures until a couple years after it came out, so not before 1987 or so. And I think a friend pointed it out to me first when he happened to stumble into it at a record store.
This is how I remember it at the time as well. Creatures came out before I had a job and at a time when I depended on my parents to buy albums for me. By '85 I had a newspaper delivery route and could afford to buy most of my own music. I followed KISS news pretty diligently at least as best I could, and don't remember any news about the reissue. I remember doing a WTF when I saw it at the store, and being really pissed off that the original cover was no longer available. I held out and finally found a sealed copy at the mall in '88. It's a very odd version as it has the original cover but the pressing appears to be the reissue as the matrix info matches that and the inner label is the generic Mercury logo and not the unique Creatures label like on original pressings.
Aww! Too late! The video has been removed. But I have no doubt you are 100% correct. Thank you for answering one of the great mysteries of my childhood....again, I'm not complaining.....but it was like my teacher was like: "Ok, kiddies (And I was REALLY young.) today's lesson is......KISS!!!! Totally cool with that, why not teach KISS as part of general education? (Half-joking.).....Anyway, now I get it. Thank you! Can anybody answer my questions regarding the "Creatures" Re-issue/New cover/Partial new-mix?
Well.....if you were in the military, you know doubt had better things to do. Can't picture you diving into a fox hole, pulling out your walkie-talkie, as the bullets flew and screaming: "HQ! HQ! Will you PLEASE get intel on this new "Creatures" cover!?!?!?!.......Back-up? Air-support?....sure whatever....as long as they know what this frigging cover is about!" .........then again.........."KISS fans".........You just never know.......
Very interesting.....thank you.....so it seems it was straight revisionist history. What else could the motive be? I'm also surprised by the re-mixes, and discovering there were some complaints about the drum sound. Around 1990 when my friends and I heard "Creatures" that was OVERWHELMINGLY the stand out factor. (This is based on seeing the original "I love it Loud" video.) I actually had a chance to talk to the engineer on those sessions......KISS was DEADLY serious about that drum sound.
Thinking some more about those times, I had a 2 page ad that I clipped from a Hit Parader or Circus magazine promoting Asylum (or maybe it was Crazy Nights?) which the bottom of the pages had small little pics of each album cover from self titled on the left all the way to the most recent album. I'm pretty sure Creatures featured the newer makeup-less cover. edit: Like this (but I don't think this is the exact one I clipped)
I just happened to see it in a record store and maybe listened to it once, if that. Maybe it sounded a little cleaner (it's much more noticeable on my cd) but I didn't pay much attention to it. The reason I originally loved Creatures was because it was the heaviest album known to me. When it was re-released, Maiden and Metallica were on the scene, and dozens of other bands, some influenced by the sound of Creatures. Only in this century did I start listening to it again. Maybe you watched this in preschool?
.....Oh man....You haven't heard it?!?! It's brutal.....Of course, I don't really know these guys, so I can't say what is and isn't true....I say "Don't REALLY" because I have met Gene on several occasions, and I'll be damned if I don't REALLY like the guy. Maybe it's a snow-job....but then again......why would he BOTHER "Snow-Jobing" me? There's nothing I have that it would be worth his time to manipulate me for. He could easily just treat me like an ant. (Like Paul has any time I've met him.) But Gene has NEVER done that to me. I'm not saying I'm his BFF, or we exchange Christmas cards. I'm just saying that as a life-long KISS fan I've had the opportunity to meet him....no...not just meet....HANG OUT with him on many occasions over the course of my life. I met him as a little kid, as a teenager, young adult, not-so-young adult....And that isn't because I'm anyone important....it's because he decided it was worth it to take the time to interact with me....and he didn't act like he was "Doing his duty" being nice to a fan either. I mean he is a genuinely friendly (A lot of NON-Rock stars could learn a lesson or two from him.) And has no problem shooting the sh!t with you......he definitely tests you in the beginning. Busting your balls mercilessly...in what I believe is an effort to "size you up" and make sure you have a sense of humour....about yourself, and the world. But once he's "cleared you"........The guy is a RIOT! Just a really fun dude.... ....so....I don't know, if you want to find Ace's promo, it won't be hard to locate. He rips Gene a new one....and THEN demands his old job back. I don't know Ace, never spoken to him......I have been around him a couple of times.....didn't really get that...."Hey! I like people" vibe." So I stayed away. So, I don't know.....I don't know if what Ace says is true or not.....I guess it could be.....I've met people who genuinely seem to despise Gene. (With varied levels of interaction with him.) I don't know....I don't get it......I really like the guy.....of course, my own interaction is limited. I obviously have no idea as to the intimate details of his life. But first impressions count for SOMETHING.....especially when that impression never changes over DECADES. And yes....I am a KISS fan......but I have no problem saying Paul and Ace did NOT make great impressions on me. (Which I'm fine with, they don't owe me anything.) So it's not like I'm not willing to call it like I see it.
THAT is 100% it!!!! WOW!! How crazy! That was my first exposure to KISS...maybe even Popular music.....to see it again after all these years is a trip! And yes, the "Creatures drum sound" is LEGENDARY!.......It was on Gearslutz that I discovered a number of people COMPLAINING about it! I was SHOCKED! (But...it's Gearslutz...maybe I shouldn't have been.) Luckily, the engineer actually joined the thread and discussed it with us. Haha.....Creatures of the Night Drum Sound - Gearspace.com Here's the thread......if you read down you can enjoy me making a Jack-ass of myself. Read me thanking, in my mind, the anonymous engineer who helped create that sound. He post back and says: "Thanks.....oh, and my name is Bob Clearmoutain." ...............DOH!!!!!.........
So you're saying that by '88, Mercury went back to the original cover? Very interesting. I wonder how many people know that and what the backstory is. Unless your copy was a leftover from right before they switched the cover in '85.
Or is he saying they issued some of BOTH? SO WEIRD! I remember, I refused to buy "Creatures" till I found an original cover version. It was confusing because you'd see the video for "I love it loud"....and they would be in make-up.....but then you'd go to the record store and see the non-make up cover. It also didn't help that Ace doesn't really LOOK like Ace in the "I love it loud video" nor does he play the solo. (In the video....or on the record, it's actually VINNY of all people. Apparently, that was the first sign it wasn't going to work. Vinny wanted to wank, and Gene said "No, I want it be like a Horn/Brass solo...four or five notes." Vinny was AGHAST....Gene was like: "I don't really give a f%$k about your "Solos" Now play what SOUNDS GOOD!) ....in fact, I'm not trying to start any rumours....but I wouldn't be shocked to discover that was an "Ace stand-in." ....they did it in "KISS meets the Phantom." I NEVER thought it looked like Ace. This was right around the time of his car accident. (Latest) And he had already left the band. He was just trying to help them not have their record deal either re-negotiated or dropped, as it stipulated at least 3 original members......Ace cost Gene, Paul, Peter (Who was still a partner in KISS.) and himself a LOT of money by leaving. And it's not like he was leaving at a good time, I don't think they could have ever guessed things would go as low as they had. I suspect Gene and Paul may have never gotten over that. They must have felt like he was abandoning them when they needed him most....so yeah, they tried to fool the label for as long as they could. Anyone up for a little KISS conspiracy speculation??
I’ve never thought that wasn’t Ace in the ILIL video: But here’s another KISS controversy question for you - was Vinnie was actually at the LIU cover shoot? Three Sides of the Coin, episode 163 – KISS Dealer Peter Arquette from KISS Museum talks merch, expos, Vinnie and Lick It Up | Kiss Asylum
I think it's more likely leftover cover stock or shenanigans. Who knows? Last time I checked, discogs didn't have a listing that matched original cover with reissue pressing.
I'll check it tomorrow and give it the Zapruder film treatment. I may be wrong on this one......but Ace always struck me as.....ODD.....from the first time I saw the video. I remember thinking "Who is that?" right away.
Ace was definitely under the influence during the Creatures overseas promo appearances, which occurred after he quit the band.
This doesn't sound right as if you listen to all of Vinnie's work on Creatures (Saint & Sinner, Killer, I Love It Loud, Danger and War Machine) none of it is a "wank" fest of any sort...he didn't start playing those shredder type leads until Lick It Up and beyond.
Thank you for posting! It's always fun to see how KISS approached marketing their product during their myriad of different eras and genre explorations......... .......just for the record.....I think "Asylum" is the closest KISS ever sounded to ACTUAL KISS, since "The Elder" (Just so everyone understands, I'm aware "The Elder" was a departure. But I AWAYS maintain that IT SOUNDS LIKE KISS! It makes perfect sense for the band, nearing it's 10th year to branch out into an almost "Broadway-esque" style, that doubled down on the cinematic genius of "Destroyer"....To my ears, the record sounds like a natural, artistically successful (I don't using the term "artistic" but you get what I mean.) and completely logical step for the band. The fact that "The Elder" was rejected, due to their over exposure, and the fact that many in the media and music biz couldn't WAIT to burry them. (Someone from CREAM once famously asked Gene: "How does it feel to be on the Titanic?" To which Gene said: "Unlike The Titanic, WE ARE unsinkable!".......Now in 2021, Cream magazine is toast, and KISS?....Try as they might, they just can't seem to get to "The end of the road." .....I digress (Imagine that) But the fact "The Elder" was crapped on....and for completely selfish reasons, actually cost us the best music G&P could have made.... After that record was rejected, they largely said. "Why bother?" Let's just be a dumb Heavy Metal band.... ......but yeah! "Asylum" is BY FAR my favorite, non-make-up, KISS record. Jon Beauvoir should have done A LOT more writing with KISS.....and Dee Dee Ramone should have been in there as well.
