I LOVE this album, not a massive fan of the title track I have to say, but Reason to Live, My Way, I’ll Fight Hell to Hold You and Turn On The Night are among my favourite Kiss songs. It’s a pity that they weren’t as easy to replicate live.
Excellent review and I agree. Crazy Nights is an excellent album. One of the foundest memories of my youth is in the Summer of 1988. It was a Saturday Night and I was 19 years old when I walked into this fantastic club named Le Bonnet Rouge and the place was jammed ! At least 700 people in there. When I walked in Crazy Nights was playing and the dance floor was packed with Babes !!!! I mean some of the hottest chicks I had ever seen in the same Club ! As a Kiss fan I knew the song very well and joined the party 🥳 To complement everything about an hour later the DJ followed up and blasted the place with I was made for Loving you!! Yesss !!!! To this day I will never forget that fantastic evening we all had partying to Kiss toons, that moment and naturally the lovely Femme Kiss Fan that was enjoying the songs to the same level that I did along hundreds of Kiss fans dancing that night, just having fun to the music ! Gene and Paul God bless!!
My first Kiss concert was at the Worcester Centrum on this tour and they shot the video for Turn on the night. At the time I thought they were playing it and didn't realize they were miming. They played the song at least 3 times
Awesome album! could have been even better if some of these songs would had made it: Don't Let Go Time Traveler When Two Hearts Collide Sword and Stone Hide Your Heart (With Keys)
Reason To Live is one of my all time favorite Kiss songs. In fact it just might be my favorite non makeup era song. Always loved Crazy Nights. Sure its very outdated by today standards, but certainly one of the best albums if the 80's hair metal genre.
My favorite non makeup album. Love it from start to finish. Paul and Gene's vocals are top notch in addition to Bruce and Erics playing. The songs are catchy and it's a fun album.
Been a kiss fan since Halloween 1976...there are some songs, albums I like better than others...but I love it all. I love that kiss has different styles. You say that this album isn't super popular among kiss fans. To me, a true kiss fan likes it all!!!!
I bought this CD back in the 90s. The funny thing is, I'm not even a huge Kiss fan at the time, but I loved Reason To Live, so I bought the CD. Buying this album back in the grunge era, over their (much more popular at the time) 70s output was almost heresy at the time. Thankfully, the 80s output from the band has gotten more credit in modern times.
Appreciate the reviews. Two requests? Maybe make the volume on the song blurb the same as your voice? Also maybe keep the song title up while you're speaking about it...I find myself forgetting which song you're talking about.
I saw the crazy nights tour at the Meadowlands in NJ. I was so happy to see kiss and it was my 1st arena show I was in the 9th grade, it was right before Christmas and they did I'm dreaming of a white Christmas, yes jews singing a Christmas song, lol, but true.. but I did see Frehleys comet at the fairgrounds in PA a few years earlier, but not sure if that was considered an arena.
KISS fans don’t realize just how close KISS came to throwing in the towel. Crazy Nights was when Paul was at his most despondent. Gene pretty much abandoned him and the band save for occasional studio appearances where he put in minimal effort, Bill Aucoin had been stealing from the KISS warehouse, and they were essentially broke. Two things happened which saved kiss: Smashes, Thrashes, and Hits went platinum; a surprise best-seller which boosted Paul’s confidence enough to try one more album, which lead to Forever. A hit single, their first top ten in over a decade. This combined with the sales of ST&H literally saved the band. It gave them enough momentum to coast into the Revenge era. Shortly after which they were broke again and in the same spot but we know how that ends. But y’all really need to thank your lucky stars for that Greatest Hits album. Source: KISS and Sell. The Making of A Supergroup.
In my opinion, I will never understand why people think this is the worst kiss album ever. Like it’s better than Animalize, Monster, Carnival Of Souls, Hot In The Shade, and Music From “The Elder.” The only true bad songs on this album is Bang Bang You and Good Girl Gone Bad. Every other song I like. Reason To Live and Turn On The Night are my 2 favorite songs off this album, and Reason To Live is actually my favorite kiss song ever. Great video!
He didn't mention that Bruce Turgon who co-wrote "My Way" was the bass player from Foreigner, and was the bass player for all 3 of Lou Gramm's solo albums. ...I find that fact worth mentioning
Had a great year when this came out. The tour for this album was fantastic. They sounded pretty good that night, and the stage show was cool as always.( Charlotte NC ) Had great seats, but this was at the end of general admission so it wasn't that hard. Or on the floor, standing at the stage. I thought it was a very memorable show. ✌️
Waiting for Nevison to produce this record was in my opinion a big mistake. If this album comes out in 86 rather than 87 I think it would have been a much bigger success for Kiss.
No truer statement.. even by 87 the writing was starting to be on the wall with bands starting the slow crawl towards bluesier and more alternative realms
I absolutely love smashes, thrashes, and hits. Grew up listening it to on cd being born in 1997 with parents who love kiss. I also prefer erics version on beth than peters
I couldn't agree more about turn on the night it is by far one of my favorite Kiss songs probably in my top five. And I totally agree that it been a much better option to play live than bang bang you which isn't one of my favorite Kiss songs to say the least.
Agree 100% with you review... especially “Hell or High Water” - I always thought gene was a mediocre song writer.... as usual Paul saved Kiss once again....
The videos had a production level much higher than previous ones. this was KISS in full MTV mode. I liked the album because FINALLY faces weren't changing anymore. No No No wasn't offensive because girls were just like that back then. Turn on the Night was the hit that KISS forgot. I wish they'd play it live more, perhaps during their encore list. It's a good party song. Maybe they just can't get it to sound right without keyboards. They did a concert Live at the Ritz around 1988 and showcased four songs from this album. All of them were done great. Keeping up the tradition that KISS songs are better live. They did Crazy Nights (though Gene's sing out of tune), Reason to live with Bruce on keys, Bang Bang You (good jam session), and No No No with an awesome drum section for Carr. Smashes album was a bit of a let down. I like the concept, but it wasn't taken far enough. They should have given Bruce and Eric card blanche to put their stamp on the songs. Many of the classic songs had morphed over the years and it would have been great to have the contemporary versions here. Instead, they tried to recreate the original recordings. sigh...if you're going to do that...why not just use the original recordings???? Thanks for finding out why no KISS album in '86. That was a real bummer for me. It was the first year ever, KISS didn't put out an album. I got worried. Great research!
everyone always says "Glam Metal" for this album, but i think Paul's songs sound like a slightly more Hard Rock version of Michael Bolton or Ryan Adams. Loves this album as a kid, and it was my intro into non Makeup Kiss. Reason To Live shoulda been a bigger hit though. Same with Turn on the Night.
Smashes/Thrashes was my first KISS record. I remember MTV having "Put the X in Sex" in rotation. But I think the other new track, "rock hard," feels like old KISS to me in its sexual word play with a good hook, but the stand out of the song is the pre-chorus. Dig the reviews, man.
Given Eric Carr's legacy, it wouldn't have hurt Kiss at all to have included Eric more in the songwriting process. His material from Rockology had some really cool ideas. For instance, Somebody's Waiting might have fitted PERFECTLY on Crazy Nights had it been fleshed out more and given some keyboard flourishes. Same could also have been said for Can You Feel It, because that definitely also fits in with the Crazy Nights era...but could have also been incliuded on Smashes, Thrashes, and Hits alongside Beth to give it something cool. Also, Gene couldn't contribute one new song for '88? Would have been awesome to hear It's My Life from this lineup...just saying.
Nice Avatar pic with Danielle Harris from the 'Halloween' franchise. You seem really young and a Kiss Superfan, but in the 80's Kiss weren't anything besides 70's Dinosaurs to fans of the new exciting music. They had a couple of albums that went platinum due to their old fan base, but even Quiet Riot, Poison, Warrant, Firehouse, even Nelson outsold them in spades! So as somebody who was a teen in the 80's and lived in the Mtv Era NOBODY cool was into Kiss.
As far as power ballads go, "Reason to Live" is a good one (though not as good as "Forever"). The most common criticism for 'Crazy Nights' is .... too much AOR/keyboards.
Like or Dislike: Neutral. Because I listened to this and didn't watch it, it was exceedingly frustrating not knowing the names of the tracks to which reference was being made.
I can't stand this album, and togther with "Hot In The Shade" and "Psycho Circus" it's one of the few I don't own a copy. I remember it came out in Brazil at the same time as Kreator's "Terrible Certainty" and for me it was a no brainer to choose which one to buy. Listened to it a few months ago to see if things changed, but couldn't finish the entire album. Not for me.
Good album. A couple of poorer songs but not many outright bad ones. Some great songs on this album. I know allot don't like the polished production but I like it, it works with the tunes released. Gene has a few better ones on here than he has on alot of the 80s (and 70s stuff too let's be honest) It's not creatures, revenge or lick it up but it's solid. I like it. Smashes has the two tracks on it which are fine. They are ludicrous of course but as you rightly say, it's from a band where love gun is a song.... I don't listen to them often but when do I enjoy them.
You're right, this is Kiss trying to mimic the success of Bon Jovi and I also believe Whitesnake at the time. Pop metal was at its peak. Crazy Nights is not any worse than any other Kiss album because even their best albums have bad songs. I'm surprised that the song Crazy Nights was not a bigger hit in America because it has all the right ingredients. I was obsessed with Kiss as a child until this album. It just doesn't hold a special feeling for me.
I don't think Crazy Nights is as bad as people say, but I don't like it as much as Lick It Up, Animalize, or Asylum Not a fan of X in Sex but I like Rock Hard
The production on his album was awesome but I didn't like it personally. The songs sounded like movie background music that was getting popular at the time.
comon , cmon 1980 wasn't a disaster ? ok it's not Love Gun , Destroyer, it's no Hotter than hell but Unmasked isn't sonic boom, crazy nights, asylum hot in the shade?
Not a fan of the album personally, it’s really cheesy, and the music sounds too glam for me, it’s for me KISS’ attempt at a glam metal album, and it failed for me personally, I hate every song on here speaking, with the exception of Reason To Live, very easy going, but the rest of the record sucks, great video Sean 🤘
I dislike this album as Kiss just became a hair metal pop band and I was never a fan of that sh*t. Also the ballads sound like bloody Foreigner. No wonder Gene disowned this era. I thought it couldn’t get worse and then they released Hot in the Shade. Thrashes and Hits not great and Eric is no Peter. I thought it couldn’t get worse but I was wrong. My sisters like it and they like boy bands. ‘Nuff said. Ozzy was doing much better stuff and has continued to do so.
I love your honest review on this 1..Funny listening to this album today in 2020,Gene's song hold up more than Paul's in my opinion..I always enjoyed this album but I haven't listened to it in a year or 2,I might have to dig this out ! Thief in the night is awesome and could of been on Creatures in my opinion..lots of other reviewers pick this album almost dead last on their album list,which I think is a joke! Let's put the X in Sex was a popular song at the time and has a great Kulick solo..I hate the I love it loud remix! Beth sounded good with Eric singing but Paul and Gene made some stupid decisions over the years and this was 1 of them..Awesome review
The problem with (You Make Me) Rock Hard is the video. I thought it was just a fun pop metal song a la Bang Bang You or X in Sex. Then I saw the. In a long career with many cringeworthy moments, the Rock Hard video could easily be the cringiest. Right up there with the Phantom of the Park debacle.
It's a good album, but not a good Kiss album. At this point they were chasing trends. First Van Halen, and later Bon Jovi. The album did well, but the tour didn't.
The older I get the more I don’t like this album. I used to like it a lot. But there are a few good enjoyable songs massively contrasted with some hard to listen directionless songs that are a middle. Man they miss Peter and ace. Why do I like Good Girl Gone Bad 😄
Gawd, this is a terrible album. Probably the worst in their catalog. The only producer who is worse than Ron Nevison is Bruce Fairbairn and yet even Psycho Circus is better than this slick, cheesy garbage.
I think the majority of the songs on 'Crazy Nights' are good to very good with 'Bang Bang You' & 'Reason To Live' being awful. 'Bang' needed much better lyrics & 'Reason' requiring a different musical approach. The album sounds terrible with the synths/keyboards over used. If used like on track 2, instead of 'Reason' where it's a dominant instrument, I could handle that. KISS are a guitar rock band not a band with a keyboard sound.
This over Hysteria any day....couldn't stand that album. "Smashes, Thrashes..." on the other hand is the most pointless KISS album. New songs terrible, remixes are horrible, and Eric singing Beth was a stupid idea.
I HATE this album. I prefer their '70s stuff and some songs from the early '80s. Glam-rock Kiss? No thanks! But what do I know? I actually like a few songs off of Music from the Elder.
I LOVE this album, not a massive fan of the title track I have to say, but Reason to Live, My Way, I’ll Fight Hell to Hold You and Turn On The Night are among my favourite Kiss songs. It’s a pity that they weren’t as easy to replicate live.
Turn On The Night is so, so insanely well written. I thought I was dreaming when I first heard it. Unreal
Excellent review and I agree. Crazy Nights is an excellent album. One of the foundest memories of my youth is in the Summer of 1988. It was a Saturday Night and I was 19 years old when I walked into this fantastic club named Le Bonnet Rouge and the place was jammed ! At least 700 people in there. When I walked in Crazy Nights was playing and the dance floor was packed with Babes !!!! I mean some of the hottest chicks I had ever seen in the same Club ! As a Kiss fan I knew the song very well and joined the party 🥳
To complement everything about an hour later the DJ followed up and blasted the place with I was made for Loving you!! Yesss !!!!
To this day I will never forget that fantastic evening we all had partying to Kiss toons, that moment and naturally the lovely Femme Kiss Fan that was enjoying the songs to the same level that I did along hundreds of Kiss fans dancing that night, just having fun to the music ! Gene and Paul God bless!!
"Sword and Stone" should have been included on the LP instead of "No, No, No"
My first Kiss concert was at the Worcester Centrum on this tour and they shot the video for Turn on the night. At the time I thought they were playing it and didn't realize they were miming. They played the song at least 3 times
This album did it for me. Crazy Nights gave me the KISS virus.
I love this album. It was the first Kiss album I bought and I got to see them on that tour. It was great!
Awesome album! could have been even better if some of these songs would had made it:
Don't Let Go
Time Traveler
When Two Hearts Collide
Sword and Stone
Hide Your Heart (With Keys)
I will never understand how Sword and Stone never made it onto a Kiss album.
@@SeanBlumenshine yeah such a great song Bonfire did a pretty good version of it but the kiss demo is the best for sure.
Promise the moon is also an amazing one they should have kept in
Reason To Live is one of my all time favorite Kiss songs. In fact it just might be my favorite non makeup era song. Always loved Crazy Nights. Sure its very outdated by today standards, but certainly one of the best albums if the 80's hair metal genre.
Im digging your thorough reviews! Glad I found your channel 🤘 rock on
My favorite non makeup album. Love it from start to finish. Paul and Gene's vocals are top notch in addition to Bruce and Erics playing. The songs are catchy and it's a fun album.
Been a kiss fan since Halloween 1976...there are some songs, albums I like better than others...but I love it all. I love that kiss has different styles. You say that this album isn't super popular among kiss fans. To me, a true kiss fan likes it all!!!!
I bought this CD back in the 90s. The funny thing is, I'm not even a huge Kiss fan at the time, but I loved Reason To Live, so I bought the CD. Buying this album back in the grunge era, over their (much more popular at the time) 70s output was almost heresy at the time. Thankfully, the 80s output from the band has gotten more credit in modern times.
Appreciate the reviews. Two requests? Maybe make the volume on the song blurb the same as your voice? Also maybe keep the song title up while you're speaking about it...I find myself forgetting which song you're talking about.
this is my favorite album by KISS in the 80s . u are an awesome kiss fan love your reviews please do many more
I saw the crazy nights tour at the Meadowlands in NJ. I was so happy to see kiss and it was my 1st arena show I was in the 9th grade, it was right before Christmas and they did I'm dreaming of a white Christmas, yes jews singing a Christmas song, lol, but true.. but I did see Frehleys comet at the fairgrounds in PA a few years earlier, but not sure if that was considered an arena.
Turn on the night is my favorite Kiss song, Crazy nights and Reason to Live come after that. I love the 80s Glam and Arena Rock music.
KISS fans don’t realize just how close KISS came to throwing in the towel. Crazy Nights was when Paul was at his most despondent.
Gene pretty much abandoned him and the band save for occasional studio appearances where he put in minimal effort, Bill Aucoin had been stealing from the KISS warehouse, and they were essentially broke.
Two things happened which saved kiss: Smashes, Thrashes, and Hits went platinum; a surprise best-seller which boosted Paul’s confidence enough to try one more album, which lead to Forever.
A hit single, their first top ten in over a decade. This combined with the sales of ST&H literally saved the band.
It gave them enough momentum to coast into the Revenge era. Shortly after which they were broke again and in the same spot but we know how that ends.
But y’all really need to thank your lucky stars for that Greatest Hits album.
Source: KISS and Sell. The Making of A Supergroup.
In my opinion, I will never understand why people think this is the worst kiss album ever. Like it’s better than Animalize, Monster, Carnival Of Souls, Hot In The Shade, and Music From “The Elder.” The only true bad songs on this album is Bang Bang You and Good Girl Gone Bad. Every other song I like. Reason To Live and Turn On The Night are my 2 favorite songs off this album, and Reason To Live is actually my favorite kiss song ever. Great video!
He didn't mention that Bruce Turgon who co-wrote "My Way" was the bass player from Foreigner, and was the bass player for all 3 of Lou Gramm's solo albums. ...I find that fact worth mentioning
I did not know that.
I love this album, the song writing is some of the band's best imo, this line up really came together here.
Fun fact: Brian May of Queen is on record saying that Crazy Crazy Nights is one of his favorite songs because of how upbeat it is.
Sword in Stone would’ve pushed the album over the top if it would’ve been included
Your evaluation of this is subjective yet perfect!
The song Crazy Nights sounds like it was written for an 8 year old. This is Kiss at their dumbest. Gotta love Simmons wig.
Thank you for this, I really enjoy you´re view on Kiss records.
Saw this tour in Savannah, GA. They played “ Oh Susannah!”
sometimes it is not easy to be a kiss fan.
True
Had a great year when this came out. The tour for this album was fantastic. They sounded pretty good that night, and the stage show was cool as always.( Charlotte NC ) Had great seats, but this was at the end of general admission so it wasn't that hard. Or on the floor, standing at the stage. I thought it was a very memorable show. ✌️
Favorite non-make-up album by far!
"The attempt to Out-Bon Jovi, Bon Jovi" haha nice one :D
Great background at the beginning of the video ✔️.
Very good album
Waiting for Nevison to produce this record was in my opinion a big mistake. If this album comes out in 86 rather than 87 I think it would have been a much bigger success for Kiss.
No truer statement.. even by 87 the writing was starting to be on the wall with bands starting the slow crawl towards bluesier and more alternative realms
@@themadmattster9647 exactly right. 87 saw GNR and so on signaling the end of hair metal.
Turn on the night is in my top 5 All Time Paul songs.
I have one word for this album. Its Fucking Great favourite track gotta be Reason To Live.
Fucking great is two words but you can use as many as you like! I love the album too. 😉
i agree with a lot of this! hell or high water is my favorite track.
also.. what the hell are you looking at off to the side? hah!
Smashes Trashes and hits was released the day I was born.... That's why it's so special
I absolutely love smashes, thrashes, and hits. Grew up listening it to on cd being born in 1997 with parents who love kiss. I also prefer erics version on beth than peters
I couldn't agree more about turn on the night it is by far one of my favorite Kiss songs probably in my top five. And I totally agree that it been a much better option to play live than bang bang you which isn't one of my favorite Kiss songs to say the least.
I bought this record back then with anticipation, but wrote it off as a Bon Jovi wannabe album...
Agree 100% with you review... especially “Hell or High Water” - I always thought gene was a mediocre song writer.... as usual Paul saved Kiss once again....
The videos had a production level much higher than previous ones. this was KISS in full MTV mode. I liked the album because FINALLY faces weren't changing anymore. No No No wasn't offensive because girls were just like that back then.
Turn on the Night was the hit that KISS forgot. I wish they'd play it live more, perhaps during their encore list. It's a good party song. Maybe they just can't get it to sound right without keyboards.
They did a concert Live at the Ritz around 1988 and showcased four songs from this album. All of them were done great. Keeping up the tradition that KISS songs are better live. They did Crazy Nights (though Gene's sing out of tune), Reason to live with Bruce on keys, Bang Bang You (good jam session), and No No No with an awesome drum section for Carr.
Smashes album was a bit of a let down. I like the concept, but it wasn't taken far enough. They should have given Bruce and Eric card blanche to put their stamp on the songs. Many of the classic songs had morphed over the years and it would have been great to have the contemporary versions here. Instead, they tried to recreate the original recordings. sigh...if you're going to do that...why not just use the original recordings????
Thanks for finding out why no KISS album in '86. That was a real bummer for me. It was the first year ever, KISS didn't put out an album. I got worried. Great research!
crazy nights and unmasked are their poppiest albums
I heard in the 90's Gene, wanted KISS to be like Smashing Pumpkins. Just for the sake of money of course.
I like your videos man I agree with alot of your comments
Was a very good album...the sound mix was thin...but it had great songs and live they were top notch
Your channel is DOPE
everyone always says "Glam Metal" for this album, but i think Paul's songs sound like a slightly more Hard Rock version of Michael Bolton or Ryan Adams. Loves this album as a kid, and it was my intro into non Makeup Kiss. Reason To Live shoulda been a bigger hit though. Same with Turn on the Night.
Crazy nights and reason to live
Smashes/Thrashes was my first KISS record. I remember MTV having "Put the X in Sex" in rotation. But I think the other new track, "rock hard," feels like old KISS to me in its sexual word play with a good hook, but the stand out of the song is the pre-chorus.
Dig the reviews, man.
Given Eric Carr's legacy, it wouldn't have hurt Kiss at all to have included Eric more in the songwriting process. His material from Rockology had some really cool ideas. For instance, Somebody's Waiting might have fitted PERFECTLY on Crazy Nights had it been fleshed out more and given some keyboard flourishes.
Same could also have been said for Can You Feel It, because that definitely also fits in with the Crazy Nights era...but could have also been incliuded on Smashes, Thrashes, and Hits alongside Beth to give it something cool.
Also, Gene couldn't contribute one new song for '88? Would have been awesome to hear It's My Life from this lineup...just saying.
The material left off the albums of this era is mind blowing when you hear what made it on
@@SeanBlumenshine Truth. If they worked a bit harder on material they could have reached SLippery When Wet heights.
one of the best 80s Kiss. Although i disagree with the reviewer on the good songs/bad ones.
Nice Avatar pic with Danielle Harris from the 'Halloween' franchise. You seem really young and a Kiss Superfan, but in the 80's Kiss weren't anything besides 70's Dinosaurs to fans of the new exciting music. They had a couple of albums that went platinum due to their old fan base, but even Quiet Riot, Poison, Warrant, Firehouse, even Nelson outsold them in spades!
So as somebody who was a teen in the 80's and lived in the Mtv Era NOBODY cool was into Kiss.
Album cover is the best! Reason to live turn on the night good girl gone bad
Big Kiss fan but this is absolutely🙉🙉🙉🙉🙉🙉🙉🙉🙉🙉🙉🙉🙉🙉🙉🙉🙉🙉🙉🙉🙉🙉🙉🙉🙉🙉🙉🙉🙉🙉🙉🙉🙉🙉🙉🙉
Turn on the night is brutally good
As far as power ballads go, "Reason to Live" is a good one (though not as good as "Forever").
The most common criticism for 'Crazy Nights' is .... too much AOR/keyboards.
I love all your kiss album reviews I'm 52 years old have been a kiss since a kid I love this stuff great stuff
Like or Dislike: Neutral. Because I listened to this and didn't watch it, it was exceedingly frustrating not knowing the names of the tracks to which reference was being made.
Sword and the stone should of been on this album as well as Time traveler.
Agreed
What songs would you get rid of? I bet Bang Bang You is one
@@aaronshoaf4644 That one and NO,NO, NO.
@@tandrusiak1 I personally don’t mind No, No, No. I would get rid of Bang Bang You and Good Girl Gone Bad.
@@aaronshoaf4644 Bang Bang You and No No No are the ones I would replace.
I can't stand this album, and togther with "Hot In The Shade" and "Psycho Circus" it's one of the few I don't own a copy. I remember it came out in Brazil at the same time as Kreator's "Terrible Certainty" and for me it was a no brainer to choose which one to buy. Listened to it a few months ago to see if things changed, but couldn't finish the entire album. Not for me.
Are there any songs from this album you at least like or tolerate? Turn On The Night? Title track? Reason To Live?
@@aaronshoaf4644 I wish I could say yes, but no. I don't even remember the titles or what they sound like. It just didn't make an impression on me.
@@marciocoelho2481 I respect that, even though me and you have different opinions, but that’s ok.
Good album. A couple of poorer songs but not many outright bad ones. Some great songs on this album. I know allot don't like the polished production but I like it, it works with the tunes released. Gene has a few better ones on here than he has on alot of the 80s (and 70s stuff too let's be honest) It's not creatures, revenge or lick it up but it's solid. I like it.
Smashes has the two tracks on it which are fine. They are ludicrous of course but as you rightly say, it's from a band where love gun is a song.... I don't listen to them often but when do I enjoy them.
You're right, this is Kiss trying to mimic the success of Bon Jovi and I also believe Whitesnake at the time. Pop metal was at its peak. Crazy Nights is not any worse than any other Kiss album because even their best albums have bad songs. I'm surprised that the song Crazy Nights was not a bigger hit in America because it has all the right ingredients. I was obsessed with Kiss as a child until this album. It just doesn't hold a special feeling for me.
This is a great produced album but I didn’t like the song choices especially gene songs, but another great job Sean!
I don't think Crazy Nights is as bad as people say, but I don't like it as much as Lick It Up, Animalize, or Asylum
Not a fan of X in Sex but I like Rock Hard
The production on his album was awesome but I didn't like it personally. The songs sounded like movie background music that was getting popular at the time.
Almost every intro sounds like it could be a theme song to a lesser known '80's Arnold or Stallone cheese ball flick ...glad i didn't waste my money !
After a LONG hiatus WRITING wise.Gene actually returns. With the exception of " NO NO NO " , Gene may very well carry this album.
As a kid growing up in the 80's I felt KISS stole this whole Crazy idea from LOUDNESS. And the Circus idea came from W.A.S.P.
comon , cmon 1980 wasn't a disaster ? ok it's not Love Gun , Destroyer, it's no Hotter than hell but Unmasked isn't sonic boom, crazy nights, asylum
hot in the shade?
Not a fan of the album personally, it’s really cheesy, and the music sounds too glam for me, it’s for me KISS’ attempt at a glam metal album, and it failed for me personally, I hate every song on here speaking, with the exception of Reason To Live, very easy going, but the rest of the record sucks, great video Sean 🤘
(You Make Me) Rock Hard could have a second life as a Viagra jingle.
This album is on the bottom of most KISS fans’ lists. I don’t mind it at all. Sure not their best, but a good listen.
This to me was like boy band hair matal...Kiss !
I dislike this album as Kiss just became a hair metal pop band and I was never a fan of that sh*t. Also the ballads sound like bloody Foreigner. No wonder Gene disowned this era. I thought it couldn’t get worse and then they released Hot in the Shade. Thrashes and Hits not great and Eric is no Peter. I thought it couldn’t get worse but I was wrong. My sisters like it and they like boy bands. ‘Nuff said. Ozzy was doing much better stuff and has continued to do so.
I love your honest review on this 1..Funny listening to this album today in 2020,Gene's song hold up more than Paul's in my opinion..I always enjoyed this album but I haven't listened to it in a year or 2,I might have to dig this out ! Thief in the night is awesome and could of been on Creatures in my opinion..lots of other reviewers pick this album almost dead last on their album list,which I think is a joke! Let's put the X in Sex was a popular song at the time and has a great Kulick solo..I hate the I love it loud remix! Beth sounded good with Eric singing but Paul and Gene made some stupid decisions over the years and this was 1 of them..Awesome review
Sword and The Stone and Time Traveler would've made the album so much better
The problem with (You Make Me) Rock Hard is the video. I thought it was just a fun pop metal song a la Bang Bang You or X in Sex. Then I saw the. In a long career with many cringeworthy moments, the Rock Hard video could easily be the cringiest. Right up there with the Phantom of the Park debacle.
It's a good album, but not a good Kiss album. At this point they were chasing trends. First Van Halen, and later Bon Jovi. The album did well, but the tour didn't.
Worst KISS album 👁 ever heard!!! 🤮
The older I get the more I don’t like this album. I used to like it a lot. But there are a few good enjoyable songs massively contrasted with some hard to listen directionless songs that are a middle. Man they miss Peter and ace. Why do I like Good Girl Gone Bad 😄
Gawd, this is a terrible album. Probably the worst in their catalog. The only producer who is worse than Ron Nevison is Bruce Fairbairn and yet even Psycho Circus is better than this slick, cheesy garbage.
There's good cheese and then there's fromunda cheese. This album is even worse than fromunda cheese.
Horrible Bass drum sound. Drums are too poppy
I love some of these tunes, BUT this album is not better than Girls, Girls, Girls!
Girls girls girls was better than this and so was white Lion . There was a lot of good 80’s albums , x in sex was incredible though
really don't like this album...way to glam for me, only song i like is no no no! one of my least fav kiss albums
Turn on the night is arguably kisses worst song ever recorded. This record is just awful.
I think the majority of the songs on 'Crazy Nights' are good to very good with 'Bang Bang You' & 'Reason To Live' being awful. 'Bang' needed much better lyrics & 'Reason' requiring a different musical approach. The album sounds terrible with the synths/keyboards over used. If used like on track 2, instead of 'Reason' where it's a dominant instrument, I could handle that. KISS are a guitar rock band not a band with a keyboard sound.
This better than Girls Girls Girls!?! The girls album is way better than this.
This is why fan Boys should not try to review anything.
This over Hysteria any day....couldn't stand that album.
"Smashes, Thrashes..." on the other hand is the most pointless KISS album. New songs terrible, remixes are horrible, and Eric singing Beth was a stupid idea.
This album SUCKS! The end!
This is the worst KISS album ever. My Way is embarrassing.
STHITS...theey ruined peters drum sound w/ the 80's snare bs ...erased all of his ghost notes...Love Eric but he ruined Beth.
I HATE this album. I prefer their '70s stuff and some songs from the early '80s. Glam-rock Kiss? No thanks! But what do I know? I actually like a few songs off of Music from the Elder.
Hated it! Too poppy!
Very week album compared to previous efforts, too soft and too clean.
Pure crap
Soft metal
Great job reviewing a forgettable album by a band at their lowest point.
It’s cheesy 80s drivel.
It sucks