It's only appropriate that I start listing albums of the time starting with one of my favorite bands of all-time... Kiss.
Little did I know that this would be the last Kiss album with makeup for the next 16 years. When I was two years old, I wasn't too familiar with Kiss yet, but they would grow to become one of my favorite bands. Creatures of the Night featured I Love It Loud, Creatures Of The Night, and ballad I Still Love You.
How does a two year old get into Kiss? My brother Tommy was pretty big into Kiss. It seemed as if he idolized Gene Simmons, as Tommy played bass in his and Mike's band: Defiance. My brothers were my biggest musical influences as a kid. I really looked up to both of them, and I wanted to like the music they liked.
Visually in Kiss, I tended to gravitate towards Kiss lead guitarist Ace Frehley. He wielded a sunburst Gibson Les Paul that smoked and shot rockets. Like a super hero. What kid wouldn't dig that!? It made me want to play guitar... and eventually it made me crave a Gibson Les Paul! Ace was probably one of the first musicians I could name. Ace or Eddie Van Halen, lol. I'd come to find out as a teenager that Creatures of the Night was the last album Ace Frehley would be recorded on. From '82 until '96, Ace would go on to partake in a mediocre solo career... without makeup. Today, guitarists like Buckethead and John5 keep their little costumes and facial appearance long after they leave their original band. I'm sort of glad Ace didn't take his with him.
Ironically, Ace was pretty much out of the band when this was released. Vinny Vincent replaced him, and had a different makeup getup. If you bought this CD in the 90's it would have a photo of the band without the makeup, and the guitar player as Bruce Kulick! Talk about confusing if you don't know your "Kisstory!"
I used to think "when I grow up, I want to be a deer hunter... or Space Ace (Frehley)." I didn't want to be a doctor, a racecar driver or a garbage man. I don't think my brothers even owned this album... but they owned previous records cut before I was born that you would recognize: Kiss Alive!, Destroyer, etc. Kiss really had the total package: music, imagery, and entertainment that defined rock and roll for me as a kid.
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