KISS-Crazy Nights, 1987

This is one of those KISS albums that both hardcore and casual fans seem to disagree on. It was the late 1980's and KISS had been at it for almost 15 years. A lot of hard rock bands that were popular in the 1970's had to make "adjustments" to keep up with the hard rock/metal trends of the 1980's. Some of the bands were Aerosmith, AC/DC, Alice Cooper, Ted Nugent and of course KISS. From the moment they took off the make-up on MTV in 1983 KISS seemed comfortable with the changing metal scene. Yet a few years later it was starting to feel a bit like they were just churning out an album just so they could tour. I am going to do this review with a song by song breakdown so here it is.

1. Crazy Crazy Nights-The music is a little thin, but it's fun song and the chorus is instantly stuck in my head. Yet how come the album title has one crazy, the song title has two and the chorus actually has three?
2. I'll Fight Hell To Hold You-Not bad because it rocks a little, but kind of clunky. Feels like they don't quite have a handle on the pace of the song.
3. Bang Bang You-It's pretty stale cheese I am afraid. Not all that fun or entertaining. Bruce's solo is kind of good though.
4. No, No, No-The guitar stuff at the beginning is cool, but the rest of the song is quite messy. It's just kind of repetitive and you can probably stop it after a minute because you will get the idea of the whole song at that point.
5. Hell Or High Water-Pretty decent song with a simple, but effective riff. This track actually shows some energy and that's a plus at this point.
6. My Way-The keyboards are way to much and take any edge off this song. Just let Paul sing because his vocals would have carried this song without the overuse of keyboards.
7. When Your Walls Come Down-Not a bad rock song at all. There's actually a decent groove to it and they really seem in control.
8. Reason To Live-Did Foreigner lose a song because KISS seem to have have found it. Just a bit of a snoozer I am afraid
9. Good Girl Gone Bad-It's alright, but just one of those faceless KISS songs. You won't remember it an hour after the album ends.
10. Turn On The Night-Kind of weak and bouncy, but I like the vocals.
11. Thief In The Night-I like the main riff and the heaviness as this album could have used more of that. It's a decent song, but overstays it's welcome just a little. Not anything you have not heard before from KISS.

Overall it feels like Paul had more of a hand in the writing than normal as it's a little more commercial at times. Also there is just too much keyboards here. Keyboards can be used well if they are used to compliment the music. The keyboards here seem to obscure the music and even the vocals at times. These guys were going just fine without keyboards before so why change? The band had a solid foundation and Paul's voice was just as good as it was a decade earlier so somethings didn't need to be changed. Ultimately this is just an okay album for me. There are some good songs, some weak ones and some so-so tracks. Not one of the best moments for these guys, but not one of the absolute worst either.

***So this is the last week for March Metal Madness which means this same album has been reviewed over at Hard rock hideout, Heavy metal addiction,Pulses, verses and other flotsam. So go check them out. These last four Mondays have been fun doing this. Thanks to the other three bloggers for participating. Also a special thanks to Rob at Hard rock hideout for designing and sharing the March Metal Madness logo that we have all been using these past few weeks.