KISS Crazy Nights

[Mister Freeze]

Hot in the Shade is full of questionable choices.

Always thought the intro to "Read My Body" sounded a lot like Tito Santana's ring entrance music.

[Tommy2Tone84]

Would have been better if it included time traveller and sword & stone instead of two of the lesser songs on the album (when your walls come down and my way).

Still a good pop metal album though!

Walls and My Way are like Stairway and Evermore compared to Bang Bang You.

I’ll take X In Sex as laughably cringey as it is, over BBY.

I understand why S&S was left off but it was a bad idea and wrong move. I doubt Paul would have sang it live anyway. A number of songs made his pocket pussy hurt at the time so he rarely or never sang them.

[Chip Z'Hoy]

It's crazy (crazy, crazy, crazy) how much better "Sword and Stone" is versus most of the CN album. It's not a masterwork, or even that good of a song, but it kicks the shit out of "Bang Bang You" or "No, No, No."

[NeonKnite]

It's crazy (crazy, crazy, crazy) how much better "Sword and Stone" is versus most of the CN album. It's not a masterwork, or even that good of a song, but it kicks the shit out of "Bang Bang You" or "No, No, No."

They had lost the plot. They were completely focused on getting a big album and being BJ Kiss.

[HueyRamone]

It's crazy (crazy, crazy, crazy) how much better "Sword and Stone" is versus most of the CN album. It's not a masterwork, or even that good of a song, but it kicks the shit out of "Bang Bang You" or "No, No, No."

They had lost the plot. They were completely focused on getting a big album and being BJ Kiss.

I just dont get how they fucked that up so bad.

Jovi:
Livin on a prayer - About Tommy and Gina - Journey-esque song about two crazy youfs in love
You give Love a Bad Name - Femme fatale love gone bad
Wanted Dead or Alive - Tourin' desperadoes on motorcycles instead of horses


So you wanna copy that, I get it. Maybe copy some of the sentiments?

Kith:
Crazy Crazy Nights - We're generically partying at nighttime
Turn on the Nights - A generic girl likes to party at night, hopefully with you
My Way - Generic "im gonna do it" (too generic to even know what "it" is)

Nothing on there has anything for the listener to latch onto, lyrically.

[Hatchets Molly]

It's crazy (crazy, crazy, crazy) how much better "Sword and Stone" is versus most of the CN album. It's not a masterwork, or even that good of a song, but it kicks the shit out of "Bang Bang You" or "No, No, No."

They had lost the plot. They were completely focused on getting a big album and being BJ Kiss.

I just dont get how they fucked that up so bad.

Jovi:
Livin on a prayer - About Tommy and Gina - Journey-esque song about two crazy youfs in love
You give Love a Bad Name - Femme fatale love gone bad
Wanted Dead or Alive - Tourin' desperadoes on motorcycles instead of horses


So you wanna copy that, I get it. Maybe copy some of the sentiments?

Kith:
Crazy Crazy Nights - We're generically partying at nighttime
Turn on the Nights - A generic girl likes to party at night, hopefully with you
My Way - Generic "im gonna do it" (too generic to even know what "it" is)

Nothing on there has anything for the listener to latch onto, lyrically.

Besides the lyrical content disparity, the musicality between those examples is a wide chasm. BJs songs have been beaten to death by radio, but they are really well-crafted songs. Not the case with the KISS tunes.

[Hair I Go Again]

They tried the Tommy/Gina thing with "Hide Your Heart," but it was one album too late (and I'm sure the multiple versions by other artists didn't help).

As for the "femme fatale love gone bad," that pretty much describes" Good Girl Gone Bad." It's not half the song that "Bad Name" is, but still.

Overall, I realize it isn't a "great Kiss record" and that it's a hair metal bandwagon jump, but to me, it's their best (or at least their most consistent) release of the '80s, even if that's not saying much.

[NeonKnite]

but to me, it's their best (or at least their most consistent) release of the '80s, even if that's not saying much.

You have shit for taste.

It's not better than any 80s album. Every single album from Unmasked to Asylum is better.

[Chip Z'Hoy]

Kiss were always at their worst when they were trying to be something else. From Unmasked and The Elder to Jovi Nights to Carnival, most of the mistakes in their career can be chalked up to trend-hopping. They were at their best when they were just Big Dumb Kiss.

(Though Unmasked is great! It just didn't sell.)

[HueyRamone]

As for the "femme fatale love gone bad," that pretty much describes" Good Girl Gone Bad." It's not half the song that "Bad Name" is, but still.

Reminds me of the Simpsons, where the TV exec told the writers "Give him a badass name! Like "Poochie", but more proactive!"

and the writers just say "So..... Poochie ok with everyone?"


I could KISS telling the writers: "You Give Love a Bad Name" was a smash! We need you to write us a song about a good girl gone bad!. And they come back in a couple weeks with.... well...

[pieceofme]

If it is one thing British know how to do it is partying generically at night time. No wonder it was such a big hit and easily the most famous KISS song in the UK

[pieceofme]

Kiss were always at their worst when they were trying to be something else. From Unmasked and The Elder to Jovi Nights to Carnival, most of the mistakes in their career can be chalked up to trend-hopping. They were at their best when they were just Big Dumb Kiss.

(Though Unmasked is great! It just didn't sell.)

I was going to say I remember you ranking unmasked as your number 1 KISS album several years ago!

[Chip Z'Hoy]

I was going to say I remember you ranking unmasked as your number 1 KISS album several years ago!

It was in the top 5, for sure! If I put it at #1, I was trying to be provocative.

[pieceofme]

I was going to say I remember you ranking unmasked as your number 1 KISS album several years ago!

It was in the top 5, for sure! If I put it at #1, I was trying to be provocative.

[gatomike]

Kiss also tried too sound like Van Halen on here well 5150 not just Bon Jovi.Crazy Crazy nights has some decent songs but that's it.

[Love_Industry]

Kiss also tried too sound like Van Halen on here well 5150 not just Bon Jovi.Crazy Crazy nights has some decent songs but that's it.

Nobody mentioned that they tried to sound like Heart. Their 5x platinum s/t 1985 may well be the reason Paul wanted to work with Ron, Reason to Live is trying hard to be What About Love or These Dreams, and songs like If Looks Could Kill and All Eyes wouldn't be out of place on CN.

Just noticed that Heart's Bad Animals, produced by Nevison, came up in May 1987. CN was just a few months later, September the same year. Wonder if CN was a bit of a rush job for Nevison?

[Tommy2Tone84]

It's crazy (crazy, crazy, crazy) how much better "Sword and Stone" is versus most of the CN album. It's not a masterwork, or even that good of a song, but it kicks the shit out of "Bang Bang You" or "No, No, No."

100%. Ron Nevison sucks. It was his job to tell Paul that Bang Bang You was the megatron of shit sandwiches and he didn’t do it. On the other hand, Bob Ezrin let garbage like “I Just Wanna Fuh” “Take It Off” and “Gimme!! Tough.looove” on Revenge

Nevison was a poor man’s Keith Olsen. I doubt Keith would have worked with KISS but he would have been the better choice. The band should’ve gone with Michael Wagener, Bruce Fairbairn, and Mutt Lange or stuck with Michael James Jackson, Vinnie Ponica, Eddie Kramer, and Bob Ezrin, as problematic as Bob could be, throughout that time.

CN or Hot In the Shade (take your pick) would have been better with Sword, Time Traveler, Promise Her The Moon and the original demo version of Nobody’s Perfect.

I liked what Jackson did for the band, and while an unpopular opinion, I thought Ponica was a decent producer for the band beginning with Peter’s solo album.

CN isn’t that bad. It’s better than Elder, Unmasked, Carnival and I’ll be so bold to say I prefer it over Revenge. I’ll Fight Hell, Crazy Crazy Nights (C’mon fellas, it’s KISS), Turn On The Night, Reason To Live, Hell or High Watwe, Good Girl Gone Band and even My Way are all solid.

[Tommy2Tone84]

Kiss also tried too sound like Van Halen on here well 5150 not just Bon Jovi.Crazy Crazy nights has some decent songs but that's it.

Nobody mentioned that they tried to sound like Heart. Their 5x platinum s/t 1985 may well be the reason Paul wanted to work with Ron, Reason to Live is trying hard to be What About Love or These Dreams, and songs like If Looks Could Kill and All Eyes wouldn't be out of place on CN.

Just noticed that Heart's Bad Animals, produced by Nevison, came up in May 1987. CN was just a few months later, September the same year. Wonder if CN was a bit of a rush job for Nevison?

That is what Paul was going for. Nevison couldn’t commit for a year due to his commitments to Heart. I think it was a rush job. They should’ve went back to Michael James Jackson or tried to get a Bruce Fairbairn or Bob Clearmountain, if they wanted to go the pop route. Martin Birch or Keith Olsen would’ve been good choices. Although I doubt many of those people would’ve agreed to work with the band. Bruce and Bob might’ve at the time, Bruce did years later

[NeonKnite]

CN isn’t that bad. It’s better than Elder, Unmasked, Carnival and I’ll be so bold to say I prefer it over Revenge. I’ll Fight Hell, Crazy Crazy Nights (C’mon fellas, it’s KISS), Turn On The Night, Reason To Live, Hell or High Watwe, Good Girl Gone Band and even My Way are all solid.

You have shit for taste. Holy fuck.

[HueyRamone]

Bruce did years later

And what he "helped" the band do, sucked almost as much as Crazy Nights!

[GoodJudge]

If it is one thing British know how to do it is partying generically at night time. No wonder it was such a big hit and easily the most famous KISS song in the UK

I laughed at that. It's the only Kiss product I've ever bought. Haven't played it since probably 1988. I was only just getting into metal, and in general into buying records, not just taping them off the radio. We all make mistakes when we're young.

[HueyRamone]

If it is one thing British know how to do it is partying generically at night time. No wonder it was such a big hit and easily the most famous KISS song in the UK

I laughed at that. It's the only Kiss product I've ever bought. Haven't played it since probably 1988. I was only just getting into metal, and in general into buying records, not just taping them off the radio. We all make mistakes when we're young.

Was Crazy Crazy Nights big in England the same way The Chicken Song was big? Like a stupid novelty track? I just cant see how the island that birthed Sabbath, Zep, Priest, etc could gravitate to that. They never even warmed up that much to Van Halen or most hair metal!

[Love_Industry]

Was Crazy Crazy Nights big in England the same way The Chicken Song was big? Like a stupid novelty track? I just cant see how the island that birthed Sabbath, Zep, Priest, etc could gravitate to that.

Remember that in the late 80s, NWOBHM was pretty much dead and Britain was all about Bananarama, Mel & Kim, Jon Astley and the like. Paul dating Sam Fox may have raised their profile more than any song.

Quoting a British hit song from 1989:
"Golden oldies, Rolling Stones, we don't want them back
I'd rather jack than Fleetwood Mac
No heavy metal, rock'n'roll, music from the past"

[GoodJudge]

If it is one thing British know how to do it is partying generically at night time. No wonder it was such a big hit and easily the most famous KISS song in the UK

I laughed at that. It's the only Kiss product I've ever bought. Haven't played it since probably 1988. I was only just getting into metal, and in general into buying records, not just taping them off the radio. We all make mistakes when we're young.

Was Crazy Crazy Nights big in England the same way The Chicken Song was big? Like a stupid novelty track? I just cant see how the island that birthed Sabbath, Zep, Priest, etc could gravitate to that. They never even warmed up that much to Van Halen or most hair metal!

It wasn't as big as The Chicken Song (I bought that too and still remember just about all of it). Like others have said, they were riding JBJ's coat-tails. It was also the era of Final Countdown and of Whitesnake's chart success (I bought FC and 1987 too). Britain mostly never cared for the hairspray bands, and they barely toured here, much like VH. But we liked our anthemic soft rock for a few years back then.

[HueyRamone]

I laughed at that. It's the only Kiss product I've ever bought. Haven't played it since probably 1988. I was only just getting into metal, and in general into buying records, not just taping them off the radio. We all make mistakes when we're young.

Was Crazy Crazy Nights big in England the same way The Chicken Song was big? Like a stupid novelty track? I just cant see how the island that birthed Sabbath, Zep, Priest, etc could gravitate to that. They never even warmed up that much to Van Halen or most hair metal!

It wasn't as big as The Chicken Song (I bought that too and still remember just about all of it). Like others have said, they were riding JBJ's coat-tails. It was also the era of Final Countdown and of Whitesnake's chart success (I bought FC and 1987 too). Britain mostly never cared for the hairspray bands, and they barely toured here, much like VH. But we liked our anthemic soft rock for a few years back then.

Did you get Living Doll by the Young Ones and Cliff Richard too? Good times.

[Earl Skakel]

Kiss were always at their worst when they were trying to be something else. From Unmasked and The Elder to Jovi Nights to Carnival, most of the mistakes in their career can be chalked up to trend-hopping. They were at their best when they were just Big Dumb Kiss.

(Though Unmasked is great! It just didn't sell.)

Unmasked is an amazing Cars album

[pieceofme]

Was Crazy Crazy Nights big in England the same way The Chicken Song was big? Like a stupid novelty track? I just cant see how the island that birthed Sabbath, Zep, Priest, etc could gravitate to that.

Remember that in the late 80s, NWOBHM was pretty much dead and Britain was all about Bananarama, Mel & Kim, Jon Astley and the like. Paul dating Sam Fox may have raised their profile more than any song.

Quoting a British hit song from 1989:
"Golden oldies, Rolling Stones, we don't want them back
I'd rather jack than Fleetwood Mac
No heavy metal, rock'n'roll, music from the past"

I can confirm that crazy crazy nights is way more famous than Paul dating sam. The latter was a mere footnote and it didn't raise their profile more than any song

[GoodJudge]

Was Crazy Crazy Nights big in England the same way The Chicken Song was big? Like a stupid novelty track? I just cant see how the island that birthed Sabbath, Zep, Priest, etc could gravitate to that. They never even warmed up that much to Van Halen or most hair metal!

It wasn't as big as The Chicken Song (I bought that too and still remember just about all of it). Like others have said, they were riding JBJ's coat-tails. It was also the era of Final Countdown and of Whitesnake's chart success (I bought FC and 1987 too). Britain mostly never cared for the hairspray bands, and they barely toured here, much like VH. But we liked our anthemic soft rock for a few years back then.

Did you get Living Doll by the Young Ones and Cliff Richard too? Good times.

Yes. Though Neil's cover of Hole in My Shoe was a bit too early for me. I also got Harry Enfield as Loadsamoney, "Doing up the house". I think that's the extent of my novelty 7" purchases. All of them better, in retrospect, than Kiss.

[Bono Nettencourt]

Kiss were always at their worst when they were trying to be something else.

Not true!

Paul said that Hard Luck Woman was his attempt at writing a Rod Stewart song, and it was a pretty good attempt. Rod also wishes that Do Ya Think I'm Sexy was half as cool as IWMFLY.

[Tommy2Tone84]

Bruce did years later

And what he "helped" the band do, sucked almost as much as Crazy Nights!

It’s interesting that fans hate Psycho Circus so much because Ace and Peter weren’t on it. But they love Creatures when it has ghost musicians all over it. They act like it’s a Vinnie Vincent record when it’s really not. I didn’t mind Psycho Circus. I didn’t care for Dreamin, You Wanted The Best or Into The Void. I thought it was dumb they made Peter sing a Diane Warren song. I’d give it three clown cars out of five.

Any failures on Crazy Nights are strictly Paul’s fault. From the poor choice of producer to some of his putrid songwriting. Gene’s songs are mostly solid with the exception of No, No, No. Thief is ok but I would have preferred to hear one of his 1979-1985 leftovers. It’s Gonna Be Alright, Nobody’s Perfect, Legends Never Die, It’s My Life all would have fit nicely.

I’m also in the minority in that I like Peter’s last solo album. Fans call it a jazz record when it’s really not. His voice was showing its age a little by that point but I like it.