10 Legendary Rock Bands That Made Metal Albums
6. Creatures of the Night - KISS
Most of KISS's greatest albums normally come together only under the right circumstances. Though both Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley are men of many talents, the late '70s were where they were starting to find out what didn't work for them, with Music from the Elder being one of the worst concept albums that any band has tried to pull off. It was time to go back to basics, and these rock gods found the darkness in their soul on Creatures of the Night.
By far the heaviest album that they had ever released up until that point, this is the kind of glam rock record that could fit alongside traditional metal and still hold its own, from the firecracker guitar riff that kicks off the title track to Gene finally getting his Demon persona back out in full force on I Love It Loud. Aside from the riffs though, what makes this the most metal album in their catalog is the newcomers behind the scenes, with Eric Carr fitting in perfectly as a successor to Peter Criss.
Coming from a heavier background than his predecessor, the drum sound on here is pummeling on every single track, giving you just the right kind of pulse to lead you into these larger than life songs like Danger or the melodramatic side of I Still Love You. KISS's hair metal days may have been right around the corner, but this is the kind of record that needed to remind us of what they could without any of their usual hangups.