Discover everything you wanted to know about the "Crazy Nights" album!

"Crazy Nights" Related!

Bruce Turgon (2017)

Foreigner bassist Bruce Turgon, song co-writer on "Crazy Nights," recalls writing for the album and his band opening for KISS during the "Alive!" era.

Diane Warren (2017)

Legendary hits writer recounts her craft and writing with Paul Stanley.

Phil Ashley (2017)

Keyboard player recalls demoing material with Paul Stanley and performing on the "Crazy Nights" album.

Tom Kelly (2017)

The sole credited additional background vocalist on "Crazy Nights" describes a #1 studded song-writing career and session work that included Mötley Crüe, Alice Cooper, and KISS.

Adam Mitchell (2017)

The sole credited additional background vocalist on "Crazy Nights" describes a #1 studded song-writing career and session work that included Mötley Crüe, Alice Cooper, and KISS.

Christopher K. Lendt (2017)

KISS' business manager recounts the end of the band's relationship with Glickman/Marks and the challenging period in which the album was created.

Gary Corbett (2017)

Touring musician tells his stories from the road on the U.S. and European "Crazy Nights."

Bruce Kulick (2017)

KISS' guitarist gives his perspective regarding the "Crazy Nights" era.

Ron Nevison (2012)

A celebration of the 25th anniversary of "Crazy Nights" featuring an in-depth discussion with renowned producer/engineer.

Celebrating the history of KISS on an album-by-album basis can be a daunting task. Some recorded efforts, such as "Dressed to Kill" -- and the inevitable transition into the "Alive!" period -- nearly write themselves. Others, notably "Rock And Roll Over" or "Love Gun," are almost pointless endeavors, due to the limited number of people directly involved in the projects; in addition to the amount of time that has passed since their creation -- making participant's memories hazy at best. Albums, be they the 1978 solo releases, or "The Elder," provided a greater challenge. Inevitably, regardless of personal feelings and subjective analysis, both of those projects fell short of the mark, particularly with the amount of effort made by the band members in their creation. Both of those projects had numerous parties involved, many of whom were available to assist with the investigation. That made a detailed exploration, decades later, a worthwhile exercise. Of all of the unmasked KISS albums, 1983–1997, only "Crazy Nights" saw the band truly stepping into the proverbial "danger zone" and reaching for higher aspirations, musically and commercially.

As was the case with oft maligned "The Elder" -- and to a lesser extent the 1978 solo albums -- KISS' "Crazy Nights" album was a "failure." It did not provide the expected, and much needed hits in the U.S., nor did it lead to a massive SRO two year tour. It certainly didn't resurrect the fortunes of the band, which to that point had stagnated both in the stores and on the road. Outside of the U.K. the album missed the bull's-eye by a wide margin; but like "The Elder," the relative failure was not from a lack of creative energy and effort by the band. There was more than enough passion, creativity, and attention to detail during the creative process. What was missing was a little bit of luck, and perhaps timing.

Even in failure, the "Crazy Nights" era served as a critical catalyst that would ultimately see the band surrender to their past, and to a certain extent embrace it. In many ways it would have been inevitable, as much as they had tried to jettison the 70s during the mid-1980s. By the end of the tour, the trend of loading the set with 1980's songs had been reversed and classics like "Strutter," "Calling Dr. Love," and oft maligned "I Was Made for Lovin' You" started returning in concert -- the reaction of the KISS Army was clear for those performing on stage to witness. In the years that followed, 1990–1994, the band's sets grew to substantial length, packed full of the songs the fans really wanted to hear. And the endgame was clear...

Welcome to the "Danger Zone" ...

"Crazy Nights" Related!

Bruce Turgon (2017)

Foreigner bassist Bruce Turgon, song co-writer on "Crazy Nights," recalls writing for the album and his band opening for KISS during the "Alive!" era.

Diane Warren (2017)

Legendary hits writer recounts her craft and writing with Paul Stanley.

Phil Ashley (2017)

Keyboard player recalls demoing material with Paul Stanley and performing on the "Crazy Nights" album.

Tom Kelly (2017)

The sole credited additional background vocalist on "Crazy Nights" describes a #1 studded song-writing career and session work that included Mötley Crüe, Alice Cooper, and KISS.

Adam Mitchell (2017)

The sole credited additional background vocalist on "Crazy Nights" describes a #1 studded song-writing career and session work that included Mötley Crüe, Alice Cooper, and KISS.

Christopher K. Lendt (2017)

KISS' business manager recounts the end of the band's relationship with Glickman/Marks and the challenging period in which the album was created.

Gary Corbett (2017)

Touring musician tells his stories from the road on the U.S. and European "Crazy Nights."

Bruce Kulick (2017)

KISS' guitarist gives his perspective regarding the "Crazy Nights" era.

Ron Nevison (2012)

A celebration of the 25th anniversary of "Crazy Nights" featuring an in-depth discussion with renowned producer/engineer.

Editor's note: The editing of the interviews comprising this work were approached with a desire to leave the original intent and "voice" of the interviewee intact; even at the cost of correct grammar. Except in the most egregious cases, a bare minimum of corrections have been applied, and in some cases, the ubiquitous [sic] has been inserted out of respect to what are in essence transcriptions of conversations converted into a more readable form. Hopefully, the unique character of each interviewee's "voice" is preserved, and won't cause too much reader discomfort! Please also consider that one person conducted and transcribed the vast majority of these interviews, and another is taking on the task of editing the work. Therefore, only the former would recall the nuances only present in the original tone of the conversation.