Band:	KISS
Album:	Crazy Nights
Style:	Glam metal, Hard rock
Release date:	1987
Guest review by:	omne metallum

01. Crazy Crazy Nights
02. I'll Fight Hell To Hold You
03. Bang Bang You
04. No, No, No
05. Hell Or High Water
06. My Way
07. When Your Walls Come Down
08. Reason To Live
09. Good Girl Gone Bad
10. Turn On The Night
11. Thief In The Night

Ah, 80s KISS, a time that saw the band clutching at anything but quality. Between the unmasking and the disco/hair metal, the band were finding themselves also-rans in an scene they did much to spawn back in the 70s. Crazy Nights is their seventh attempt of the decade to find solid ground as the band were carried away by the floods they had been pivotal in unleashing.

For most of the album, it is a case of sitting through mediocrity to either stumble upon a good song or a bad song. When the band do manage to click, they sound revitalised and ready to stake their claim in the unfolding glam scene; when it goes wrong? They sound like a third-rate glam metal band.

The high points of this album are peaks the band hadn't reached since the 70s, with songs like "Crazy, Crazy Nights", "I'll Fight Hell To Hold You" and "No, No, No" showing the band were not a busted flush and still had it in them when they put their minds to it. "Crazy, Crazy Nights" is a certified party anthem, while "I'll Fight Hell To Hold You" is a somewhat average tune but with a great chorus; "No, No, No" is a guitar-driven dose of metal that sounds so full of life next to much of the filler around it.

The peaks are however surrounded by valleys that even Aron Ralston would think twice about. "Bang, Bang You" is essentially a crap proto "Crazy, Crazy Nights" with some of the worst lyrics by the band (yes, worse than "Let's Put The X In Sex"). "My Way" tries to sound like a defiant macho stand but sounds like a five year old wrote it, while the crème de la crap is "When Your Walls Come Down", a bog standard track with lyrics that are so half-assed and cliché the band had mentally clocked out by this point. While I don't expect Oscar Wilde levels of wit in the lyrics, at least give me lines better than "My love is like a cannonball, I'm takin' aim and you're gonna fall"; this may have been the 80s but come on.

While the band maybe struggling creatively, they are far from a spent force as a band. The band are still tight and able behind their instruments, which makes it a shame that they don't match their talent with worthwhile material. Stanley's voice is still strong and powerful, while Simmons holds his own for another album. Kulick and Carr enthuse the album with a carefree spirit, sounding like they're the only two who see KISS as a golden rather than simply a meal ticket at this point.

Crazy Nights sees the band find shallow water rather than dry land; a few great songs aside, the album is a mostly forgettable affair. Punctuated by songs of either outstanding quality or crap, much of the album is bland and stale retreads of former glories; I would stick to the three good songs and avoid the rest.