Kiss – Crazy Nights (1987/2014) [FLAC 24bit/96kHz]

Crazy Nights became a worldwide hit for Kiss and a platinum album in the United States. Gene Simmons’ participation on the record was limited by his pursit of outside interests, such as acting and producing other groups. The bulk of the work on Crazy Nights fell to Paul Stanley, whose pop instincts dominated the record. Stanley brought in producer Ron Nevison, who had lately demonstrated a penchant for rejuvenating the careers of aging rock acts like Heart and Ozzy Osbourne by getting them to work with outside pop writers on crossover material. He employed that approach withCrazy Nights, and although it yielded commercial singles like “Crazy Crazy Nights” and the power ballad “Reason to Live,” it also resulted in a synth-drenched record that to some sounded like Kiss was unsuccessfully chasing the styles of much younger bands.

Just when you thought Kiss couldn’t be further removed from their raw rock/metal roots with 1985’s lackluster Asylum, the band sinks even further with 1987’s popfest Crazy Nights. Kiss were the most unfocused they had ever been by 1987 (the absence of original members Peter Criss and Ace Frehley obviously had something to do with it). They hooked up with producer Ron Nevison, who had recently produced chart-topping records for Heart and Ozzy Osbourne. Keyboards had no business being on a Kiss record, yet they rear their ugly head throughout Crazy Nights. “Turn on the Night,” “Reason to Live,” the anthemic “Crazy Crazy Nights” (a British Top Ten hit), and perhaps the worst Kiss song ever recorded, “My Way,” are all bogged down with keyboards. Still, a song or two does contain music that would be reminiscent of the Kiss of old if it weren’t for Nevison’s glossy production (“No, No, No,” etc.). Rather than being a true hard rock force, a status they had begun to reclaim on 1982’s Creatures of the Night and 1983’s Lick It Up, Kiss were merely trying to replicate the hit formula of other bands of the day (Def Leppard, Bon Jovi, etc.). As Crazy Nights displays, their lack of success in that area was dire.

Tracklist:
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

Download:

KISSCrazyNights19872014AcusticSunds2496.rar

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