The album was dedicated to the memory of Casablanca founder and early Kiss supporter Neil Bogart,[3] who had died of cancer during the recording sessions.
By 1982, Kiss's popularity in the US had plummeted due to changing musical tastes and their move away from the anthemic hard rock of their earlier material.
Despite confidence from producer Bob Ezrin that this would recreate the success from 1976's Destroyer, the album did not improve the band's status, and on the contrary, further diminished Kiss' US fanbase, failed to achieve gold status, and having cancelled their US Unmasked Tour just a short time before, the band then called off the planned tour for Music from "The Elder.
[6] Using a clause in their Casablanca contract that gave the band an option to leave the label if Bogart died, Kiss became free agents and signed a multimillion-dollar deal with Mercury Records.
[7] The album represented a conscious effort by Kiss to return to the hard rock style that had helped them achieve commercial success with Destroyer (1976) and Love Gun (1977).
[13] Creatures of the Night is the first Kiss album to have all lead vocal duties handled by either Gene Simmons or Stanley exclusively.
Kiss had used "ghost players" on previous albums, most notably Bob Kulick (Alive II and Killers) and Dick Wagner (Destroyer), but Vincent handled most of the lead guitar as a session player and co-writer before being added as the full-time replacement for Frehley, though as an employee and not a full member (like Carr).
Blues guitarist Robben Ford, a friend of the album's producer Michael James Jackson, contributed two solos in what he described as one of his weirdest gigs.
[14] Mr. Mister guitarist Steve Farris (who was considered as a replacement for Frehley but was thought to not have "the right look") provided the solo and lead fills to the title track.
[17] Jimmy Haslip (former member of Blackjack, Tommy Bolin Band and Street Punk) declared in 2008 that he was invited by James Jackson to record five songs (Simmons allegedly refused to play his bass parts due to the end of his relationship with Diana Ross), but Haslip only confirmed that he recorded "Danger.
[10] The lead guitar replacement for Frehley for the Creatures of the Night Tour/10th Anniversary Tour in the U.S. was Vincent, adopting his Egyptian Ankh makeup, hastily designed by Stanley.
[citation needed] Three official variations on the album artwork exist: the 1982 original issue; the 1985 reissue, featuring Stanley, Carr, Gene Simmons, and then-current guitarist Bruce Kulick—who did not play on the album—all without make-up; and the 1997 remastered version (same photo as the original, but with minor variations in the logo and lettering).
[33] The first single from this re-release was the song Betrayed, a re-working of a Vinnie Vincent demo from his earlier band Warrior with new lyrics and vocals by Paul Stanley.