Celebrating its 40th anniversary, “Creatures Of The Night” from 1982 is a seminal album in the KISS catalog. On November 18, UMe will release “Creatures Of The Night 40” as a 5-CD + Blu-ray audio super deluxe edition, 3-LP deluxe, 2-CD deluxe, 1-LP half-speed master 180gm, 1-CD remaster, as well as a 5-CD super deluxe edition digital download + streaming and 2-CD digital download-only version plus a color vinyl exclusive. All configurations can be pre-ordered through the official KISS online store.

Having rechanneled their efforts into consciously making a return to the hard rock that they were known for, KISS — Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons and Eric Carr — unleashed “Creatures Of The Night” in October of 1982. In addition to a harder sound, the album is also noted for its heavier, darker mood. The single “I Love It Loud” has been performed on nearly every subsequent KISS tour, while “War Machine”, the ballad “I Still Love You” and the title song also featured heavily in their live sets for a number of years. Also of note is “Killer”, which featured the group’s first songwriting collaboration with their soon-to-be-guitarist Vinnie Vincent. “Creatures Of The Night” received accolades in magazines such as Kerrang! and Guitar Player — which both placed the album in their Top Five end-of-year chart for 1982 — and has attained gold album status (sales of 500,000+).

Even though original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley appeared on the “Creatures Of The Night” album cover, he did not play on the LP. The guitar tracks on the effort were laid down by several musicians, including Robben Ford, Steve Farris and Vincent, who later became Frehley‘s replacement. “Creatures Of The Night” also saw KISS collaborating with outside songwriters, including the then-relatively unknown Bryan Adams.

During an interview on SiriusXM‘s “Rocktails With Ahmet Zappa” show earlier this year, KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons stated: “The ‘Creatures’ record was a transitioning record because Ace Frehley and Peter Criss were out of the band. You can’t do it all yourself, so we brought in different guitar players, different things, and we co-wrote.”

The “Creatures Of The Night 40” super deluxe boasts 103 total tracks with 75 tracks being unreleased. Newly remastered on CD 1, the original album has never sounded better. CDs 2 and 3 feature 34 demos, rarities and outtakes, including previously unreleased gems such as “Deadly Weapon (Penny Lane Demo)”, “Not For The Innocent (Demo)” and “Betrayed (Outtake)”. CDs 4 and 5 highlight 26 incredible, soundboard live recordings from the “Creatures” ’82/’83 tour and seven super-rare tour sound effects, all recorded and archived by the “Creatures” tour sound engineer Harry Witz. The Blu-ray Audio disc showcases a first-ever Atmos and 5.1 surround mix from the original album multi-tracks plus the high-resolution newly remastered 1982 stereo mix of the original album. Additionally, the super deluxe box features an extensive array of bonus kollectible KISS memorabilia and ephemera.

The above-mentioned demo version of “Not For The Innocent” — featuring Stanley and Simmons trading lead vocals — can be heard below. The final version of the song, which featured only Simmons on vocals, was featured on KISS‘s 1983 album “Lick It Up”.