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Kiss was in the midst of a transitional phase as the 1980s began.  was not involved in the recording of 1980's : he officially left Kiss in May of the same year. His replacement () was officially introduced in July. The group had recently embarked on a hugely successful tour of  and  (where the group's popularity was at its peak) in November, but the band's commercial fortunes at home were drastically reduced from the 1975–79 era. Due to the lackluster sales of Unmasked, Kiss toured exclusively outside the U.S. for the first time in their career (except for one concert at the  in New York). The overseas tours were well attended, partly because Kiss had rarely ventured abroad and because the more -oriented  and Unmasked albums did better in the European markets than their earlier hard rock albums.

This commercial downturn is attributable to many factors; two of the biggest being the softening of Kiss' image in an effort to appeal to a broader fanbase and the softening of their music. Unmasked was a decidedly more pop-oriented effort than earlier albums, and represented a sales drop-off of 65% from 1979's Dynasty. It also became the first Kiss album to fail to achieve  status since 1975's . The glut of  that had cropped up in the late 1970s led to a backlash from many fans who felt that Kiss was then more concerned with making money than with making good music.

In an effort to return to their hard rock roots, Kiss began recording music more akin to the hard rock style that launched them to popularity in the mid-1970s. The fall 1980 issue of the Kiss Army Newsletter hinted at the style the new album was to take: "It will be hard and heavy from start to finish, straight-on rock and roll that will knock your socks off." But at the same time, Simmons, Stanley, and creative manager  felt that just returning to a harder sound was not enough. They believed that only a bold, artistic statement would regenerate public interest in Kiss. To that end, they enlisted   to work with the group, who, in turn, employed members from the  and St. Robert's Choir to record tracks for the album. Ezrin had worked with the group before, producing the group's hit 1976 album . He had also co-produced 's 1979 concept album . Simmons, Stanley, and Aucoin felt that Ezrin could help bring their ambitions to fruition.

The original vinyl release was a  sleeve. This was the first Kiss album to feature no image of the group, not even the customary front-cover appearance. According to one story, the hand reaching for the door knocker is not that of Stanley: Aucoin has stated that it belongs to a handmodel, hired for the shoot; however, in 2011 a photo surfaced from the album cover shoot showing a partially naked-faced Stanley with his hand on the . The door itself was long rumored to be located at the Park Ave United Methodist church on , New York City, but was actually a prop created for the shoot. The photo session displayed a change of image: the costumes were more streamlined, especially when compared with the costumes for Unmasked, as were the hairstyles of Stanley and Simmons in particular.

Recording sessions for the album commenced in March 1981. Sessions were held in , , and Frehley's home recording studio in . During the recording, Ezrin and Kiss worked in complete secrecy. Ezrin, in particular, had insisted that he would only communicate with Kiss or Aucoin. No one other than Ezrin and Kiss ever heard the album in progress. Frehley became increasingly frustrated during the sessions, as he disagreed with the band's decision to abandon their original plan to record a straight rock album. Additionally, a number of guitar solos Frehley recorded were not included in the final cut. Frehley was often outvoted 2-1 on band decisions after Criss' departure. Carr was not a partner in Kiss as the other three members were, but rather an employee. Frehley resented what he felt was Simmons' and Stanley's domination of the recording sessions.