The Carnival of the Animals and xylophone. From the beginning, Saint-Saëns regarded the work as a piece of fun. On 9 February 1886 he wrote to his publishers Durand in Paris that he was composing a work for the coming Shrove Tuesday, and confessing that he knew he should be working on his Third Symphony, but that this work was "such fun" (). He had apparently intended to write the work for his students at the École Niedermeyer, but it was first performed at a private concert given by the cellist Charles Lebouc on Shrove Tuesday, 9 March 1886. A second (private) performance was given
Carnival of Souls: The Final Sessions a reunion tour with the band's original lineup. Bootleg copies were circulated by fans, prompting the band to officially release the material in 1997 under the title "Carnival of Souls: The Final Sessions". According to guitarist Bruce Kulick, the bootleg versions in distribution lacked songs that are part of the official release. There was no accompanying tour to support the album, and none of the songs on "Carnival of Souls" have ever been performed live by Kiss. Two former members of the band Black 'N Blue co-wrote songs on "Carnival of Souls"; vocalist Jaime St. James co-wrote "In My Head",