Hotter Than Hell is the second album from the rock group KISS. It was certified Gold on June 23, 1977, having sold 500,000 copies. The album was re-released in 1997 (along with most of Kiss' earlier albums) in a remastered version. The album peaked on the charts at number 100 without the benefit of a hit single.
RIAA: Gold
In Their Own Words[]
Gene Simmons - "We'd been touring pretty nonstop from the time the first record came out, so by the time we got to L.A. to do Hotter Than Hell, we were actually right in the middle of a tour. I quite like Hotter than Hell. I'd give the album three stars"
Paul Stanley - "I'd give Hotter Than Hell three stars. There's some songs I really like. We were never and rock-n-rolly or good-timey as we sounded on that album. We were much heavier live."
Peter Criss - "We were still green. We had one album and it dint do well so we were really hoping this would do better, cause no one really took the first one to heart.It was kinda decadent and it was really wild. It was swinging 70s,. Id give the album three stars because there was a lot of decadence going on."
Ace Frehley - Hotter than Hell was a harder album to record than our first record because we had toured so extensively and then all of a sudden the record company wanted us to put out another album. I'd give Hotter Than Hell three and a half stars"
- Quotes taken from the book: KISS - Behind The Mask
The album[]
Move to Los Angeles[]
The production team of Kenny Kerner and Richie Wise, who had produced the group's first album, was chosen for the follow up. Since the pair had relocated to Los Angeles, Kiss flew there to work with them. The band, all native New Yorkers, immediately developed a dislike for their new surroundings. Paul Stanley's guitar was stolen his first day in Los Angeles.
The music[]
Musically, Hotter Than Hell is darker than the band's first album. This is partly due to the murkier production values, but also to the lyrical content of some of the songs. "Goin' Blind," which details a doomed romance with a 93-year-old and an underage girl, was a song written by Gene Simmons and Stephen Coronel during Wicked Lester's existence. The original title was "Little Lady."
Hotter Than Hell featured far more overdubs than the first album. While Kerner and Wise wanted to produce a record that captured Kiss as a live act, they decided to take advantage of the experience the band had gained as recording artists.
Although the album featured two songs penned solely by Frehley, he did not sing on either one of them. His lack of confidence in his singing abilities at the time led to lead vocal duties for "Parasite" and "Strange Ways" going to Gene Simmons and Peter Criss, respectively. Frehley's guitar solo in "Strange Ways" has been called one of his best
Photography session[]
The album is also known for its striking cover: the front featured Japanese manga-influenced artwork, and the back cover showed individual band shots taken by Norman Seeff at a wild party, (Which shows there are 4 pictures of the band: Paul on the left is making love, Ace Frehley is relaxing on the bottom in space, Peter on the right is holding a girl, And Gene Simmons is breathing fire through a goblet in a Medieval outfit.) and a composite of all four band members' makeup designs. Which shows a yellow face the left side had Gene Simmons but it's green and the top of Paul Stanley's star and Ace Frehley's spaceman makeup is blue and Peter Criss' cat whiskers and Gene's tongue
Everyone present at the session (with the exception of Simmons) was drunk for the entire photography session. Stanley was so drunk he had to be locked in his car. Paul's drunken state can easily be seen on the album's front cover as it appears Peter Criss is holding him up while Paul holds onto Peter's leg.
The Japanese character on the bottom of the album cover (力) is chikara, which means "power." It would later be used on various forms of Kiss material during the 1970s and 1980s, most prominently on Eric Carr's drum kit.
The Japanese on the top-right corner of the album cover (地獄 の さけび) is jigoku no sakebi, which means "Hell's shout" or "The shout of hell."
Ace Frehley's image on the front cover is actually airbrushed, as a side of his face was injured in a car accident and was without makeup on the afflicted area at the time of the photo shoot. Also, the Japanese characters used for Ace's name pronounces it wrong. The characters are エイス フューリ (eisu fyuuri), which would translate to "Ace Fury." The characters should have been エイス フリーリ (eisu furiiri).
A commercial disappointment[]
Despite the intense touring schedule Kiss maintained in 1974, Hotter Than Hell failed to outperform the band's first album. In fact, it did considerably worse. This was due partly to the fact that Casablanca Records' distribution deal with Warner Bros. Records had ended. The publicity push behind the album was not nearly what it was for Kiss (album). One notable exception was a television commercial aired to promote the album. The only single released from the album, "Let Me Go, Rock 'n' Roll," was distributed in low numbers and failed to chart. Four months after the album was released, Kiss were pulled off tour and called back into the studio to record a follow up. Hotter Than Hell was certified Gold on June 23, 1977, when it sold 500,000 copies
Track listing[]
- Got To Choose ··· (3:52) - Stanley
- Parasite ··· (3:01) - Frehley
- Goin' Blind ··· (3:34) - Simmons/Coronel
- Hotter Than Hell ··· (3:30) - Stanley
- Let Me Go, Rock 'N Roll ··· (2:16) - Simmons/Stanley
- All The Way ··· (3:17) - Simmons
- Watchin' You ··· (3:45) - Simmons
- Mainline ··· (3:50) - Stanley
- Comin' Home ··· (2:37) - Stanley/Frehley
- Strange Ways ··· (3:17) - Frehley
Cover versions[]
- The Smelly Tongues covered "Parasite" on Hard to Believe: Kiss Covers Compilation.
- "Parasite" was also covered by American thrash metal band Anthrax on Attack of the Killer B's album in the early 90's.
- Anthrax also covered "Watchin' You" for the 2001 remastered Stomp 442.
- "Goin' Blind" was covered by The Melvins, on the 1993 release Houdini.
- "Comin' Home" has been translated into Swedish and recorded on the 2009 album Kyssar & Guld by Rolf Carlsson.
- "Strange Ways" was covered by Megadeth for the Best Buy release of their 2004 album The System Has Failed.
Chart Action[]
USA Chart Peak (USA): #100 (12/26/74) with 15 weeks on charts. Other countries: AUZ #98; CAN #97 (1974/5), #29 (1976); JAP #46
Personnel[]
- Paul Stanley - Rhythm guitar, lead vocals
- Gene Simmons – Bass guitar, lead vocals
- Ace Frehley – lead guitar
- Peter Criss – drums, percussion, vocals
Production[]
- Kenny Kerner – producer
- Richie Wise– producer
- Warren Dewey - engineer
- Norman Seeff - photography, art direction
- John Van Hamersveld - design, art direction
- Joseph M. Palmaccio - remastering
Other Pressings[]
Performed Live[]
Since several of these songs were leftovers from the club period they too form part the core of KISS' original catalog. As a result it should not be surprising that all of them have been performed live. "Goin' Blind," "Baby, Let Me Go" (later re-titled " Let Me Go, Rock 'N Roll") and " Watchin' You" were all performed at KISS' first ever gig, on January 30, 1973. "Got To Choose" and "Parasite" were the first new album tracks added to the band's set as they headed out on the road in support of the album in October 1974. "Hotter Than Hell" soon followed. Other songs such as "Mainline" and "Strange Ways" were briefly tried live and discarded. The final two songs, "Comin' Home," and "All The Way" wouldn't be performed, respectively, until 1995 (Unplugged) and 2004. The former would finally get a proper electric performance on the KISS Kruise of 2011.