Customer Reviews

Hotter Than Hell

5 star:		(49)
4 star:		(43)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Many point to this album as not being one of Kiss' better efforts, or that it was a career "misstep"; in a way, I agree with the first, but I definitely don't agree with the second. Yes, this is not one of their better efforts, but it certainly doesn't suck by any means; the "sophomore jinx" didn't apply here as Kiss returned with a vengeance not quite 8 months after their classic debut was released.

During this period, Kiss were still trying to find their sound and establish their identity (or rather, conceal their identity!); they were touring at a near-constant pace and also facing a lot of pressure from their record label and management to deliver a "hit" album. So considering that this was rehearsed and recorded very quickly on their rare days off from touring (and not to mention that this was their 2nd album released in the same year), it's a consistent and rewarding album.

I absorbed "Hotter Than Hell" pretty heavily back in the day, but I've recently began re-absorbing it and have developed an even greater appreciation for it 30 years later. I agree with the many people who have said that the sound quality and production on this album are substandard and primitive, but perhaps that was the point of it all; a majority of the basic tracks were recorded live in the studio, and the liner notes on the CD state that with this album, Kiss succeeded in achieving the "untamed" sound they had been searching for.

Musically, the one member of Kiss who shines on this album is Ace Frehley; he began to make his presence known and stepped up to the plate to deliver some of his best guitar solos as well as some of his best and heaviest songs. "Strange Ways" is a prime example...the guitars are loud and leaden-sounding, and the plodding rhythms in the intro provided by the drums & bass make it sound like a sort of heavy metal Indian war dance. Ace furiously picks a frenetic, Hendrix-like guitar solo that will positively rip your head off at high volume!

My next favorite track is the somewhat disturbing "Goin' Blind", where Gene Simmons puts himself into the mind and body of a 93-year old man who is having a sordid affair with a 16-year old girl. As bizarre as the subject matter of the song is, it's classic Gene Simmons through and through; again, Ace Frehley delivers a short but effective guitar solo. Other standouts are the concert classic "Watchin' You", the slow and slurred title track and another concert staple "Let Me Go, Rock & Roll". Lastly, the oriental influence that dominates the album cover art gives it an "imported" look; at first glance, I thought that the album was a Japanese import and not an American release!

Overall, "Hotter Than Hell" is a definite progression from the more "tame" sound that characterized their debut album. Give it another listen and rediscover a true diamond in the rough!

Although the first KISS album is a classic, it suffered from bad production, making the songs sound weak and thin. This second outing from the "Painted Ones" sounds much heavier and has a wall of sound production that gives this album an "edge" that some KISS albums lack. Suprisingly, this album is often overlooked considering that some of the most bonafide KISS KLASSIKS are here. "Let Me Go, Rock N Roll" is a heavy Rockabilly number that has remained a staple of KISS live shows to this day. Likewise, "Parasite", "Watchin' You", and "Hotter Than Hell" are true gems that most KISS fans can easily start singing at the mere mention of their names. This is easily my favorite of the classic KISS albums and it sounds best when listining to it at top volume with headphones at 3:00 am.

Don't laugh. This is a very good album and it stayed in constant rotation on my turntable when it first came out.

It's a rock guitar dream come true. Just listen to Strange Ways and tell me Ace can't play some fantastic guitar. This was in the days when they were struggling to make a name for themselves. Not the greatest sound quality. Still this is one for a true fan of the band and anyone who loves 70's hard rock guitar.

After the poor reception and slow sales of Kiss' first album, the record company ordered them to return to the studio just a few months after the first album was released to create another album. The result was one of the best albums of their career, even though the production is a bit shoddy.

1. Got To Choose-5/5. Excellent Paul song that wasn't performed much after the Alive album. The lyrics are really cool and the vocals are excellent. Very heavy song.
2. Parasite-5/5. Another song written by Ace and sung by Gene. This has a classic heavy metal riff with great lyrics and plenty of attitude.
3. Goin' Blind-5/5. Great song by Gene with excellent music and vocals. The lyrics aren't great but they aren't terrible either. The most appealing thing about this song is the music. It is very unique.
4. Hotter Than Hell-5/5. This song is where the bad production shows up more than on any other. The song itself is great. Very heavy riff, great lyrics and vocals by Paul. One of their best.
5. Let Me Go, Rock and Roll-5/5. Very upbeat, fast tempo song written by Paul and Gene and sung by Gene. The lyrics are very rock and roll type lyrics. The chorus is very catchy. A great song.
6. All the Way-4/5. Another heavy song by Gene. The vocals are great, the music is cool, but the chorus is lacking a bit, making this a 4 instead of a 5. Still great, though.
7. Watchin' You-5/5. One of my personal favorite Kiss songs. The lyrics and vocals are really cool and the riff is awesome. Heavy metal at its best.
8. Mainline-4/5. Written by Paul and sung by Peter, this is a great song, but is very different for Kiss. It doesn't have the heavy riffs that most Kiss songs have and the chorus has a more rock and less metal feel to it.
9. Comin' Home-4/5. This is another example of how bad the production on this album is. The vocals sound rough. The music is cool but it is too distorted and there is way too much bottom end. This song would have been much better if the production would have been better.
10. Strange Ways-5/5. Very heavy song from Ace and sung by Peter. The riff is super heavy. Slow tempo gives it a monster metal feel to it. One of the best songs from Ace.

This album would have been near perfect if the production would have been much better. Although the band says that they were rushed for songs on this one and "Dressed To Kill", the songs themselves would never show it. They are among the best in Kiss' history. This album is a must for every Kiss fan, but may not be for casual fans.

This album serves as a perfect companion piece for Kiss' self-titled debut album. The band themselves have complained that the production quality of the overall sound may have been too over-driven, but I think this only adds to the character of the material. One song, "Let Me Go, Rock and Roll", is a Kiss classic and is, in my opinion, a better song than the band's signature tune, "Rock and Roll All Night". It's a very straight-forward rock number in the style of Chuck Berry, but with a decidedly bolder edge. Lead guitarist Ace Frehley stepped up to the plate on this album, contributing the aggressive "Parasite", a prophetic precursor to music of bands like Anthrax and Red Hot Chili Peppers - a full twenty years prior. While another Frehley song, the plodding "Strange Ways", may tax your patience, a rare collaboration with guitarist/singer Paul Stanley, "Comin' Home", is a melodic treat. The song brings to mind what may have happened had Motown signed hard rock bands. Bassist/singer Gene Simmons brought in many interesting and entertaining songs, including "All the Way", which has the most infectious chorus on the album. His unconventional ballad, "Goin' Blind", with it's bizarre imagery ("Little lady, can't you see? There is nothing more for you and I. I'm ninety-three and you're sixteen, and I think I'm going blind."), is the album's standout oddity, but in a strangely compelling way. Simmons carries through his stream-of-consciousness style of lyricism - an inventive style last featured on this very album - on the powerful "Watchin' You" ("Limping as you do, I'm watching you. And you don't really know, just watching me."). The witchy groove of the song's rythmic structure is a perfect match for these unusual - if voyeuristic - lyrics. On another note, the eccentric packaging, replete with Japanese imagery on the front cover and a "mask" combining elements of the band's makeup, suggest much of the atmosphere contained in the music. Photos of each band member in curious poses add to the intrigue, with Stanley and drummer Peter Criss posing with scantily-clad women, Frehley perched upon a table of electronic gadgets like a mad scientist on a coffee break and Simmons breathing fire with a studded goblet in one hand - each in rarely used costumes. The union of this packaging and music is about as "artsy" as one could expect from this band in '74, which is ironic. Considering how visually stunning the band was, one would expect such experimental graphic design throughout it's career, but this is not the case. At any rate, it's the music that matters and this album is a great listen - most especially for Kiss fans, but also for anyone with a taste for something different. With few low points (the aforementioned "Strange Ways", "Mainline" and "Got to Choose"), "Hotter Than Hell" goes with the debut album "Kiss" like peanut butter and jelly. They both taste better when served together.

This inexplicably is one of the most poorly reviewed of KISS's early LPs. I don't get it because I've loved this album for years and the only thing I can think of that justifies this criticism is the less than great production quality. What makes this album indispensible are the songs. They are all catchy hard rock songs written with the humor and enthusiasm of a young band on the rise, before they became a corporate entity. Classics are bountiful such as the title song, "Got to Choose", "Let Me Go, Rock n' Roll", "Watchin' You" and my all time favorite "Parasite". I also love the one-two pop punch of "Mainline" and "Coming Home". Ace Frehley's contributions in writing and playing really stand out, especially "Strange Ways" and Peter while not a songwriter as yet contributed his spirited and trademark raspy vocals to both "Mainline" and "Strange Ways". As strange as "Goin' Blind" is you can't help but admire the sense of humor that Gene brought to his songwriting and that is what makes that song so great. If you are a KISS fan then I know I'm preaching to the choir when I say "Hotter Than Hell" belongs alongside the debut as a true representation of what made KISS a great band, good songs.

THE BAND: Gene Simmons (Gene Klein), Paul Stanley (Stanley Eisen), Ace Frehley (Paul Frehley), Peter Criss (Peter Crisscoula).

THE DISC: Released 10/22/74. Recorded at The Village Recorder in Los Angeles, CA. 10 songs clocking in at approximately 33 minutes. Hints of Japanese culture on the cover in conjunction with the band's kabuki style make up. Originally released on Casablanca Records in 1974; this remastered edition was released in 1997 on Mercury's label. Slightly improved sound in my book (deeper bass guitars and crisper highs)... but that's not saying much - the production on this album (and their first release) are downright horrible. Liner notes are slim - a 2 page fold out with song titles, writing credits and times. Underneath the disc on the inside cover, there's an informative 5 paragraph history of what the band was going through at the time.

COMMENTS: No radio hits here, however "Alive" (1975) featured 5 killer songs from "Hotter Than Hell"... the title track, "Parasite", "Let Me Go, Rock and Roll", "Watchin' You", and "Got To Choose". The deeper album cuts were very good as well - like "Goin' Blind", "Mainline" and "All The Way". In my opinion, the song writing here is/was top notch for Kiss. However, Kiss proved ultimately, that their live show was without question, far superior to their vinyl release(s). Great songs; flat production; a sign of greater things to come.

Sludgy, dark, and moody, KISS' sophomore album, "Hotter Than Hell," is considered one of the group's low points in its early years by many mainstream rock enthusiasts. However, I personally feel that it is one of their best offerings for a number of reasons. The first reason is the fact that this album was an attempt to sound more like one of KISS' bombastic live shows. It's a well-known fact that KISS' popularity didn't really take off until after the release of "Alive" (two albums later), so you can't fault the producers or the band for trying to catch the raw energy of their live show on a studio album.

Secondly, the song collection ranges from typical KISS fare like the title track, "Let Me Go, Rock n' Roll," and "Mainline," to darker rockers like "Parasite" and "Goin' Blind." As expected, Paul Stanley shines on the songs that lean more to the pop spectrum of rock n' roll. Peter Criss takes lead on "Mainline" and "Strange Ways" and handles them both in his typical gruff-voiced way. Gene Simmons leads the bulk of the album, fronting five of the album's ten tracks. If you've never heard "Goin' Blind," I highly recommend it. It is once of Simmons' best songs.

The third reason, and quite possible the biggest reason this album gets better with each listen, is the writing and guitar playing of Ace Frehley. He penned two of the album's songs, "Parasite" and "Strange Ways," and co-wrote "Comin' Home" with Paul Stanley. All three of these tracks are, in my opinion, some of KISS' best early tunes. Frehley's guitar has rarely sounded better than on this album as well. The album's sound, particularly the sludginess of many of the songs, seems to lend itself to Frehley. His solos on this album are wonderful.

Overall, this album is often overlooked by casual fans of the group. You can't really blame them, however, given the large amount of greatest hits packages that the band has offered over the years. If you're a true KISS fan, you probably already have this album. If you've been holding off on buying it due to the lack of major singles, you're missing a real treat. Highly recommended.

"Hotter Than Hell" was released only 6 months after Kiss' self-titled debut, and in some ways it shows: the playing isn't as tight here, and the songs lack a little polish for less preparation time. On the other hand, much of the material IS quite strong, and the production quality was beefed up in an attempt to make Kiss actually SOUND "like Kiss."

Straight-ahead rockers like the title track, "Mainline" and "Got to Choose" have all the bombast you might expect, but they are balanced by occasional oddities like "Goin' Blind" and "Strange Ways." Peter gets a couple of vocal tracks here, and Kiss is stronger for it: his bluesy voice, along with Gene's growl and Paul's wail, makes for an extremely efficient triple-threat.

First-time listeners to this disc might actually think something is wrong with their copy due to the heavy fuzz and booming echo. All involved parties thought that the first Kiss record didn't sound as "heavy" as they actually did live, so efforts were made to strengthen their sound for their second release, and I must say, "Hotter than Hell" sounds like no other Kiss record! It's dark, boomy, a sort of "if Phil Spector did heavy metal" wall of sound. My experience with this album is, you either get hooked on it right away, or becomes a rarely-listened-to oddity.

...That was initially supposed to be the title of this record until they decided on "Hotter Than Hell". Again, I think this is a great record for the songs it contains, but sonically, KISS was going for a harder edged sound, and some of them are really good, but some sound too distorted. But, awesome tunes on this one. The title track, "Got to Choose" "Parasite" "Let me Go R+R" to name a few. My favorites and lesser known gems are "Stange Ways" - written by Ace and sung by Peter - what a shame they didn't do that one live! Also, "Comin Home" and "Mainline" are cool riff rockers. Recently, they did "All the Way" on their Rock the Nation tour and it sounded great.