Hotter Than Hell |  | Artist: Kiss
Label: Island / Mercury
Category: Music
List Price: $9.98
Buy New: $4.95
You Save: $5.03 (50%)
New (34) Used (22) Collectible (1) from $4.95
Rating:  95 reviews
Sales Rank: 58817
Format: Original Recording Reissued, Original Recording Remastered
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
MPN: 532375
UPC: 731453237520
EAN: 0731453237520
ASIN: B000001EKX
Release Date: July 15, 1997
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Tracks:
| • | Got to Choose | | • | Parasite | | • | Goin' Blind | | • | Hotter Than Hell | | • | Let Me Go, Rock 'n' Roll | | • | All the Way | | • | Watchin' You | | • | Mainline | | • | Comin' Home | | • | Strange Ways |
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Album Description
Digitally remastered Japanese reissue of the band's secondalbum from 1974 in a miniaturized LP sleeve limited to theinitial pressing only. 10 tracks, including 'Let Me Go, Rock'N Roll' and 'Comin' Home'. 1998 Mercury release.
Album Details
Due to Demand, an Encore Pressing of the Limited LP Style Sleeve Edition from Japan Are to Be Available for a Very Limited Time. Don't Miss Out this Go Round.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 90 more reviews...
 The most underrated KISS album. September 24, 1999
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
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.
One of their better early efforts March 10, 2006
ECU_Classic_Music_Fan (Charlotte, NC United States)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
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.
Kiss' Second Album Is Near Perfect! January 16, 2006
D. Haralson (Jackson, MS USA)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
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.
30 Years Later, It Still Rocks Hard! October 11, 2004
Chuck Potocki (Highland, Indiana)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
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!
An Intriguing Relic October 1, 2002
Clay Davis (Shreveport, Louisiana United States)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
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.
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