fartzarellah's Full Review: Hotter Than Hell [Limited] [Remaster] by Kiss
It is time for me to come out of the closet. I have been writing epinions for well over a year without penning a single Kiss review and that just has to change. I was a huge Kiss fan when I was three and from ages eight to twelve (or somewhere thereabouts). The simple song structures, singable melodies, and scary looking band members were pure heaven to the pre-pubezent (spelling error included so I could include the word, which I find wholly unoffensive) montser boy I was at the time. Unlike my obsessions with all of those early Alice Cooper and Black Sabbath albums though, I lost interest in Kiss. When I started looking below the glittery surface I did not find much to like. I became very suspicious of things that tasted good but had no nutritional value (I stopped using sugar, salt, salad dressing, butter, and other yummy toppings about the same time I stopped listening to Kiss). Over time, however, I have relearned to appreciate the taste of sugar donuts. Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge or some such nonsense.
So, to make a long story even longer, I went out and bought Hotter Than Hell a little over a week ago (since I do not own a single Kiss CD and had to start somewhere. Why not start in the budget section?) The cashier asked me if I wanted a bag and I responded "Do you think I want people to see me walking around with this thing? Of course I want a bag!" (true story!) Even now, part of me wants to trash this CD just so people won't pick on me or remove me from their trust list. I will fight that urge and try to give you a straight ahead, objective, unbiased, ethical review instead.
Stuff That I Like
First of all...
Hotter Than Hell (1974) is a rock guitarist's wet dream. The riffs are all rock solid and Ace Frehely's spaced out, hot slithery licks fill the CD from top to bottom. In fact, Hotter Than Hell was Frehely's shining moment as a soloist. Nine of the ten tracks showcase his inimitable vibrato, dead on rhythmic phrasing, and burning runs (Mommy! Help! I've got the burning runs!) You could call his playing cliched, but Frehely is the one who made these licks into cliches to begin with (that's a compliment, see?) Even so, the leads on this album sound less cliched than in other places. Each solo is perfectly tailored to the songs, and some of the fretboard work is even a bit technically demanding. The echo-ey, reverb drenched, bendy, slidy, trilly, full on pentatonic assault of the wanna-be Sabbath song Strange Ways is the best example on here.
Secondly...
Everything brushed by the the tip of Gene Simmons's fiery tongue melted into a delicious slather of seventies rock and roll. The five tracks he sings lead on (Parasite, Goin' Blind, Let Me Go Rock N Roll, All The Way, and Watchin' You) are the best songs on the album. Yes, he does sound as though he is trying to squeeze out a fart, but he does so with attitude and accurate pitch (ever farted with attitude and on pitch?) He had not ruined his voice yet, and even gives a smooth delivery on All The Way, which is easily the best song on the album. His song writing had hit a peak as well. He delivers some of the best melodies of the entire Kiss ouvre on the pure rocker All The Way, with its fun, sing-song chorus, and on the melancholic Goin' Blind, which also has a beautiful (!) melodic bass line that he plays at the same time he sings (check out the version of this song on the MTV unplugged CD). Say what you will about Simmons being a chauvinist pig (and I will join you!) but he was/is a talented rocker dude.
Thirdly...
The Cat Man plays some seriously infectious back beats that save several songs from becoming pure drivel (Hotter Than Hell and Strange Ways in particular). He also puts out (just look at the cover!?@#) some impressive fills and unconventionally groovy patterns on Watchin' You and Parasite. Criss goes a little cowbell crazy on side two (the last five tracks), but there is never such thing as too much cowbell, right?
Other Stuff
First of All...
The Star Child (Paul Stanley) hit a lull as a songwriter on Hotter Than Hell. The arena rock Got To Choose is alright at best and embarrassing at worst (check out the falsetto "wooos!" in the chorus. WTF?), Hotter Than Hell is groovy enough but where the world did the third verse go? And wouldn't this song work better on a Spinal Tap album? Finally, don't forget to hit the skip button when Mainline comes along. It is a dull, moderate tempo poppy number with absolutely nothing to recommend (except Ace's guitar solo). The two songs he wrote with the other guys (Comin' Home with Frehely and Let Me Go Rock N Roll with Simmons) are both good tunes though. Comin' Home is a sweet little melodious treat and Let Me Go Rock N Roll is a boogie woogie, country rock hootenanny, the fastest and most satisfying number on the CD.
But...
He had also not become the strong singer we hear on their next album, Dressed to Kill. He sounds like a white man impersonating Aunt Jemima and comes out flat on most of the tunes, with the exception of Comin' Home. Simmons was definitely the dominant singer at the time.
Secondly (or is it thirdly?)
The production job is the worst of the early Kiss albums, which should tell you something. Sadly, the remastered CD has done little to rectify the situation. Hotter Than Hell is replete with unwanted distortions and boxed in sounds. You could say that the sound quality adds to the charm of the CD, but I would have to hit you.
Just a bit more...
Kiss put out two albums a year back then. That's cool in a way, because there are lots of Kiss albums, but they would have done better to wait until they had a completed product. The rush job shows in the dull and sometimes incomplete song formats. There are several cheap fade outs, abrupt endings, and riffs from left field. Chintzy.
And take that you scoundrel...
Lyrics were never Kiss's strong point so I know you aren't expecting much there. Well, you shouldn't. Here are some of the gems:
There are the Spinal Tapisms...
Hot, Hot, Hotter than Hell
You know she's gonna leave you well done
Hot, Hot, Hotter than Hell
Burn you like the midday sun. Ow!
The rhyming with the same wordisms...
You've got a lot to say
Every night and every sunny day
It's the same thing you've been saying to me every day
and the just too stupid for wordsisms...
I'm needin' some lovin'
I'm hot like an oven
It's so true
But oh well. You don't buy Kiss albums looking for profound insights into the human condition now do you?
And So
Although it may seem that the cons outweigh the pros, the pros are very skilled and will always triumph over the fat, smelly, evil cons. Yes that was very cheesy, but it was also fun, and so is this album.
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