Post by Erik Rupp on Aug 16, 2009 10:55:37 GMT -5
KISS - Hotter Than Hell (1974)
After their first album put KISS on the map (but failed to become a big hit), Casablanca Records President Neil Bogart and KISS manager Bill Aucoin sent them back into the studio to record their 2nd album. This was just six months after the release of their self-titled debut album.
The album, Hotter Than Hell, was recorded not in the band's hometown of New York City, but in Los Angeles, and it was completed in only 20 days. Once again sitting in the producer's chairs were Kenny Kerner and Richie Wise, and Warren Dewey was again brought in as the album's engineer.
This time, however, Kerner and Wise decided to go for a Black Sabbath Master of Reality type of audio production, with a big, thick, dark sound. The problem? They, and engineer Warren Dewey, didn't know how Rodger Bain got the sounds that he got on Master of Reality. Rather than just call Bain and ask how he got such a thick, dark guitar tone, Kerner, Wise, and Dewey decided to experiement. Multi-tracking and bouncing guitar tracks, running cords into the bathroom to mike the amps in there for the natural reverberation - they tried a lot of techniques that had nothing to do with what Bain did to get the tones that they were looking for.
The result? A muddy, murky, sludge filled sound that comes close, but fails to hit the mark. Ironically, on an album with such a dark, muddy sound it is the tone they got for the bass guitar that really shines and is quite good. Go figure.
Often overlooked is the snare drum sound. It is harsh and annoying thanks to too much high end and not enough low mids when they eq'd that track. (Sean Delaney's remixes of the songs from this album for the Double Platinum complilation are much better than the original mix, and the snare sound is a big reason why - he fixed it, somewhat.)
But beyond the rushed production (the first album was recorded quickly as well, but with much better audio results), the album features several of KISS' strongest songs, and some solid album cuts.
The album opens with, "Got To Choose," a Paul Stanley song that combines a very strong melodic sense (including some very nice harmony vocals with Gene Simmons) with some thick meaty riffing. It is a song that holds up very well 35 years later, and still finds it's way into their live set.
Ace Frehley still did not feel comfortable with the idea of taking a lead vocal himself, so Gene Simmons once again was called on to sing one of Ace's songs (as he had on the previous album's, "Cold Gin"). "Parasite," follows up, "Got To Choose," with some real musical fireworks. It is a song with a some explosive riffing and Peter Criss's trademark ghost-note filled drumming (much like his playing on, "100,000 Years," and what would be heard on, "Detroit Rock City"). Parasite also features a very nice vibrato-filled solo from Ace Frehley, and is one of the album's highlights.
The first songwriting contribution on the album from Gene Simmons is the odd, quirky, almost Beatle-esque, "Goin' Blind." It was a holdover from their previous band, Wicked Lester, and it gets new life here. Dark, with some rather interesting chord progressions, "Goin Blind," is one of those songs that shows how KISS is more than just a one-trick pony. It's also a very strong song, and placed perfectly in between Ace's, "Parasite," and the next track, Paul Stanley's, "Hotter Than Hell."
The title track is another of KISS' signature songs, one that has been included in their live set on and off for the last 35 years. It has a slower groove, but a very strong (and somewhat funky) beat. The riff is, again, huge and thick, and the vocal melodies and hooks are very, very strong. It is a classic KISS song.
What was Side One (when the album first came out) closes out with Gene Simmons' explosive Retro-Rock song, "Let Me Go; Rock and Roll." This song could be seen as the prototype for, "Rock and Roll All Nite," which would be written for the next album, Dressed To Kill. "Let Me Go," has a busier riff than their future signature song, and a feel more akin to Ted Nugent's, "Wang Dang Sweet Poontang," (which would be featured on his Cat Scratch Fever album 3 years later).
Side Two opened up with Gene Simmons', "All the Way," a strong album cut with some good vocal melodies and more big, fat riffs. It also features another Retro-Rock chorus. For all the intentions to have a big, fat Black Sabbath sounding album it seems that they had just as much in common musically with Chuck Berry as they did the boys from Birmingham.
The next track is another of KISS' strongest songs, "Watchin' You." Written and sung by Gene Simmons this song is centered around some more big, hefty riffing, with the riffing here being a tad more complex than most of what was on the rest of the album. The song with it's mid-tempo beat is heavier than it's predecessor, but not any less melodic. It also, again, features some nice harmony vocals between Gene and Paul Stanley.
After the dark, chunky, busy, mid-tempo riffing that was, "Watchin' You," KISS moves into good old Rock and Roll territory with, "Mainline." "Mainline," features a lead vocal from Peter Criss, and his ability to sing straightforward Hard Rock with his raspy voice is often overlooked and undervalued. While he may be best known for the (sappy) ballad, "Beth," his strength as a singer really was on the songs that had more of a good time Rock and Roll vibe. This is no exception. "Mainline," is happy, upbeat, and almost bright and shiny musically (despite the muddy audio production). Peter's love of 60's R&B really shines through on his vocal performance here, as the Paul Stanley written song really suits him to a, "T." This is an album cut, and almost a throwaway album cut at that - except that it's just so damned infectious that it's clear why it was included on the album.
Paul follows that up by singing a good time Rock and Roll song himself. "Comin' Home," is very similar to the previous song, but with enough differences in tempo ("Comin' Home," is a little faster), and overall feel that the songs are distinct from each other stylistically. Like, "Mainline," "Comin' Home," could be called a near throwaway, "Filler," track, but again is infectiously catchy and just so damned upbeat (and a seeming message about being away from home for an extended period of time while writing and recording the Hotter Than Hell album), that it, like it's predecessor, earns it's place on the album.
The album closes out in the dark, moody, heavy fashion that would be expected of an album with this kind of sludgy audio production. "Strange Ways," was written by Ace Frehley and sung by Peter Criss. It is really the only song on the album that sounds like Black Sabbath at all. It IS a song that wouldn't sound out of place on Master of Reality, but it still sounds like KISS for the most part. It features a slower, grungier riffing style, and a good strong beat, but it's Peter Criss' vocals that really take this song from Black Sabbath territory to something closer to KISS' signature sound. It's not the best song on the album, but it isn't the weakest, either. It's a solid album cut (a little stronger than average on this album), and the perfect song to close out the album.
Overall, Hotter Than Hell may not have as many absolute KISS classics as the debut album did, but it also doesn't have the obvious weak spots like that album did. For an album written and recorded as quickly as it was (although a few of the songs were in KISS' repertoire for over a year), Hotter Than Hell turned out remarkably well.
4.5/5
After their first album put KISS on the map (but failed to become a big hit), Casablanca Records President Neil Bogart and KISS manager Bill Aucoin sent them back into the studio to record their 2nd album. This was just six months after the release of their self-titled debut album.
The album, Hotter Than Hell, was recorded not in the band's hometown of New York City, but in Los Angeles, and it was completed in only 20 days. Once again sitting in the producer's chairs were Kenny Kerner and Richie Wise, and Warren Dewey was again brought in as the album's engineer.
This time, however, Kerner and Wise decided to go for a Black Sabbath Master of Reality type of audio production, with a big, thick, dark sound. The problem? They, and engineer Warren Dewey, didn't know how Rodger Bain got the sounds that he got on Master of Reality. Rather than just call Bain and ask how he got such a thick, dark guitar tone, Kerner, Wise, and Dewey decided to experiement. Multi-tracking and bouncing guitar tracks, running cords into the bathroom to mike the amps in there for the natural reverberation - they tried a lot of techniques that had nothing to do with what Bain did to get the tones that they were looking for.
The result? A muddy, murky, sludge filled sound that comes close, but fails to hit the mark. Ironically, on an album with such a dark, muddy sound it is the tone they got for the bass guitar that really shines and is quite good. Go figure.
Often overlooked is the snare drum sound. It is harsh and annoying thanks to too much high end and not enough low mids when they eq'd that track. (Sean Delaney's remixes of the songs from this album for the Double Platinum complilation are much better than the original mix, and the snare sound is a big reason why - he fixed it, somewhat.)
But beyond the rushed production (the first album was recorded quickly as well, but with much better audio results), the album features several of KISS' strongest songs, and some solid album cuts.
The album opens with, "Got To Choose," a Paul Stanley song that combines a very strong melodic sense (including some very nice harmony vocals with Gene Simmons) with some thick meaty riffing. It is a song that holds up very well 35 years later, and still finds it's way into their live set.
Ace Frehley still did not feel comfortable with the idea of taking a lead vocal himself, so Gene Simmons once again was called on to sing one of Ace's songs (as he had on the previous album's, "Cold Gin"). "Parasite," follows up, "Got To Choose," with some real musical fireworks. It is a song with a some explosive riffing and Peter Criss's trademark ghost-note filled drumming (much like his playing on, "100,000 Years," and what would be heard on, "Detroit Rock City"). Parasite also features a very nice vibrato-filled solo from Ace Frehley, and is one of the album's highlights.
The first songwriting contribution on the album from Gene Simmons is the odd, quirky, almost Beatle-esque, "Goin' Blind." It was a holdover from their previous band, Wicked Lester, and it gets new life here. Dark, with some rather interesting chord progressions, "Goin Blind," is one of those songs that shows how KISS is more than just a one-trick pony. It's also a very strong song, and placed perfectly in between Ace's, "Parasite," and the next track, Paul Stanley's, "Hotter Than Hell."
The title track is another of KISS' signature songs, one that has been included in their live set on and off for the last 35 years. It has a slower groove, but a very strong (and somewhat funky) beat. The riff is, again, huge and thick, and the vocal melodies and hooks are very, very strong. It is a classic KISS song.
What was Side One (when the album first came out) closes out with Gene Simmons' explosive Retro-Rock song, "Let Me Go; Rock and Roll." This song could be seen as the prototype for, "Rock and Roll All Nite," which would be written for the next album, Dressed To Kill. "Let Me Go," has a busier riff than their future signature song, and a feel more akin to Ted Nugent's, "Wang Dang Sweet Poontang," (which would be featured on his Cat Scratch Fever album 3 years later).
Side Two opened up with Gene Simmons', "All the Way," a strong album cut with some good vocal melodies and more big, fat riffs. It also features another Retro-Rock chorus. For all the intentions to have a big, fat Black Sabbath sounding album it seems that they had just as much in common musically with Chuck Berry as they did the boys from Birmingham.
The next track is another of KISS' strongest songs, "Watchin' You." Written and sung by Gene Simmons this song is centered around some more big, hefty riffing, with the riffing here being a tad more complex than most of what was on the rest of the album. The song with it's mid-tempo beat is heavier than it's predecessor, but not any less melodic. It also, again, features some nice harmony vocals between Gene and Paul Stanley.
After the dark, chunky, busy, mid-tempo riffing that was, "Watchin' You," KISS moves into good old Rock and Roll territory with, "Mainline." "Mainline," features a lead vocal from Peter Criss, and his ability to sing straightforward Hard Rock with his raspy voice is often overlooked and undervalued. While he may be best known for the (sappy) ballad, "Beth," his strength as a singer really was on the songs that had more of a good time Rock and Roll vibe. This is no exception. "Mainline," is happy, upbeat, and almost bright and shiny musically (despite the muddy audio production). Peter's love of 60's R&B really shines through on his vocal performance here, as the Paul Stanley written song really suits him to a, "T." This is an album cut, and almost a throwaway album cut at that - except that it's just so damned infectious that it's clear why it was included on the album.
Paul follows that up by singing a good time Rock and Roll song himself. "Comin' Home," is very similar to the previous song, but with enough differences in tempo ("Comin' Home," is a little faster), and overall feel that the songs are distinct from each other stylistically. Like, "Mainline," "Comin' Home," could be called a near throwaway, "Filler," track, but again is infectiously catchy and just so damned upbeat (and a seeming message about being away from home for an extended period of time while writing and recording the Hotter Than Hell album), that it, like it's predecessor, earns it's place on the album.
The album closes out in the dark, moody, heavy fashion that would be expected of an album with this kind of sludgy audio production. "Strange Ways," was written by Ace Frehley and sung by Peter Criss. It is really the only song on the album that sounds like Black Sabbath at all. It IS a song that wouldn't sound out of place on Master of Reality, but it still sounds like KISS for the most part. It features a slower, grungier riffing style, and a good strong beat, but it's Peter Criss' vocals that really take this song from Black Sabbath territory to something closer to KISS' signature sound. It's not the best song on the album, but it isn't the weakest, either. It's a solid album cut (a little stronger than average on this album), and the perfect song to close out the album.
Overall, Hotter Than Hell may not have as many absolute KISS classics as the debut album did, but it also doesn't have the obvious weak spots like that album did. For an album written and recorded as quickly as it was (although a few of the songs were in KISS' repertoire for over a year), Hotter Than Hell turned out remarkably well.
4.5/5
