Hotter Than Hell

Hotter Than Hell is the second studio album by American rock band Kiss, released on October 22, 1974. It was certified gold on June 23, 1977, having shipped 500,000 copies. The album was re-released in 1997 in a remastered version. It peaked on the charts at #100, without the benefit of a hit single. Many of the album's songs are live staples for the band, including "Got to Choose", "Parasite", "Hotter Than Hell", "Let Me Go, Rock & Roll" and "Watchin' You".

Album information

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 moved there to work with them. The band, all hailing from New York, immediately developed a dislike for their new surroundings. Paul Stanley's guitar was stolen on his first day in Los Angeles. The working title for the album was The Harder They Come. Although the album featured three songs penned by lead guitarist Ace Frehley, he did not sing lead vocals on any 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 on "Strange Ways" has been referred to as one of his best.

Hotter Than Hell (song)

"Hotter Than Hell" is a song by the American hard rock band Kiss, released on their second album of the same name in 1974. It was written by the band's rhythm guitarist Paul Stanley, and displays the heavy influence of the band Free. Despite being rarely performed during the years, "Hotter Than Hell" has appeared on many of the band's albums. It has also appeared as a B-side to the album's lone single, "Let Me Go, Rock 'n' Roll".

Background

"Hotter Than Hell", as Stanley has stated, was basically a rewrite of the Free song "All Right Now", due to the fact that Stanley was a big fan of Free and the song meant a lot to him.

Stanley described the story of the song: "[It] was written about an encounter with somebody in a bar, and then at the end of the song I didn't know quite how to end it so I came up with this riff that was kind of like a Black Sabbath kind of riff and we tacked that on."

Live performances

"Hotter Than Hell" has been performed during the following tours, but was dropped from the Destroyer Tour setlist and did not return until the Revenge Tour in 1992. The song was returned again to the setlist for the Kiss/Aerosmith co-headlined Rocksimus Maximus Tour/World Domination Tour. It was again dropped from the Sonic Boom Over Europe Tour and has not been performed since.