Hotter Than Hell

Hotter Than Hell (1974) is the second album from the rock group Kiss.

Move to Los Angeles
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 flew there to work with them. The band, all native New Yorkers, immediately developed a dislike for their new surroundings. Paul Stanley’s guitar was stolen his first day in Los Angeles.


The music

Musically, Hotter Than Hell is darker than the band’s first album. This is partly due to the murkier production values, but also to the lyrical content of some of the songs. “Goin’ Blind,” which details a doomed romance with an underage girl, was a song written by Gene Simmons and Stephen Coronel during Wicked Lester’s existence. The original title was “Little Lady.”

“Comin’ Home”, co-written by Stanley and Ace Frehley, summed up the band’s feelings about being in Los Angeles:

Oh girl, it seems the whole wide world seems to say
Hotels that all look the same
Just seem to drive me insane
But I can’t get away
Until I receive a call that tells me that will be all
And then I hop a plane

Hotter Than Hell featured far more overdubs than the first album. While Kerner and Wise wanted to produce a record that captured Kiss as a live act, they decided to take advantage of the experience the band had gained as recording artists.