Maps of Music

Hot in the Shade (1989)

Where the lyrics of Hot in the Shade take you, and where it was really made.

Drummer Eric Carr sang lead on one song, the first lead vocal from outside Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons since 1981, and this album was his last full Kiss record before his death in November 1991.

Key places

Recorded at the Fortress in Hollywood (1989)

Recording site The Music Grinder (Hollywood) — The album was recorded during the summer of 1989 at the Fortress in Hollywood. The point is set at city-centre level, so the exact building is not shown. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Mixed at Cherokee Studios (1989)

Recording site Cherokee Studios — Dave Wittman mixed the album at Cherokee Studios in Los Angeles. The point marks the studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Hot in the Shade: fifteenth studio album by American rock band Kiss, released 1989
• 15 songs, the most on any Kiss studio album
• Running time nearly an hour (58:39), one of the band's longest albums
• Drummer Eric Carr sings lead on "Little Caesar"
• First Kiss studio album since 1981's Music From "The Elder" with lead vocals from someone other than Paul Stanley or Gene Simmons
• Final full Kiss album with Carr, who died in November 1991
• Highest-charting hit of the non-makeup era in the US: "Forever", co-written by Paul Stanley and Michael Bolton

Background

• Follows Crazy Nights (1987), which relied heavily on keyboards; this album does not
• Carr had sung lead on a re-recorded "Beth" for the earlier compilation Smashes, Thrashes & Hits
• Stanley and Simmons produced the album
• "Forever" reached No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in April 1990

Recording

• Recorded during summer 1989 at the Fortress in Hollywood
• The band used the demos it had recorded and polished them with overdubs instead of re-recording the songs
• Aim: a rawer sound and a lower budget
• "Little Caesar" was Carr's only lead vocal on an original song

Cover

• No photo of the band on the cover; a sphinx wearing sunglasses appears instead
• The liner notes included a warning about HIV/AIDS, reading "AIDS is no party"

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org

Artist

Formation

• Kiss was formed in New York City in 1973 by Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss.
• The band traces its roots to Wicked Lester, a New York rock band led by Simmons and Stanley.
• Their first performance took place on January 30, 1973, at the Popcorn Club (later Coventry) in Queens.
• Casablanca Records signed the band on November 1, 1973, as the label's first act.

Members

• The four original members were Stanley (Starchild), Simmons (Demon), Frehley (Spaceman) and Criss (Catman).
• Eric Carr replaced Criss in 1980; Vinnie Vincent, Mark St. John and Bruce Kulick later held lead guitar.
• Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer formed the final lineup.

Career

• Kiss became one of America's most successful rock bands in the late 1970s, with a 1977 Gallup poll naming them the most popular band in America.
• The band unmasked in 1983 and reunited the original lineup for the 1996 reunion tour.
• The band announced its retirement after its final show at Madison Square Garden on December 2, 2023.
• Kiss was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on April 10, 2014.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Kerrang!: Ray Zell wrote that Kiss were still great though no longer innovative
• RAW: Dante Bonutto called it the band's best work since Lick It Up
• Toledo Blade: Richard Paton said the band hit the mark by stripping its sound back to basics
• Rock Hard: Thomas Kupfer praised the album's fun and singled out "Forever", "Silver Spoon" and "King of Hearts"
• Metal Hammer: Jens Kröver said the album was more original than the overproduced Crazy Nights

Reappraisal

• AllMusic: Greg Prato called it a slight improvement over the band's predecessors, but not much
• Classic Rock: Paul Elliott wrote that there was some dross among the fifteen tracks
• Ultimate Classic Rock: noted solid moments in "Rise to It" and "Little Caesar" but too much filler
• Grantland: Chuck Klosterman wrote that the album was far longer than necessary
• Eddie Trunk: said five songs fewer would have made it a better record
• Rolling Stone: Richard Bienstock ranked it the band's tenth best and called the fifteen-song list unnecessarily long

Records

• Billboard 200: peaked at No. 29, the band's lowest position since Creatures of the Night (1982)
• RIAA Gold certification on December 20, 1989; no Platinum
• "Forever": No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100, the band's highest US single since "Beth" 13 years earlier
• "Rise to It": No. 81 on the Billboard Hot 100
• Norway: No. 8 on the VG chart, its best international position
• Switzerland, Sweden, Australia and the UK: placed among the top 35 albums

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Future band member Tommy Thayer co-wrote "Betrayed" and "The Street Giveth and the Street Taketh Away"
• "Hide Your Heart" was written during the Crazy Nights sessions but left off that album, and was sold to other artists
• The German pressing carried a censored "S" that looked like a reversed "Z"
• The liner notes thanked a dozen Kiss fan-published magazines for helping fans keep up with the band
• "Forever" was performed with the Melbourne Symphony Ensemble at the KISS Symphony concert in Melbourne in 2003

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

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