In a recent chat with Spin, John 5 talked about why he loves the KISS Album that Paul Stanley disliked.
The guitarist named KISS’ ‘Hotter than Hell’ as the second album he can’t live without and said, “I have always been a huge KISS fan. And saying that is an understatement. This is my favorite album, but it was not my first.”
He continued, “It’s my favorite because the songs are just so amazing and this album is so well written. I just love how primitive the album sounds. I have spoken to Paul Stanley about this album and read some interviews of him discussing this album and he does not love the way it sounds. In one interview, he gave it three stars because they were much heavier live. But it is just such a great album and was so primitive for the beginning of their career.”
KISS released ‘Hotter than Hell’ in 1974 as their second album. The main criticism of the album is its production or sound. “We hoped to remedy the deficiencies we found in the first album,” Stanley later admitted in ‘KISS: Behind The Mask.’
The singer added, “We were never as rock’n’roll-y or good-time-y as we sounded on that album. We were much heavier live. So, for ‘Hotter Than Hell,’ we tried to capture sonically how we sounded live. Unfortunately, the people we were working with might not have been the right people to be doing it with.”
Ace Frehley was not confident in his singing yet, but he started to write songs for ‘Hotter than Hell.’ He co-wrote ‘Comin’ Home’ with Stanley. He also wrote ‘Parasite’ and ‘Strange Ways.’
Despite the good songs and interesting cover art, ‘Hotter than Hell’ only reached the Top 100 of the Billboard 200 when it was released. Later, live versions of songs like ‘Let Me Go, Rock’n’Roll,’ ‘Got To Choose,’ and ‘Parasite’ became popular on KISS’ 1975 album ‘Alive!’