Hot in the Shade

Album information

Hot in the Shade contains the most songs of any Kiss studio album with 15. The album is one of the band's longest, with a running time of nearly an hour (58:39). Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley appeared in Kiss make-up for the first time since their 1983 unmasking for the video for "Rise to It". Although the scene with Simmons and Stanley in make-up took place in 1975, the costumes they used were historically inaccurate; Simmons' was from the Unmasked (1980) era while Stanley's was from Love Gun (1977). The album showcases a more heavy rock sound after the keyboard-centered pop rock in Crazy Nights and even flirts with speed metal in Boomerang. Little Caesar wasn't the first Kiss song to feature Eric Carr on lead vocals; for the previous year's compilation album, Smashes, Thrashes & Hits, he had re-recorded the lead vocals to "Beth", the 1976 hit originally sung by Peter Criss.

Tommy Thayer, who co-wrote "Betrayed" and "The Street Giveth And The Street Taketh Away", became Kiss' permanent lead guitarist in 2002, replacing Ace Frehley as "The Spaceman". Of the 15 tracks on the album, only five were performed live. "Forever", co-written by Michael Bolton, was a pop hit and became a semi-regular part of the live setlist, but nothing else from the album has been played live after the 1990 tour.

Reception

Hot in the Shade was certified Gold on December 20, 1989 by the RIAA.However, the album has sold over 800,000 copies since its release.

Its most successful single, "Forever" reached #8 on the Billboard charts, the band's highest charting single in the US since "Beth", 13 years earlier.

Personnel

Kiss

Additional musicians

Charts