The Year Of KISS: Hot In The Shade (1989)

“Rosa had a lover on the shady side of town.”

Hot In The Shade, KISS’ follow-up project to their highest charting 1980’s release, Crazy Nights, is very personal to me because it was the first KISS album that I ever purchased. It would get me into conversations later in life that would set me on the path to becoming a member of the KISS Army. It contains some amazing KISS tracks and some pretty terrible ones as well. It was released on October 17, 1989, and I bought my copy on CD in late January of 1990 (a few weeks after the release of the single Forever). KISS was still very much relevant at the time of the album’s release, but they were slowly fading from the spotlight once again. They needed another hit to keep them in the news and Hot In The Shade would definitely deliver.

Crazy Nights was a popular album but many longtime fans weren’t impressed by the keyboards and synthesizers used on the album. I personally didn’t have a problem with that but KISS apparently did because they removed the keys and synths for Hot In The Shade. They also added horns and female backing vocalists on some of the tracks. The band also seemed to be firing pretty well on all cylinders, with Gene Simmons seeming to have settled back into his role as the band’s bass player and most recognizable member.

The album featured fifteen tracks, more than any other KISS studio album released over the band’s entire existence. It featured three singles. The first single, Hide Your Heart, peaked at #66 on the Billboard Hot 100. The second single, the power ballad Forever, became KISS’ biggest charting hit since Beth reached #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1976. Forever topped out at #8 on the same chart, just one position shy of matching Beth. The final single, Rise To It, limped to #81 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The album topped out at #29 on the US Billboard 200.

Track Listing:

1. Rise To It (Single)
2. Betrayed
3. Hide Your Heart (Single)
4. Prisoner Of Love
5. Read My Body
6. Love’s A Slap In The Face
7. Forever (Single)
8. Silver Spoon
9. Cadillac Dreams
10. King Of Hearts
11. The Street Giveth And The Street Taketh Away
12. You Love Me To Hate You
13. Somewhere Between Heaven And Hell
14. Little Caesar
15. Boomerang

Personnel: Eric Carr (drums, percussion, backing vocals, lead vocals and bass on Little Caesar), Bruce Kulick (lead guitars, backing vocals, acoustic guitar solo on Forever), Paul Stanley (lead vocals, backing vocals, rhythm guitars, brass arrangement on Cadillac Dreams), Gene Simmons (lead vocals, backing vocals, bass)

Paul Stanley sang lead vocals on seven tracks. Gene Simmons, as he did on most of the band’s 80’s releases, sang lead vocals on the other half of the tracks, seven in all. In addition, Eric Carr took on lead vocals for Little Caesar, the first member of the band to sing lead on a studio album other than Simmons or Stanley since Music From The Elder (1981). Additional musicians included Phil Ashley (keyboards), All Star Cadillac Brass, The Sisters of No Mercy (backing vocals), Kevin Valentine (drums), and Pat Regan (saxophone).

This is also the first album by the band to feature input from future lead guitarist/Space Man, Tommy Thayer. Thayer played the electroacoustic guitar on Betrayed and The Street Giveth And The Street Taketh Away. He also co-wrote those two songs with Gene Simmons. Simmons contributed writing on eight of the album tracks. Paul Stanley co-wrote seven tracks. Kulick co-wrote two tracks and Eric Carr co-wrote Little Caesar with Gene Simmons and Adam Mitchell. Additional songwriters included Vini Poncia, Bob Halligan, Jr., Desmond Child, and Holly Knight. I’ll mention another songwriter in a later paragraph.

The album as a whole is somewhat of a letdown to me. I, like many fans of the band, feel that there are just too many filler tracks. Most KISS albums up to that point featured between eight and ten songs. They were fairly short and to the point. HITS, loaded with fifteen tracks, felt bloated and weighed down by a number of forgettable tracks. For me, those forgettable tracks were Love’s A Slap In The Face, Cadillac Dreams, The Street Giveth And The Street Taketh Away, and You Love Me To Hate You. I’d also throw away Read My Body but I have too much fun laughing at its blatantly cheesy lyrics. If it was tossed in, that would give KISS ten good tracks for the album. My least favorite track on the album is You Love Me To Hate You.

For all of the bad songs on the album, there are also some pretty amazing tracks. First and foremost I have to mention Forever. Yes, a power ballad convinced me to put money down for my first ever KISS album and I don’t regret it one bit. The song, co-written by Paul Stanley and Michael Bolton (yes, THAT Michael Bolton), is simply wonderful. Paul’s voice is powerful on this track and it’s one of his best vocal performances in my opinion. Bruce Kulick’s acoustic solo is one of my favorite not only by him but from the band as a whole.I love this song so much that I championed it to be on the set list at my wedding. My wife refused so I tried to have it played at our reception. To be honest, my reception was a big blur, so I don’t know if it was played there or it fell to the wayside.

Other great songs on this album include Rise To It, Hide Your Heart, Little Caesar, Prisoner Of Love, and Betrayed. Rise To It opens the album with a twinge of twang and goes into a solid pop rocker. In fact, most of the tracks on this album could be defined as heavy pop rock tracks. Many fans claim the song Boomerang, the album’s closer, to be a light speed metal track but I don’t hear it. It’s essentially a sped up pop rocker to me. Betrayed and Prisoner Of Love feature some solid guitar work by Kulick and Gene’s vocals on both tracks are surprisingly strong. If I had to pick a second favorite on this album, it would easily be Hide Your Heart. It’s a great story song and you can visualize it while Paul is pumping out the lyrics.

Ultimately, HITS has more misses. Most KISS albums feature a few outstanding tracks, a few solid songs, and possibly one forgettable track, but HITS has at least four (arguably five) real stinkers, three amazing tracks, and a few other good tracks that can’t make up for the disastrous tracks like Cadillac Dreams. I keep Forever and Hide Your Heart in my regular rotation. I have tried multiple times and failed to match Paul’s voice on Forever. I cannot say the actual word “forever”and have it sound as good as it does when Paul hits that note. KISS was definitely experimenting with their songwriting abilities on this album as Hide Your Heart is pretty unique in the KISS catalog. Overall, I love a few songs on this album, dislike many more, but have fond memories of listening to this album as a kid.

So there you have it. I love this album…..but I hate it. It’s got hits, more misses, and too much filler. It has one of my all time favorite KISS tracks and many more of my least favorites. Next week I’ll be looking at Revenge, the kick in the teeth that KISS and music in general desperately needed. Thanks for checking out my post!