Even if you don't listen to Kiss, you probably don't need a history lesson on founding members, Ace Frehley, Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, and Peter Criss. Despite numerous iterations of alternating band members, the group have been rocking the air waves since their 1974 debut album though 2012's Monster. Though they set out on a farewell tour in 2019 that wrapped up in 2022, who knows. They may be back.
Kiss was never really my thing. While I knew, and wanted a handful of their studio albums, and purchased these between 2017 and 2019, something happened in September of that latter year where I got it in my head that I was going to buy them all. This started with me replacing my remastered copies with original pressings, and then fanned out to encompass everything else.
Since then, I have slowly, but surly, been making my way through their discography. Though I'll eventually check them all off, it's a task that is still in its infancy stages. This post marks only my third Retro Spin. Basically, I've just started. So let's get this going with today's listening session of 1989's Hot In The Shade.
Hot In The Shade is Kiss's final entry into the 80's, and features the lineup of Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Eric Carr, and Bruce Kulick. The album is notable for featuring the song, Forever, the band's highest charting tune since 1976's Beth. That statement right there should put into perspective just how unique their overall popularity was. Kiss was not a band known for releasing "major hits".
It intrigued me to discover that the above noted, Forever, was actually written by Paul Stanley and Michael Bolton. It got all the more interesting for me to see that both Desmond Child, and Holly Knight (of Spider), co-wrote with Stanley, Hide Your Heart, which was originally given to Bonnie Tyler for the album of the same title that she released in 1987.
The album delivers a solid experience, showcasing the band's ability to straight up rock. Though my exposure to Kiss has been limited, what I've personally come to discover is that there are a lot of hidden gems packed into their records. Of the fifteen which encompass Hot In The Shade, I grabbed seven. That's not a bad ratio.
Best of all, this definitely leaves me pumped to keep going down my path of Kiss albums. I'm liking what I'm hearing, and I want to hear more. With three down, that leaves twenty-one studio albums to go, which includes the groups 1978 solo ventures under the Kiss banner. But, that's not happening today, so until then, thanks for stopping by The Toy Box!
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I remember this tour- it was Eric Carr's last before passing away at age 41- I didn't realize at the time he was ill. It has some good tunes, but the next record, Revenge, is better overall.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to push myself to get through all the 80's albums of Kiss in the coming week or two. I'm hoping to find some good stuff.
DeleteReal shame about Eric Carr. He's one of those drummers I didn't learn about until he had unfortunately passed away already.