Hot in the Shade
Hot in the Shade is the 15th studio album by American hard rock band Kiss, released in 1989. It is the first Kiss full studio album since 1981's Music from "The Elder" to feature lead vocals from someone other than Paul Stanley or Gene Simmons, with drummer Eric Carr singing lead on "Little Caesar". It is also the final Kiss album to feature Carr in its entirety before his death in November 1991. Just like its predecessor album, Crazy Nights, Hot in the Shade also features keyboards and synthesizers.
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. 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 era while Stanley's was from Love Gun. The album showcases a more straight ahead hard rock sound after the keyboard-centered pop metal in Crazy Nights and even flirts with speed metal in "Boomerang". "Little Caesar" was Eric Carr's first lead vocal on an original song, although he had previously sung lead on a re-recorded version of "Beth" on the compilation album Smashes, Thrashes & Hits.The album was recorded during the summer of 1989 at The Fortress in Hollywood. Aiming for a more stripped down sound, Gene Simmons and Eric Carr reportedly decided to record the album there after checking out several different studios. To further give the album a more raw feel, along with being able to produce the album with a lower budget, the band elected to use the demos they recorded and polish them up via overdubs instead of re-recording the song over again. Some portions of Hot in the Shade, such as "Love's A Slap In The Face" were recorded using a drum machine to further reduce recording costs. For the parts that Eric Carr and Kevin Valentine played drums on, electronic drum pads that triggered samples were used rather than a true drum kit, as The Fortress did not have one on hand.
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. "Hide Your Heart" was played in 2014 on The KISS 40th Anniversary World Tour
Three music videos were made for the promotion of this album. The first was "Hide Your Heart" directed by Marty Callner for Cream Cheese Productions, the second one shot was "Rise to It" directed by Mark Rezyka for Mark Freedman Productions shot a few days before Thanksgiving, November 1989 and the third "Forever" also directed by Mark Rezyka for Mark Freedman Productions shot on December 16, 1989 in a building in downtown Los Angeles. Both videos were held to be released in January and April 1990 to MTV. Even though "Rise to It" was shot and edited before "Forever", "Forever" was release as the second music video from the album to take advantage of the radio airplay the ballad was receiving. The "Forever" music video also reached #1 on Dial MTV and reached #47 on MTVs top 100 videos for 1990. The "Rise to It" music video featured Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons in their past KISS makeup and variation of costumes. A long-form video was scheduled to be shot and edited together with behind the scenes footage shot on video during sound checks, rehearsals and first show for the tour in Galveston, Texas. The long-form video was rumored to be titled "KISS Exposed Part II" also to be directed by Mark Rezyka with a full concert to be filmed on 35mm film in Long Beach California on September 9, 1990 but was cancelled by the record label just a little more than a week before.
Reception
Hot in the Shade was certified Gold on December 20, 1989 by the RIAA.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.
Track listing
Personnel
Kiss- Paul Stanley – rhythm guitar, vocals, slide guitar on "Rise to It", acoustic guitar on "Forever"
- Gene Simmons – bass guitar, vocals, rhythm guitar on "Cadillac Dreams"
- Eric Carr – drums, percussion, backing vocals, lead vocals and bass guitar on "Little Caesar”
- Bruce Kulick – lead guitar, backing vocals, all guitars on "Little Caesar", bass guitar and acoustic guitar on "Forever"
Additional musicians
- Phil Ashley – keyboards on "Hide Your Heart" and "Forever"
- Pat Regan – brass on "Cadillac Dreams"
- Charlotte Crossley, Valerie Pinkston, Kim Edwards-Brown – backing vocals on "Silver Spoon"
- Kevin Valentine – drums on "You Love Me to Hate You" and "King of Hearts"
- Mitchell Kanner – album cover art director, designer
- Tommy Thayer - electroacoustic guitar on "Betrayed" & "The Street Giveth And The Street Taketh Away"
Charts
| Chart | Peak position |
| Australian Albums Chart | 36 |
| Canadian Albums Chart | 46 |
| European Albums Chart | 84 |
| German Albums Chart | 46 |
| Japanese Albums Chart | 48 |
| Norwegian Albums Chart | 8 |
| Swedish Albums Chart | 29 |
| Swiss Albums Chart | 23 |
| UK Albums Chart | 35 |
| US Billboard Pop Albums | 29 |
; Singles
| Single | Chart | Peak position |
| "Hide Your Heart" | US Mainstream Rock Tracks | 22 |
| "Hide Your Heart" | The Billboard Hot 100 | 66 |
| Single | Chart | Peak position |
| "Forever" | Mainstream Rock Tracks | 17 |
| "Forever" | The Billboard Hot 100 | 8 |
| "Rise To It" | Mainstream Rock Tracks | 40 |
| "Rise To It" | The Billboard Hot 100 | 81 |