Mercury Records - 1989
7/10
After several albums in a row aiming to match the status quo as best they can, Kiss finally capped off the 1980s with something a little more true to their roots. While still pretty glam metal in nature, Hot In The Shade sees no reach for overt heaviness or bubblegum pop in exchange for a straightforward rock ‘n roll record. If you took their signature tropes and aged them by a decade, this is the end result. It’s the formula for the perfect record, and it is rather refreshing, save for one big flaw; the fact that it’s too damn long!
Clearly not learning from adding too many songs to Crazy Nights, Kiss noticed the age of the CD and put every song they could think of onto this record. Thankfully, the tighter sound and the fact that there are a lot of really good songs offsets things a little bit more in its favor. But having nine songs hardly means jack if that’s out of fifteen. Doing a little math, you’ll find that that leaves six tunes that go nowhere. Few are really what I’d call bad, but they can be a slog to get through for sure.
What Hot In The Shade boils down to is separating the great, from the good, from the meh. The refreshing feel is evident immediately on opener “Rise To It,” introducing hard rock energy with no hidden tricks save for a little acoustic intro. The sing-song chorus with loud energy and mighty riffage fares wonderfully. Holly Knight’s contribution saw Paul and co. hit steadier approaches under an upbeat scope with “Hide Your Heart,” and I really love how catchy “Silver Spoon” is. As has been the case for much of the ‘80s, Paul Stanley’s vocals and delivery have carried almost everything notable.
This sees new levels on “Forever.” While the band is no stranger to ballads, the raw emotion and deep feelings conquer a tear-jerking tactic, smoothing acoustic and electric guitars together for an immaculate number. Paul’s voice enhances this even further, and not an ounce of this feels too corny or unflattering. The rest of the good tracks don’t quite reach these stellar levels, but they coat on lots of straightforward gallops that made me fall in love with the band’s early work. “Read My Body” has Billy Squier-like bounciness, and “Love’s A Slap In The Face” shows Gene going that same route. “Betrayed” is another strong Simmons tune, ringing in the heavier chimes, while “You Love Me To Hate You” utilizes fun ascending vocal patterns. Closer “Boomerang” also throws back to the speedier tricks, ending on a tough enough note.
If you know the track-list at all, you’ll find that many of the better songs are on the first half of the record, with a few others sprinkled in. Had the nine tunes that I mentioned been the entire album, this would truly be an incredible comeback. Unfortunately, it’s just a little too much at once, a fate many bands from the ‘80s would meet at the turn of the decade. An hour of Kiss songs is gonna be really hard to pull off, but I have to appreciate the good ones, especially since it would be drummer Eric Carr’s final album before heart cancer would take his life. RIP Eric Carr (1950-1991).
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