"Hotter than Hell" is a song by the American hard rock band

Kiss A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...

, released on their second album of the same name in 1974. It was written by the band's rhythm guitarist

Paul Stanley Paul Stanley (born Stanley Bert Eisen; January 20, 1952) is an American musician who is the co-founder, frontman, rhythm guitarist and co-lead vocalist of the hard rock band Kiss. He is the writer or co-writer of many of the band's most popula ...

, and displays the heavy influence of the band Free. Despite being rarely performed during the years, "Hotter than Hell" has appeared on many of the band's albums. It has also appeared as a B-side to the album's lone single, "

Let Me Go, Rock 'n' Roll "Let Me Go, Rock 'n' Roll" is a song by the American hard rock band Kiss, released in 1974. It was released as the only single from their second album '' Hotter Than Hell''. Even though the song failed to chart, it is a staple in their live conce ...

Background

"Hotter than Hell", as Stanley has stated, was basically a rewrite of the Free song "

All Right Now "All Right Now" is a song by English rock band Free. It originally appeared on the band's third album '' Fire and Water'' (1970), which Free recorded on the Island Records label, formed by Chris Blackwell. Released as the album's second single ...

", due to the fact that Stanley was a big fan of Free and the song meant a lot to him. Stanley described the story of the song: " twas written about an encounter with somebody in a bar, and then at the end of the song I didn't know quite how to end it so I came up with this riff that was kind of like a

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...

kind of riff and we tacked that on."

Live performances

"Hotter than Hell" has been performed during the following tours, but was dropped from the

Destroyer Tour The Destroyer Tour also known as The Spirit of '76 Tour was a concert tour by Kiss, in support of their fourth studio album '' Destroyer''. History The August 20 Anaheim, California show was the most famous show of the tour, the band played to ...

setlist and did not return until the

Revenge Tour The Revenge Tour was a concert tour by Kiss (band), Kiss in support of the band's studio album ''Revenge (Kiss album), Revenge''. Background It was the first tour with drummer Eric Singer, replacing Eric Carr who died of cancer on November 24, 199 ...

in 1992. The song was returned again to the setlist for the Kiss/ Aerosmith co-headlined Rocksimus Maximus Tour/World Domination Tour. It was again dropped from the

Sonic Boom Over Europe Tour The Sonic Boom Over Europe Tour (full title: ''Sonic Boom Over Europe: From the Beginning to the Boom'') was a concert tour by American rock band Kiss in support of their 19th studio album Sonic Boom, which was released in October 2009. The tour ...

and has not been performed since. During the

TV movie A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

'' Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park'', the "evil" Kiss performed a version of the song, retitled "Rip and Destroy", in order to incite a crowd to riot.

Appearances

"Hotter than Hell" has appeared on the following Kiss albums: *'' Hotter than Hell'' - studio version *'' Alive!'' - live version *'' The Originals'' - studio version *''

Double Platinum Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

'' - studio version *'' The Box Set'' - studio version *'' The Very Best of Kiss'' - studio version *'' The Best of Kiss: The Millennium Collection'' - studio version *''

Gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

'' - studio version *'' Kiss Chronicles: 3 Classic Albums'' - studio version *''

Kiss Alive! 1975–2000 ''Kiss Alive! 1975–2000'' is a collection of live recordings from American hard rock band Kiss, released by Universal Music on November 21, 2006. This box set marks the debut appearance of Kiss' Millennium Concert performance, recorded on Dec ...

'' - ''Alive!'' version *''

Kiss Alive 35 ''Kiss Alive 35'' is a series of 2 CD live albums, each containing a recording of the complete set from a European show on the KISS Alive/35 World Tour from 2008. The second set of recordings from the North American leg of this tour was release ...

'' - live version *''

Jigoku-Retsuden ''Jigoku-Retsuden'' (地獄烈伝, which roughly translates to "Legends from Hell / Hell's Legends"), also known as ''Kissology'' and ''Kiss Klassics'', is a limited-edition CD/ DVD set released in 2008 by the band Kiss, exclusively in Japan. ...

'' - re-recorded studio version *''

Ikons ''Kiss Ikons'' is a four- CD box set featuring material recorded by the original members of the American hard rock band Kiss. It was released in 2008 by Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and refe ...

'' - studio version *''

Sonic Boom A sonic boom is a sound associated with shock waves created when an object travels through the air faster than the speed of sound. Sonic booms generate enormous amounts of sound energy, sounding similar to an explosion or a thunderclap to ...

'' (Bonus CD: Compilation Kiss Klassics) - re-recorded studio version Other appearances: * B-side for the "

" single

Personnel

– lead vocals, rhythm guitar * Gene Simmons – bass, backing vocals *

Peter Criss George Peter John Criscuola (born December 20, 1945), better known by his stage name Peter Criss, is a retired American musician, best known as a co-founder, original drummer, and vocalist of the hard rock band Kiss. Criss established The Ca ...

– drums *

Ace Frehley Paul Daniel "Ace" Frehley (; born April 27, 1951) is an American musician, best known as the original lead guitarist and co-founding member of the hard rock band Kiss. He invented the persona of The Spaceman (a.k.a. Space Ace) and played wit ...

– lead guitar

References

{{authority control Kiss (band) songs 1974 songs Songs written by Paul Stanley