Christ! This is the direction they should have gone IMHO. My favorite KISS album predates me by almost 10 years. From New York, many fans don’t realize they started out as a much heavier band musically with a rougher image. Very sexual. Their first album featured songs like Strutter, Deuce, and Black Diamond.
“Hotter Than Hell” was the logical next step.
Except that back in 1974 the world wasn’t quite ready for something like this. The album sold relatively poorly. Fortunately for them, they were gaining fans among younger kids and teenagers. So their next album “Dressed to Kill” featured lighter pop songs like “Rock and Roll All Nite” and featured a relatively “tame” picture of the band wearing suits. Yes, business suits!!!
The big breakthrough would come in late 1975 with the release of “Alive.”
Recorded at several venues during their 1975-76 US tour much of it was taken from a concert at Cobo Hall in Detroit (Fuck Yes!). They connected with younger fans and the “KISS Army” was born. The rest is rock and roll history.
Still I love the heavier guitar sound, bass, and drums of this album. A completely different image. More like the 80’s or 90’s to me. That is Peter Criss, their drummer, singing. He also sang “Black Diamond” from their first album. Some consider him to be the best singer in the band. I also like Ace Frehley’s guitar solo on this song.
That is allegedly Peter Criss’s wife in the photo. A similar picture appeared on the back cover except her nipples were covered up.
An older friend told me once he had seen them during this time and Criss was playing a double bass drum set. I haven’t been able to find any pictures to confirm this but it makes sense given the more “metal” sound of this album. All their other drummers have used double bass kits.
That symbol on the front means “Power.”