Looking like a bunch of Walt Disney rejects, Kiss is the kind of band you love to hate. Drenched in garish makeup, clothed in outfits Alice Cooper wouldn't touch and generally exuding obnoxiousness, this brash young New Yawk foursome seems determined to visually divert their audience's attention from their special brand of kamikaze rock. A slick brand of music that, as found on their second LP, Hotter Than Hell, does not sound as bad as the band looks.

Original album advertising art. Click image for larger view.

With twin guitars hammering out catchy mondo-distorto riffs and bass and drums amiably bringing up the rear, Kiss spews forth a deceptively controlled type of thunderous hysteria closely akin to the sound once popularized by the German panzer tank division.

Despite its flaws, Kiss does succeed in churning out quite a bit of high-energy instrumentation and cheerful, nonsensical vocalizing.

- Ed Naha, Rolling Stone, 1-30-75.

Bonus Review!

Hotter Than Hell is nearly an identical replica of Kiss's first album, which isn't surprising, considering how quickly it was recorded after their debut. Hotter Than Hell has a few highlights -- "Parasite," "Let Me Go, Rock and Roll," "Got to Choose," and the title track -- but overall the riffs weren't as catchy and the songs weren't as well-written as Kiss. * * *

- Stephen Thomas Erlewine, The All-Music Guide to Rock, 1995.

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