01. Rise To it
02. Betrayed
03. Hide Your Heart
04. Prisoner Of Love
05. Read My Body
06. Love's A Slap In The Face
07. Forever
08. Silver Spoon
09. Cadillac Dreams
10. King Of Hearts
11. The Street Giveth And The Street Taketh Away
12. You Love Me To Hate You
13. Somewhere Between Heaven And Hell
14. Little Caesar
15. Boomerang

Cleanliness is next to godliness.

In the grand scheme of KISS's discography, every album has something to give it a legacy of its own, be it Destroyer, which helped cement the band as one of the biggest rock bands of the 1970s, or (Music From) The Elder, which had the band reaching for credibility; heck, Dynasty had "I Was Made For Lovin' You". The only outlier is 1989's Hot In The Shade, an album that is, ironically, defined by its own lack of legacy. An album largely forgotten at the back of many KISS fans' record collections, it is a record that needs revisiting every once in awhile, if only to remember that it exists.

So, after dusting off this LP, what is the thing that hits you beyond the 'subtle as a brick through a window' acronym in the title? Well, it is the longest KISS album released; clocking just shy of the hour mark, it certainly gives itself enough time to leave an impression on you. So, how does it not take advantage of this abundance of time and leave you with something memorable?

For starters, Hot In The Shade is perhaps the worst KISS have ever sounded (well, without budgetary constraints anyway); from the reverb-heavy drums, to the mix that seems to swallow anything not at the forefront into a void of nothingness, it certainly is a product of the 1980s. "You Love Me To Hate You" couldn't be more 1980s even if accompanied by Joan Collins wearing shoulder pads bursting into your house with Mr T to tell you that America just elected a celebrity for president (wait a minute...).

The second is that the writing is at its most memorable... when it sounds like someone else. "Read My Body" is "Pour Some Sugar On Me", while the preceding "Prisoner Of Love" is Def Leppard if they went on a blues bender; heck, I know Gene loves to mention he discovered Van Halen, but they get in on the action too, as "King Of Hearts" starts off like "Panama".

This isn't to say Hot In The Shade has no memorable or redeemable qualities; for one, this is probably Bruce Kulick's finest hour in the band. Taking advantage of the 80s six-string arms race, Kulick's guitar work stocks up the sonic weaponry at the band's disposal, with the solos on tracks like "The Street Giveth, The Street Taketh Away", "Silver Spoon" and "Betrayed" almost the epitome of guitar hero. Stanley's vocals sound powerful and impactful, bridging old school rock and glam sensibilities perfectly on tracks like "Rise To It" and the ballad "Forever".

The band perform what they written well; it's just a shame what they have written is middle-of-the-road at best. If you had told me Hot In The Shade was a B-side collection rather than a studio album in its own right, I'd believe you; nothing about it is awful, but little about it stands shoulder pad to shoulder pad with their usual output. You only need to listen to "Hide Your Heart" and it's "nana na, hey, hey hey" refrain to see how the band were struggling to seem inspired, let alone sound it.

So, now we've remembered it exists, it's time to return to the dusty corner of the record collection that you keep meaning to clean, but never get around to. Heck, given the cover you could pretend it's sand and argue it makes for a more immersive experience.

Performance:	7
Songwriting:	5
Originality:	5
Production:	5