Kiss/Hotter Than Hell 50th Anniversary Remix Edition

Following the hugely successful “ROCK AND ROLL OVER REMIX,” two new titles in the remix series are set to be released simultaneously! The first installment, “HOTTER THAN HELL,” is now available!! Music professionals take on the challenge of remixing masterpieces in this series. I’ve already gone on and on about the “huge success” and “latest releases,” but for those who are new to the series, let’s start with an overview. In this series, overseas KISS enthusiasts use all sorts of materials and techniques to revive masterpieces. However, this is on a completely different level from the “I tried making it” stuff that’s flooding the market. The enthusiasts behind this project are professionals in sound who have made their living in the music industry. They have a long career building stage sounds in the world of musicals. They have poured all of their ears, knowledge, and skills into completely transforming KISS’s masterpieces. That was the hugely successful “ROCK AND ROLL OVER REMIX,” and the expanded and complete version of the concept album “Elder: The Great Battle in the Underworld,” “A WORLD WITHOUT HEROES Expanded ELDER Redux.” This work is the latest in that professional production series. It is “HOTTER THAN HELL,” which has been remade over an incredible 10 years. Some avid collectors may have seen a similar title before, but this work is of a different grade. It is sealed in a lossless master CD with higher sound quality than the previous gift disc. A masterpiece completely revamped with performances by the original members. So, what is the difference between this work and the original “HOTTER THAN HELL”? As you know, “HOTTER THAN HELL” has been loved as one of the finest albums in KISS’s studio works. From mid-tempo rock to power pop, proto-metal, classic rock and roll, heavy grooves, and melancholic ballads, this album is packed with everything the band had at the time. The playing is flawless from beginning to end. On the other hand, the sound production has prevented the album from fully showcasing its true charm… and this frustration has been a topic of discussion among fans for many years. That said, it’s not that the recording was bad at all. The bass drum is recorded surprisingly well for its time, and the toms are clear and powerful. The bass is also prominent, and the vocals are clear and crisp. To be frank, what bothers me is the piercing snare and cymbals, and the hard, fragile EQ that permeates the entire album. It’s a shame that just those things dim the brilliance of these great songs. Moreover, the master tapes are missing. That’s why previous “remasters” have been limited to EQ and compression adjustments, and even after multiple editions like the 1996 CD and the 2014 analog release, the roots remained. So, the producers of this album chose the opposite path. They embarked on a mind-boggling overhaul, completely dismantling the source of the muddiness and reassembling it with Peter Criss’s own drumming sounds. While the bass drum and tom-toms were adjusted and utilized from the original takes, the snare and cymbals, which were piercing to the ear, were drastically remade. Moreover, they didn’t just borrow pre-made sounds. The engineer who produced this album collected Peter’s actual drumming sounds from various sound sources and built a unique sample from scratch that could reproduce even the nuances of dynamics. On top of that, they meticulously recreated each and every phrase Peter played on the album. The hi-hat and ride cymbal were treated with even more care. The recording used here was Peter from “ALIVE!”. His stage movements were extracted and pieced together, beat by beat, onto the album’s performance. However, instead of simply transferring the live phrases, they were meticulously re-edited into the patterns that were created in the studio. The same method was used to build songs that weren’t included on “ALIVE!” from scratch. The goal was to transfer the relaxed and undulating feel of the stage performances into the studio takes. It only takes a few lines to write it down, but considering that they did this for an entire album, it’s no wonder it took 10 years. Meticulous finishing touches on the bass, guitar, and even the subtle nuances of each song. On the other hand, the treatment for the bass was very simple. Just a little distortion was added. But this has a dramatic effect. For some reason, the feel of the bass that Gene Simmons played on stage had never been reproduced in studio works. This was actually the biggest reason why early KISS studio recordings didn’t resonate as heavily as their live albums. With just one knob adjustment, the album’s center of gravity shifts dramatically. It makes you marvel at what professional work looks like. For the guitars, basically only the equalization was readjusted and the panning was slightly adjusted depending on the song. Furthermore, the clever arrangements made for each song are truly impressive. Paul Stanley’s acoustic guitar, borrowed from later recordings, is layered onto “Goin’ Blind” and “Comin’ Home.” “Goin’ Blind” in particular is elaborate. Reverb and delay are added to the vocals, and even the lingering tambourine and delayed snare drum sound are added, deepening the shadows of that dark ballad. The final chorus from “ALIVE!” has been added to “Parasite,” and “Got To Choose” has been given a hard-hitting ending. The endings and fades of several songs have also been tweaked. However, that’s as far as the changes went. The rest was based on the premise of “preserving the original performance as it was.” The goal was to recreate the exaggerated KISS that exploded at their 1975 Winterland concert. It wasn’t about giving the classic album a modern makeover, but about bringing the stage KISS back to the studio. Three alternate mixes that explore “what ifs in history” In addition to the 10 tracks from the main album that have been reborn in this way, this album also includes three alternate mixes with different concepts. Extended version of “Let Me Go, Rock ‘n’ Roll” The original album version was actually quite drastically trimmed. The additional solos and bass breaks were completely cut out. Here, the demo version from Bell Sound Studios is used as the base, with fragments from ‘ALIVE!’ interwoven in, expanding it to the version that was played on stage at the time. Acoustic version of “Goin’ Blind” The drums and bass remain the same as the original, but this version puts the acoustic guitar in the lead role. The balance of keeping only the solo electric is exquisite. The vocals are Gene’s unplugged take layered with the take from the symphony version, and the symphony version’s orchestra is also subtly incorporated into the chorus. It shows a completely different side from the main album. Ace’s vocal version of “Parasite” is the realization of an “what if” scenario that fans have fantasized about at least once: “What if Ace had sung it from the beginning?” Ace’s vocals are taken from ‘ORIGINS VOL.1’ and blended with Gene’s original vocals. Moreover, it is so perfectly matched to the texture of the main album that it fits in as if it were an album that was meant to be that way from the start. That’s 13 tracks in total. Of course, this work is not meant to replace the familiar originals. It may not be for those who value purity. But for those who have been wondering for decades, “What would those masterpieces sound like if they were played at full power?”, this is the best answer. ‘HOTTER THAN HELL’, a song and performance that you should know inside and out, is played at full power for the first time thanks to 10 years of relentless dedication. Following the highly successful “ROCK AND ROLL OVER REMIX,” this is the latest installment in the professionally produced remix series!! A professional who has worked on musical sound for many years has poured 10 years into this remix, completely rebuilding the masterpiece “HOTTER THAN HELL.” The snare and cymbals, which had been a long-standing challenge, have been recreated from Peter’s own playing sounds, and the hi-hat and ride cymbal have been transplanted one hit at a time from the “ALIVE!” drumming style. Distortion has been added to the bass to bring it closer to Gene’s live sound, Paul’s acoustic guitar has been added to “Goin’ Blind” and “Comin’ Home,” the last chorus from “ALIVE!” has been added to “Parasite,” and a hard ending has been added to “Got To Choose.” The CD also includes an extended version of “Let Me Go, Rock ‘n’ Roll,” an acoustic version of “Goin’ Blind,” and an Ace-vocal version of “Parasite.” The latest installment in the professionally produced remix series! (46:12) 1. Got To Choose 2. Parasite 3. Goin’ Blind 4. Hotter Than Hell 5. Let Me Go, Rock ‘n’ Roll 6. All The Way 7. Watchin’ You 8. Mainline 9. Comin’ Home 10. Strange Ways 11. Let Me Go, Rock ‘n’ Roll_Extended Version 12. Goin’ Blind_Acoustic Version 13. Parasite_Ace Vocal Version