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Unmasked

 
Album Review: Unmasked
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Unmasked

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  • Artist: Kiss
  • Rating: StarStar
  • Release Date: 1980 06
  • Total Time: 39:46
  • Type: Lyrics are included with the album
  • Genre: Rock

Review

Kiss Unmasked was the group's first album since Destroyer to not go platinum, and it's easy to see why. Driven by pedestrian riffs and melodies, none of the songs are memorable, and the group sounds uninspired throughout the record. Peter Criss left during the recording of the album; session drummer Anton Fig completed the record after Criss' departure. The change in drummers isn't evident in the music, but what the music does make clear is that it was time for Kiss to change their act. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track TitleComposersPerformersTime
Is That You? (Lyrics) Gerard McMahon Kiss (3:59)
Shandi (Lyrics) Paul Stanley, Vini Poncia Kiss (3:36)
Talk to Me (Lyrics) Ace Frehley Kiss (4:02)
Naked City (Lyrics) Gene Simmons, Vini Poncia, Peppi Castro, Bruce Kulick Kiss (3:52)
What Makes the World Go 'Round (Lyrics) Vini Poncia, Paul Stanley Kiss (4:15)
Tomorrow (Lyrics) Paul Stanley, Vini Poncia Kiss (3:17)
Two Sides of the Coin (Lyrics) Ace Frehley Kiss (3:16)
She's So European (Lyrics) Vini Poncia, Gene Simmons Kiss (3:32)
Easy as It Seems (Lyrics) Vini Poncia, Paul Stanley Kiss (3:25)
Torpedo Girl (Lyrics) Vini Poncia, Ace Frehley Kiss (3:45)
You're All That I Want (Lyrics) Gene Simmons, Vini Poncia Kiss (3:04)

Credits

Peter Criss (Group Member), Ace Frehley (Guitar), Paul Stanley (Group Member), Joseph M. Palmaccio (Remastering), Victor Stabin (Artwork), Gene Simmons (Vocals), Gene Simmons (Bass), Bill Levenson (Remastering Supervisor), Vini Poncia (Producer), Paul Stanley (Vocals), José Rivero (Illustrations), Victor Stabin (Cover Illustration), Gene Simmons (?), Jay Messina (Engineer), José Rivero (Artwork), Gray Russell (Mixing), Victor Stabin (Illustrations), Anne Streer (Production Coordination), Ace Frehley (Group Member), Anton Fig (Drums), Ace Frehley (Vocals), Jay Messina (Mixing), Mitchell Kanner (Redesign), Gray Russell (Assistant Engineer), José Rivero (Cover Illustration), Paul Stanley (Guitar), Mark Samuels (Cover Illustration), George Marino (Mastering)
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Wikipedia: Unmasked
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Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia
Unmasked
Studio album by Kiss
Released May 20, 1980
Recorded January–February 1980
Genre Hard rock
Label Casablanca
Producer Vini Poncia
Professional reviews
Kiss chronology
Dynasty
(1979)		 Unmasked
(1980)		 Music from "The Elder"
(1981)
Singles from Unmasked
  1. "Shandi"
    Released: May 1980
  2. "She's So European"
    Released: May 1980
  3. "Tomorrow"
    Released: December 1980
  4. "Naked City"
    Released: December 1980

Unmasked is an album by the American band Kiss released in 1980. It is the group's 8th studio album. At the time it was the last studio album from the original lineup of Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss, although Criss actually had no involvement with the recording of the album. Anton Fig (uncredited) played all drums on the album. This album marked another departure for Kiss: this was the first album since 1977's Love Gun not to feature all members on vocals, excluding the four solo releases in 1978.[1]

Although Unmasked marked a major departure musically for the band, the album reached #35 on the U.S. Billboard chart[2] and was certified Gold by the RIAA on July 30, 1980.[3]

The band filmed a promotional video for "Shandi," with Peter Criss. It was the last time Criss appeared with Kiss in any capacity until he performed with them at a Kiss Convention on June 17, 1995. In the band's authorized biography, Criss revealed that he was the last one left in the band's dressing room after filming, and broke down crying.[1]

A lip-synched German television performance of "Talk to Me" and "She's So European" featured the debut of Eric Carr, who became the band's permanent drummer until his death in 1991. The band would play a concert at the now defunct Palladium Theatre in New York to officially introduce Carr as Criss' permanent replacement in the band.

Throughout the years, the album's songs have been largely ignored on live performances - with the exception of "Shandi", which is often played in the band's shows in Australia.

Contents

Track listing

# Title Writer(s) Lead vocals Length
1. "Is That You?"   Gerard McMahon Paul Stanley 3:55
2. "Shandi"   Paul Stanley, Vini Poncia Stanley 3.33
3. "Talk to Me"   Ace Frehley Ace Frehley 4.00
4. "Naked City"   Gene Simmons, Poncia, Bob Kulick, Pepe Castro Gene Simmons 3:49
5. "What Makes the World Go Round"   Stanley, Poncia Stanley, 4:14
6. "Tomorrow"   Stanley, Poncia Stanley 3:16
7. "Two Sides of the Coin"   Frehley Frehley 3:15
8. "She's So European"   Simmons, Poncia Simmons 3:30
9. "Easy As It Seems"   Stanley, Poncia Stanley 3:24
10. "Torpedo Girl"   Frehley, Poncia Frehley 3.31
11. "You're All That I Want"   Simmons, Poncia Simmons 3.04

Personnel

with

Charts

Album - Billboard (North America)

Year Chart Position
1980 Pop Albums 35[2]

Singles

Year Nation Single Chart Position
1980 United States "Shandi" Billboard Pop Singles 47[4]
1980 Australia "Shandi" Pop Singles 10[citation needed]
1980 Austria "Shandi" Pop Singles 5[citation needed]
1980 Austria "Talk to Me" Pop Singles 39[citation needed]
1980 Canada "Shandi" Pop Singles 70[citation needed]
1980 Germany "Shandi" Pop Singles 28[citation needed]
1980 Germany "Talk to Me" Pop Singles 32[citation needed]
1980 Germany "Tomorrow" Pop Singles 70[citation needed]
1980 Holland "Shandi" Pop Singles 24[citation needed]
1980 Holland "Talk to Me" Pop Singles 39[citation needed]
1980 Norway "Shandi" Pop Singles 4[citation needed]
1980 New Zealand "Shandi" Pop Singles 6[citation needed]
1980 Switzerland "Talk to Me" Pop Singles 10[citation needed]

Sales accomplishments

RIAA certification[3] (United States)

Date Designation Total Sales
July 30,
1980		 Gold 500,000

CRIA certification[5] (Canada)

Date Designation Total Sales
October 1,
1980		 Gold 50,000

References

  1. ^ a b Leaf, David and Ken Sharp. Kiss: Behind the Mask: The Official Authorized Biography, Warner Books, 2003. ISBN 0-446-53073-5
  2. ^ a b "AllMusic Billboard Unmasked". http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:hzfpxqlgldfe~T3. Retrieved 2009-01-27. 
  3. ^ a b "RIAA Gold & Platinum database". http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?resultpage=1&table=SEARCH_RESULTS&action=&title=Unmasked&artist=Kiss&format=&debutLP=&category=&sex=&releaseDate=&requestNo=&type=&level=&label=&company=&certificationDate=&awardDescription=&catalogNo=&aSex=&rec_id=&charField=&gold=&platinum=&multiPlat=&level2=&certDate=&album=&id=&after=&before=&startMonth=1&endMonth=1&startYear=1958&endYear=2009&sort=Artist&perPage=25. Retrieved February 9, 2009. 
  4. ^ "AllMusic Billboard singles". http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:hzfpxqlgldfe~T31. Retrieved 2009-01-27. 
  5. ^ "CRIA certified sales database". http://www.cria.ca/cert_db_search.php?page=1&wclause=WHERE+artist_name+like+%27%25kiss%25%27+ORDER+BY+cert_date%2C+cert_award+&rcnt=32&csearch=20&nextprev=1. Retrieved February 9, 2009. 

External links

v • d • e
Kiss
Paul Stanley · Gene Simmons · Tommy Thayer · Eric Singer
Peter Criss · Ace Frehley · Eric Carr · Vinnie Vincent · Mark St. John · Bruce Kulick
Studio albums
Live albums
Singles
"Nothin' to Lose" · "Kissin' Time" · "Strutter" · "Let Me Go Rock N' Roll" · "Rock and Roll All Nite" · "C'mon and Love Me" · "Rock and Roll All Nite (Live)" · "Shout It Out Loud" · "Flaming Youth" · "Detroit Rock City" · "Beth" · "Hard Luck Woman" · "Calling Dr. Love" · "Christine Sixteen" · "Love Gun" · "Shout It Out Loud (Live)" · "Rocket Ride" · "Strutter '78" · "Radioactive" · "New York Groove" · "Don't You Let Me Down" · "Hold Me, Touch Me (Think of Me When We're Apart)" · "You Still Matter to Me" · "I Was Made for Lovin' You" · "Sure Know Something" · "Shandi" · "Tommorow" · "Two Sides of the Coin" · "A World Without Heroes" · "I Love It Loud" · "Lick It Up" · "All Hell's Breakin' Loose" · "Heaven's on Fire" · "Thrills in the Night" · "Tears Are Falling" · "Uh! All Night" · "Crazy Crazy Nights" · "Reason to Live" · "Turn on the Night" · "Let's Put the 'X' in Sex" · "(You Make Me) Rock Hard" · "Hide Your Heart" · "Forever" · "Rise to It" · "God Gave Rock 'n' Roll to You II" · "Unholy" · "Domino" · "I Just Wanna" · "Everytime I Look At You" · "I Love It Loud (Live)" · "Rock and Roll All Nite (Live Unplugged)" · "Jungle" · "Master & Slave" · "Psycho Circus" · "We Are One" · "I Finally Found My Way" · "You Wanted the Best" · "Modern Day Delilah" · "Say Yeah"
Videos and DVDs
Tribute albums
Compilations and box-sets
Concert tours
Related articles

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Album Review. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Unmasked".  Read more