Unmasked

Kiss | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Label: BMG DIRECT
• ASIN: B002OUB23I
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (140 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,259,893 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Track Listings 1. Is That You? 2. Shandi 3. Talk to Me 4. Naked City 5. What Makes the World Go 'Round 6. Tomorrow 7. Two Sides of the Coin 8. She's So European 9. Easy as It Seems 10. Torpedo Girl 11. You're All That I Want

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 63 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars KISS exposed, March 4, 2005

By 

Christopher J. Benz "CJB" (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Unmasked (Audio CD)

It's a funny thing this record...
Unmasked as you all know was sensationally received in Australia and taken for what it is - superior pop/rock with occassional apologies to disco. The problem for the following that KISS had built to this point was that they were sold an image and loved it. The new concession to a younger, more pop focused audience outraged the fans of the earlier albums. The truth is, this album stands up well in their catalogue but you first have to be willing to accept a few home truths. KISS are a marketing machine and have never generated truly challenging, breathtaking rock. They are a lot of fun, but cannot be compared to, for example Led Zeppelin, Neil Young, Steely Dan etc. Those guys are musicians. Now seriously guys, watch 'Spinal Tap' and then try and take seriously songs like 'Love Gun', 'Great Expectations', 'I Stole your Love' etc. They're heaps of fun, but they're silly. We all just dug the image of a bunch of Kabuki theatre personas, cranking out something approximating hard rock. So 'Unmasked' - what is it? It's an enjoyable pop album. Shandi is a great rock ballad; 'Is that you?' has some real bite, 'Naked City' is atmospheric and Ace's tracks work so well because he has the tongue planted firmly in cheek - this is a band to enjoy, not to put on a musical pedistal. And this album is not boring, it's heaps of fun, full of pleasant catchy pop - it just exposed a band that was always there for the fantasy, for the audience - the musical approach was always just part of the formula - and the old fans found that reality hard to cope with.

22 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best KISS album, September 26, 2005

By 

J. Walsh (Milwaukee, WI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Unmasked (Audio CD)

WHAT? Did he say that? Yes. I have been a KISS fan all my life.... all eras. I love metal... but, I also love pop, rock and other things. To me, Unmasked... the album where they first took off their masks to reveal their real makeup... lol... is sonic perfection. The production is top notch, the songs are great. Gene Simmons even contributes very solid songs and singing for a change (not that he wasnt good on Dynasty as well, but lets face it, he is the KING of c-sides, songs not even good enough to be B-sides). The album is a pleasure to listen to start to finish and really is quite the eye openner compared to what most people expect of KISS. If you like things like Foreigner, Loverboy, Pat Benatar, The Cars, and Rick Springfield... this is KISS in a style that fits more with that group than with any of the metal bands they are usually associated with. Fans who like only the heavy stuff probably should avoid this album. But, if you like melodic rock and great songs... this album will not disappoint. Yeah, Peter Criss isnt on this album... so instead, you get truly OUTSTANDING drumming from Anton Fig (David Letterman's drummer for many years) and no Peter Criss song to ensure that there is something worse than the worst Gene song on the album. Pauls songs on this are top notch... Aces are catchy and humorous... Genes are nearly as solid as Paul's... and no Peter song. GREAT! Its just a shame that KISS was so constantly overlooked and blacklisted in the radio world... many of these songs should have been top 40 smashes and really fit well with the pop-rock songs of that era.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Behind the mask..., April 14, 2005

By 

Buckingham "buck" (Quebec) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Unmasked (Audio CD)

Most of you people who give it a 1 star review just don't listen to the album as an album! You listen to it as a KISS album. If you really like a band, you don't expect him to play the same thing over 30 albums, you just follow his mood, and enjoy the variety of his talent. So the ones who critisize Kiss since Dynasty because they were gone much slower were just keepin' them from makin' what they had fun doin'. I agree this is not Destroyer, but give it a try without thinking this is Kiss. This could have been the culminent point of any artist, but because it's kiss and that they have done so many good albums, we're tempted to say that it's bad, but it's not! Just think of rockin' numbers like "Is That You?" or "Two sides Of The Coin", melodic masterpeices "Shandi" or "Tomorrow"... Ace Frehley keep the old KISS sound while Paul and Gene are experimenting in a new style, so this album has everything to please.

OVERALL: Great and melodic production, Exellent songwriting, few ordinary numbers but we forget them since there are oustanding songs to make the ballance, great variety of styles, fake publicity by puttin' Peter Criss on the album and big maturity in performing.