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Kiss - Unmasked


Kiss - Unmasked Fave Song  

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I recently score a '89 press of this classic cd and wondered what other Kiss fans thought about this album. To me, this is the first album that sounded different from what Kiss had done before. Power-Pop at it's best imo. I could hear Butch Walker covering most of these songs on here. Interesting twist, eh?

 

Your thoughts are welcome!

 

JL

 

 

 

Oh yeah, I went with Is That You even though it is a tough choice. Could have gone Shandi, Talk to me, Tomorrow, etc....Love this cd.... :)

 

JL

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This was like a "DYNASTY" part two.

They used the same producer and it had the same sound.

 

While I do like this release it is still one of my least favorite Kiss albums.

In my opinion there just wasn't any balls to this album, sure I liked most of the songs but there just wasn't any soul. The best thing about this one and Dynasty is the presence of all the Ace Frehley material.

 

If you listen to "UNMASKED" and then listen to any of the 1st six Kiss albums, it'll make this one sound very weak. As for my song choice I went with "Two Sides of the Coin."

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This was like a "DYNASTY" part two.

They used the same producer and it had the same sound.

 

While I do like this release it is still one of my least favorite Kiss albums.

In my opinion there just wasn't any balls to this album, sure I liked most of the songs but there just wasn't any soul. The best thing about this one and Dynasty is the presence of all the Ace Frehley material.

 

If you listen to "UNMASKED" and then listen to any of the 1st six Kiss albums, it'll make this one sound very weak. As for my song choice I went with "Two Sides of the Coin."

 

 

See this is where you & I differ my friend! I don't hear the same quality in Dynasty as this one. And honestly, I have listened to this one more than the first six Kiss albums combined. To me, the first six run together & sound the same. Well, except maybe Love Gun which is my fave '70's Kiss album but that's another story....

 

When I listen to Unmasked I'm not looking for Soul...I hear quality playing by Gene, melodic songs & as you said, more Frehley than usual. I also have a question though that you may know....how much did Carr play on unmasked or was it someone else. I don't believe for a second that Criss played on the whole album...

 

JL

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UNMASKED is not exactly at the top of my list of favorite KISS albums either, but I went with "Talk To Me," I actually heard Ace perform this one live at one of his solo gigs in the early 90s... I think maybe me and one other person in the room even knew the song, everyone else had these looks on their faces like "????"

 

I always liked the comic strip on the album cover though...

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In all actuality this isn't really a KISS album...Peter doesn't play a

single thing on it, Paul plays most of the guitar except for the parts Bob

Kulick Plays..Ace plays only on His song(s)..Gene only sings...All Bass

was Paul or somebody else...The Book KISS Behind the Mask

is a Great way to find out who played what..It's like "The Dirt" in Many

ways...as the Band discusses every album and every track In great detail...

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Not my fave Kiss album, but it does have some great songs on it. 'Naked City' would be my pick with 'Easy As It Seems' (recently covered by Deacon Street on their II Disc) would be a close second.

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This was like a "DYNASTY" part two.

They used the same producer and it had the same sound.

 

While I do like this release it is still one of my least favorite Kiss albums.

In my opinion there just wasn't any balls to this album, sure I liked most of the songs but there just wasn't any soul. The best thing about this one and Dynasty is the presence of all the Ace Frehley material.

 

If you listen to "UNMASKED" and then listen to any of the 1st six Kiss albums, it'll make this one sound very weak. As for my song choice I went with "Two Sides of the Coin."

 

 

See this is where you & I differ my friend! I don't hear the same quality in Dynasty as this one. And honestly, I have listened to this one more than the first six Kiss albums combined. To me, the first six run together & sound the same. Well, except maybe Love Gun which is my fave '70's Kiss album but that's another story....

 

When I listen to Unmasked I'm not looking for Soul...I hear quality playing by Gene, melodic songs & as you said, more Frehley than usual. I also have a question though that you may know....how much did Carr play on unmasked or was it someone else. I don't believe for a second that Criss played on the whole album...

 

JL

 

 

Eric Carr wasn't in the band until this album was released. So he only did the touring for this one. Anton Fig from David Letterman's band and Frehley's Comet palyed drums. Peter Criss had no involment in this project.

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Anton Fig was indeed the drummer on UNMASKED (and in fact, he played on a good hunk of DYNASTY too because Peter was so out of it at the time). I saw Anton at a KISS Convention back in the 90s and he mentioned it during his Q&A session.

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Reading this thread inspired me to dust off my "UNMASKED" CD for the first time in at least five years (!) and listen to it on the way to work this AM... and with all due respect to Kiss and the folks here who dig this album, I wished I hadn't bothered. I will still stand by my vote for Ace's "Talk To Me" as the best song, but trying to pick the best song on UNMASKED is kinda like trying to name the best player on the Tampa Bay Devil Rays... because there is so LITTLE to work with!! Parts of this album almost sound like they were trying to jump on the early 80s new-wave bandwagon (the verses in "Is That You?" could've come from an early Cars album for Chrissake), and the production is waaaaayyyy too slick and poppy for my tastes. So this one will go back on my shelf for another five years until I get another jones to hear "Talk To Me," I guess. Hell, I'd rather listen to CRAZY NIGHTS for 24 hours straight than listen to this one again and I HATE Crazy Nights too. When it comes to "atypical" Kiss albums, give me THE ELDER or DYNASTY over UNMASKED any day.

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Reading this thread inspired me to dust off my "UNMASKED" CD for the first time in at least five years (!) and listen to it on the way to work this AM... and with all due respect to Kiss and the folks here who dig this album, I wished I hadn't bothered. I will still stand by my vote for Ace's "Talk To Me" as the best song, but trying to pick the best song on UNMASKED is kinda like trying to name the best player on the Tampa Bay Devil Rays... because there is so LITTLE to work with!! Parts of this album almost sound like they were trying to jump on the early 80s new-wave bandwagon (the verses in "Is That You?" could've come from an early Cars album for Chrissake), and the production is waaaaayyyy too slick and poppy for my tastes. So this one will go back on my shelf for another five years until I get another jones to hear "Talk To Me," I guess. Hell, I'd rather listen to CRAZY NIGHTS for 24 hours straight than listen to this one again and I HATE Crazy Nights too. When it comes to "atypical" Kiss albums, give me THE ELDER or DYNASTY over UNMASKED any day.

 

 

 

With all do respect Mr. Freddy...in the words of GnR....you're fuckin crazy! :P

 

 

I never said it was my fave, but I do really love the album because it's different. But hey, I love Crazy Nights too so....

 

:bananamac:

JL

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Reading this thread inspired me to dust off my "UNMASKED" CD for the first time in at least five years (!) and listen to it on the way to work this AM... and with all due respect to Kiss and the folks here who dig this album, I wished I hadn't bothered. I will still stand by my vote for Ace's "Talk To Me" as the best song, but trying to pick the best song on UNMASKED is kinda like trying to name the best player on the Tampa Bay Devil Rays... because there is so LITTLE to work with!! Parts of this album almost sound like they were trying to jump on the early 80s new-wave bandwagon (the verses in "Is That You?" could've come from an early Cars album for Chrissake), and the production is waaaaayyyy too slick and poppy for my tastes. So this one will go back on my shelf for another five years until I get another jones to hear "Talk To Me," I guess. Hell, I'd rather listen to CRAZY NIGHTS for 24 hours straight than listen to this one again and I HATE Crazy Nights too. When it comes to "atypical" Kiss albums, give me THE ELDER or DYNASTY over UNMASKED any day.

 

 

I also pulled out "Unmasked" to give a spin this morning. While I enjoy most of the songs, the production is just to "Disco" for my tastes. I just wonder what this thing would of sounded like if it was recorded a few years earlier before the Disco craze hit America. The problem is when I compare this one to "KISS", "HOTTER THAN HELL", "DESTROYER", "ROCK N ROLL OVER", and "LOVE GUN" is just really shows that "UNMASKED" has a lack of "BALLS" to it's sound. I still will never understand why Kiss hired Vinnie Poncia to produce this and Dynasty after he had produced Peter Criss' solo album, an album they have been quoted many times as saying they didn't like.

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[

With all do respect Mr. Freddy...in the words of GnR....you're fuckin crazy! :P

 

 

I never said it was my fave, but I do really love the album because it's different. But hey, I love Crazy Nights too so....

 

:bananamac:

JL

 

What can I say, brutha... diff'rent strokes for diff'rent folks. Gimme the S/T, HOTTER THAN HELL, LOVE GUN, REVENGE, or any of a dozen other KISS CDs before this one. I love KISS to death but even the most hardcore fan has got to admit that they didn't hit one out of the park every time. :)

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[

With all do respect Mr. Freddy...in the words of GnR....you're fuckin crazy! :P

 

 

I never said it was my fave, but I do really love the album because it's different. But hey, I love Crazy Nights too so....

 

:bananamac:

JL

 

What can I say, brutha... diff'rent strokes for diff'rent folks. Gimme the S/T, HOTTER THAN HELL, LOVE GUN, REVENGE, or any of a dozen other KISS CDs before this one. I love KISS to death but even the most hardcore fan has got to admit that they didn't hit one out of the park every time. :)

 

 

You're right...it's called The Elder" :P

 

JL

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Believe it or not, I prefer THE ELDER... ;)

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Believe it or not, I prefer THE ELDER... ;)

 

 

I also prefer "THE ELDER". Yeah the concept was stupid but at least most of the songs were heavy.

"I", "The Oath", "Only You", "Mr. Blackwell", "Dark Light", "Under the Rose", and "Escape from the Island" were all kick ass stuff. If only they would of left off "Oddesey", "Fanfare", and "Just a Boy".

 

Eric Carr's drumming also kicked ass on "THE ELDER".

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Believe it or not, I prefer THE ELDER... ;)

 

 

I also prefer "THE ELDER". Yeah the concept was stupid but at least most of the songs were heavy.

"I", "The Oath", "Only You", "Mr. Blackwell", "Dark Light", "Under the Rose", and "Escape from the Island" were all kick ass stuff. If only they would of left off "Oddesey", "Fanfare", and "Just a Boy".

 

Eric Carr's drumming also kicked ass on "THE ELDER".

 

I have never understood the concept behind THE ELDER. The story certainly doesn't make a lot of sense to me, although I understand that when they did the KISS remasters in 1997 or 98 they actually put the songs in a different order (apparently when the album was first released, the record company changed the songs around to put what they thought were the "potential singles" farther up in the running order) and my CD is one of the older copies. Even if I had one of the remastered copies, I'm still not sure it would make much sense. I even have a KISS magazine special with a comic book adaptation of THE ELDER in it and that didn't help much either. Maybe it was just a crappy concept and I should quit trying to find meaning in it. Although I STILL like it better than UNMASKED dammit!

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For Me the first 4 KISS albums are killer...then some filler... I still

love Alive II...This "UNMASKED" sucks...IMO...Freddy I got yo Back!!

 

I knew I could count on ya Metalhead! :headbanger:

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For Me the first 4 KISS albums are killer...then some filler... I still

love Alive II...This "UNMASKED" sucks...IMO...Freddy I got yo Back!!

 

 

I actually love the 1st 6 studio albums. Then it's not until "Creatures" before they start kickin' ass again.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I just saw this excerpt from a Gene Simmons interview on Blabbermouth and thought it was worth sharing... seems that Gene doesn't like UNMASKED much either!!

 

KissOnline.com: Which KISS album are you most proud of and which KISS album are you the least proud of? Why?

 

Gene: "I suppose the album I liked least is 'Unmasked'. There were a few tunes I didn't mind, but the band by that time had lost its way. Peter didn't play on almost the entire album. He left or was asked to leave (take your pick) for health reasons and Anton Fig secretly played drums in his place. And I was as guilty as anyone. I was the one who kept insisting on the cover design concept and the title. In retrospect, a big mistake.

 

"My fave album is either 'Creatures of the Night', 'Revenge' or 'Destroyer'... for obvious reasons. Decent tunes and good playing. Interestingly enough, three albums from three different decades of our history ('70s, '80s and '90s), with different lineups."

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I just saw this excerpt from a Gene Simmons interview on Blabbermouth and thought it was worth sharing... seems that Gene doesn't like UNMASKED much either!!

 

KissOnline.com: Which KISS album are you most proud of and which KISS album are you the least proud of? Why?

 

Gene: "I suppose the album I liked least is 'Unmasked'. There were a few tunes I didn't mind, but the band by that time had lost its way. Peter didn't play on almost the entire album. He left or was asked to leave (take your pick) for health reasons and Anton Fig secretly played drums in his place. And I was as guilty as anyone. I was the one who kept insisting on the cover design concept and the title. In retrospect, a big mistake.

 

"My fave album is either 'Creatures of the Night', 'Revenge' or 'Destroyer'... for obvious reasons. Decent tunes and good playing. Interestingly enough, three albums from three different decades of our history ('70s, '80s and '90s), with different lineups."

 

 

I just read that earlier. His favorites are some of mine to. While I'm sick of Destroyer, Creatures and Revenge are both stellar and should be mandatory listening for all metal fans.

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Yea, y'know, now that you mention it, DESTROYER is one of the few KISS cassettes that I haven't upgraded to CD yet even after all these years. I guess I burned myself out on that one too so I've never been in a huge hurry to replace the tape.

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