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By 1980 , KISS was in complete disarray, and so far removed from their musical identity that this couldn't help but be the result. In hindsight, however, it was Vini Poncia's slick and glossy production that watered down at least a few potent tunes. Ace's "Talk To Me" probably should get the biggest nod on the album. It is a well-written and tuneful pop song, and is indicative of the creative surge Ace Frehley went through from 1977-1980. " Is That You?" and "You're All That I Want" could have benefited by being left in a rawer state that showed up on the album, but still decent songs. "Shandi" never appealed to me as a good song, and certainly not a good KISS song, but I can see where it had a good structure as a pop hit. The rest of the album , to me, sounds like it's wandering around without much direction. Gene Simmons songs on here are uninspired at best, and lousy at worst. Paul Stanley seems sincere in his effort to become a hit-maker, but fits the role of one of hard rock's best frontmen much better. Still, there's no denying he has a really pleasant voice for this kind of music and is a more than competent songwriter when it comes to this type of material. A much more confident Ace Frehley was further changing the band dynamic, and it was only a matter of time before he felt held back being part of any group. Peter Criss is absent from this album, despite being on the cover, and based on that time periods output from him, that's a good thing. His ghost drummer, Anton Fig, is one of the finest in the biz and the album could have benefited had they let him cut loose some. Instead he is forced to try and ape Peter's then (and now) limited skills and mixed into the background beat as so many pop songs had. All in all, there are a few good ( if over-produced) songs on the album for fans of the band, and that's about all one can expect from any band. The fun thing about KISS being around for forty years is that they have tried their hand in many different popular music genres of the times, and had some success when they did. This album is a nice piece to add to the journey, even if it skews towards the bottom of the band's many albums.Read full review
Unmasked is probably Kiss's most disliked album. It's not necessarily one of my favorites either, but if you just take this album for what it is, the music isn't that bad at all. Probably the best songs on here are "Talk To Me" and "Shandi." With the Remasters collection all of the album artwork is reproduced here. It's pretty cool to open up the CD insert and see the poster and stuff that was packaged with the original LP. This is a good buy for the die-hard Kiss fans, but if you like Kiss for their harder-edged material this is not for you.
This is the worst studio album KISS ever made. Buy it only if you want to complete your KISS collection. The best two songs on this CD are Talk to Me and Naked City. However, you will likely never see those songs on any Hits CD because those songs are not good enough to make onto any other KISS cd. Talk to me is OK although it can get annoying to listen to Ace make the word "me" sound like it is two syllables long. Naked city is too "dressed up" to sound like a typical Gene Simmons song. Usually, Gene's work has that gritty sound to it, not here. This album shows that KISS had lost their way (and sound) in the late 70s and early 80s. It wasn't until 1982 and the release of Creatures of the Night, that they began to right the ship. The time between Love Gun and Creatures is a time to forget.Read full review
I feel this album gets a really bad rap when it doesn't deserve it. It may be the most pop oriented album KISS has done to date but it is one of their best and a personal favorite of mine. The fact that the album isn't rock doesn't hurt it at all either. The best songs are: Is That You?, Shandi, Talk to Me, Naked City, What Makes the World Go Round, Tomorrow, Two Sides of The Coin, Easy As It Seems and Torpedo Girl. This album saw Anton Fig once again sit at the helm of drums since Peter Criss was having drug problems and would leave the band even before the Unmasked Tour started. It would be shortly after the album's release that Eric Carr would replace Peter Criss in the band as the drummer. Overall this album has what Dynasty was lacking in a sense of fluidity. Not to mention that there is only one song on the entire album that isn't that great. A great KISS album and a definite for any KISS fan.Read full review
Great cd. A lot different than previous releases. As soon as I popped it in, I went back to 1980! Not the best, but good, fun music!!
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned