Review Summary: Near forgotten and unloved album. Criminal but true.
Ahhhh 80's KISS, a rather strange period. A period of time which would see the band's chart sales dip (or rather plummet) and the bands reputation dented with one or two big mistakes and changes of sound, image and even band members. This period of time in the bands history is very interesting, yet also very confusing, and it starts with 1980's misleadingly titled (as they were not actually)
Unmasked, the first album since their controversial attempt at disco tinged heavy metal in
Dynasty/
Unmasked is one of the band's least popular and less revered albums, and is described as a departure from the KISS sound by many critics, with a somewhat poppier sound than their 'classic' output. In fact when I started thinking about writing this review I had ideas of what to say, things a long the lines of: "Mediocre", "Dull", "Forgettable" as just examples. Upon another listen however I have to take those thoughts back.
Unmasked is an excellent and hugely fun album.
Despite the striking comic book style cover art (which will not go down as one of their best artworks, and it's not like they have many classic pieces),
Unmasked is not as tailor made for the more youthful fan base KISS had picked up with their marketing appeal. It is often described (as previously mentioned) as a much more pop based album, but other than a few obvious attempts at a huge chart single,
Unmasked sits comfortably with the likes of
Destroyer and
Love Gun, both sonically and with the sheer amount of quality tunes.
Album opener 'Is That You?' summarises this point perfectly. A very familiar sounding KISS riff, no departure from before, just an insanely catchy and fun song, but also very dirty, in the style of their classic period rather than with
Dynasty, it is definitely one of KISS' most underrated songs. In fact much of the album is like this; songs such as 'Two Sides Of The Coin', Naked City' and 'She's European' would fit easily in the likes of
Love Gun and
Hotter Than Hell. Note the use of "much of" however; 'Shandi' is a definite attempt at a commercial hit with a big power ballad (but as a sucker for a big ballad, it is one of my highlights), whilst 'Torpedo Girl' is much quirkier than what fans would be familiar too with strange lyrical content about...actually listening to it I'm not certain, but Ace did write it and was on a lot of drugs at the time.
Like most KISS records however it is not perfect. Much of the record is very samey (a common problem for KISS albums), and whilst this isn't a problem for massive songs such as 'Is That You?' etc, there are a couple of songs that are simply filler such as 'Talk To Me' and 'You're All That I Want'.
Sonically, if you know KISS' 'classic' output, then you will know full well how this sounds. Not one of the bands most highly rated albums and often forgotten, but on upon listening to it again it certainly warrants a return or two. No where near as pop based as many critics will tell you, and in fact it deserves a place with those classics. A criminally underrated album, I urge you to give it another listen!
Recommended: Is That You?, Shandi, Two Sides Of The Coin
