Post by Erik Rupp on Nov 19, 2009 15:19:22 GMT -5
KISS - Unmasked (1980)
In the year of the Heavy Metal Revival, KISS went the other direction.
Following the path already blazed by Journey, Cheap Trick, and others, KISS put out an album of slick Pop Rock that seemed sure to win them more airplay in the wake of their hugely successful 1979 single, "I Was Made For Lovin' You." Ahhh, the best laid plans. They don't always work out.
Continuing their working relationship with producer Vini Poncia, KISS wrote some of their most accessible material in their catalog for this album. Vini's production only made it smoother and ready for radio. And in a few countries, this direction paid off in spades (particularly in Australia, where the album was a huge success). But at home? At home in the U.S. KISS found themselves on the outs with their fans.
In the U.S. KISS fans who came to love the band's raw Hard Rock (and 70's Metal) style of albums like KISS, Hotter Than Hell, Rock and Roll Over, and Love Gun found Dynasty to be a little too polished, and a little too Disco on a song or two. They had become wary of the band for whom just two years earlier they still considered themselves to be part their, "Army." Hearing the lead single from Unmasked, "Shandi," though, proved to be the last straw for many of them.
And it's not that the album (or even the lead single) was bad. It's not. It's just not the album that KISS should have made in 1980. In 1980 AC/DC had usurped KISS' role as the leading power of raw, Hard edged Rock and Roll. Black Sabbath came roaring back with Ronnie James Dio and the Heaven and Hell album. Judas Priest finally hit it big in the U.S. with British Steel. And KISS put out an album of slick Pop Rock.
Their credibility with the Hard Rock fans, already hurting after Dynasty, was gone.
Leadoff track, "Is That You," is a reworking of a song written by Gerard McMahon. While it isn't a KISS original, it sure sounds like it. Like, "King of the Night Time World," "Is That You," became a KISS song after the reworking and, "KISSifying," of the song by Paul Stanley (and Vini Poncia). This is a great song, and the perfect lead off track for the album. It's got all sorts of attitude and is the hardest rocking song on the album. In fact, if the rest of the album had been more like this track it may have been more successful.
For the remainder of the album, however, KISS would only occasionally touch on the hard edged Rock of, "Is That You."
"Shandi," the lead single, was also the most lightweight song on the album. Slick, Poppy, and falling somewhere in between classic KISS and Air Supply, "Shandi," isn't a bad song at all (it's actually pretty good for that kind of thing), it's just not a song that sounds even remotely like KISS. It might have worked on a Paul Stanley solo album, but on a KISS album it sticks out like a sore thumb.
Ace Frehley's first contribution to the album, the Power Pop tinged, "Talk To Me," is a little closer to what KISS fans had come to expect from the band, but only in comparison to the previous track. The thin guitar tone used by Poncia for the song may have been more 1980 Top 40 Radio friendly, but it didn't fit Ace's style all that well. Beef up the guitars and, "Talk To Me," might well have been a solid Hard Rock track that could have won back the old KISS fans that had been turned off by, "Shandi."
With his first track on the album Gene Simmons contributed the moody and dynamic, "Naked City," a song co-written by almost original KISS lead guitarist Bob Kulick, who had done some ghost work on lead guitar for the studio tracks for ALIVE II. The verses have an almost Reggae feel to them, but not quite, while the bridge does exactly that - bridges the styles between the lighter, reggae-ish verse and the Hard Rock chorus. This is another good song, and one that has held up very well over time.
Paul Stanley comes back with yet another Pop Rock song in, "What Makes the World Go 'Round." Again, this is a song that had it been on a Paul Stanley solo album would have worked very well, but on a KISS album it comes across as lightweight. This isn't a bad song, either, but it just doesn't fit the band very well.
The next track does fit KISS marginally better, however. "Tomorrow," despite it's poppy nature, is one of the best written songs that Paul contributed to the band on either of their Vini Poncia produced albums. It's poppy, but has a bit of an edge, and a ton of energy. Again, beefier guitar tones (and pushing the guitar forward in the mix a bit) would have done this song a world of good - and would have helped it fit in with the traditional KISS style more than it does. Still, it is a good song.
Following up Paul's best original track on the album was another Ace Frehley track, one that sounded a little more like the Ace Frehley that fans had become accustomed to. Ace ends up being the only one on Unmasked that stayed somewhat true to what his roots were. "Two Sides of the Coin," is a prime example. It rocks, despite it's pop melodies, and it has an edge. And it's a good song.
"She's So European," is Gene Simmons' 2nd contribution to the album, and if not for the keyboard part on the song it wouldn't have been all that out of place on Love Gun. It's not the best song Gene ever wrote, and it is slicker than just about anything he brought to KISS prior to 1978, but it's still a legitimate Rock song, and it almost hits the mark. It is close enough, however, to still be enjoyable.
Paul Stanley's last song on the album is the funk influenced, "Easy As It Seems," which has a central bass lick and guitar chord progression that is repeated over and over for most of the song's three minutes and twenty five seconds. Yet again, keyboards water down what could have been a solid KISS track and turn it into a Paul Stanley solo song, more or less. The repetitive nature of the music does become a bit annoying after a while, though. Another part to bridge the verse and the chorus, or just a varying the guitar/bass parts a little in the verse or chorus might have done the job.
Ace Frehley's final song on Unmasked is one of the most whimsical of his entire career both musically and lyrically. Musically, it's upbeat, just a little bouncy, and almost jazzy. Lyrically, it's a goofy tale of a swimmer running across a submarine captained by a pretty girl. Hmmm... What was Ace trying to say? Ultimately, "Torpedo Girl," is a fun track, and is one of the album's highlights thanks to a great bass part (possibly played by Ace himself), and some great drumming from fill-in drummer Anton Fig (who played on the entire album). And it rocks harder than most of the songs on the album.
The album closes out with a rather poppy song from Gene, in "You're All That I Want," a song that does have a decent guitar tone and something of an edge to it, but also features multi-layered harmony backing vocals along with a fairly prominent keyboard part. It's the kind of song that really left a bad taste in the mouths of large percentage of KISS core fans - those who were left. Yet again, it's not that it's a bad song, because it's fairly well written, but it just doesn't sound like KISS.
Vini Poncia often takes the blame for the slick overproduction on the album, but Gene Simmons and especially Paul Stanley went along with that direction willingly. Peter Criss was basically already out of the band by the time the recording of Unmasked started, so he was a non-factor. The only member of the band who voiced reservations about the album's direction was Ace Frehley, and time has proven that Ace's instincts were right about both this album and the next one.
Unmasked, in the end, isn't a bad album, and it holds up fairly well 30 years later. All of the songs are well written and well crafted, and the album is well produced sonically. It just isn't a great KISS album.
4/5 (As a slick, Pop Rock/Power Pop album)
3/5 (As a KISS album or a Hard Rock album)
more to come...
In the year of the Heavy Metal Revival, KISS went the other direction.
Following the path already blazed by Journey, Cheap Trick, and others, KISS put out an album of slick Pop Rock that seemed sure to win them more airplay in the wake of their hugely successful 1979 single, "I Was Made For Lovin' You." Ahhh, the best laid plans. They don't always work out.
Continuing their working relationship with producer Vini Poncia, KISS wrote some of their most accessible material in their catalog for this album. Vini's production only made it smoother and ready for radio. And in a few countries, this direction paid off in spades (particularly in Australia, where the album was a huge success). But at home? At home in the U.S. KISS found themselves on the outs with their fans.
In the U.S. KISS fans who came to love the band's raw Hard Rock (and 70's Metal) style of albums like KISS, Hotter Than Hell, Rock and Roll Over, and Love Gun found Dynasty to be a little too polished, and a little too Disco on a song or two. They had become wary of the band for whom just two years earlier they still considered themselves to be part their, "Army." Hearing the lead single from Unmasked, "Shandi," though, proved to be the last straw for many of them.
And it's not that the album (or even the lead single) was bad. It's not. It's just not the album that KISS should have made in 1980. In 1980 AC/DC had usurped KISS' role as the leading power of raw, Hard edged Rock and Roll. Black Sabbath came roaring back with Ronnie James Dio and the Heaven and Hell album. Judas Priest finally hit it big in the U.S. with British Steel. And KISS put out an album of slick Pop Rock.
Their credibility with the Hard Rock fans, already hurting after Dynasty, was gone.
Leadoff track, "Is That You," is a reworking of a song written by Gerard McMahon. While it isn't a KISS original, it sure sounds like it. Like, "King of the Night Time World," "Is That You," became a KISS song after the reworking and, "KISSifying," of the song by Paul Stanley (and Vini Poncia). This is a great song, and the perfect lead off track for the album. It's got all sorts of attitude and is the hardest rocking song on the album. In fact, if the rest of the album had been more like this track it may have been more successful.
For the remainder of the album, however, KISS would only occasionally touch on the hard edged Rock of, "Is That You."
"Shandi," the lead single, was also the most lightweight song on the album. Slick, Poppy, and falling somewhere in between classic KISS and Air Supply, "Shandi," isn't a bad song at all (it's actually pretty good for that kind of thing), it's just not a song that sounds even remotely like KISS. It might have worked on a Paul Stanley solo album, but on a KISS album it sticks out like a sore thumb.
Ace Frehley's first contribution to the album, the Power Pop tinged, "Talk To Me," is a little closer to what KISS fans had come to expect from the band, but only in comparison to the previous track. The thin guitar tone used by Poncia for the song may have been more 1980 Top 40 Radio friendly, but it didn't fit Ace's style all that well. Beef up the guitars and, "Talk To Me," might well have been a solid Hard Rock track that could have won back the old KISS fans that had been turned off by, "Shandi."
With his first track on the album Gene Simmons contributed the moody and dynamic, "Naked City," a song co-written by almost original KISS lead guitarist Bob Kulick, who had done some ghost work on lead guitar for the studio tracks for ALIVE II. The verses have an almost Reggae feel to them, but not quite, while the bridge does exactly that - bridges the styles between the lighter, reggae-ish verse and the Hard Rock chorus. This is another good song, and one that has held up very well over time.
Paul Stanley comes back with yet another Pop Rock song in, "What Makes the World Go 'Round." Again, this is a song that had it been on a Paul Stanley solo album would have worked very well, but on a KISS album it comes across as lightweight. This isn't a bad song, either, but it just doesn't fit the band very well.
The next track does fit KISS marginally better, however. "Tomorrow," despite it's poppy nature, is one of the best written songs that Paul contributed to the band on either of their Vini Poncia produced albums. It's poppy, but has a bit of an edge, and a ton of energy. Again, beefier guitar tones (and pushing the guitar forward in the mix a bit) would have done this song a world of good - and would have helped it fit in with the traditional KISS style more than it does. Still, it is a good song.
Following up Paul's best original track on the album was another Ace Frehley track, one that sounded a little more like the Ace Frehley that fans had become accustomed to. Ace ends up being the only one on Unmasked that stayed somewhat true to what his roots were. "Two Sides of the Coin," is a prime example. It rocks, despite it's pop melodies, and it has an edge. And it's a good song.
"She's So European," is Gene Simmons' 2nd contribution to the album, and if not for the keyboard part on the song it wouldn't have been all that out of place on Love Gun. It's not the best song Gene ever wrote, and it is slicker than just about anything he brought to KISS prior to 1978, but it's still a legitimate Rock song, and it almost hits the mark. It is close enough, however, to still be enjoyable.
Paul Stanley's last song on the album is the funk influenced, "Easy As It Seems," which has a central bass lick and guitar chord progression that is repeated over and over for most of the song's three minutes and twenty five seconds. Yet again, keyboards water down what could have been a solid KISS track and turn it into a Paul Stanley solo song, more or less. The repetitive nature of the music does become a bit annoying after a while, though. Another part to bridge the verse and the chorus, or just a varying the guitar/bass parts a little in the verse or chorus might have done the job.
Ace Frehley's final song on Unmasked is one of the most whimsical of his entire career both musically and lyrically. Musically, it's upbeat, just a little bouncy, and almost jazzy. Lyrically, it's a goofy tale of a swimmer running across a submarine captained by a pretty girl. Hmmm... What was Ace trying to say? Ultimately, "Torpedo Girl," is a fun track, and is one of the album's highlights thanks to a great bass part (possibly played by Ace himself), and some great drumming from fill-in drummer Anton Fig (who played on the entire album). And it rocks harder than most of the songs on the album.
The album closes out with a rather poppy song from Gene, in "You're All That I Want," a song that does have a decent guitar tone and something of an edge to it, but also features multi-layered harmony backing vocals along with a fairly prominent keyboard part. It's the kind of song that really left a bad taste in the mouths of large percentage of KISS core fans - those who were left. Yet again, it's not that it's a bad song, because it's fairly well written, but it just doesn't sound like KISS.
Vini Poncia often takes the blame for the slick overproduction on the album, but Gene Simmons and especially Paul Stanley went along with that direction willingly. Peter Criss was basically already out of the band by the time the recording of Unmasked started, so he was a non-factor. The only member of the band who voiced reservations about the album's direction was Ace Frehley, and time has proven that Ace's instincts were right about both this album and the next one.
Unmasked, in the end, isn't a bad album, and it holds up fairly well 30 years later. All of the songs are well written and well crafted, and the album is well produced sonically. It just isn't a great KISS album.
4/5 (As a slick, Pop Rock/Power Pop album)
3/5 (As a KISS album or a Hard Rock album)
more to come...
