Style: hard rock, pop rock
Label: Casablanca
Year: 1980
Home: New York
Members: Paul Stanley ~ vocals/guitars/bass
Gene Simmons ~ bass/vocals/rhythm guitar
Ace Frehley ~ lead guitar/vocals/acoustic guitar/bass
Additional: Anton Fig ~ drums
Vini Poncia ~ keyboards/percussion/b. vocals
Tom Harper ~ bass
Holly Knight ~ keyboards
Bob Kulick ~ guitar
At one point I thought Asylum was the worst Kiss album, compared to all that came before it. It was a tough listen, but I could work my way through it. I call it neutered Kiss, or Kiss without any guts, or a beast without any bite, or a spaceman lost in space. Then I listened to Unmasked. Asylum is weak, but this is worse. Who is this? I like the opener "Is That You?," but if you played it for me & asked me to name the band, I don't think I would guess correctly. Maybe Paul's voice would give it away, but his phrasing & lyrics are just not what I typically associate with him. As for the music ... well ... nothing about the song sounds like Kiss as I think of them via their '70's albums. Not recognizing Paul's voice I would likely guess this to be a '70's quasi-bubblegum pop rock group. They have some potential, but need help. The only thing this unmasks is how much Kiss were willing to change their musical template to sound like music that was on the charts, even if that means jettisoning everything that makes them Kiss. If you pretend this is not Kiss its bearable & has some good parts. If you listen to it as Kiss you'll ... well, let's not go go there as I don't want anyone calling 911 due to their brain breaking & then suing me. I can't imagine the band thought this album was the perfect thing to release. The music fits them so uncomfortably I can't even think of a metaphor of something this bad. Even David Byrne's famous big suit looked more comfortable on him than this pop music does on Kiss. I'm losing track of how many times I've heard hard rock & metal bands find themselves slipping off the charts, or facing a line-up change, & instead of playing what their fans want, they go in another direction trying to win new fans while burning the ears of old fans. Skid Row did it by going post-grunge, then shockingly country. Megadeth did it by going power ballad. Motley Crue, Danger Danger, the Rolling Stones & so many others went in some odd direction that is now more often than not forgotten. Just reform your band under a new name, okay? We'll all know its still you. At least when Queen when electronica in the early '80's they had a history of experimenting, but I swear its a majority of bands that have gone out on the ledge & fallen. Disco Rod Stewart anyone? Speaking of which, Kiss had put a foot into the disco waters, but still made sure to rock. Here, I'm guessing, they felt the rock part was the problem & not the addition. Things aren't helped by Peter's absence. Anton Fig, who had played with Ace on his first solo album, went uncredited as the drummer for promotion's sake, yet any fan listening would know this isn't Peter. There's drum parts & effects on them never heard in Peter's playing. Ace, Gene & Paul all sing lead on the album & all have a hand in composing. That's not so unusual, except here the musical differences are so profound that it sounds like 3 distinct albums. Actually, it sounds like 3 distinct bands with 3 distinct singers & styles. Listening to this as a comp album of 3 bands was the only way, after numerous listens, to really make sense of it. Its a little more bearable, still not Kiss though, but if you re-arrange the order of the tracks the whole things works much better. First, there is the Gene album, or shall I call it the Gene Simmons Band EP? Its a one hit wonder ... maybe on AM radio, which nobody listens to. That hit is "Naked City". I enjoyed it, but only because its thematically based on a now forgotten 1950's/60's TV show of the same name, even semi-quoting the show's catchphrase with "there are 10 million stories". The show's theme was: "There are 8 million stories in the naked city, and this is one of them." I know this only because in 2021 I wrote the biography "In The Shadow Of The Gods: The Memoir Of A Led Zeppelin Tribute Singer" with Jean Violet on his 20 years fronting the Led Zep tribute band Kashmir. He was in a band called Naked City named after the show, as his lyrics were some of the 8 million stories. Other than this personal reference, its a big cheezy slab of '70's pop. It doesn't growl like a great Gene song should. Actually, none of the songs growl on the Gene Simmons Band EP. "She's So European" is better suited for the Andrea True Connection. What doesn't help is the cymbals have been given a shimmering effect that just toes the line of disco but doesn't land properly. "You're All That I Want" is Gene's sloppy love ballad with him singing in a higher range. Is he trying to imitate Paul, whose voice dominates the chorus? Maybe if the Doobie Brothers did this it might have been decent filler. Sometimes I wonder if the members of Kiss are not that good on their own & only in collaboration with each other, or maybe they are just lazy musicians, or maybe they don't care what they are doing as long as there is product to sell. I can't help but think of their 1978 solo albums when listening to Unmasked. Next up is the Paul Stanley Band EP. Paul sings his heart out. I'll give him that. His voice is at its prime, really. Yet, he sings his heart out on bubblegum pop. I kinda hate to confess I like some his songs, like "What Makes The World Go Round." Though, I feel too many songs have an identity crisis trying to figure out if they are rock or pop. Though, "Easy As It Seems" is tapping into that disco vein again. Please, stop. It has an addictive melody, but the bass does a quasi-dance beat that eventually just becomes annoying. There's also way too much keyboard. "Tomorrow" I kinda like, though it sounds like something that is supposed to be on the Grease soundtrack. "Shandi", also not bad & has Paul hitting some of his highest notes likely on record. "Is That You" I like better than "Shandi," because Paul has some great phrasing. Really, these few songs have some of his most acrobatic singing on record. I just wish .... oh, so many things, too many to begin fixing the errors of this album & the inner-workings of these songs. I have to wonder if Kiss seriously thought this is what their fans wanted. Did they ask themselves: "The Kiss Army is totally looking for syrupy love ballad disco songs!" Some of Paul's songs are bearable, if this was a Paul solo album, which given how many are his songs he should have just gone ahead & made. There is potential here, but not for Kiss. I must say that the above 2 EP's remind me of Wicked Lester, the band that Paul & Gene were in before Kiss. Pop rock with some proggy elements. The 1972 studio recordings are floating out there you can hunt up. Its not an exact comparison, but I'm struggling here. Then we come to the Ace Frehley Band EP. This is the only part of this comp album that should not be over-looked. Its good. Actually, I'd like to be hear more of this. This is the solo album I wish Ace had made instead of the first 2 Frehley's Comet albums. Ace plays all the guitars & bass, plus vocals, on "Talk to Me", "Two Sides of the Coin" & "Torpedo Girl." These epitomize to me everything about the Spaceman that so many of us really like: unique, quirky, addictive, kick ass. These are really just straight ahead rock songs, but Ace is so quirky in his personality, helped by outside substances, that he puts a unique spin on the template. These 3 songs have as much personality as the Gene & Paul cuts do for them, but the songs work for Ace. I don't see Gene doing ballads & I don't consider Paul a pop guy. But, wild songs by the Spaceman is exactly what I expect & want. For some reason he had it right, but the other guys ... yeah, I just don't know. He was likely listening to his inner muse. They were listening to music on the charts. He was being himself, but they were imitating. All this being said, I've drafted this review over numerous weeks & gone back & re-listened multiple times. There's moments that have potential, but on both the big & small picture things just don't work. Too many songs don't know what they want to be. Maybe I should blame the producer. Maybe I should blame the outside songwriter in Vini Poncia, whose credentials included 5 Ringo Starr albums, plus Melissa Manchester, Lynda Carter aka Wonder Woman, Jackie DeShannon, Martha Reeves & Tommy James. What would make someone think he was perfect for Kiss? He did co-write "I Was Made For Lovin' You" & produce Dynasty. That's workable, but only after he did Peter Criss' disastrous 1978 solo album, which didn't sound like Kiss. Is that alarm bells I hear ringing? Too late now. The wizard behind the curtain has been ... unmasked.
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