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| Released = May 20, 1980
| Released = May 20, 1980
| Recorded = January – March 1980 at [[Record Plant|The Record Plant Studios]], New York City
| Recorded = January – March 1980 at [[Record Plant|The Record Plant Studios]], New York City
| Genre = [[hard rock]]
| Genre = [[Hard rock]]
| Length = 39:46
| Length = 39:46
| Label = [[Casablanca Records|Casablanca]]
| Label = [[Casablanca Records|Casablanca]]

Revision as of 18:25, 2 June 2015

Untitled

Unmasked is the eighth studio album by American hard rock band Kiss, released in 1980. It was the last studio album to feature the original lineup of Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss until the band reunited. Criss actually had no involvement with the recording of the album; Anton Fig (uncredited) played all the drums on the album.

Album information

The band filmed a promotional video for "Shandi" with Criss. It was the last time he appeared with Kiss until he performed with them at a Kiss Convention on June 17, 1995. In the band's authorized biography, he revealed that he was the last one left in the band's dressing room after filming and broke down crying.[1] The album cover and poster insert, designed by artist Victor Stabin, featured a winking Criss. "Unmasked was like the tail end of a comet," reflected Stanley, "and I don't mean Frehley's."[2]

A lip-synched German television performance of "Talk to Me" and "She's So European" featured the debut of Eric Carr, who became the band's permanent drummer until his death in 1991. The band would play a concert at the Palladium Theatre in New York to officially introduce Carr as Criss' permanent replacement in the band.

The album features substantial songwriting contributions from Vini Poncia, who had previously been Ringo Starr's post-Beatles songwriting partner. The album marked the first time Kiss had used the contributions of outside songwriters to such a large extent, as all but two of Frehley's contributions, Talk to Me and Two Sides of the Coin, were written or co-written by someone outside the band.

The album's songs have been largely ignored on live performances, with the exception of "Shandi", which is sometimes played in the band's shows, particularly in Australia (where the song became a top ten hit in 1980). "Talk to Me" was played in 2001 during the Australian and Japanese concerts of the Farewell Tour but has not been performed again since the departure of Frehley.

Heavy metal singer Jørn Lande covered "Naked City" on the album Unlocking the Past (2007).

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[3]
Vista Records
[4]
Sputnikmusic[5]
Rolling Stone[6]
Pitchfork(0.8/10)[7]

Unmasked marked a major departure musically for the band. It reached #35 on the US Billboard chart[8] and was certified gold by the RIAA on July 30, 1980.[9] The album marked another departure for Kiss, as this was the first album since 1977's Love Gun not to feature all members on vocals, excluding the four solo releases in 1978.[1]

One year after their last tour, which was somewhat a disaster, Criss was fired from the band due to his erratic behavior. Unmasked was the first album that failed to reach platinum status since 1975's Dressed to Kill. Kiss only played one show in the US, at the Palladium with Carr. The band decided to take a break from the US because the album was more successful in other countries, and Kiss played in Australia, England, New Zealand, Germany, France, and Italy.

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalsLength
1."Is That You?"Gerard McMahonPaul Stanley3:59
2."Shandi"Stanley, Vini PonciaStanley3:36
3."Talk to Me"Ace FrehleyFrehley4:00
4."Naked City"Gene Simmons, Poncia, Bob Kulick, Pepe CastroSimmons3:49
5."What Makes the World Go 'Round"Stanley, PonciaStanley4:14
6."Tomorrow"Stanley, PonciaStanley3:18
7."Two Sides of the Coin"FrehleyFrehley3:16
8."She's So European"Simmons, PonciaSimmons3:30
9."Easy As It Seems"Stanley, PonciaStanley3:24
10."Torpedo Girl"Frehley, PonciaFrehley3:31
11."You're All That I Want"Simmons, PonciaSimmons3:04

Personnel

Credited personnel

Uncredited personnel

Touring personnel

Charts

Album
Chart (1980) Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart[10] 3
Austrian Albums Chart[11] 3
Canadian Albums Chart[12] 12
Dutch Albums Chart[13] 5
German Albums Chart[14] 4
Italian Albums Chart[15] 11
New Zealand Albums Chart[16] 1
Norwegian Albums Chart[17] 1
Spanish Albums Chart[18] 11
Swedish Albums Chart[19] 17
Swiss Albums Chart[20] 8
UK Albums Chart[21] 48
US Billboard Pop Albums[22] 35


Singles

Year Nation Single Chart Position
1980 United States "Shandi" Billboard Pop Singles 47[23]
Australia Pop Singles 10[citation needed]
Austria Pop Singles 5[24]
"Talk to Me" Pop Singles 39[citation needed]
Canada "Shandi" RPM 100 Singles 69[25]
Germany Pop Singles 28[citation needed]
"Talk to Me" Pop Singles 32[citation needed]
"Tomorrow" Pop Singles 70[citation needed]
Holland "Shandi" Pop Singles 24[citation needed]
"Talk to Me" Pop Singles 39[26]
Norway "Shandi" Pop Singles 4[24]
New Zealand Pop Singles 6[24]
Switzerland "Talk to Me" Pop Singles 10[26]

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[27] Gold 50,000^
United States (RIAA)[9] Gold 500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ a b Leaf, David and Ken Sharp. KISS: Behind the Mask: The Official Authorized Biography, Warner Books, 2003. ISBN 0-446-53073-5 Cite error: The named reference "leaf" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  2. ^ Kitts, Jeff: 'Back in black (and white)', Guitar World, September 1996, p68
  3. ^ Unmasked at AllMusic
  4. ^ "VISTA RECORDS - KISS - Unmasked (1980)". Vistarecords.proboards.com. Retrieved 2011-08-13.
  5. ^ "KISS - Unmasked (album review)". Sputnikmusic. 2010-01-01. Retrieved 2011-08-13.
  6. ^ "Kiss: Album Guide | Rolling Stone Music". Rollingstone.com. Retrieved 2011-08-13.
  7. ^ "Internet Archive Wayback Machine". Web.archive.org. 2003-06-26. Retrieved 2011-08-13. {{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help)
  8. ^ "AllMusic Billboard Unmasked". Retrieved 2009-01-27.
  9. ^ a b "American album certifications – Kiss – Unmasked". Recording Industry Association of America.
  10. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  11. ^ http://swisscharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=KISS&titel=Unmasked&cat=a
  12. ^ "Search - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 9 August 2011.
  13. ^ http://swisscharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=KISS&titel=Unmasked&cat=a
  14. ^ http://swisscharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=KISS&titel=Unmasked&cat=a
  15. ^ http://www.hitparadeitalia.it/hp_yenda/lpe1980.htm
  16. ^ http://swisscharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=KISS&titel=Unmasked&cat=a
  17. ^ http://swisscharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=KISS&titel=Unmasked&cat=a
  18. ^ Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  19. ^ http://swisscharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=KISS&titel=Unmasked&cat=a
  20. ^ http://swisscharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=KISS&titel=Unmasked&cat=a
  21. ^ http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/_/kiss/
  22. ^ "Kiss Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums" at AllMusic. Retrieved February 11, 2010.
  23. ^ "AllMusic Billboard singles". Retrieved 2009-01-27.
  24. ^ a b c "Lescharts.com". Retrieved 2010-05-15.
  25. ^ "RPM Magazine 100 singles". Retrieved 2010-03-19.
  26. ^ a b "Lescharts.com". Retrieved 2010-05-15.
  27. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Kiss – Unmasked". Music Canada.
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