CoronaVinyl Day 427 (K): Unmasked by KISS

For an explanation of CoronaVinyl, click here.

Today's CoronaVinyl category is "K," and I went with another album whose cover seems to go smashingly with the Turkish rug in my living room, KISS's eighth studio album, 1980's Unmasked.  Today was the first time I've listened to this album in its entirety or heard some of the songs on the album.

Unmasked was recorded and released at a time of transition and uncertainty for the band.  The year before, they had big success with Dynasty, but "I Was Made For Lovin' You" -- while at #11 hit for the band -- alienated a lot of hardcore fans, as KISS was venturing into disco rock.  Peter Criss had left the band and had no involvement whatsoever with Unmasked, but he nonetheless appears on the cover and was still credited as a band member.  Anton Fig actually handled the drumming on the album.  Despite the name of the album, the band was, in fact, still wearing their make up and would not remove it in public for another three years.  I will also note that the track listing on the back of the album cover does not match the track listing on the actual album, which irks me beyond reproach.

The album is another venture into realms where the band shouldn't have gone.  It was pretty clear they were trying to make a more pop-oriented album and bow to the styles of rock more popular at the time (which were softer than the band's normal fare).  The result is a schizophrenic album that was generally panned by critics, and the fans seemed to agree.  After five platinum albums in a row -- Destroyer, Rock and Roll Over, Love Gun, Alive! II, and Dynasty -- Unmasked has only gone gold.  It also peaked at #35 on the Billboard album chart, which was the band's lowest-charting album (studio or live) since their sophomore album, Hotter Than Hell, in 1974.  Unmasked did better internationally, where it went to #1 on the album charts in New Zealand and Norway, as well as Top 5 on the album charts in Australia, Austria, Germany, and the Netherlands.

The album's biggest "hit," if you can call it that, was a soft rock song co-written and sung by Paul Stanley called "Shandi."  As I've said before, this is probably the cheesiest KISS song of all-time and could very well be the theme song to an early '80s sitcom about a stripper with a heart of gold who's just trying to make ends meet.  It reached #47 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The band would reach a musical low point the following year with their ill-conceived concept album, Music From "The Elder," a soundtrack to a film that was never made and an album that performed so poorly the band didn't even tour to support it.  That, along with booze and drugs, prompted Ace Frehley to quit.  Then the band got Vinnie Vincent and Eric Carr to reenergize their sound and push them into '80s hard rock with 1982's Creatures of the Night.

Favorite Song on Side 1:  "Talk To Me"
It's slim pickin' on the first side, but I guess I'll go with Ace's lone contribution on this side, "Talk To Me."  Being an Ace song, it's a little more rock-oriented than the other songs on the side.  Ace has a nice solo, and Fig has some delicious fills.

Favorite Song on Side 2:  "Tomorrow"
The second side starts out with a nice little power pop offering from Paul.  He was generally more pop-oriented than the other guys in the band, and while not all of his ventures away from hard rock worked, I think this one is pretty good, even if it's not what the band would normally play.