Music / Unmasked

Unmasked is the eighth studio album by KISS, released in 1980. Despite appearing on the cover, Peter Criss is completely absent on the album, as he was in the process of leaving the band at the time (not unlike Ace Frehley and Creatures of the Night). Anton Fig would very briefly fill the drumming spot (he did the same on Dynasty on every song except "Dirty Livin'"), before Eric Carr became a permanent replacement.

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Tracklist:

Side One

1. "Is That You?" (3:59)
2. "Shandi" (3:36)
3. "Talk To Me" (4:00)
4. "Naked City" (3:49)
5. "What Makes The World Go 'Round" (4:14)

Side Two

1. "Tomorrow" (3:18)
2. "Two Sides Of The Coin" (3:16)
3. "She's So European" (3:30)
4. "Easy As It Seems" (3:24)
5. "Torpedo Girl" (3:31)
6. "You're All That I Want" (3:04)

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Principal Members:

• Anton Fig - drums
• Ace Frehley - guitar, backing and lead vocals, bass
• Gene Simmons - lead vocals, bass
• Paul Stanley - lead vocals, guitar, bass

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Torpedo Tropes:

• Based on a Great Big Lie: Peter Criss is credited despite not actually working on the album.
• Design Student's Orgasm/Detail-Hogging Cover/Packaged as Other Medium: The album cover is done in the style of a comic strip.
• Europeans Are Kinky: "She's So European" is about a young woman who pretty much embodies this trope, at least in the singer's POV.
• Everything Sounds Sexier in French: Implied in "She's So European".
  She still speaks with the accent from the week in Saint-Tropez.
• Femme Fatale: In "Is That You?"
  You always get the boys you like,
  Play nice then stick them with your knife;
  Take off your insecure disguise.
• Heads or Tails?: "Two Sides of the Coin," about Ace trying to choose which lady he wants to settle down with.
• New Sound Album: Very disco oriented, even more so than Dynasty.
• One-Woman Song: "Shandi."
• One-Word Title: The tracks:
  • "Shandi"
  • "Tomorrow"
• Paparazzi: The band members in the cover comic, get harassed by a single photographer, who wants to see them without their masks on — which, at the time, was part of the band's mystique. His efforts get foiled time and again, until he forces them to do so in concert. Of course, The Reveal turned out to be rather comical!
• Performance Video: Their promo for "Is That You?" featuring Eric Carr on drums.
• Power Ballad: "Shandi."
• The Power of Love: "What Makes the World Go Round."
• Precision B-Strike: On "Is That You?"
  Went too far, been a bitch you are.
• Questioning Title?: "Is That You?"
• Record Producer: Vini Poncia, who also produced Dynasty and the Peter Criss solo album.
• The Un-Reveal: The cover comic has the band members unmask themselves, before the general public... And their actual faces are the same as their masks! (The actual reveal would not take place until Lick It Up, and that only after Ace and Peter left the band, and were replaced by Vinnie Vincent and Eric Carr.)
• Stock Sound Effects: "Torpedo Girl" begins with the sounds of a submarine.
• Sub Story: "Torpedo Girl" is about Ace being visited by a submarine, in the place where he was swimming, and meeting, of course, the titular girl.
• Verbed Title

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