Take It Off. Kiss Truly Unmasked

Грег Прато

There is a common misconception about KISS, one of the greatest hard rock/heavy metal bands of all time: that their «non-makeup» era of 1983-1996 is not as enduring as the period when they rocked stages as the Starchild, the Demon, the Spaceman, and the Cat. This is untrue. In fact, this period helped resuscitate KISS’ career, as they reestablished themselves in arenas, on the charts, and via MTV, and yielded some of their most popular songs—including «Lick It Up», «Heaven’s on Fire», «Tears Are Falling», «Crazy Crazy Nights», «Hide Your Heart», «Forever», «Unholy», and more—many of which consistently found their way into the band’s set lists.

While the majority of KISS books are focused on the iconic makeup era, the non-makeup years are ripe to be explored in book form, and Take It Off does just that, zeroing in on the 12 albums KISS issued during this period—including such gold- and platinum-certified hits as Lick It Up, Animalize, Crazy Nights, and Revenge—as well the resulting tours, videos, and other escapades.