Take It Off

KISS Truly Unmasked

By: Greg Prato, Chris Jericho - foreword, Andreas Carlsson - afterword

Narrated by: Greg Prato

Length: 12 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

Take It Off draws on all-new interviews with KISS experts and associates, including the band's lead guitarist throughout most of this period, Bruce Kulick, plus Crazy Nights producer Ron Nevison and video director Paul Rachman (Unholy/I Just Wanna/Domino). Among the other contributors are Charlie Benante (Anthrax), K.K. Downing (ex-Judas Priest), Derek Sherinan (ex-Dream Theater), and rock music experts Eddie Trunk, Katherine Turman, and Lonn Friend. The book also includes a foreword by Fozzy frontman Chris Jericho and an afterword by acclaimed producer Andreas Carlsson.

With KISS currently in the midst of their last ever tour, now is the time to get Truly Unmasked.

©2019 Greg Prato (P)2022 Greg Prato Writer, Corp.

Author unmasks Kiss history after the makeup

Prolific rock journalist Greg Prato documents the Kiss years after removing the face paint on MTV in 1983. The author details the decision behind the much talked about move, and the honest reaction from the rock community. Once unmasked, the band had to modify their stage performance. Afterall, Gene Simmons was no longer The Demon character, should he continue shooting fire and spitting blood?

Hard rocking Kiss is an influential band that found ways to reinvent themselves over the years. Fozzy's Chris Jericho wrote the introduction for the book, and like many Kiss fans, prefers this era of "Kisstory," as the band remained relevant and producing memorable albums. Prato takes you behind the scenes and does a masterful job demonstrating how the band stayed on top despite a handful of lineup changes.

Prato offers analysis of each album that the band recorded and puts the LPs in their proper perspectives. The author also does a fantastic job explaining why Paul Stanley is such an underrated singer, and Simmons an often-underappreciated bassist. The book takes a close look at the hard rock genre at the time, and how the musical tastes of fans were changing.

Additionally, Prato is critical of the some of the lyrics written by Simmons, which were often misogynistic. He also looks at Gene's acting gigs, including movies and Miami Vice, and the passing of beloved drummer Eric Carr. A must have for Kiss fans!

KISS fans will totally dig this!

Obviously, a book about a decade long period in the history of a once successful not at the peak of their career appeals only to a select few. But those select few will undoubtedly love this tome chronicling the non-makeup era, circa '82 - '96, of the mighty KISS!

Filled with interviews from former KISS member, collaborators, journalists, and other music industry luminaries, Take It Off is captivating tale making for a compulsive read (or in this case, listen).

It's a must for any KISS super-fan!

Great for KISS 80's era fans.

Enjoyed the content. Very much. The narration was realy lacking. The author's voice just does not work. The odd inflections were extremely repetitive. Hard to listen too for hours. The experience suffers. If this was professionally read - the experience would be greatly improved.

Great info but horrible narration

Greg Should definitely not narrate his own books mipronunciation inconsistency & actually moving away from the microphone several times during the reading of this book even before the 4th chapter I had noticed this.
Putting the time line together with good information and interviews make it worthwhile.

Go book, hard listen

The book seems well written but Greg Prato shouldn’t be allowed to read his books. Please find someone else.

UNMASKED FOR REALZ

Fantastic look at KISS during the non makeup years. Great info on Bruce Kulick & Eric Carr.

Good for new fans

If you’re new to KISS-DOM, this fills in some blanks. If you’ve been a fan (and followed them closely), only a few nuggets of new info. Nothing Earth shattering. Lists some footage that can be sought out online - helpful in that respect. The vocal performance is VERY underwhelming. It can be difficult to separate; a question asked of an interviewee, vs. an answer to the question. As a fan since’83 ( I began my fandom at 10 years old), it was more killing time, than learning something new. Hat’s off to the author, in as much as, a sincere effort was made.