Description

Rare German 1994 release

Kiss recorded live at The Fairgrounds in Sydney, Australia on the 22nd of November 1980, at the final leg of The Unmasked Tour 1980. This was the first tour ever without the 4 original members. Eric Carr had replaced original drummer Peter Criss and does a fine job handling the lead vocals on Black Diamond. The Unmasked album and the following tour was a failure and it was the first time ever that Kiss made a tour that only managed to reach Europe, Australia and New Zealand and it was a rather short tour, starting in late August and ended early December. The band were in the middle of their ghastly Pop phase and the whole mix leans more toward pop than hard rock – especially the drum sound. Also they used some sort of electronic harmonizer on Paul’s vocals which gives these renditions of Kiss classics a strange almost surreal edge. That said, this tour did have some unique features which make it an interesting part of Kiss history. The set list contains a number of tunes which have rarely – if ever – been part of the set list since such as Is That You, Talk To Me and Shandi. The tracks Cold Gin and Strutter returned for The Unmasked Tour. Cold Gin hadnt been played since the Rock And Roll Over Tour and Strutter had been buried since the Destroyer Tour. Musically it might not be classic Kiss but Unmasked were still a hit in Australia and New Zealand and since it was a short not so well documented tour it has become a classic and an integral part of the Kiss history puzzle.

Track list:
1. Detroit Rock City
2. Cold Gin
3. Strutter
4. Shandi
5. Calling Dr. Love
6. Firehouse
7. Talk To Me
8. Is That You?
9. 2.000 Man
10. I Was Made For Lovin’ You
11. New York Groove
12. Love Gun
13. Rock And Roll All Nite
14. Shout It Out Loud
15. King Of The Night Time World
16. Black Diamond