The Peter Criss Solo Album...

Finally gave this album a listen today and it kicks ass! It doesn't sound much like a KISS album, but the songs are well written and the performances are outstanding! So why does it get so much hate?

Becaue it doesn't sound like Kiss. I never understood the hte either. The whole idea of making a solo album is to have it sound different than the main band!

I personally love Peter Criss' solo album.

Glad to see that someone likes it. I never really did. I have the cd but it's only a collection filler. It's not in my player and I don't have it loaded onto my ipod. I can't even tell you the last time I listened to it.

I suppose Pete should be commended for really stepping outside the boundaries of the music he'd normally be associated with but it just does nothing for me. The only song that comes to mind for me is I Can't Stop The Rain and that is even only borderline listenable.

I did not care for it, or any of his solo albums for that matter. There are a couple songs on the disc I like 'I Can't Stop the Rain' and ..... well I would have to give it another spin.

I do like his singing voice, very raspy, laid back with tons of personality. I admire the fact he tired something different, and even then he made no secret of his love for R & B music.

Overall I do not hate it as much as I used to, and I even enjoy it from time to time, but still way down the list of KISS related albums that I enjoy.

anybody ever lisen to "Out Of Control" ?

James B. wrote:

anybody ever lisen to "Out Of Control" ?

Yes, used to have it on vinyl and I got rid of it. I regretted it doing that in retrospect, but at the time I thought it was an awful album with a semi cool album cover. I am not sure if I still would dislike it but at 15-16 my taste in music was still very narrow.

I get the hate for his solo stuff - but I personally love it. Okay One For All isn't my thing but at least my copy is signed so it has that going for it. Out Of Control has to be one of my all-time favorite album covers. The album itself is also a frequent player for me.

It is a poorly produced and rushed album. Peter didn't take the time that the other three did on his album, mostly due to an accident. Regardless, it's just not a good album IMO. "That's the Kind of Sugar Papa Likes"? GAK!

And the idea of making a solo album isn't necessarily to "sound different than the main band". In the case of Ace Frehley, it was just getting to do what he wanted to do without others telling him what he should and shouldn't do. The same with Paul. He wasn't trying to sound like anything but himself. Since he was one of the primary writers of KISS, of course the music is going to sound like KISS. The solo albums were a chance for the four men to do what they wanted, whether that was to rock or to do what Peter did.

Poor Peter...is his music really that bad? As a long-time KISS fan I listen to his music - sure it's not great, but hey, that's what he grew up listening to..he was/is a early rock n roll guy...everything from Do-Whop to Motown to early English bands...he's certainly not hard rock, let alone metal...

ultmetal wrote:

It is a poorly produced and rushed album. Peter didn't take the time that the other three did on his album, mostly due to an accident. Regardless, it's just not a good album IMO. "That's the Kind of Sugar Papa Likes"? GAK!

And the idea of making a solo album isn't necessarily to "sound different than the main band". In the case of Ace Frehley, it was just getting to do what he wanted to do without others telling him what he should and shouldn't do. The same with Paul. He wasn't trying to sound like anything but himself. Since he was one of the primary writers of KISS, of course the music is going to sound like KISS. The solo albums were a chance for the four men to do what they wanted, whether that was to rock or to do what Peter did.

These partucular solo albums were fire fighters! Without those albums, Kiss' original line-up would have probably come to an halt in 1978. Still, the reason for making them were, as you say, to let the members make music they wanted for themselves. That doesn't take away my statement that the whole point was to sound different than Kiss. A full album with Ace's songs will not sound like Kiss, and the same goes for Paul, Peter and Gene. Some ended up sounding closer to Kiss then the others, but none of them sounded 100% like Kiss.

Don't like this one but I haven't listened to it in YEARS, maybe I'll spin it again soon. He did better (though not completely "good") solo albums later.

To me the solo albums proved that individually none of these guys were anything to write home about. But "collectively" as Kiss they improved each other and became "greater than the sum of their parts".

kmorg wrote:

Some ended up sounding closer to Kiss then the others, but none of them sounded 100% like Kiss.

True. Paul's sounded the most Kiss-like to me.

S.D. wrote:

To me the solo albums proved that individually none of these guys were anything to write home about. But "collectively" as Kiss they improved each other and became "greater than the sum of their parts".

I'd beg to differ as Ace's solo album was fantastic!

Ace has done some good things solo, but I don't think anything as memorable as his work with KISS.

ultmetal wrote:

Regardless, it's just not a good album IMO. "That's the Kind of Sugar Papa Likes"? GAK!

I love that song! Reminds me a lot of Alice Cooper's 'Lace and Whiskey' album.

I used to listen to more often when I had less albums. At the time, the only solo albums I had were Ace's and Peter's. Of course, Ace's got the most play (still love it and rate it higher than a number of KISS albums). But, Peter's just left me wanting a real KISS album.

To add on to Ult's comment, Peter's sound like a dirty old man sitting at a titty bar telling a stripper "O yeah, that's the kind of sugar papa likes!"

I haven't heard Out Of Control in so long, I don't remember what it sounds like. I remember when it came out, I had enough money to buy 1 album. It was either Out Of Control or Unmasked, Wisely I choose Unmasked!

S.D. wrote:

Ace has done some good things solo, but I don't think anything as memorable as his work with KISS.

Are you talking about the KISS/Ace solo album? That's what I was referring to, not his Comet stuff.

S.D. wrote:

Ace has done some good things solo, but I don't think anything as memorable as his work with KISS.

I dont know - Anomaly was pretty good.

Best Rod Stewart imitation ever.

ultmetal wrote:

S.D. wrote:

Ace has done some good things solo, but I don't think anything as memorable as his work with KISS.

Are you talking about the KISS/Ace solo album? That's what I was referring to, not his Comet stuff.

I was primarily referring to his solo album. The Ace album is my favorite of the four solo albums, but again, I don't think it's as good as the actual Kiss albums he was on.

I hadn't listened to this album forever, and for good reason. Here's the deal, I'm a sucker for almost anything 70's. My musical palette runs that deep. So, I have no problem with Peter Criss trying to summon up his best Rod Stewart ~ Eric Carmen. That being said, this album still isn't that good. The first half of the album is awful. Peter's version of Bobby Lewis' Tossin' and Turnin' is terrible. The second half of the album has some redeeming value to it, but I'm stating that very loosely. Peter seems to have more success with the more sappy songs, which include the likes of "Easy Thing", "Kiss The Girl Goodbye", & "I Can't Stop the Rain". With that being said, if I want sappy style music, I will go listen to the likes of Barry Manilow, who I enjoy...

kmorg wrote:

Becaue it doesn't sound like Kiss. I never understood the hte either. The whole idea of making a solo album is to have it sound different than the main band!

I personally love Peter Criss' solo album.

I still disagree with this. The idea of making a solo record is not necessarily to make something that sounds differently. That could be one of the reasons to make a solo record. The purpose is to make the music you want to make without the confines of a band or it's other members. If I were to record a solo record and it sounds like Ultimatum music, that is because it's what I like and what I want to record. I don't have to create an album that sounds completely different for it to be a solo record.

Peter's solo record was slapped together at the last minute, mostly using old songs from his former band. Rather than rock and roll, his album is more R&B. It's also the most weak production of the four. Peter was never a hard rock fan, rather he preferred crooner types, Motown and classic R&B, thus his solo album was outside the tastes of many hard rock fans. It's hard not to think of these solo albums as Kiss albums, but they are not. However, these albums were being marketed to Kiss fans; fans of hard and heavy rock 'n' roll. So, it's no surprise that Peter's album isn't looked at in such favorable light as Ace Frehley and Paul Stanley's solo albums, both of which catered to that crowd.

I liked Peter Criss's solo album. I never really understood the hate. Sure it wasn't Kiss, but it was never meant to be and listening to his songs you could sense his influences. That, to me was the really cool part. All four did a solo album and you had a good idea what they were all about. The four of them gelled and separately they were all different, which I think made Kiss. This, seems to me, when Kiss were honest and sincere. Too much for many of the fans, and understandably so. Kiss fans wanted Kiss and never expected the individual members to have such widely varying tastes and influences. It really is a shame they couldn't hold it together, cause I think if they had, we would have had some really good music.

I like Peter's solo stuff. It's nice kickback & relax kind of music.

My favorite off his 1978 solo album is "You Matter To Me." I think the album was good for the style of music that suited him. He's got soul in his soul, LOL.

I listened to Out Of Control and Let Me Rock You on Spotify about a year ago or so. I was on a Peter Criss kick. With both albums, there are songs I really like and others I skip over (the song "Let Me Rock You" is dreadful--and the album is named after it!).

My favorites off Out Of Control are the title track and "My Life." I really like the chorus when the piano kicks in:



Here's one off Let Me Rock You. Just makes me think of kicking back with a drink after a long workday.

From what ive heard of all the KISS Solo albums I Like Ace's the others not so much