Peter Criss is the first solo album by Peter Criss, the drummer of American hard rock band Kiss. It was one of four solo albums released by the members of Kiss on September 18, 1978, but yet under the Kiss label, coming out alongside Ace Frehley, Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley.[1] The album was produced by Vini Poncia, who went on to produce Dynasty (1979) and Unmasked (1980) for Kiss.
Songs
Four of the tracks ("I'm Gonna Love You", "Don't You Let Me Down", "That's the Kind of Sugar Papa Likes" & "Hooked on Rock 'n' Roll") were originally written in 1971 for Criss's pre-Kiss band, Lips.[2] Criss also covers "Tossin' and Turnin'", which was a No. 1 hit for Bobby Lewis in the U.S. during the summer of 1961.[3] The song was subsequently covered by Kiss on their 1979 tour.
Reviews for Peter Criss were mostly negative. In a retrospective assessment AllMusic called it "the most undistinguished of the bunch, lacking hooks on either the pop-metal rockers or the power ballads, as well as personality throughout."[1] The album was the lowest charting of all the Kiss solo albums of 1978, reaching No. 43 on the US Billboard album chart.[9] Of the four solo albums, Peter Criss was the only album to have two singles released from it: "Don't You Let Me Down" and "You Matter to Me", neither of which charted. In an interview in Goldmine magazine, Stanley and Simmons dismissed the record as being completely opposite of the aims of what Kiss music was about.
In rankings of Kiss' albums, Peter Criss was named the worst Kiss record by Eduardo Rivadavia of Loudwire,[10] Paul Elliott of Classic Rock,[11] and Matthew Wilkening of Ultimate Classic Rock.[12] Rivadavia interpreted it as "a cry for help, after years trapped in the relentlessly charging Kiss machine, but it was nothing like the chorused cries of 'HELP!' issued by all the fans who bought this sub-yacht-rock debacle." He added that while the 1978 Kiss solo albums were meant as spaces for each member to "just be himself", Criss "clearly misread the memo and decided to 'just be Barry Manilow' instead."[10] Wilkening commented that Criss was "clearly running as far from the band's hard rock sound as possible", instead creating an album that "leans heavily on ballads and the R&B sound of his previous groups. Even considering that, he simply doesn't have the songwriting talent or charisma to front an entire album."[12] Elliott wrote that Criss, a fan of pop and soul music, "turned MORcrooner on lightweight toe-tapping tunes" such as "Don't You Let Me Down" and "That's the Kind of Sugar Papa Likes"; he deemed the ballad "I Can't Stop the Rain" the best song for how it suits Criss' raspy voice, but dismissively added that, overall, Peter Criss contained music that Kiss fans' parents would like.[11] Nonetheless, he wrote that the title of "worst solo album made by a drummer" belonged to Keith Moon's Two Sides of the Moon (1975).[11]
Track listing
All credits adapted from the original release.[13]
All songs were written by Peter Criss and Stan Penridge, except where noted.
Steve Lukather – guitar solo on "That's the Kind of Sugar Papa Likes" and "Hooked on Rock and Roll"
Bill Cuomo – keyboards 1-5 and 9
Richard Gerstein – keyboards on tracks 6–7, and 10
Davey Faragher, Tommy Faragher, Danny Faragher, Jimmy Faragher, Maxine Dixon, Maxine Willard, Julia Tillman, Vini Poncia, Annie Sutton, Gordon Grody – backing vocals
Tom Saviano – Horns arranged
Michael Carnahan – saxophone solo on "Tossin' and Turnin'", baritone sax on "Hooked on Rock 'n' Roll"
Lenny Castro – percussion on "Tossin' and Turnin'" and "Don't You Let Me Down"
