Peter Criss

Markism

Junior Member
I searched and couldn't find a topic with his name on it so here it is.

Peter Criss from Kiss, discuss.
 
I saw Peter Criss with KISS in 1978 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh. I was about 11 years old and was very excited about the show. After about 5 songs there was an interuption as we found out Peter Criss had passed out backstage bring the show to a halt...have no idea why....but after about 5-10 minutes they revived him and the show went on. Paul Stanley looked embarassed. Peter was a big influence when I was young before getting into Bonham, Peart,then Bozzio, Copeland,Wackerman, Cinnie, Tony, Buddy,Billy,Rod...etc....etc....I learned how to keep basic rock time to Detroit rock City.
 
I think I'm one of maybe three people in the known universe that liked Peter's solo album.

--LG
 
his solo album was the worst selling of the 4. I find his drumming tasteful and catchy on the most part of his Kiss recordings.
 
Before anyone else really, PC was my first BIG influence as a young kid.
My favorite stuff is the first 3 albums and Alive!

I played to those records a lot.

With Destroyer, the songs changed, and his style for the most part lost it's swing to me.

The kits got bigger, and the fills started to break the groove of the song too much to me.

He always seemed to play something I thought was cool on Ace's songs, and I liked stuff he did on the Love Gun record, but overall, the drumming wasn't nearly as good as his early stuff to me.

I can still remember as a kid, looking at the pics of his kit in the Alive! booklet and thinking "Man, if I had a double tom stand like that, I'd be set" haha!

Back then, there wasn't all kinds of hardware available, and add-ons and all the stuff there is now.

I have a ton of video concerts (before the DVD's came out) and it's a bummer to see how cool his playing was in the early days, and what happened later.

He played with a lot of fire, and did cool fills, and then it seemed like pppffffttttt.
His playing on the 2000 Millenium concert in the DVD collection is pretty good though.

I didn't care for his solo record.

My favorite is still Ace's, followed by Gene's.

There are a couple cool tunes on Paul's, but I didn't play his much.

I sitll have the posters that came with those albums.
They're all still in mint condition too.
 
ok im only 15 years old iv been around old school rock,metal well you get the point.
peter criss is one of the best in that time the 80s 70s and really late 60s altho his music changed from time to time he was a very good drummer with heart and soul.
 
Before anyone else really, PC was my first BIG influence as a young kid.
My favorite stuff is the first 3 albums and Alive!

I played to those records a lot.

With Destroyer, the songs changed, and his style for the most part lost it's swing to me.

The kits got bigger, and the fills started to break the groove of the song too much to me.

He always seemed to play something I thought was cool on Ace's songs, and I liked stuff he did on the Love Gun record, but overall, the drumming wasn't nearly as good as his early stuff to me.

I can still remember as a kid, looking at the pics of his kit in the Alive! booklet and thinking "Man, if I had a double tom stand like that, I'd be set" haha!

Back then, there wasn't all kinds of hardware available, and add-ons and all the stuff there is now.

I have a ton of video concerts (before the DVD's came out) and it's a bummer to see how cool his playing was in the early days, and what happened later.

He played with a lot of fire, and did cool fills, and then it seemed like pppffffttttt.
His playing on the 2000 Millenium concert in the DVD collection is pretty good though.

I didn't care for his solo record.

My favorite is still Ace's, followed by Gene's.

There are a couple cool tunes on Paul's, but I didn't play his much.

I sitll have the posters that came with those albums.
They're all still in mint condition too.
That's funny Peter Criss was my favorite drummer when I was 6 yrs. old and my first album(yes I said album) was KISS "Alive" and that was in 1976 and you are correct the first 3 albums and Alive was there best stuff "Deuce","Strutter","She","Cold Gin",etc. not to mension "100,000 Years" I could just keep going with the old stuff, I think every young drummer back then wanted to be Peter Criss.I finally had the chance to see them when they first got back together at Tiger Stadium in Detroit of course,It was a crazy night (no pud intended) for sure.

Keep Swattin',
Bonzolead
 
I was at Tiger Stadium too.

We had 8th row...got really lucky in the ticket lottery line.

Dynasty was my first concert.
The show I saw was a few days after the one that's in the DVD set.

I got screwed out of a Love Gun show. I was pretty bummed.

My friend and his wife are in the S.IO.L. video from Tiger Stadium.

They show them 2 times and they are dressed as Ace in the Destroyer outfit.

His wife is shown in a little side box too.

It's still fun putting on ALIVE! and jamming along to it.

Once in a while at rehearsal, we'll bust into one (or more) kiss song or another.

The Tiger Stadium show on the DVD set is pretty bad, but it was cool as hell when we were there.

On Deuce, they totally blow coming back into the song after the the break (where he screams)...it's pretty bad.

Oh well, that's rock & roll.

It's not like they were getting the big bucks and should have gotten it right or anything :p!!!

The concert a few months later that's from the same tour onthe DVD is way better.
The Millenium show is real good too.
 
Peter's my number one influence as a drummer, even though I know that there are plenty of technically better drummers. I can remember growing up, putting KISS Alive into my Walkman cassette deck and pounding away for a couple hours.
 
Here's a link to Peter's different kits with specs:

http://users.tpg.com.au/adsle4l5/petercrissdrums/

Now I know why I dig the snare sound on Shock Me, Alive 2 and songs from the studio side of Alive 2--I knew it was a 10x14, but I didn't know it had 8 LUGS. THAT'S the reason I like 8 lug snares more than the usual 10, because it just has a slightly more open tone.
I'm after a Dunnett Classic 2N Stainless Steel snare ATM... getting close :)
 
I also grew up wanting to play like Peter Criss. There are way more "technically proficient" drummers out there, but his work on Alive! was full of feeling- just great rock drumming with a bit of swing underneath it.

I have read that a lot of Alive! was "fixed" in the studio, as all live albums are, but the drum tracks are pretty much live.

Too bad he had to be replaced on later albums due to his substance abuse and attitude.

I have some early videos of the band and his playing was very good- later on not so much.
 
Peter lives in the same small NJ suburb as me. I used to see him at the local deli and he was always nice. As a kid, we'd go trick-or-treating at his house and he'd give out autographs instead of candy haha KISS rules!
 
In this recent clip of Peter Criss playing "Sing, Sing, Sing (with a Swing)," is there evidence of great jazz chops.

Due to Son of Vistalite Black's lack of knowledge about (or interest in) century-old musics, one finds it hard to evaluate Criss' brief performance at the 15th annual Beauty Ball, hosted by Joe Piscopo in Eatontown, New Jersey (Exit 105).

We just went to see Ace Frehley in a 1,000-capacity club near home, and he was fantastic -- shredding so hard his Les Paul caught fire. SoVB black has always loved the Catman's singing on hits like "Hard Luck Woman" and "Beth," as well as his playing on Alive 1 and 2, but what are your thoughts on his facility with a jazz band (or otherwise)?

Does he rank among rock's greatest drummers or top singing drummers?

 
I hope he had fun and people were entertained.
When he was with KISS I wasn't that impressed, but they were a step down musically from my experiences with arena bands prior to them.
Never saw a KISS show live.
 
I think he plays -drums like- a lot of his peers- those also born 1947- that era of "rock plus some swing" drummers.
when he was 8-9-10 years old Gene Krupa were still in society's consciousness- so he was influenced- every right to be
(i don't know about his singing)

And I think he sounds beautiful there
he waited he didn't rush; he captured from :36 on especially the essence of a Krupa performance.
(better than I could or would- he's older) ya know he lived it/that era/ more
I think he was being honest and that's what counts
glad to see he's doing well.
 
Last edited:
N
In this recent clip of Peter Criss playing "Sing, Sing, Sing (with a Swing)," is there evidence of great jazz chops.

Due to Son of Vistalite Black's lack of knowledge about (or interest in) century-old musics, one finds it hard to evaluate Criss' brief performance at the 15th annual Beauty Ball, hosted by Joe Piscopo in Eatontown, New Jersey (Exit 105).

We just went to see Ace Frehley in a 1,000-capacity club near home, and he was fantastic -- shredding so hard his Les Paul caught fire. SoVB black has always loved the Catman's singing on hits like "Hard Luck Woman" and "Beth," as well as his playing on Alive 1 and 2, but what are your thoughts on his facility with a jazz band (or otherwise)?

Does he rank among rock's greatest drummers or top singing drummers?

Not sure about “ranking” - that would imply some kind of pedagogy involved, and I don’t think there ever is. Mr. Criss just happened to be the guy on the throne when KISS took off. KISS had a plan to make it, but I think when you’re in the middle of it, it’s hard to really know if you’re making it or not, you’re just doing it and hoping for the best.

That said, it’s hard to say if someone other than Peter Criss could do what he did. And if it was somebody else, would it be as good? Would it have propelled that band better than if it was Peter? We’d never know. I can’t imagine anybody else in that spot - just like I can’t imagine a different Ringo or Charlie. So yeah. Mr. Criss deserves it 😉
 
Last edited:
Loved KISS when I was in grade school—had all their albums and a couple huge posters (I think this was one of them)—but never listened to anything past Dynasty. When they got back together for the Unplugged special, I thought it was neat even though I hadn't listened to them in 15 years and I still enjoy listening to the couple of songs they all did. (Ace's acoustic solo on "Beth" is maybe my favorite solo of his ever.) But watching Peter Criss and Eric Singer both play drums together honestly made me uncomfortable, as the talent gap was so obvious. Someone later gave me tickets to the first reunion tour and an old bandmate and I enjoyed the absolute hell out of it.

I can't say he's my favorite singing drummer ever, because I just don't connect emotionally with the majority of his oeuvre, but I absolutely love his kind of smoky, raspy vocals, and he seems to know how to use it quite well.

A lot of people can separate the art from the artist and a lot of people can't or choose not to. I will say that for some reason I read all four autobios/memoirs and boy does it make it harder to be anything like objective about them.

ETA: halfway through the song, which leg Peter is tapping on the downbeat gets reversed. Not important in the slightest but also not something I'd ever expect a professional drummer to do. (No judgments!)

 
Last edited:
Back
Top