Funny, I had the album but it was so long ago that I don't remember anything about it.I think I'm one of maybe three people in the known universe that liked Peter's solo album.
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.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.
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!
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.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?