Uh-oh. Apparently Peter Criss' latest CD just doesn't cut it.
Music Review: Peter Criss - One for All
Written by Chris Holmes
http://blogcritics.org/archives/2007/07/26/090638.php
Longtime KISS fans recognize that Peter Criss has always lived a double life, musically speaking. On the one hand there is the hard rocking Catman, found on songs like "Hooligan," "Baby Driver," and "Dirty Livin'." On the other hand, there is the tender side of Criss, most evident on his 1978 solo album and the classic 1976 ballad "Beth."
Criss's first solo effort since 1994, the self-produced One for All,
falls squarely in the latter camp. In fact, it's even more subdued
than his '78 solo effort. Of the 12 songs on the album, only one
("Heart behind These Hands") gets any warmer than a simmer. In and
of itself that's not a problem, unless listeners were hoping for
something harder. What is a problem is Criss, as much as he
obviously poured his heart into One for All, lacks the songwriting,
singing, and production chops to carry an entire album.
Read the entire review at BlogCritics.org
What fans on YouTube.com say:
"I bought 3 songs from the new cd on iTunes and want my $3 back. What a piece of shit. Makes Gene's solo shit sound like Sgt. Pepper." cagwa
"Hmm...I wouldn't call this the best solo album he's done. Not by a long shot." MiggoZero
"Typical Peter Criss. You will either love it or slit your wrists 30 seconds into the song. No middle ground here." ToxikVideo
More from the BlogCritics.org review:
That's not to say that One for All doesn't have its good moments. The
slow, bluesy "Doesn't Get Better Than This" is a nice trip down
memory lane, and features standout guitar playing by writing partner
Mike McLaughlin. "Whisper" crawls along but is very engaging and
contains delicate fretwork, while the bluesy "Heart Behind These
Hands" is easily the strongest song on the album and is punctuated by
a searing McLaughlin solo.
But even the better songs on this album suffer from a lack of hooks
and some painfully off-key vocals by Criss (if there were ever an
album where the use of Auto-Tune is justified, this is it). These
problems, combined with some genuinely sub-par songs - "Hope,"
replete with cheesy keyboards, is mercifully short while "Faces in
the Crowd" oozes schmaltz with overdubbed crowd noise and lines like
"my heart is like a big bass drum" - mean that One for All can't be
considered as anything better than mediocre to all except Criss
diehards.
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