Customer Reviews

Out of Control

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

When each member of Kiss recorded their own personal solo album back in 1978, Peter Criss' sounded very different from the traditional Kiss approach. One might suspect that the opportunity to record those songs made Criss realize that he actually could continue doing his own thing. Criss left Kiss after another two albums, and in 1980 he released his first album without any connection to the super group Kiss. "OUT OF CONTROL" sounds rather similar to the "Kiss solo effort", and Criss blend different musical styles like rock, pop, soul, and disco in a very attractive way. Peter Criss' rough voice works very well, either if it's slow ballads like "By myself" (with the honest lyrics: "By myself / Starting over again / By myself / Looks like this time I'm on my own"), melodic pop sounding tunes like "My life" or more rocking numbers such as "Out of control". This is a fine collection of great songs with connection to both the previous "KISS SOLO ALBUM" and follow up "LET ME ROCK YOU" (the best album from Peter criss).

Gene Simmons (ruler of the Kiss empire) describes Peter Criss (in the book "Kiss and make up") as a person who lack talent regarding everything from writing songs, playing the drums to singing. One might wonder why Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley hired Peter Criss in the first place back in the early 1970's... Just listen to "OUT OF CONTROL" and decide for yourself which one of Criss and Simmons who has the most talent. If you want to take a shot at this good album, be sure you don't end up with the version released on the obscure record company (?) "Beth records" because that one is in fact a bootleg - just a copied vinyl with poor sound.

In 1978, when KISS released the four solo albums from each member, Peter Criss created an album unlike any KISS album ever heard. He created an album that was all Peter. The album was born out of his childhood inspirations such as R&B and 50s Rock and Roll. That album was superior and was a genuine album from the Catman. Then in 1980 after Peter Criss's departure from KISS, he did it again. He created the first album of his solo career. This album picks up right where 1978's solo album left off. It contains the same spirit, same wonderful vocals, the perfect mixture of pop, rock, loveable ballads, and rockin and rollin tunes. It's everything that Peter Criss 1978 was and this time Peter did even better. This is the Cat's Meow!

The opening song is the heartfelt and loving ballad, "By Myself." This song is about Peter now out on his own away from KISS and starting all over again and on his own again. The song is very well acoustically written and Peter sings this song with such a loving and passionate manner that will make you cry. The next track, "In Trouble Again" a heavy rocker with a momentus array of piano, brass and guitars mixed with Peter's cathcy vocals and "Where Will They Run" has an intro that sounds similar to KISS's 1979 hit, "Sure Know Something" and this song is slower than the previous track but is definitely a soothing tune. The next track, "I Found Love" is in the same vein with 1978s, "Rock Me, Baby." It has very catchy vocals and a rockin and rollin sound that makes you wanna get up and dance. Then "There's Nothin Better" is pretty much "I Found Love" Part II. The lyrics are in the same area and continuing with finding love and singing that there is no one better than each other.

The title track, "Out of Control" is a catchy tune that is very well written and arranged and contains great guitar work. The next ballad of the album, "Words" is a very lovely piece. Once again Peter delivers very loving vocals and the song may very well be on of Peter's best ballads ever written. The next track, "You Better Run" is another heavy song with great guitar solos and brass arrangements. Then the last rocker, "My Life" is a song based on Peter's personality and experinces and rocks all the way through. The last song of the album, the power-ballad "Feel Like Letting Go" is so loving and will really bring tears to your face. This ballad is in the same vein as 1978s, "Don't You Let Me Down" when it comes to singing the chorus. Peter shows his greatest talents with ballads on this song. It's such a wonderful way to end a wondeful album.

This album is truly phenomenal. Picking up right where Criss 1978s solo effort left off, he delivered another album in that same vein and did just as well as two years prior if not better. This album has what many rock albums lack: SPIRIT! Peter's albums all have spirit to them and you can hear that in his voice and in the music. And it hurts me to know that Gene Simmons, says that Peter Criss has no talent in song writing, playing drums and singing. It is a fact that Gene shouldn't even open his mouth, because half of the songs he wrote for KISS in their career were terrible and outside of KISS, he can't write a tune to save his life. And it really hurts me because Peter is my idol and I know it hurts Peter to know that Gene says that about him. Peter's greatest talents are truly resembled on this album. No one, not even Gene Simmons can say any differently! Take a ride on the wild side with The Catman, Peter Criss and go "Out of Control."

Out of Control is Peter Criss' ticket to freedom. Finally unchained from the shackles that KISS kept on his creativity, the album showcases the diversity of his songwriting. Out of Control opens with the soft orchestrated ballad, By Myself, featuring the line "By myself/ Starting over again/ By myself/ Looks like this time I'm on my own". Obviously this line is meant as a cry of freedom. This is a very nice song. Violins and cellos echo behind Peter's vocals to create a layered effect. In Trouble Again is a good rock and roll tune with sharp drumming by Peter. It's a decent song but nothing special. Where Will They Run is slowed down a bit again to a mid-tempo. It's got a good groove to it and is a decent song as well. I Found Love is one of the best tracks on the album and is very reminiscent of the material found on 1978's Peter Criss album. Though this song sounds very dated with its keyboards, it is very catchy with a strong vocal performance by Peter. There's Nothing Better is a boogie-woogie type of song like That's The Kind of Sugar Papa Likes from Peter's solo album. The title track is a great song with a good piano track and a superb vocal by Peter. Words is another of the weaker tracks on the album--a bit too schmaltzy for my tastes. You Better Run is a passable song except for the background singers; I don't like the falsetto "HIIIIIIDE!!!" that they bellow. My Life is another catchy tune with a dominant piano track. Feel Like Letting Go wraps up Out of Control. It is a nice slow groove with a good performance by Peter on vocals and more orchestration. Out of Control is a surprisingly good album, dare I say even better than Peter's 1978 solo album?! The songwriting is strong, the musicianship is tight and the album has a cool cover. The songs are very diverse without getting TOO far off base. I did not purchase this album, or even hear anything from it, until the 1998 CD reissue. I bought it primarily to complete my KISS! collection. However I was pleasantly surprised when I gave it a few repeated listenings. The songs really grew on me. I was never a big fan of Peter's 1978 solo album and was unsure what to expect from Out of Control. What I found though was truly a gem.

This is a collection of tunes that continue the traditions of Peter's Kiss solo album a couple of years prior. Indeed one may suspect that this album may have been released if he were to have kept his tenure within Kiss as it does not possess the trump card of showing his naked face on the cover. Either way by this point I am sure nobody really would have been too concerned. Kiss' own sales were waining leaving any real hope of this album getting serious attention at a minimum. So is it good? Well if you didn't like the predecessor then this one will impress you not. But if you are one of the few that ranks that opus high, as I do then this will please too. A nice variety of styles only tarnished when it tries to rock a little too hard. Delights abound being "By Myself" with its simple acoustic guitar backing and heartfelt sadness and "Words" that would benefit from a little more tempo but still manages to please. "I Found Love" and "There's Nothing Better" are great rock pop and personal favourite "My Life" which is spirited and very optimistic for the drummer known as the 'complainer' by other group members. One star deducted for the agony of the closer "Feel Like Letting Go" which is like nails on a blackboard and the title track "Out Of Control" which would have benefited from a little more substance lyrically. However if you like flaws in your artists that demonstrate risk taking and genuine love of their craft then this one is very much recommended.

Peter Criss is an another world when putting this album together.It's a must for the Kiss fan.You will not regret spending a single cent after listening to the 11th hidden track.''YOU MUST REMEMBER THIS A KISS IS STILL A KISS''PETER CRISS

1980 was not only the year Peter Criss departed from Kiss. It was also the year music took a big change. During the late 70's there started to be an attempt to box pop music into very strict categories. You had rock,soul,heavy metal,punk,funk and disco. And that pretty much covered the basics. No one was reading into the fact some of the best musics existed between those lines. Especially if they were really devoted to a specific genre. When Criss began his solo career officially outside Kiss with this album,he actually envisioned a success for himself. And beyond just ego-he was very serious. Sadly it never happened. And I saw sadly because,ones personal emotions aside,you really have to admit this is a pretty great album.

"By Myself" starts this album out with a ballad. And it ends with one on "Feel Like Letting Go",along with "Words" near the middle. One could tell from the music he wrote with Kiss such as "Beth" that there is was more than a little of the piano rock craftsman/John Lennon character in him (I'll get into that on my next review). On "When Will They Run" and the title song both have the funky keyboard rock n soul side of his personality out on display-honestly something I feel he does very well. "In Trouble Again","There's Nothing Better" and "My Life" find him more on the rocking side of soul and his version of "You Better Run",released around the time of Pat Benatar's is...actually not that much different than hers. Although sung by a man obviously,not by a tough minded lady like Benatar.

In the end it's an extremely well written and well produced set of songs that hits right about where the post disco/punk new wave thing of the early 80's started out being. Now while at this point it's true the musical path Kiss was taking wasn't actually too different from the one Criss was on his own,the type of people who had really came out as huge Kiss fans in the mid/late 70's weren't exactly loving their new directions. That wasn't atypical at the time anyway. Even big rock n roll stars like the Rolling Stones couldn't dip into their R&B pot,the genre that MADE them in the first place without being reviled for "going disco". As if that was a bad word to begin with. As with much,this probably got caught up a little bit in the freeze out too. But no worries. This album may not be a heavy metal album. But it's nowhere close to a disco album either. So enjoy for what it is.

This album is good but not great. I think it is a better overall album than his first solo album mainly because I don't get bored with all the ballads.

While i think that this was not a bad album,after the title track Out Of Control,everything else never hit the spot with me.Out Of Control was such a good song i kept playing that one over and over.
While there is some good tunes here,i never actually got into this album much.It was realy made to get a hit on the charts,with a then modern sound.Not too bad though,but nothing like his efforts in Kiss.

Peter Criss has always been my favorite Kiss member. Kiss was magic in the seventees. Peter Criss has been in and out of the
group.Understandable he has other references than Simmons and Stanley, but his "Criss cat purring" is over the record. Except for his drumming style, it`s little traditonal Kiss sound here.
This is the man singing Beth, one of the largest selling single
in Kissstory. Be myself (Track 1) is easy listening. In trouble again (Track 2) is more heavy. Where will they run, is simple, and playable on a FM radio,who will remember the sound of the 80(eightees).(Track 4). I Found love, is easy listening. Its fun to know that the album is made in 1980, and much of the sound
groups who had one hit wonders later on, "duplicated" later on
and then dissapeared, but Criss has stayed more or less tuned.
(Track 5) Theres nothing better,is a real rocker, with rockabilly piano, and a whole brass and rythm section, who sounds like The Commitments. Track 6 (Out of Control) its one of the weakest tracks, but Criss voice is on "top form", the rasping voice inbetween Rod Stewart and Joe Cocker somwhere.
Track 7 is a slow "should have been a mega hit" on Radio. Words
is the name of the track. Its puuuuuur Cat music. Peter Criss is
a ballad singer, and this one shows.One Track 8, You better run,its more heavy, but its low on "temper". Track 9 My life, is the one who has some guts, but fall apart and sounds later on "overproduced". Track 10 Feel like letting go, sounds like belive it or not Elton John. Anyway this is "puuuuur" cat music.
Maybee far away from Kiss, but has its Peter Criss stamp on it.
And thats not a minus.

This album stinks. Period. And this is coming from someone who loves KISS and actually grew up with Peter being my favorite member. But let's be honest. The guy stinks as a solo act. Be unbiased for a moment. Try listening to these songs without ANY THOUGHT of them being from your childhood idol. What would you think of these songs if they were coming from a new artist you'd never heard of? If you had even minimal taste, you'd probably laugh at these songs. The production is flat and bland, the arrangements are terrible and the songwriting never gets across the barrier of mediocrity, and usually falls well BELOW that barrier.

What's even funnier to me about this album is how clueless Peter was (and probably still is) about his own talents. Listen to some of his interviews back then when he just left KISS and was working on this. He was actually talking about TOURING LARGE ARENAS with this music! He was calling himself a "composer" and talking about being "bigger than KISS" possibly. Holy Delusions of Grandeur, Catman!!

I don't want to completely destroy this album, though, because there are things about Pete that I do like a lot, even love. His voice, even though it goes off-key a lot, is great, and no one in rock had a better scream voice than him (except maybe Roger Daltrey). And he did tend to shine when he wrote weepy ballads. "Kiss the Girl Goodbye," "Easy Thing" from his first album, "By Myself" and "Feel Like Letting Go" from this one are decent songs, the first two being much better.

But have you ever heard the guy's demos? If so, you'll realize just how much THE PRODUCERS of the songs added to them. The demo of "Beth," originally called "Beck," was terrible, but Bob Ezrin shaped it into something strong. The demos for "Hooligan" and "Hooked on Rock 'n Roll," or even "Dirty Livin'" were all very weak, but again, the producers shaped them into stronger material. Peter was fantastic during KISS' heyday in the early 1970s. His drumming was wild and great then, his singing was great and his vibe was happenin'. He just deteriorated greatly over the years, especially his drumming.

It's hard to believe the drumming on these albums is from the same guy who recorded the amazing Kiss Alive. It's so boring, so dull, so lifeless, much like the music. Maybe that's the problem right there, I don't know. Or maybe it was all the coke and other drugs he was doing.

Anyway, if you want to relive some nostalgia, that's great, good for you. I do the same thing sometimes. But don't kid yourself. This album sucks mule. Hard.