Peter Cetera, by Peter Cetera
In the understanding of the pop music world, Peter Cetera’s solo career began with the album “Solitude/Solitaire,” a popular album that included two #1 hits, “Glory of Love,” (from the Karate Kids 2 Soundtrack) and “Next Time I Fall In Love” (a duet with rising Christian contemporary star Amy Grant, who would have a successful pop career in the 1990s). This understanding is wrong. In fact, Peter Cetera had made a solo album in 1981 that flopped hard. Before making his last two successful albums with Chicago that included classics such as “Hard To Say I’m Sorry” and “You’re The Inspiration,” he had wanted to go solo, and just needed success to make the break. This album was not a success, and as a result Chicago got two more albums of work out of their dissatisfied tenor before he made his break for good. While I have made a well-earned reputation of listening to obscure music, especially where I feel it could or should have been better known, and this album certainly falls within that category, the same question remains as always about this album as it does with anything else I listen to. Is it any good? Let’s find out.
The album opens with “Livin’ in the Limelight,” which is a surprisingly tough rock song about the lure of fame, and perhaps the best-known song from this album. “I Can Feel It” has a rootsy country-rock feel to it in its instrumentation along with some excellent vocal production and lyrics about love and devotion. “How Many Times” has a spare synth and drums intro with vocal effects on another emotionally resonant song directed to someone trapped in dissatisfaction and unhappiness. “Holy Moly” has Peter Cetera singing a somewhat novelty song in the voice of a folksy or bluesy rural romancer, and it’s a strange but surprisingly good song in light of the album as a whole, complete with a harmonica solo. “Mona Mona” is a surprisingly smooth song about an unfortunately named woman who the narrator is advising someone to let go, with an excellent sax solo. “On The Line” is a surprising and excellent rock song in the vein of Boston that has Cetera reflecting on the course of his life and a relationship with some amazing effects, multiple guitars, and a driving piano part. “Not Afraid To Cry” is a lovely and fairly straightforward song about Peter Cetera’s honest emotional vulnerability. “Evil Eye” features more inventive vocal production and Peter Cetera adopting different voices set to a fairly straightforward rock instrumental that combines with a brief new wave synth bridge. “Practical Man” finds Peter Cetera reflecting on his life and his longing for a lifelong love, a pleasant and upbeat anticipation of “Man In Me” and the emotional arc of his later album “World Falling Down.” The instrumental production here is stellar and something approach ska in most parts. The album’s last track, “Ivy Colored Walls,” reflects a desire for home and a settled and paradisical and secluded existence, which again is redolent of Cetera’s career concerns and brings the album full circle by expressing a longing for escape from the pressures of fame.
If Peter Cetera sought to escape the pressures of fame, this album was certainly successful in that this album was not successful, spawned no hit singles, and doesn’t have a single song that has even a million streams (and some songs with less than 100,000 streams). This album is certainly unfamiliar to most people who are familiar with Peter Cetera, even those who would consider themselves fans of his music. While Cetera is most familiar in his time in Chicago and as a solo artist as a balladeer, this music is far harder and far more pointed than he is often given credit for. The instrumental production here is consistently excellent, and this is an album that awards good equipment and attention to lyrics and themes as well as instrumental touches. Even though it is an obscure and nearly forgotten album, it resonates strongly with Peter Cetera’s longings and frustrations expressed throughout his career as a musician. It shows him experimental in production and genre, expressing honest emotional sincerity, and reflecting on his life and love, demonstrating that he was far from a one-dimensional artist that he has often been seen to be dating back to “If You Leave Me Now” from his Chicago days. In a more just world, this album would have been at least moderately successful and allowed people to see the depth in Cetera as an artist, but in the world we live in, this album is an obscure gem that remains searchable for those who wish to explore it and come to an appreciation of a deeply misunderstood artist.
