ACE FREHLEY — Ace Frehley (review)

Album · 1978 · Hard Rock

4/5 · 2010-11-22
AtomicCrimsonRush

Ace Frehley’s solo album with Kiss was the surprise package of 1978 when the band decided to do solo albums. Nobody expected Ace’s to be the best as he rarely sung on the Kiss albums. Didn’t he prove them wrong; the critics even had to take notice as his album was the only one to release a single internationally that roared up the charts. In fact Ace’s album remains not only popular but a landmark album for heavy rock. The album has some brilliant lead work on it, very emotional compositions and is almost autobiographical when you hear things like Wiped Out and Snow Blind. There have been many tributes to Ace featuring a lot of these songs.

“Now I know you been cheating and lying all the time” Rip It Out kicks things off with a blinder, and this is followed by the catchy cool Speedin' Back To My Baby “and I don’t mean maybe”. Both became Ace classics.

The next track is one of my all time favourites and the riff is awesome, the way Ace sings, it just knocks me out everytime. Snow Blind has to be one of Ace’s greatest compositions; “moving around I get in trouble, babe I don’t want to burst your bubble, girl you’re not really wise”.

“I’m the kind of guy who likes getting high, feeling high and dry and I really like to fly” Ozone is droning, crawling and utterly brilliant thanks to some inspirational lead guitar work; it is repetitive but entrancing at the same time with a dark atmosphere and passionate vocals about getting into the ozone; drugs if you like, which is what Ace was suffering from at the time.

“I can’t express the words to tell you bout the feeling’s I got locked up inside...” What's On Your Mind? Could be a throwaway if it wasn’t so good. Not as good as other tracks, but still buries anything Gene or Peter were doing on their solo albums.

“Here I am heading in the city with a fist full of dollars…” New York Groove is THE single, everyone was playing it in the 70s; very poppy and a cover of an old glam song but still this is great stuff. Ace played it live every concert for a long time with Kiss.

“G-g-girl it’s not my fault, I guess it’s just my fate” I'm In Need Of Love has great lead guitar echoes and is atmospheric and foreboding. Ace is wonderful on vocals and although it is repetitive it is still great to sink into.

“I was black as a skunk!” Wiped-Out is about Ace’s drinking binges and is autobiographical really. Ace has tons of fun on this with little hooks and riffs and some funny lyrics. A nice ending before the instrumental.

Fractured Mirror finishes the album beautifully with 12 string acoustic and some fantastic lead soloing. It is lengthy and as a teen I was not into it that much, but I can really appreciate it now and its complex structure. It is so popular that Ace created parts 2 and 3 on later solo albums when he left Kiss. So this is the best solo album, it is great for Ace as it launched his career. It is one of the best things he has done and should be heard by anyone in to great guitar.

I played it back then as a teen over and over till I learnt every lyric off by heart. It is one of the best Kiss related albums I have heard; full of huge melodies and scorching lead guitar solos, awesome riffs that are unforgettable and Ace sounds amazing, injecting passion and drive into each track.