KISS (Ace Frehley) 1978

KISS (Ace Frehley) 1978

Front Cover

Back Cover

Ace Frehley Poster Insert

Of the 4 solos albums, I had absolutely no expectations for Ace Frehley's effort. Zero. Nada. Zilch. And that's only because up to this point he had only had lead vocals on 2, count 'em, 2 songs!!! Those songs of course being Shock Me and Rocket Ride.

Imagine my shock (pun intended) when I first played this. From day 1 and all the way up to today, it was/is heads and shoulders above the rest. I'll even go one step further and say that if the entire band of KISS had played on this one with the same results, THIS would get the honor for Best KISS Album Of All Time. They didn't, so it will have to settle for Best Solo Album honors instead.

Straight up this album fucking rocks! From the opening song of Rip It Out to the closing notes of Fractured Mirror it's a winner. The biggest hit of course was New York Groove which still kicks mucho ass to my ear, which was a cover version from the band Hello. Me love song long time. :)

It's just mind blowing that he had stage freight about singing for the longest time. This totally wiped it all away (pun intended). Even Gene Simmons (the one with the monumental ego and full of himself about any and all things related to his namesake, his words, not mine. Luv ya Gene) has gone on record saying "Ace Frehley's solo album is the best of the bunch". If Gene can admit to that, there's something to be said about the quality of Ace's songwriting here. This coming from Gene, who would be the first to tell you HE is the greatest songwriter of all time. So there is merit behind what he has said about Ace's album. 

Fave Songs: All of 'em. But like before, I gotta give them all a shout out here (pun intended) Rip It Out, Speedin' Back To My Baby, Snow Blind, Ozone, What's On Your Mind, New York Groove, I'm In Need Of Love, Wiped-Out and Fractured Mirror.

Fun fact: The reason for these solo albums was that during the filming of KISS Meets The Phantom Of The Park, both Ace and Peter had made their intentions known they were qutting the band to pursue their own personal music career. They compromised and decided on these 4 solo disc. It didn't help as much as just prolong the inevitable. 

Freebie trend continues with a Poster insert that is 1/4th of a larger poster that connects with the other 3 solo album posters ala a jigsaw puzzle. This was by far the best looking poster of the 4. 

Album Cover kicks ass!! 

Rating: 10 Stars out of 10 (That's right! 10 Stars! This is a must have for your collection. If you don't own this album, you might as well turn in your Music-Credibility Card at the front desk)

Review by Chiprocks1