Ace Frehley: 1951-2025 Rest In Peace, Spaceman.
Damn.
This just sucks… Ace Frehley’s passing caught me off guard. Way off guard. The original members of KISS weren’t ever supposed to die. They marked so many moments and milestones of my life collectively and I barely knew a time without them.
I’ve written about KISS before and my “relationship” with them has become quite complicated over the last couple decades. I’ll always love them and I’ll never stop listening to them even though I checked out on present-day KISS almost two decades ago. But the loss of Ace has brought back a flood of thoughts and memories, and I’d like to focus on what he meant to me without the KISS drama, even though Paul Stanley’s post on Facebook the day Ace died has already made it difficult - a total B.S. story with a strange backhanded compliment built in. But I digress.
Ace Frehley: 1951-2025 Rest In Peace, Spaceman.
Ace was the coolest. Was he the MOST technically talented guitarist ever? Did he have an amazing voice? Was he personally a train wreck at times? Probably no, no and yes. And yet he’s one of my favorite musicians of all time. And I mean of ALL TIME.
And I’ll add this: he was one of THE most influential rock musicians ever. That’s greatness in its own way, and he’s underrated as a songwriter and player. He never took himself too seriously like Paul and Gene often seem to. He saw the absurdity in the fame and the costumes and the makeup and had fun with it. There is no better example of this than the legendary Tom Snyder appearance where he is laughing his ass off throughout most of the appearance.
But he was dead serious when it came to creating killer tunes. This included a series of instrumentals over the course of 30 years in 4 parts called Fractured Mirror (1978), Fractured Too (1987), Fractured III (1989), and Fractured Quantum (2009). They’re all amazing, but Fractured Mirror has to be one of my top 10 favorite instrumentals of all time. Right up there with Little Martha, Whale & Wasp, YYZ - any of them. Think that’s going to be an upcoming blog post…
He wrote a few of the very best early KISS songs such as Parasite, Cold Gin and Strange Ways, but he didn’t get on the mic until 1977’s Shock Me on the Love Gun album. Once he did, though, his material threatened to take over the band. Don’t think so? His solo album in 1978 outperformed the others and on the following KISS album, Dynasty, he had more lead vocals than Gene Simmons. His spaced out, laid back, barely-in-tune limited-range vocals had such a cool factor that the others just didn’t. Which probably wasn’t even fair if you think about it because the others could really sing. It was a change up and it was damn effective.
But outside of the KISS framework he could carry an album too. As I mentioned when all 4 members released solo albums in 1978, Ace’s blew the others away. They’re all good. But Ace’s is a classic. No one covers songs from the others - just Ace’s. Foo Fighters rendition of Ozone kicks ass. Dimebag Darrell covered Fractured Mirror and Scott Ian covered Rip It Out. It’s our cheesy family tradition for me to put on New York Groove whenever we drive to New York when we’re about 3/4 of the way through the Holland Tunnel, and then we sing “I’m BACK! Back in the New York Groove!” to get hyped for being back in the city! I know.. I know… But that whole album is quintessential - it deserves new life. It’s worth your time.
Ace influenced the grunge movement and much of the metal movement - Hair and Thrash. Stone Gossard borrowed his solo from the KISS song She for the Pearl Jam song Alive. Okay so maybe Ace borrowed it from Robbie Kreiger’s solo in The Doors’ Five To One but he openly admitted it lol… Thrash guitar legend Gary Holt (Exodus, Slayer) posted this tribute:
And how about this one from Tom Morello:
There are hundreds more just like it all over the Internet.
So I guess I’m just going stream of consciousness here - but I’ve got all of these thoughts right now. I saw Ace live three times outside of seeing him with KISS. I’m so glad I did, although I would have liked to have met him, which I did not.
The first time I saw any member of KISS without makeup was this photo of Ace in an ad in a magazine. It blew my mind - I’m going to guess it was around 1984 and I saw it at Record Outlet in Farmington Hills. I’ll never forget that moment.
The Frehley’s Comet albums were really good. Ace split vocals with Tod Howarth whom I was a fan of and Anton Fig was his drummer for a while - Anton went on to be David Letterman’s drummer on his late night show for years. Anton also played on the Ace solo album and much of the KISS Dynasty and Unmasked albums.
So you know what? Let’s give Ace a proper album ranking - ground rules: No compilations, no live albums, no covers albums. But I am including the Frehley’s Comet albums - I just feel those are still part of HIS catalog. You can click on any of the album covers and you’ll be taken to Amazon through my affiliate links (yes I could receive a small commission on any purchases).
Ace Frehley - 10,000 Volts - Mnrk Heavy
8. 10,000 Volts (2024) Ace was running a little bit out of gas here in my mind, but the opening title track is an Ace classic and sadly will be the last one. Yes, the song 10,000 Volts makes me smile with a catchy kick ass chorus and riff. The closing instrumental Stratosphere is really good. But I’ll admit the album didn’t stick otherwise with a couple exceptions like Walking On The Moon. I’ll be listening to it with different ears now.
Frehley’s Comet - Second Sighting - Friday Music
7. Second Sighting (1988) The second of two Frehley’s Comet albums and while it’s the lesser of the two it still has a few great moments. It starts strong out of the gate with Insane which was the lead single. This album also has probably my favorite Tod Howarth tune It’s Over Now - gives me a little bit of an 80’s hair-metal-power-ballad nostalgic vibe and it’s just really good. Howarth could really sing. The other highlight is the humorous instrumental rave The Acorn Is Spinning with some great riffage and spoken word story about an acorn voiced by Ace.
Ace Frehley - Spaceman - eOne Music
6. Spaceman (2018) I hoped this album would be better than it turned out to be with Gene Simmons involved - and it’s kinda funny, with all the public sniping and seemingly bad blood between Gene / Paul and Ace, both Gene and Paul still collaborated with Ace on an album each in the last decade. There are a few solid tracks here such as Rockin’ With The Boys, the chorus of which Ace had originally written for the KISS album Music From The Elder back in 1981 but never used. Mission To Mars is a jam, Off My Back isn’t bad, and the closer instrumental Quantum Flux is pretty good too. You can usually count on Ace’s instrumentals - even the ones that aren’t Fractured.
Ace Frehley - Trouble Walkin’ - Friday Music
5. Trouble Walkin’ (1989) The one Ace album released while I was in college and I owned it on cassette. It’s really a Frehley’s Comet album with Richie Scarlett replacing Tod Howarth, John Regan back on bass and Anton Fig behind the kit. And it’s really good. The opener Shot Full Of Rock is exactly what it says - anthemic and lots of energy. Peter Criss added backing vocals on 4 tracks but you can’t really distinguish his voice which to me was a missed opportunity but oh well. Remember Me is a great live bluesy tune that we haven’t heard the likes of from Ace and it’s one of my favorites. 2 Young 2 Die is the one song that Richie Scarlett takes lead vocals on and his killer raspy delivery is a welcome change up with the powerhouse drums from Fig. Other highlights include Five Card Stud and the ELO cover Do Ya.
Ace Frehley - Space Invader - Steamhammer
4. Space Invader (2014) The second album from Ace’s fourth and final career chapter (KISS, Frehley’s Comet, KISS reunion, Solo) is still really good after the fantastic comeback Anomaly 5 years prior. It’s the only solo album by any KISS member to reach the top 10 of the Billboard chart at #9, and the cover art was done by Ken Kelly who also did the iconic KISS album covers for Destroyer and Love Gun. The title track is great and Inside The Vortex, the single Gimme A Feelin’, and the epic Past The Milky Way are all really solid. The instrumental closer Starship is a worthy entry as well. There’s a goofy cover of Steve Miller’s The Joker that is kinda fun I guess even if it doesn’t add much. This was the last really solid album Ace would produce from beginning to end.
Ace Frehley - Frehley’s Comet - Music On CD
3. Frehley’s Comet (1987) There’s some admitted nostalgia at work here, and if you were a KISS fan at the time you were damn excited for Ace to re-emerge with a new band and album after years of silence and a couple of drunken car accidents… his life was a little out of control to say the least, and thank goodness no one was killed. He addressed this in his classic song from this album Rock Soldiers, which probably sounds a little cheesy with the “Ace is back and he told you so…” but I just can’t hear it as anything but awesome, lol. What can I tell you, I was 16! The single Into The Night was written by Russ Ballard who also wrote New York Groove and it’s pretty good. Clearly a conscious attempt at commercial success with a very MTV video but I still like it. The songs with Tod Howarth on vocals are all fantastic, including Breakout which resurfaced as an instrumental jam featuring Eric Carr that was recorded as a KISS demo and was included on the KISS Revenge album. I remember thinking it was cool that Eric Carr co-wrote a song for Ace’s album at the time although that’s not exactly how it happened. Calling To You and Something Moved are also really good. Love Me Right is a great riff with Ace on vocals and Dolls is fantastically weird and maybe even slightly / awesomely creepy if that’s possible? The closer Fractured Too is the worthy sequel to Fractured Mirror and the best of the Ace instrumentals after the original.
Ace Frehley - Anomaly - eOne Music
2. Anomaly (2009) Ace’s first album of original material in 20 years and the first one after the KISS reunion. It’s phenomenal. Listen, if you were ever a KISS fan and even if you were just a fan up until Dynasty - if you don’t think you have an appetite to do a deep dive into the entire Ace Frehley catalog but you are a little curious? Anomaly and the 1978 solo album will still be worth your time and a spot in your rock rotation. Pure Ace here - focused and motivated with a little KISS-hangover edge just like in 1978. All the elements I love about Ace are here. Foxy and Free is the killer opener and Outer Space provides a 1-2 punch that just destroys. The chorus of Outer Space is heavy AF. An inspired Ace is a loose Ace who doesn’t need to try too hard but brings it nevertheless. Ace is usually good for a cover here or there - indeed, he ended up recording two entire cover albums down the stretch. Not all of them work, but when they do like 2000 Man did with KISS they are unforgettable. Sweet’s Fox On The Run sounds like it was made for him when he crushes it here. I also think Ace plays to his strengths by including 3 instrumentals (or at least mostly so) here. They’re all great starting with Genghis Khan which does have a few lyrics but they just provide some context for the structure of the song. Like a chorus with no verses - which is cool! Just doing great things here - not churning out any formulaic filler of which some Ace albums have at least a couple. Granted, Ace had been working on material for years here and there since Trouble Walkin’, and the song Sister that appears here was on the widely circulated 1995 demos which I scored a copy of at a KISS convention around that time. So it makes sense that an Ace album after a long layoff has the best material. It’s when he needed to come up with another batch after that stuff had been exhausted that he tended to run out of ideas, which is understandable. Ace has never been accused of being “prolific” lol. It’s also great to hear a thoughtful Ace here celebrating his sobriety, fatherhood and even a little spirituality (?) at the time (not 100% sure if the sobriety lasted until his passing) with songs like Change The World, It’s A Great Life and the downright beautiful A Little Below The Angels. Other highlights are the instrumental killer Space Bear (a reference perhaps to the “space bear” teddy bear from the famous KISS Tom Snyder interview) and Too Many Faces. There’s also the final Fractured entry here, Fractured Quantum which is fantastic. This album is truly the worthy successor to the 1978 album.
Ace Frehley - Ace Frehley - Casablanca
1. Ace Frehley (1978) One of my favorite albums of all time. Full stop. I already talked about this one a bit earlier before I knew I was going to do this ranking here lol. I’ve read that Gene and Paul offered to let them know if he needed help on his album since they were all doing a solo album for simultaneous release under the KISS name. That lit a fire - like Ace saying to himself that he doesn’t need their help and he’s going to kick their asses. Which he did. Peter’s album is kind of a mix of soul and ballads, Paul’s sounds like a pretty good KISS album, Gene’s is a smorgasbord of styles with a laundry list of famous guests, and Ace’s rises above all of that to be a seminal rock album for the ages, building on Shock Me and Rocket Ride - the first of a handful of KISS songs that he sang which stole the show on their respective albums. Each and every track here is awesome. It’s not a coincidence that the narrative mirrors The Beatles a little - KISS were fans and certainly modeled a little of their approach after The Beatles. All four members were stars in the band and all four sang some lead vocals - Gene & Paul sang the majority of leads, Peter adding quite a few early on just like Ringo, and Ace becoming more of a force after several years just like George - also the lead guitarist. And like George, Ace had enough material to break out creatively in a big way when finally given his chance like Harrison did with All Things Must Pass. Ace wrote most of the material here, played almost all of the guitars including bass (save for 3 tracks where legendary session player Will Lee handled the bass) and this was the first album with long time collaborator Anton Fig on the drums. It all comes across as effortless. Ace being Ace. The other three albums are good, but they all try a little too hard.
Rip It Out kicks it off with an opening snare blast and proceeds to kick ass from the get. No build up - all business. It comes off as an angry break up song but now that I’m writing this I wonder if the rage is directed at Paul and Gene, as Ace growls “I hope you suffer” before he tears into a signature solo on his Les Paul. The second track Speedin’ Back To My Baby is a goofy and infectious banger that makes you smile and sing and his wife Jeannette gets a writing credit. And here’s where things get trippy and heavy. Snowblind and Ozone are as good as it gets. Snowblind is as good a riff as you’ll find and has a fantastic instrumental break in the middle that slays. And that “OoooooooooZooooooooooone” chorus? Simple and genius. Then you get back to back pop gems that still ROCK. What’s On Your Mind and the massive hit New York Groove which I mentioned earlier. Ace performed a ripping version of this with The Roots on Jimmy Fallon’s show once and the New York Giants posted this tribute to Ace on the news of his passing.
Next is the heavy and cool I’m In Need Of Love with another cool instrumental break, and Wiped-Out which comes across as a little silly, and yet there is so much going on in this song and it’s so well written and executed. Just blows me away every time. If the album ended here it would be a 10 out of 10. But as the tolling bell signals, the album closes with the majestic and sublime Fractured Mirror. The perfect finish.
Final Thoughts…
Ace could be his own worst enemy at times, and may not have been taken very seriously by “rock critics” at times, but those who know, know.
This guy was an original. A character. A court jester. A “spaceman.” A regular dude. An inductee in the Rock Hall. A mess. A legend. Flawed. Beloved. Didn’t take things too seriously. Made a simple “thumbs up” his trademark. Had the greatest maniacal cackling laugh in rock history. I’m listening to Fractured Mirror as I’m finishing up this piece. And I’m tearing up. I’m thankful for this man. He meant so much to me.
And he always will.
Rest In Peace Ace. Thank you. So much.
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