Hot off the heels of the original line-up of KISS getting inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the ex-lead guitarist of the iconic rockers, Ace Frehley, unleashes his latest solo album for eOne Music, titled Space Invader. Long time fans will not be disappointed one bit, as the legendary guitarist injects all his trademark licks and unique vocal style on each of these 12 songs. Very much a 'sci-fi' themed album, lyrically much of Space Invader is a bit hokey, but hey, this is Ace we are talking about here, so don't expect songs that are going to captivate you with supreme intelligence, but it's all good natured, fun hard rock as only the Space-Man can deliver.
Now seven years sober, Ace really seems to have his act together musically once again, as from a guitar perspective, most of Space Invader features some of his best playing in years. The more science fiction based tunes, such as the title track, "Inside the Vortex", "Past the Milky Way", and "Immortal Pleasures", all rock pretty hard and contain a wealth of crunchy riffs and blistering solos. Yeah, the lyrics are at times cringe-worthy, but again, who cares when the tunes are this rocking and so much fun. KISS styled party anthems "Gimme a Feelin' " and "What Every Girl Wants" will have you on your feet, shaking your booty and whipping out the air guitar, while the grinding rockers "Change" and "Toys" might be the heaviest tunes on the album, and feature scorching lead guitar work from Frehley. There's even a great extended instrumental in the form of "Starship", a real textured piece that shows Ace's compositional chops as well as stellar lead guitar work. The cover of Steve Miller's "The Joker" is fun, though I'm sure most fans would have rather heard another original song. His vocals sound exactly the same as they have for the last 40 years; he's not a great singer by any stretch of the imagination, but his vocal style is unique and undeniably Ace Frehley all the way.
No doubt loyal fans are going to get a lot of mileage out of Space Invader, and it's great to see this legendary guitar player back out and still rocking as solid as ever. The Ace is back and I told you so!
See more about this release on our recent YouTube show!
Track Listing
1) Space Invader
2) Gimme a Feelin'
3) I Wanna Hold You
4) Change
5) Toys
6) Immortal Pleasures
7) Inside the Vortex
8) What Every Girl Wants
9) Past the Milky Way
10) Reckless
11) The Joker
12) Starship
Printer Friendly Page
Send to a Friend
