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KISS: Ace Frehley-Solo (Remaster)

In 1978 KISS did the unthinkable and released solo albums for each individual member of the group. It allowed the band to showcase what drove them musically on an individual level. As soon as the opening riffs on Ace's solo album began it was clear that this would be among the best of the individual releases. The songs all around this recording leaned to the creative aspect of the KISS guitarist very well and by kicking off with "Rip It Out" you were made to feel as though you were in a concert setting immediately. "Speedin' Back To My Baby" and "Wiped Out" are also solid rockers and play against Ace's established style perfectly. There were no new tricks and surprises to spring on the fans with his solo album and if they expected a rocking guitar record they most certainly got one with this release. Despite the number of catchy songs the most unexpected part of Frehley's solo would be the knock down hit he had with "New York Groove". Instead of bandleaders Stanley and Simmons delivering such a track or even Criss (who found his "Beth" becoming one of the bands most staple tracks) we get this simple and basic blockbuster from The Space Ace. Over 20 years later the song is still the most popular single out of all the member solo albums and comes to mind faster than any track on the albums of his peers. The record closes out with the very interesting "Fractured Mirror", an instrumental track that features Frehley playing a wide variety of guitar riffs and layering them over each other to an amazing effect. This is still one of my favorite tracks from his solo effort. Assisted by Anton Fig on drums, the Ace Frehley solo album is bar far the heaviest and most popular sellers of the four. This is a must- have for anyone looking into giving a couple of these recordings a chance.

The KISS remasters are excellent in their overall sound quality but do not offer any additional or unreleased songs outside of what was on the original album. The original artwork is replicated and features the interesting graphics that often made up a KISS Album. If the artwork was limited, this is of course reflected as well. Music History fans will appreciate the included historical liner notes on the CD's inner section. Each release has information that is topical to the album and the bands history.


Track Listing
1. Rip It Out
2. Speedin' Back To My Baby
3. Snow Blind
4. Ozone
5. What's On Your Mind
6. New York Groove
7. I'm In Need Of Love
8. Wiped Out
9. Fractured Mirror

Added: May 10th 2006
Reviewer: Ken Pierce
Score:
Related Link: KISS Online
Hits: 2942
Language: english

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» Reader Comments:

KISS: Ace Frehley-Solo (Remaster)
Posted by Hugh Dark on 2006-11-16 07:13:18
My Score:

This one is the surprise hit of the four and it would impact the amount of songs Ace would have on the next two studio releases. He was off to a late start when he was recording (10 days to knock this one out!) this in Connecticut, but he was the only one who was able to come in under budget! I like this album, but I was dissapointed that Ace really did not deliver as a lead guitar player. The idea that Kiss was holding him back in that regard does not hold any weight. *Something funny about this is that the 59 Les Paul that he used for the recording was hocked in favor of a gambling expedition in Atlantic City*! The success of the single New York Groove is not really his to behold, but Russ Ballard who wrote the track and Eddie Kramer who selected it for recording. This gave the record the additional staying power on the charts to make it a slightly bigger success than the others. In effect, it beat Gene by 1 week, for a total of 23 weeks on the chart. The idea of a smash sensation is just an urban legend. The album scores points with me because Kiss would have never allowed some of the lyrics to happen on a collective recording and this raises it's street credibility and I do believe that it is an honest effort.




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