Rocktober Album #13: KISS – Ace Frehley (1978)

On September 18, 1978, KISS did something completely unheard of: each band member simultaneously released his own solo album. Whether this was brilliant or not, at this point, there were four egos in the band that needed to do their own thing. Each album eventually went platinum, although none as quickly as Ace Frehley's album.

This was the most successful and critically acclaimed of the four solo albums, even though Gene Simmons had a virtual who's who of rock and roll helping him out. I find it kind of funny that both Gene and Paul, in the book I'm reading right now, only gave Ace's solo album three stars (and each gave his own albums five stars of course). You can tell by what they say about it that they are both still bitter that Ace's album kicked the shit out of both of their albums. And with good reason.

This album is absolutely awesome. It is becoming my favorite KISS album. There is not a bad song on the album. Ace really comes into his own here. All of the songs are hard-hitting rock songs, which certainly cannot be said for the other three members' albums. The unfortunate side effect of that is that Ace saw the success of his solo album as an indicator that he didn't need KISS anymore, so he left the band a few years later. Hell, up to this point, he had only sung lead on one KISS song ("Shock Me").

This album represents the direction KISS should have gone, rather than the band's ill-fated venture into disco-rock and cheesy late-'70s/early '80s soft rock that plagued their next few albums. Thanks, Gene and Paul.

1. Rip It Out
From the opening notes, Ace grabs you by the balls and explains that, while the other members may be straying from straight-forward rock and roll, Ace Frehley will not cede to the trends of the music industry. This song is a ball buster, and it has quickly and violently become one of my favorite KISS songs.
2. Speedin' Back to My Baby
This is a catchy rocker with predictably great guitar work.
3. Snow Blind
Ace liked drugs. This song discusses that. You see, Kevin, "snow blind" is a metaphor for the effect that cocaine might have on one's mind, body, and life. Anyway, the song is gritty with a great guitar solo, and it should not be ignored. Unfortunately, only the guitar solo is on Playlist.com, so that's all I was able to put on the mix.
4. Ozone
The "ozone" is another metaphor for being drunk and/or stoned. For instance, you might say "Ace was in the ozone when he recorded this album." I don't know that for sure, but the fact that he is singing in this song about how high he was makes me think that was the case. Unfortunately, this is not on Playlist.com.
5. What’s On Your Mind?
This is my second-favorite song on the album. It's another straight-forward, catchy rocker, with an acoustic guitar overlaying the electric guitar that gives the song a really nice sound. This is also not on Playlist.com.
6. New York Groove
This was the highest charting song off of the four solo albums, reaching #13. It's a cover song, and while it may be a bit kitschy, it's also catchy.
7. I'm In Need of Love
I think this was the first song I ever heard off of this album, on Pandora a few years ago, and it's no wonder it piqued my interest. The song is spacey, which make sense give the Space Ace persona. There are some weird guitar effects that make this song very cool.
8. Wiped-Out
Beginning with an ode to the Surfaris' song "Wipe Out," this is another song about alcohol abuse. This one is also not on Playlist.com.
9. Fractured Mirror
This instrumental provides a nice coda to the album, bringing you down after the rush of the rest of the songs.

Interesting tidbits:
1. Obviously, Ace played all guitar parts on all of the songs, but he also played bass on all but three of the songs.
2. All of the songs are backed by session drummer Anton Fig, and three songs are backed by bassist Will Lee, both of whom are now (and have been for well over twenty years) members of David Letterman's Late Show band. Fig also played some uncredited drum parts on a couple later KISS albums.
3. Ace recently released a solo album, Anomaly, which I highly recommend. You may have heard his cover of the Sweet's "Fox on the Run" on the radio. Space Ace still has it.