Ace planning new album and new book!

Post by **Genebaby** » Wed Feb 29, 2012 9:24 pm

http://iheartguitarblog.com/2012/02/acefrehley.html

It’s the Les Paul that launched a million guitarists: the 1974 Cherry Sunburst three-pickup Gibson Les Paul used by Ace Frehley during KISS’s breakthrough era. The guitar, known as the Budokan Les Paul in honour of the historic Japanese venue where it was given one of its best-known public showings, left Ace’s stewardship a few years ago, and it was long since retired from the road. But now it’s back, in spirit at least, in the form of Gibson Custom’s new Ace Frehley “Budokan” Les Paul Custom. This limited edition instrument will be available in four versions: fifty signed guitars aged by Tom Murphy in the Gibson Custom Shop; one hundred aged (but not signed) pieces; a further 150 finished with Gibson’s VOS (Vintage Original Spec) process; and 1000 pieces of an Epiphone version which retains most of the design features of its Gibson big brother. Ace took some time to talk with I Heart Guitar about the new guitar, the 30+ year old classic it’s based on, and his future plans.

“It was my favourite guitar that I used pretty much exclusively through the 70s and 80s, I guess,” Frehley says of the original instrument. “I continued to use it even with Frehley’s Comet. I don’t even remember when I got it! It was some time around 1975, 76. I had three or four backups, but the particular one that they just released, which is called the Budokan guitar, it was always my favourite guitar, my number one. It just felt the best and played the best.”

So what exactly was so special about the guitar? How do you know when you’ve found ‘it’? “I forget who I was talking to, but I was talking to some other famous guitar player and he was telling me that every time he buys a new guitar it’s good for at least one new song,” Frehley says. “And I really understood what he was talking about. I like picking up guitars in pawn shops. And it’s not like it used to be, because pretty much pawn shops these days are aware of the vintage guitar market. But y’know, in the seventies I got a lot of great guitars from pawn shops, and every time I picked up a new guitar it would usually spark an idea for a new song.”

Eventually the Budokan Les Paul stopped being Ace’s favourite guitar, that title instead going to the Gibson AFS model released around the time of the KISS reunion tour in the late 90s.” In 2009 Ace gave the original Budokan guitar to KISS collector and superfan Matt Swanson. “I gave it to Matt and he’s loving it,” Frehley says.” But don’t worry: “I still have a wall of Les Pauls! But he wanted it really bad.”

Frehley is about to add yet more Les Pauls to his collection: “They’re shipping me a bunch of aged ones in the next couple of weeks, because that was part of the contract.” Ace laughs. “It’s pretty weird, Peter, because when I was at the Gibson Custom Shop and I signed 50 of them, they pretty much all felt the same! It was kinda scary how they did it! I was completely amazed when I played them and I couldn’t tell the difference between one from the other. And the quality control is amazing.” In fact, the new guitar was built according to ultra-precise laser scans of the original, to ensure that even the neck wear was replicated exactly. “Technology has affected every facet of every industry you can think of, from musical instruments to medicine, to you name it, and in most instances it’s for a positive reason,” Frehley says.

Ace has always been known for his three-pickup electronic outline. Ace himself actually carved out the hole for the middle pickup in the original Budokan guitar. It might surprise some fans to hear that on the Gibson versions of the Budokan guitar, the middle and neck pickups are actually not even connected – although the pickups remain connected in the Epiphone version. “To be totally honest with you, live I only use the treble pickup, the bridge pickup,” Frehley says. “And for simplicity I always disconnected my other pickups. Because if I ever tried to do the toggle switch effect, which I do from time to time, if the volume isn’t off on the other pickups, it will negate that effect. So I never switched to the other pickups live anyway. I would always disconnect my pickups to make life easier. And three pickups look great!” Those three pickups are a trio of DiMarzios, Frehley being one of their earliest big-name users. The Budokan guitar features a Super Distortion in the bridge position along with PAFs in the middle and neck. “One of my first shows with KISS, I remember meeting Larry DiMarzio. I’d given him a couple of pickups to rewind for me, and at that point in time Larry was rewinding them in his bedroom by hand! And I’ve been using his pickups on and off for years. Pretty much if you throw a DiMarzio Super Distortion into a Les Paul, plug it into a Marshall and turn it on ten, it’s a no-brainer!”

The toggle switch stutter effect achieved via the disconnected pickup is a classic rock sound, but Frehley was way ahead of the curve with his use of tapping on 1977′s “Shock Me,” a year before Eddie Van Halen popularised the effect on “Eruption.” A few other players had messed with the technique a little – Steve Hackett from Genesis, Harvey Mandel from Canned Heat, ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons, Frank Zappa – but Ace was probably the most high-profile player to use the technique. So where did it come from? “I don’t know! I don’t remember! All I know is I picked it up. I know I got the toggle switch effect pretty much from Pete Townshend. I just took it a step further. But I don’t remember exactly where I got the tapping from.” So one of those things where you look down and realise you need that fret but you’re way over here and you need to figure out a way to get to it somehow? Ace laughs. “It was a long time ago, Peter!” I tell Ace about a Stevie Ray Vaughan interview where he joked about holding a fret down with a thumb tack so he could play a particularly out-of-reach chord. “I was just telling somebody that I guess you could say I’m the biggest innovator when it comes to special effects guitars – the smoking guitar, the light guitar, the rocket guitar, and more recently my pinwheel guitar effect. I’ve pretty much pushed the envelope on that.” Yet when it comes down to it Ace has achieved a lot with just his bare fingers on the guitar strings as well. “Yeah, well I still have some tricks up my sleeve that are yet to have been developed,” he laughs.

“I’ve started working on a new album, I’m writing a new book… there are a lot of good things on the horizon. At this point I think it’s just going to be an extension of No Regrets. There’s so much I left out because of the deadline, but after talking with so many different people I’ve got so many stories that have eluded me over the years. And there just wasn’t enough room to put them into No Regrets, and I was past the deadline as it was. But I think I’m going to come out with something in the effect of like a No Regrets II. But I also have the idea to put out a guitar book with all my guitar effects, tricks, recording techniques… I’ve learned a lot of tricks from working with a lot of great producers over the years, and I think I should write a book about it!”

Our time up, I selfishly conclude our interview by asking if there’s any chance of a return here to Australia any time soon. “Yeah! It’s something we’ve been talking about. There are some festivals I think I’m going to be doing this summer in Europe, so maybe we can work in Australia towards the end of this year or early next year. I don’t know particularly how it would work. We still haven’t been to Japan with this current line-up that I have now, so usually Japan and Australia go hand in hand.”

shramiac · Post by **shramiac** » Wed Feb 29, 2012 11:29 pm

Well he ain't got to try too hard to do a better album than Anomoly (blah!) and hopefully his book might be a little more than just talking about being wasted half the time!!!

Shock Me had tapping in 77'???? Guess Peter the interviewer must have meant the live solo spot during Shock Me? In that case, there is footage of Ace in 74' tapping during his solo!!!

erg2 · Post by **erg2** » Thu Mar 01, 2012 12:44 am

Anomaly wasn't that bad. It's not great, but it's not bad. Certainly was hoping for more after waiting 20 years. I really like about 1/2 of it quite a bit.

jesternjeff · Post by **jesternjeff** » Thu Mar 01, 2012 3:24 am

ANOMALY: It stood up next to Sonic Boom, lets be clear about that !
NO REGRETS : wasn't a great read. It should have been better then the musician like books out but, wasnt !
BUDOKAN GUITAR : Better then the piece of shit model he came out w/ years before for reproduction
ACE FREHLEY : Putting out shit even though not all good BUT, better then what that Vinnie guy is doing ! lol

erg2 · Post by **erg2** » Thu Mar 01, 2012 5:49 am

jesternjeff wrote:ANOMALY: It stood up next to Sonic Boom, lets be clear about that !
NO REGRETS : wasn't a great read. It should have been better then the musician like books out but, wasnt !
BUDOKAN GUITAR : Better then the piece of shit model he came out w/ years before for reproduction
ACE FREHLEY : Putting out shit even though not all good BUT, better then what that Vinnie guy is doing ! lol

Anomaly -vs- Sonic Boom:
A lot of people compare the two because of who it is and that they came out at the same time...but they are so completely different and trying to do different things. I personally think Sonic Boom comes out better. Anomaly is too scattershot and the clunkers are REALLY clunkers.

No Regrets:
Just boring in general.
25% of the book is the early years way before KISS...and it's boring.
50% of the book is drug/booze stories...and they're boring because he presents it like NONE of it was fun.
I finished that book feeling like I learned nothing new about KISS or Frehley's Comet.

doublev2 · Post by **doublev2** » Thu Mar 01, 2012 10:33 am

funny kiss used tape and ace used pro tools. I like the one song from Ace and maybe one more, but the album was his worst of all his solo or comet stuff for me. Trouble Walkin' number 1, frehley's comet no.2 after his kiss solo album.

doublev2 · Post by **doublev2** » Thu Mar 01, 2012 10:34 am

beat you rick.

shramiac · Post by **shramiac** » Thu Mar 01, 2012 10:35 am

Anomoly = poo! Sadly!

Ace is better than that!

poserboy71 · Post by **poserboy71** » Thu Mar 01, 2012 10:38 am

Ace needs someone to coach him for his solos. That was the major downfall of Anomaly for me.

The spoken word thing with his daughter was initially a WTF moment for me but I grew to dig it because Ace's personality shined through. Now it makes me giggle. It sounds like Aadm Sandler to me now.

[youtube][/youtube]

2:38 mark:
[youtube][/youtube]

Yes , Dino did beat me !!!!

jesternjeff · Post by **jesternjeff** » Thu Mar 01, 2012 12:54 pm

erg2 wrote:
jesternjeff wrote:ANOMALY: It stood up next to Sonic Boom, lets be clear about that !
NO REGRETS : wasn't a great read. It should have been better then the musician like books out but, wasnt !
BUDOKAN GUITAR : Better then the piece of shit model he came out w/ years before for reproduction
ACE FREHLEY : Putting out shit even though not all good BUT, better then what that Vinnie guy is doing ! lol
Anomaly -vs- Sonic Boom:
A lot of people compare the two because of who it is and that they came out at the same time...but they are so completely different and trying to do different things. I personally think Sonic Boom comes out better. Anomaly is too scattershot and the clunkers are REALLY clunkers.

No Regrets:
Just boring in general.
25% of the book is the early years way before KISS...and it's boring.
50% of the book is drug/booze stories...and they're boring because he presents it like NONE of it was fun.
I finished that book feeling like I learned nothing new about KISS or Frehley's Comet.

They will always compare ! What makes you think they are completely different , they are both rock albums. They both have great songs and they both have shitty songs, simple really ! It's way better then anything he did w/ Frehleys comet as far as Im concerned ! Trouble Walking was good but, I wouldnt say better then Anomaly. Personally I thin Pain in The Neck is better then Modern day D !!!

erg2 · Post by **erg2** » Fri Mar 02, 2012 6:05 am

poserboy71 wrote:The spoken word thing with his daughter was initially a WTF moment for me but I grew to dig it because Ace's personality shined through. Now it makes me giggle.

I go back and forth. I get why he did it and for that reason I like it. However, I think the song would've been a true classic without it.

jesternjeff wrote:They will always compare ! What makes you think they are completely different , they are both rock albums. They both have great songs and they both have shitty songs, simple really ! It's way better then anything he did w/ Frehleys comet as far as Im concerned ! Trouble Walking was good but, I wouldnt say better then Anomaly. Personally I thin Pain in The Neck is better then Modern day D !!!

I just think they are stylistically and sonically miles apart. Guys that used to play together both made rock albums with varying degrees of success...but they do not sound anything alike IMO. I think Trouble Walking sounds closer to Sonic Boom than Anomaly.

poserboy71 · Post by **poserboy71** » Fri Mar 02, 2012 7:46 am

jesternjeff wrote:... They will always compare ! What makes you think they are completely different , they are both rock albums. They both have great songs and they both have shitty songs, simple really ! It's way better then anything he did w/ Frehleys comet as far as Im concerned ! Trouble Walking was good but, I wouldnt say better then Anomaly. Personally I thin Pain in The Neck is better then Modern day D !!!

I will have to agree with JJ here.

erg2 · Post by **erg2** » Fri Mar 02, 2012 3:15 pm

There are a few songs on Anomaly I absolutely love. I think FOX ON THE RUN was a genius move. (Ace's songs have always had a Sweet feel anyway!) But overall as a collection of songs I think Anomaly is too all over the place. The songs don't fit together.
I don't think Sonic Boom's individual songs are as good overall as Anomaly's, but they all fit together. Sonic Boom feels like an album and not a bunch of disparate songs packaged together.

Now, does that make Sonic Boom the better product? I don't know if I would answer the same each time asked.

I can say this:
- I do not listen to Anomaly the album. I don't put it on and listen to it. I pick one or two songs and play them individually and move onto something else. There are no songs on Anomaly I strongly dislike.
- I listen to Sonic Boom as an album, usually only skipping one or two songs. (I absolutely HATE/LOATHE/DESPISE the song STAND.)

jesternjeff · Post by **jesternjeff** » Fri Mar 02, 2012 4:08 pm

Every thing you say makes sense and you have to understand KISS have 4 vocalist, theres lots of room to make things fit better. Ace on the other hand is the only voice and I think he did a great job at mixing the songs. Not all are in there place and perhaps a few songs didnt need to be on the album its self however, Anomaly gets my vote just for the reasons explained. Sonic Boom offers the variety of voices and thats probably why you tend to listen to it more for me I like Modern day and Say yeah, the rest of the album falls to the waist side . Anomaly does if for me musically, not by Ace's voice alone.

Theres no right or wrong here, again there both great records w/ some shit songs on both .

poserboy71 · Post by **poserboy71** » Fri Mar 02, 2012 11:11 pm

The only songs on Sonic Boom worth listening to are the Gene songs and MDD.

erg2 · Post by **erg2** » Sat Mar 03, 2012 12:09 am

I'm with Jeff in that I think SAY YEAH is a great tune. I really like MODERN DAY DELILAH, but I think SAY YEAH should've been the single. I think it had more of a chance to get on radio.

Believe it or not, I actually like the Tommy song WHEN LIGHTNING STRIKES.

There are 2 songs I think are pure fecal matter, STAND (utter treacle) and the pointless Eric song ALL FOR THE GLORY.

erg2 · Post by **erg2** » Sat Mar 03, 2012 12:13 am

By the way, have I ever mentioned that I love the fact that I get to have actual discussions about KISS here with the gang at VVFF? I have no friends that love KISS and the other KISS forums just have too many anonymous people/too many people just looking to stir up some shit.

Slayer · Post by **Slayer** » Sat Mar 03, 2012 7:02 am

I think that Sonic Boom is somewhat of a comeback for Gene. For the 1st time in a while his songs were better than Pauls. Russian Roullete and Animal are great Gene songs to me. Delilah and Dangerous are ok Paul songs but I don't care for any of the other Paul Songs. Tommy's song is very good! I would prefer to hear Tommy play in his own style whatever that might be rather than aping Ace Frehley.

Anomoly - I like about 4 of the songs and I prefer Sonic Boom.

jesternjeff · Post by **jesternjeff** » Sat Mar 03, 2012 7:56 am

When Lightning Strikes .... really ? It's o.k. , doesn't come close to any of Ace's songs he did w/ KISS, Cold Gin, Parasite, RocK Bottom ( paul too ) HArd Times, Strange Ways. Shock Me !
Genes songs are horrible on SB, last Song Gene gets credit for is Domino and Unholy , now those are Gene songs along w/ his classics Dr. Love, God Of Thunder and the rest of the oldies ! I hope he has a better come back on Monster !!!

erg2 · Post by **erg2** » Sat Mar 03, 2012 9:30 am

I like Gene's songs on Sonic Boom. I don't think they are as absolute killer material like some of his best, but they are evocative of the "Gene style" that has been missing for years. They're very good, not great. I think he is definitely onto something.

shramiac · Post by **shramiac** » Sat Mar 03, 2012 9:43 am

jesternjeff wrote:When Lightning Strikes .... really ? It's o.k. , doesn't come close to any of Ace's songs he did w/ KISS, Cold Gin, Parasite, RocK Bottom ( paul too ) HArd Times, Strange Ways. Shock Me !
Genes songs are horrible on SB, last Song Gene gets credit for is Domino and Unholy , now those are Gene songs along w/ his classics Dr. Love, God Of Thunder and the rest of the oldies ! I hope he has a better come back on Monster !!!

Paul wrote God of Thunder, Gene just sang it!

erg2 · Post by **erg2** » Sat Mar 03, 2012 10:17 am

And I don't think WHEN LIGHTNING STRIKES is anywhere near the best song on the album, but it's also not bad. On a scale of the other songs on the album I'd rate it pretty good. On a scale of all time KISS songs it's probably not even top 50.

jesternjeff · Post by **jesternjeff** » Sat Mar 03, 2012 4:00 pm

shramiac wrote:
jesternjeff wrote:When Lightning Strikes .... really ? It's o.k. , doesn't come close to any of Ace's songs he did w/ KISS, Cold Gin, Parasite, RocK Bottom ( paul too ) HArd Times, Strange Ways. Shock Me !
Genes songs are horrible on SB, last Song Gene gets credit for is Domino and Unholy , now those are Gene songs along w/ his classics Dr. Love, God Of Thunder and the rest of the oldies ! I hope he has a better come back on Monster !!!

Paul wrote God of Thunder, Gene just sang it!

He didnt write Unholy either, I was referring to his singing not his writing.

jesternjeff · Post by **jesternjeff** » Sat Mar 03, 2012 4:02 pm

I agree w/ erg2 Genes songs on SB aren't the best, there not bad but not great. Better then some of his late 80's stuff for sure !

Slayer · Post by **Slayer** » Sun Mar 04, 2012 7:50 am

jesternjeff wrote:When Lightning Strikes .... really ? It's o.k. , doesn't come close to any of Ace's songs he did w/ KISS, Cold Gin, Parasite, RocK Bottom ( paul too ) HArd Times, Strange Ways. Shock Me !
Genes songs are horrible on SB, last Song Gene gets credit for is Domino and Unholy , now those are Gene songs along w/ his classics Dr. Love, God Of Thunder and the rest of the oldies ! I hope he has a better come back on Monster !!!

Jeff,
I'm being respectful as I'm not a big Ace Fan for various reasons. I know and respect that you like him so I chose to be kind rather than tear him down as others like him as well. Sometimes it can be better to say nothing or little if you have nothing positive to say and Ace has never done me wrong.

I really like Gene's Contributions to Sonic Boom and as a guitar player I know that from a techinical standpoint Tommy can play Ace Frehley licks in 2012 better than Ace Frehley can.

Enjoy that Anomaly Album and Ace should be proud that he has a fan like you in his corner

Kev

jesternjeff · Post by **jesternjeff** » Sun Mar 04, 2012 8:30 am

Slayer wrote:
jesternjeff wrote:When Lightning Strikes .... really ? It's o.k. , doesn't come close to any of Ace's songs he did w/ KISS, Cold Gin, Parasite, RocK Bottom ( paul too ) HArd Times, Strange Ways. Shock Me !
Genes songs are horrible on SB, last Song Gene gets credit for is Domino and Unholy , now those are Gene songs along w/ his classics Dr. Love, God Of Thunder and the rest of the oldies ! I hope he has a better come back on Monster !!!
Jeff,
I'm being respectful as I'm not a big Ace Fan for various reasons. I know and respect that you like him so I chose to be kind rather than tear him down as others like him as well. Sometimes it can be better to say nothing or little if you have nothing positive to say and Ace has never done me wrong.

I really like Gene's Contributions to Sonic Boom and as a guitar player I know that from a techinical standpoint Tommy can play Ace Frehley licks in 2012 better than Ace Frehley can.

Enjoy that Anomaly Album and Ace should be proud that he has a fan like you in his corner

Kev

It's funny , you actually contradict yourself as everybody knows, there would be no Tommy had there not been an Ace. Cheers !

Slayer · Post by **Slayer** » Sun Mar 04, 2012 9:19 am

Bait taken

Here you go, what I was trying avoid LOL

Ace Frehley is one if not the most infuential guitarists of all time. Many of us including me would never have picked up guitar if it were not for Ace but with that said he never grew as a musician and is arguably not as good a player in 2012 as he was in 1977 or before. He has harmed his development as a musician from his copious substance abuse and the fact that though an endearring character he is basically a fuck up. From a technique perspective he is the weakest lead guitarist to ever play in Kiss even though he is without a doubt the most beloved.
He is iconic like the rest of the Kiss Members and I like him as you do and millions of others but he isn't a great guitar player but that's ok too. There isn't any contradiction in my opinion Ace influenced Tommy Thayer as well as hundreds of other players like Marty Friedman and Dimebag but they all play guitar better than him now. I like some songs that he wrote in Kiss like Strange Ways, Shock Me and Rocket Ride but you might be surprised to hear that my favorite Ace songs came after Kiss and were on his solo albums but his best stuff was very much positively infuenced by the better musicians that performed with him like Anton Fig, Tod Howardth and Ritchie Scarlet.

In the end it's all about our own opinions and I respect yours and others that love Ace Frehley and understand why but it just doesn't work for me personally.

Best wishes

Kev

metatron · Post by **metatron** » Sun Mar 04, 2012 11:08 am

Agree with everything you said Kevin. Yes, I liked guitars because of Ace...Actually really, Paul Stanley...that Broken Mirror Iceman did it for me as a kid. Anyways. Yes I liked guitars because of Ace & Paul, but Vinnie brought it up to the next level for me. I agree, Ace has been a very influential guitarist for a lot of people. That's great. But just like McDonald's fast food, that caters to the lowest common denominator (& after drunken night, when you have the munchies) Just because everyone eats it. That don't make it the greatest source of nutrition. It's Punishment not nourishment. Just like the commercial hogwash that is Britney Spears. Mass produced cheap crap for the mindless zombie masses. Look, I saw Ace on the Anomaly tour. Terrible man, really Terrible. That's all I can say.

Slayer · Post by **Slayer** » Sun Mar 04, 2012 2:21 pm

Great Post as always Dannii!
If I lived in Australia or you lived in Southern California we would have some great times brother I'm certain!

Kev

doublev2 · Post by **doublev2** » Sun Mar 04, 2012 10:42 pm

Ace is like fast food. Vinnie and the technical guys are like Michelin star restaurants, all of them good in different ways. In 88 I used to listen to la guns first record and yngwies Odyssey record.. both I loved. Sometimes sloppy and raw is as good as perfection.
I know where kev is coming from though.

erg2 · Post by **erg2** » Mon Mar 05, 2012 1:54 am

Ace was very influential. He once had a very unique style of playing that was cool and flashy...I don't think it was technically difficult, but it was cool and flashy. Much like the original KISS albums and songs. I think Ace's influence on the original G&P material was HUGE. Listen to Wicked Lester and the other original demos and THEN listen to what they sound like a year after Ace got involved. Ace was the "magic" ingredient.

Ace's guitar flourishes and solos probably weren't difficult, but they didn't sound like anyone and they were very discernable. Like I said, big and flashy. The kind of thing that catches the ear of young people...hence him influencing almost the entire generation of guitarists that hit during the 80's metal explosion.

Unfortunately, Ace doesn't play like that anymore. Even when playing that original song/solo. He can't even play them with the same power and flare. They come across kinda weak. And any NEW solos he plays seem like out of control noodling. Like he has something specific in his mind and his fingers just won't do it. Tommy has studied the old Ace solo sound and has distilled it into a standard formula. You listen to Sonic Boom and the solos sound like stereotypical Ace 70s solos.

Slayer · Post by **Slayer** » Mon Mar 05, 2012 3:29 am

erg2 wrote:Ace was very influential. He once had a very unique style of playing that was cool and flashy...I don't think it was technically difficult, but it was cool and flashy. Much like the original KISS albums and songs. I think Ace's influence on the original G&P material was HUGE. Listen to Wicked Lester and the other original demos and THEN listen to what they sound like a year after Ace got involved. Ace was the "magic" ingredient.

Ace's guitar flourishes and solos probably weren't difficult, but they didn't sound like anyone and they were very discernable. Like I said, big and flashy. The kind of thing that catches the ear of young people...hence him influencing almost the entire generation of guitarists that hit during the 80's metal explosion.

Unfortunately, Ace doesn't play like that anymore. Even when playing that original song/solo. He can't even play them with the same power and flare. They come across kinda weak. And any NEW solos he plays seem like out of control noodling. Like he has something specific in his mind and his fingers just won't do it. Tommy has studied the old Ace solo sound and has distilled it into a standard formula. You listen to Sonic Boom and the solos sound like stereotypical Ace 70s solos.

ERG2,
That's a great post and pretty much the way I feel also. I enjoy your description of of Ace's New Solo's and I have often liken his recent stuff to handing a 3 or 4 year old a new toy at Christmas and watching them spaz out of control for what seems like hours LOL

Ace has had a long history of substance abuse problems and now that he may be clean to stay I hope that he can recover, become inspired and creative and once again raise his skill level to become that "Big and Flashy" sounding guy again. I'm actually rooting and pulling for him to be able to do so but so far his hasn't shown the ability to do it.

Tommy Thayer has gone to 70's Ace Frehley School much the same way that Jon Levin has gone to 80's George Lynch School. I dig George Lynch, he is one of my favorites but Jon Levin plays that 80's Dokken Stuff better than George does now. With that said I truly wish that Tommy would play his own style so that Kiss could grow once again as a band. Hopefully I can be pleasantly surprised with the new Monster Album? Nothing would make me happier than hearing a new Vinnie Vincent Album though!

Kev

erg2 · Post by **erg2** » Mon Mar 05, 2012 2:04 pm

I wasn't a huge fan of Black N Blue or Tommy's playing, so listening to him ape Ace is less disappointing for me.

You're right, though. As long as they are focusing efforts on writing and playing to evoke the original KISS sound they are neglecting the natural progression of the music "this band" should be making.

The difference between then and now is that GPA&P played naturally, as themselves. They were not trying to sound specifically like anyone else. They developed and became KISS. The same could be said, IMO, of the LIU version of the band. They developed during the Creatures writing/touring and writing of LIU and became KISS. They weren't trying to specifically sound like anyone else. Sadly, that was probably the last time that could be said about KISS.

The original KISS just naturally sounded like they sounded.
The current KISS isnt playing what is natural...and that's why I think people critique it as really good, not great.

jesternjeff · Post by **jesternjeff** » Tue Mar 06, 2012 12:01 pm

Well I wonder why, they are trying to create new material w/ the / a classic sound and that means the solo's mimic Ace's style. Listen to SB, Tommy although good is using every Ace style he can on it.

Slayer · Post by **Slayer** » Tue Mar 06, 2012 1:06 pm

jesternjeff wrote:Well I wonder why, they are trying to create new material w/ the / a classic sound and that means the solo's mimic Ace's style. Listen to SB, Tommy although good is using every Ace style he can on it.

I totally agree with this!

1031 · Post by **1031** » Wed Mar 07, 2012 1:33 am

I agree Anomaly was not very good. But I think if you take in consideration he did a lot of the album shortly after getting sober, it's a monumental effort. I know it took me a few years to even get close to my potential playing wise again. You not only have to over come just remembering what the hell your doing, but also correct all the tricks you used to hide your crappy playing. ( or at least what what you thought you we hiding ). So there is with out a doubt recovery time needed.

Ace singing wise, well he has always sang like me.... and I suck on a good day.

So I am looking forward to the next release, should be a fine effort.

erg2 · Post by **erg2** » Wed Mar 07, 2012 10:00 am

Vocally I think Anomaly is Ace's best effort to date...not that I'm saying it's a vocal tour de force or anything.

jesternjeff · Post by **jesternjeff** » Wed Mar 07, 2012 5:26 pm

Ace knows his voice aint great thats one reason Frehleys comet had a vocalist other then him. He is the first to say his voice aint great . Ace is KISS, anything / anyone after Ace will never capture what he did. So his voice aint the best, he amazed all in 1977 w/ Shock Me on vocals, in fact that song got more air play then Love Gun that year. Although arguable by Gene and Paul only, Ace's solo album did have better sales and sold the most !

erg2 · Post by **erg2** » Thu Mar 08, 2012 1:46 am

I think G&P have admitted Ace's solo album sold the most. It's not like they could deny it as the facts are easy to find. I think they even discuss it on one of the KISS videos that came out in the 90s.

PinkWiz · Post by **PinkWiz** » Thu Mar 08, 2012 2:27 am

It was always odd to me that Ace's solo album sold the most... I guess because of New York Groove? That mixed with the fact that all the hardcore KISS fans wanted to see what he was capable of as a singer and songwriter (even though Shock Me and Rocket Ride already proved that?)

Kinda like the quiet Beatle George selling more than John, Paul and Ringo's.

doublev2 · Post by **doublev2** » Thu Mar 08, 2012 6:02 am

The only album with a radio playable tune apart from tonight you belong to me . It had to be because if New York groove.

doublev2 · Post by **doublev2** » Thu Mar 08, 2012 6:05 am

I think Paul gene and peter tried too hard . Ace just gave the kids what they wanted.

doublev2 · Post by **doublev2** » Thu Mar 08, 2012 6:08 am

What would have been interesting is if vv had been able to make hard rock/metal solo album in 78 or not.
I don't think he can do it now apart from releading the 21 year old guitars from hell.

erg2 · Post by **erg2** » Thu Mar 08, 2012 8:14 am

I like Paul's solo album. Based on the kind of music that was popular at the time, I think there were a lot of potential singles from it and the production was very radio friendly. It just didn't hit.

Gene's album obviously was borderline silly.

Peter's album was borderline Adult Contemporary. I think a different producer could've made for a better lasting album.

Ace's album...I think is a masterpiece. Absolutely perfect. To this day I think it not only DESERVES to be the best selling solo album but SHOULD be a much better selling album in general.

PinkWiz · Post by **PinkWiz** » Thu Mar 08, 2012 1:58 pm

I love 'em all... I can listen to all 4 solo albums front to back. I even do solo album marathons on long trips... all four in a row.

Gene's is the most nostalgic for me from getting it for Christmas '78 at six years old... the other three my brother and I got for Christmas '85 so there's a different feeling when I hear them. Love them all though.

Dino it's interesting that you brought up the Vinnie '78 solo album idea because supposedly Eric Carr was to release his own solo album in '80 and they even had the same artist, Eraldo Carugati, produce similar artwork (Eric with an orange aura).

jesternjeff · Post by **jesternjeff** » Thu Mar 08, 2012 3:16 pm

PinkWiz wrote:It was always odd to me that Ace's solo album sold the most... I guess because of New York Groove? That mixed with the fact that all the hardcore KISS fans wanted to see what he was capable of as a singer and songwriter (even though Shock Me and Rocket Ride already proved that?)

Kinda like the quiet Beatle George selling more than John, Paul and Ringo's.

NYG is the worst song on that record, not sure what your trying to get across ?

jesternjeff · Post by **jesternjeff** » Thu Mar 08, 2012 3:19 pm

doublev2 wrote:What would have been interesting is if vv had been able to make hard rock/metal solo album in 78 or not.
I don't think he can do it now apart from releading the 21 year old guitars from hell.

Be careful of what you ask for, It may have sounded more like a Dan Hartman album !!! lol

PinkWiz · Post by **PinkWiz** » Thu Mar 08, 2012 3:29 pm

jesternjeff wrote:NYG is the worst song on that record, not sure what your trying to get across ?

Doesn't matter what you think, it was a hit in 1978 into '79. Here's some info from Wikipedia for ya to brush up on your Kisstory with:

Released as a single, this song made it to No.13 on the American Billboard Hot 100 that year, by far the highest charting single from any of the Kiss members' solo albums. "New York Groove" was performed on Kiss's tours of 1979 and 1980, and became a staple of Frehley's shows during his solo tours in the 1980s and 90s, and again during the Reunion Tour when he rejoined Kiss in 1996

jesternjeff · Post by **jesternjeff** » Thu Mar 08, 2012 3:41 pm

Oh I know it was a hit ! Its just not the best song on that album sorry !

PinkWiz · Post by **PinkWiz** » Thu Mar 08, 2012 4:02 pm

jesternjeff wrote:Oh I know it was a hit ! Its just not the best song on that album sorry !

Where in my post did I say New York Groove was the best song on the album?