Former KISS guitarist Ace Frehley talks his new solo album and how despite what Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley have said, his career continues to flourish
In a new interview with Muncie, Indiana radio station 93.5 FM Maximum Classic Rock, the one and only original KISS ax-wielder, Ace Frehley, served up some juicy details on how things are cooking in the recording cauldron for his upcoming studio masterpiece.
Ace said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “My album is done and it’s being mastered as we speak. And if everything goes well over the weekend, the album is gonna be delivered to the record company Monday [October 30].”
Touching further on what people can expect with the new release, Ace Frehley said: “I think it may be the best album I’ve ever done to date. And it’s the first time I co-wrote most of the songs with Steve Brown from TRIXTER. He’s a great songwriter, and I’m a great songwriter, and we put our two heads together and songs come out doubly good. He also harmonizes perfectly with me.
“I’ve never really written with that many people — most of the songs I write by myself,” he explained. “I might get a little help from somebody, but this album pretty much is co-written by Steve and myself, almost every song. And it came out way better than I had anticipated. And the vocals are strong, the guitar solos are strong, the songs, the lyrics, the melodies, everything’s really powerful.”
When Ace was asked if he ever expected that his solo career would have taken off as well as it did, he replied: “It was hard in the beginning, but now I’ve picked up a lot of steam. In fact, I remember when I first signed with eOne Music — now they sold the record company to MNRK Music Group, and I’m still working with the same people — but I remember the guy that got me signed to the label, he told me that, before [2009’s] ‘Anomaly’ came out, he said a lot of people said to him, ‘You’re not even gonna get the record.’
“Because [KISS founders] Paul [Stanley] and Gene [Simmons] have pretty much tried to destroy my credibility by calling me a drunk and a drug addict and somebody who’s not dependable. But if that were the case, how did I make five albums? And I’ve been touring steadily for the last 10 years plus. It doesn’t make any sense.
“They contradict themselves all the time. Now they’re putting me down and saying if I came up and played with them on the farewell tour, it would mar their performance. Paul said on ‘The Howard Stern Show’, you might as well call the band PISS instead of KISS if I got up on stage with them. Well, when this album comes about, it’s gonna make him look like an imbecile.”
Ace Frehley‘s next studio album will be the follow-up to “Spaceman”, which arrived in October 2018 via eOne.
Frehley‘s latest release was “Origins Vol. 2”, the direct-sequel to his 2016 collection of cover songs that inspired the former KISS guitarist.