Ace Frehley
KISS was huge in '78. To keep the KISS pipeline stuffed Casablanca Records simultaneously issued a solo album from each member (Gene Simmons, Peter Criss, Paul Stanley and Frehley). Led by the pop hit "Back In The New York Groove," Frehley's self-titled effort did the best but it did little to mitigate Casablanca's unfathomable loss on the project. The expected big score turned into a major bust. Eventually, the four sets were distilled to a single album - which probably should have happened in the first place. So, it was on that inauspicious note Frehley began his checkered solo career.
Two years later, drummer Criss left the band and Frehley found himself losing 2-1 in band decisions. Criss' replacement, Eric Carr, didn't have a vote. This particularly stung since Frehley was a founding member. If that wasn't troubling enough, Frehley had drug problems, which would take the better part of the decade to overcome, and got his license suspended for six-months after leading New York police on a high speed car chase. Things had to be better in the studio. Right? Guess again.
Recording '81 album "Music From The Elder" didn't help matters. Frehley didn't want to do a concept album and had little repertoire with producer Bob Ezrin. As a result, much of the guitarist's work was not included.
Even though Frehley had walked (replaced by Vinnie Vincent) his likeness appeared on the covers of the U.K. compilation "Killers" and studio album "Creatures In The Night."
Frehley's solo career was initially stalled in the demo stage. It wasn't until '87 that "Frehley's Comet" arrived. Containing the tune "Rock Soldiers," the set did well selling 500,000 copies.
However, the follow-up "Second Sighting" barely cracked the Billboard 100. And supporting tours with Alice Cooper and Iron Maiden ended badly (there were claims of non-payment).
The situation was so dire that Frehley dropped 'Comet' and issued '89's "Trouble Walkin'," under his own name. Despite contributions from Criss and Skid Row's Sebastian Bach, the album failed to reach the Billboard Top 100.
Criss and Frehley did a joint trek (Bad Boys Tour) with their respective bands in '95 and ended the show by performing together. That jaunt was a prelude to an original members KISS reunion and a world tour. Presumably, that put Frehley into a higher tax bracket.
Over a decade later, Frehley issued another solo album, the 12-track "Anomaly."
Moving from recording to print, Frehley's "No Regrets" landed in bookstores. In the '11 tome he called the current version of KISS 'a bunch of dirty rotten whores'. "I soon realized their lust for money outweighed any sense of fairness or logic on their part," wrote Frehley.
The thing that made KISS work was playing anthems with undeniable swagger. Maybe Frehley didn't want to go there on his own or maybe he couldn't. Either way, it's too bad because his post-KISS work is inevitably compared with his old band. That may not be fair but it's the way that it is. As such, he really can't win.
Frehley is a talented guitarist and a better than average singer. The songwriting can be hit or miss and the arrangements are pretty much standard fare - ironically, he had a hand in creating those cliches way back when.
"Frehley's Comet" is the best of his '80s material. His band is tight and he's as good as he gets. Band turnover and a lack of direction undercut subsequent efforts.
It's a bad sign when a cover of a long-ago hit is an album's highpoint. "Anomaly" has a rendition of The Sweet's '75 chartbuster "Fox On The Run." The Sweet still owns the definitive version but Frehley gets close. But aside from the acoustic "A Little Below The Angels" and "It's A Great Life," which has a little braggadocio, this is simply a journeyman effort.