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Rip It Out
Speedin' Back to My Baby
Snow Blind
Ozone
What's on Your Mind?
New York Groove
I'm in Need of Love
Wiped-Out
Fractured Mirror
The four Kiss solo albums were all due to hit the stores on the same date – ‘Kissmas day’, September 18, 1978. They all had cool covers painted by Eraldo Carugati, reputedly right-hand man to Michelangelo on the Sistine Chapel. They were being backed by a hefty $2.5 million promotional campaign. And they were all ‘shipping platinum’. It all sounded very impressive.
Subsequently, a joke emerged that became received wisdom: they shipped platinum and returned double platinum. But Gene Simmons put the record straight, telling Classic Rock: “They all sold at least a million apiece.”
The surprise – and a kick in the balls for Simmons and Paul Stanley – was that Ace Frehley’s album was the most successful. What Ace delivered was a smoking, balls-out, hard-rock record with flashes of his goofball humour. The wayward guitarist even scored a Top 20 hit with a breezy version of the Russ Ballard song New York Groove. And without Gene and Paul around, he could sing on Ozone: ‘I’m the kind of guy who likes feelin’ high…’
Every week, Album of the Week Club listens to and discusses the album in question, votes on how good it is, and publishes our findings, with the aim of giving people reliable reviews and the wider rock community the chance to contribute.
Other albums released in September 1978
- Bloody Tourists - 10cc
- The Bride Stripped Bare - Bryan Ferry
- Pieces of Eight - Styx
- Molly Hatchet - Molly Hatchet
- Blue Valentine - Tom Waits
- Skynyrd's First and... Last - Lynyrd Skynyrd
- Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds - Jeff Wayne
- Stage - David Bowie
- Tracks on Wax 4 - Dave Edmunds
- Giant for a Day - Gentle Giant
- Studio Tan - Frank Zappa
- Wet Dream - Rick Wright
- Never Say Die! - Black Sabbath
- Tormato - Yes
- Road to Ruin - Ramones
- Breathless - Camel
- Bursting Out - Jethro Tull
- Love Bites - Buzzcocks
- Back on the Streets - Gary Moore
- Fallen Angel - Uriah Heep
- Flamin' Groovies Now - Flamin' Groovies
- Gillan - Gillan
- Parallel Lines - Blondie
- Rough - Tina Turner
- Some Enchanted Evening - Blue Öyster Cult
- Wavelength - Van Morrison
- Weekend Warriors - Ted Nugent
What they said...
"All of the tracks are strong, such as the venomous opener, Rip It Out, as well as a few tracks that confirm how Frehley was indulging in alcohol and drugs a bit too much by the late '70s (Snow Blind, Ozone, and Wiped Out). You'll also find many underrated compositions (Speedin' Back to My Baby, What's on Your Mind?, I'm in Need of Love), a gorgeous instrumental (Fractured Mirror), and the Top 20 hit single New York Groove. (AllMusic)
"Over half of the songs on here sound better than the overplayed classic rock and the current slew of bands who just haven't figured out how to rock. (That's right, Matchbox 20. I'm talking to you. Meet me back in the alley for an asskicking, and leave your friends Tonic and Third Eye Blind at home.) Sure, some of the lyrics aren't going to win any gold stars here (I especially liked how every line in Ozone ended with 'high,' 'guy,' 'fly,' 'try,' etc.) and the cover of New York Groove gets old fast." (Pitchfork)
"Ace Frehley’s solo album had the best producer of the four, Eddie Kramer, and it was the one that sounded the most like Kiss. In the case of the solo albums, this is a win-win for Ace! Ace didn’t deviate from the Kiss sound at all. In fact, I think he refined it and made it even better. This would only boost his confidence even more and drive that ego to hit the stratosphere as problems would continue from here on in for Ace and Kiss." (2 Loud 2 Old Music)
What you said...
Brian Hart: When Ace's solo album was up for Album of the Week, I decided to give it a listen. Truth be told, I have never listened to any of the Kiss '78 solo albums because I had heard nothing but negative reviews. That being said, I decided to listen to all four of the solo albums. Kiss is an interesting group.
They truly are greater than the sum of their parts. Gene and Paul brought two unique voices and great, simple songs. Peter brought the soulful swing behind the drum kit. Ace brought 100% raw attitude. Ace's album is exactly who he is... guitars with attitude. The songs are there and they are good.
However, for me, his voice takes away from the overall album. I totally understand that Ace was never known for his voice. Unfortunately, his voice just doesn't cut for me. Don't get me wrong, I love that Ace sang one or two songs per Kiss album. I think that's what made Kiss so cool – all four sang and had different voices.
After listening to all four albums, I came to the conclusion that had they worked on these songs together, they could have come up with a great album of 10-12 songs. Paul and Gene's albums were missing Ace's attitude. Ace's album was missing Paul and Gene's finesse and voice. Overall, I find Ace's '78 album very listenable but not something I'd be spinning with regularly.
Mark Herrington: My Rock baptism began with the UK glam rock scene of the early 70s . As that faded from the airwaves, Kiss continued to carry the torch with a harder sound and a look Roy Wood would have been proud of. I like their early stuff most, and a couple of their later albums. On the whole, this is not a bad album, and it's easily the best of the ‘solo’ albums. I like the glam-sounding Speedin’ Back To My Baby, the instrumental Fractured Mirror and the New York Groove cover, particularly. Some of the tracks are a bit average, but on the whole, it’s a reasonable score from me.
Nigel Mawdsley: A decent album, but it peaks after the first two tracks, which are both excellent (what a great groove and hook Speedin' Back To My Baby has – it's the best song on the album).
The rest of the album is good overall, but Wiped-Out stands out as a filler track whilst Hello's 1975 version of New York Groove is far superior and more powerful than what's on offer here. Fractured Mirror is a very good instrumental to finish the album on a high. 7 out of 10 for me.
Steven Scranton: I love this album. I did when it came out, and I do now. The songs rock out, but they’re fun to jam on in the car. I saw a quote saying that anything would be at home on a Kiss album. I agree, especially over the first five. There is no bad cut. If you’re looking for any real depth or anything like emotion or a message, look elsewhere. If you just want to crank up some good classic tunes and cruise, fire this up and enjoy. The bonus is Anton Figg’s drumming, which is superb throughout.
Chris Elliott: It's a half-decent Kiss album. Just depends on your opinion of Kiss to begin with. To repeat what I said when we did Alive.!, they never got radio play in the UK. They seemed to sell more patches for denim jackets than records. By the time I heard them I never managed to match the myth with the actual albums.
Dave Hinsley: It's a pretty low bar, but this album is the best of the four solo albums. Gene Simmons' one is interesting for the collaborations, but Stanley and Criss's are just dross to be honest. I think Ace's coolest moment is Shock Me on whichever Alive! album it's on.
Gary Claydon: Cynical cash-grab it might have been, but the simultaneous release of four solo albums actually gave the Kiss boys the chance to show the world that there was more to them than face paint and flashbombs. So what did they do? Why, they served up a pile of turgid, sub-par Kiss, of course.
Two things are widely agreed upon about the four albums. Ace Frehley’s is easily the best of them (although the bar is set pretty low ) and the Russ Ballard-penned foot-stomper ' New York Groove is the best track. And there isn't a whole lot else to say.
Of the four, Frehley probably deviates the least from the tried and tested Kiss formula. The album's opening pair Rip It Out and Speedin' Back To My Baby are typically big, bombastic rockers, but the rest is pretty pedestrian, and the less said about the lyrics, the better. The best thing about the album is Ace's guitar tone, which is really nice throughout, thanks to decent Eddie Kramer production.
Brian Carr: As familiar as I was with Kiss’s debut through Alive! II, it took me a while to dive into the solo records. Even Paul Stanley’s, which was one of the Kiss records gifted to me by my uncle after he had had enough of the band, rarely or never got a spin. I think I finally became familiar with Ace Frehley’s when he started his Comet and performed Rip It Out.
Ace had somewhat limited writing credits during Kiss’s heyday, but proved he had plenty to say, writing all but one of the tunes on Ace Frehley. The album is loaded with the guitar work that inspired loads of America’s youth to pick up guitars. It’s a fun listen, the only exception being the repetitive Ozone.
In a band of unique personalities, Ace always seemed like the most relatable of the four. I don’t know if I necessarily had a favourite, but he was the one I dressed up as for Halloween as a kid. I was lucky enough to see him live four times, twice with Kiss, once as Frehley’s Comet and once solo. I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that he’s gone.
Shane Reho: RIP Ace. As Creatures Of The Night is the only Kiss release post-Destroyer that I'd listened to more than once, revisiting this was interesting. I haven't listened to the other three solo albums, so I can't either agree or disagree with the majority who refer to this as the best of the bunch. Overall, I'd call this a decent slab of 70s hard rock, but I have to stop short of calling it a classic, as there's not much here that rises above that mould. Since it's still a fun listen that I was about to buy a copy of before an original with the poster and merch ad sold before I could pull the trigger, and since I didn't hate hearing New York Groove this time around, I'll give it a 7/10.
Adam Ranger: This is undoubtedly the best of those four solo albums. But it's still not outstanding and a bit samey. I am not a massive Kiss fan. They have some good tracks, but again, they're not outstanding on record, for the most part. I have seen them live, and it is in that area where they shine, with all the pomp and bombast.
This album opens strongly with Rip It Out, like the Stones on steroids, but then continues in a similar vein for the most part. The issue here for me is the songwriting and vocals. I really like Ozone, though. That riff is just a great opener for a song. I'm not a fan of New York Groove, although that is a change of style.
If you love Kiss on record, you will probably love this. But for me, it's an OK rock album, occasionally lifted by some nice guitar work.
Mike Canoe: When you are the self-described "hottest band in the world," how can you possibly get bigger? Market saturation!
And so it came to pass that the four members of Kiss all released a solo album on the same day, September 18, 1978, all under the Kiss banner with similarly themed cover art and poster insert. Each album was dedicated to the other three band members and none of the band played on any album but their own. Guitarist Ace Frehley had two, errr, aces up his star-themed sleeve that the other three didn't have.
First, there was a bona fide ringer in songwriting genius, Russ Ballard. New York Groove had already been a proven UK hit for glam band Hello. Ace's version was, by far, the most successful of the five singles released from the four albums (Peter Criss got two) and pulled the album up with it.
Then there was an air of mystery to the Spaceman that the others, especially Paul and Gene, didn't have. Though he had contributed to the songwriting since the beginning, Frehley didn't actually sing lead vocals until the previous year, with the one-two punch of Shock Me and Rocket Ride. What would a whole album (mostly) written, performed, and sung by the cosmic Space Ace sound like?
Turns out, he sounded a lot like a Kiss fan. This everyman from the stars had girl trouble like you and me (Rip It Out, What's on Your Mind?) and got in over his head like you and me - well, definitely me (Ozone, Wiped Out), sometimes both in the same song (the excellently sinister Snowblind). Unlike you and me - again, definitely, me - he could crank out a sublime instrumental like Fractured Mirror.
Frehley's album was also harder and heavier than any of the other solo albums (or the last three Kiss studio albums). It's the only album that feels loose, raw and like it was bashed out in an afternoon rather than meticulously crafted with a cast of thousands. There was something streetwise about his voice, which usually came through as a snarl or slow drawl. Ace Frehley was the only Kiss member who still sounded tough - or even still seemed interested in sounding tough.
In the age of streaming, it's easier to appreciate all of the 1978 solo albums, but Frehley's was always the one with both the most bark and the most bite. RIP, Space Ace.
Greg Schwepe: By the time the four members of Kiss released their four solo albums in the fall of 1978, I’d pretty much gone AWOL from the Kiss Army. I was probably more in the “Kiss Army Reserve” by then and just decided not to re-enlist after Rock And Roll Over.
Like many, I’d been introduced to Kiss via Alive! then got the albums before it and the two after it before my tastes changed a little. But Ace Frehley was my guy. 7th Grade Me probably liked his makeup the best, but what really grabbed me was the liner booklet in Alive! In that booklet was a picture of Ace wielding a tobacco sunburst Gibson Les Paul that still makes my heart flutter. Not yet a guitar player, I felt like Wayne in that scene from Wayne’s World when he’s checking out that vintage Stratocaster.
So, as usually happens, times change and my tastes cycle back to stuff I stepped away from for a while. Bought a bunch of Kiss CDs (why, oh why didn’t I keep that Kiss vinyl?) and eventually the Ace solo album. In any article you ever read about these albums, you always read that Ace’s was the best and sold more than the others.
And when I played Ace Frehley for the first time, I was immediately blown away, and it confirmed what everyone else had been saying. Rip It Out comes out with Ace’s Les Paul blazing. Whoa. This is good.
The repeating lick intro of Speedin” Back To My Baby follows and is no slouch. The descending heavy riffing of Snow Blind is next. Ozone comes on board, and there is no letting up.
I think it’s kind of funny that the cover of New York Groove is probably the farthest away from everything on the album in terms of style, but might be the favourite cut of a lot of listeners. Totally cool song.
The album ends with the instrumental Fractured Mirror. The song builds as more instrumentation is added.
Personally, I don’t hear any filler on this album and would rate this higher than a lot of Kiss albums. Solo albums are sometimes a mixed bag where the artist hits it out of the park with their own stuff, or their own stuff is so-so, and they put out something just to put out something that doesn’t make a mark. This is very much the former, where Ace made a statement that he can create some good music. 8 out of 10 on this one for me. Hope you take a trip past the stars, Spaceman.
John Davidson: A Kiss studio album with actual guitars in the front of the mix? Ace is neither a virtuoso player nor a composer, but there are some half-decent efforts on this short album. Rip It Out sounds like a deep cut from UFO (minus Schenker level soloing) and I'm in Need of Love has some punch while Wiped Out has a kinda punky vibe.
New York Groove notwithstanding, it's a pretty rough and ready affair, but I prefer that to the glossy slop Kiss were serving by this point.
Eric Brunet: As a child, I first became aware of Kiss with the Phantom of the Park film and began collecting the albums soon after. The 1978 Ace Frehley solo album was a revelation for me, simple songs built around memorable and well-structured solos. Eddie Kramer's production was absolutely spot-on, giving tunes like Ozone and I'm In Need of Love an otherworldly quality that suited the spaceman character so beautifully. Elsewhere, tunes like Speeding Back To My Baby and What's On Your Mind absolutely rocked and kept pace with the best of what Kiss had released up until that point. Fractured Mirror is a stunner of an instrumental. One of the top albums that made me want to learn guitar, and it still holds up. A strong 9. Rest in Peace Ace!
Evan Sanders: I'm glad that my suggestion was picked for this week! Kiss were my favourite band in my early teenage years, and every new album during their makeup era was an event. I remember the marketing campaign for the solo albums, which included seemingly nonstop radio ads with snippets from each of the albums.
The best of the four was clearly Ace Frehley, an album that rocked and still rocks. Listening to it now, I'm impressed by how it holds up as straight-ahead guitar-based rock. The songs remain good, starting strong with Rip It Out and Speedin' Back to My Baby, opening side two with New York Groove, and finishing with the instrumental Fractured Mirror. It's too bad that by then he was already drifting away from the band, as I can imagine his contributions increasing over time. Kiss may be best known for the blood and fire of Gene Simmons, but Ace showed that you can't rock without guitars. May the Spaceman continue to fly. 7/10
Jim McElhattan: Love this album. It’s the best of the solo records and Ace's best solo album. Great riffs and songs.
Bill Griffin: Although there are some interesting things on here, until the ending instrumental, I can't say I actually liked anything. New York Groove is OK but not really representative of the rest of the album. Bottom line: I would rather listen to a Kiss album.
Philip Qvist: I first listened to the Kiss Ace Frehley solo album, and then, for good measure, listened to a compilation of the best songs from each of the four solo albums, and there is little doubt that Ace's album rocks the hardest. It is no surprise then that it was the best received of the four and would ultimately sell the most copies.
Considering that Ace hadn't done much singing and songwriting for the band until then, it is actually a very solid record. No, it didn't set a new bar for rock music, but I doubt that was the intention here. Instead, you get a very good album that rocks.
New York Groove is probably the most recognisable song on the album, but it doesn't really represent the album as a whole. Opening track Rip It Up, Wiped Out and Ozone are all great songs, while Ace's album concludes with the rather interesting instrumental Fractured Mirror.
It won't appear on anybody's list of great rock albums to listen to before you die, but it is a solid, entertaining and rocking enough effort, which is going to get at least a 7 from me. RIP Ace, and thanks for all the memories.
Werner Wibmer: It’s the best of the four solo albums. I had them all until I had to sell my records.
Pete Delgado. New York Groove is easily the best song from the four solos, but that’s about the only good song in those releases. They were mostly a commercial gimmick. Not very good.
Paul Cropper: Best of the solos by a country mile. New York Groove is great. A solid 7/10.
Keith Akow: The Kiss solo albums were, as most know, a marketing gimmick. Nevertheless, I've always thought they're most revealing about where the band members' minds were at that time, and where they were going. Gene Simmons was a true vanity project, loaded with guest stars and idiosyncratic songs. Paul Stanley was a workingman's AOR album, the least surprising of them. It sounded exactly like you thought it might. Peter Criss showcased that Peter had the least hard rock background of the band members, which confused the hell out of Kiss fans. But Ace Frehley really felt like a true solo album, no frills, a tight band and some songs he wanted to put on wax. Remember also, most Kiss haters of the time thought the band was just a gimmick. Ace's playing was the element of early Kiss which let Kiss fans say, "See, there is actually some good playing going on here." From that standpoint, Ace Frehley was the one of the four which most fulfilled the point of having a solo album.
Gordon Johnston: A very good album, the best of the solos.
Darren Andrews: The track I always come back to is Fractured Mirror. Love its composition.
Wade Babineau: I first heard this album as a wide-eyed 10-year-old when it was released. Kiss were the first group I got into, thanks to a friend who had the "Spirit of '76" poster and just purchased Love Gun and gave it a spin for me. Hooked from day one. Ace and Paul had the strongest of the four albums, but Ace's seemed to have that little something more. The crunchy riffs, solos to the catchy songs that, while not rewriting the rock playbook, have a glorious earworm quality that stick in the brain. Yes, New York Groove was the hit, but the opening one-two punch of Rip It Out and Speedin' Back To My Baby is hard to beat. Power-pop flourishes bounce What's On Your Mind along and I certainly appreciated the weird grooves of Ozone, WIped Out and Snowblind later on. Still gets a 9/10 from me.
Chris Layton: A great singer, he ain't. New York Groove is far and away the best song on the album. It's got that laid-back drum groove that's hard not to clap or tap your foot to, and the chorus is catchy. Speedin' Back to My Baby has such an in-your-face intro, and the attitude and enough punch to stay crunchy in milk, but those are really the only super standouts here. Rip It Out is pretty good, particularly the drumming, Snowblind is OK, but not amazing.
The rest definitely isn't great, and I wouldn't even say particularly good. Fractured Mirror is boring as heck, as for the entire first half he plays the same thing over and over and then brings out some dissonance that isn't ear-pleasing at all. Most of the rest is forgettable filler, nothing killer. The worst track is I'm In Need of Love, which has lame lyrics mixed with a terrible singing voice. That said, even with two great tracks, a pretty good one, and one OK one, it was still the best of the solo albums. That says to me that Kiss were much better as a group than as any one person being the star.
George Pyrtle: It's a 7 to 8. A solid album, and I've always enjoyed it. New York Groove, Rip it Out, Ozone, Snowblind, Fractured Mirror... there's good stuff there.
Henry Martinez: I call it the Ace revelation album. As a kid, this solo albums gambit by Kiss was initially mystifying. Why, I thought? And had Ace not turned in this gem, it would have been beyond mystifying - it would have been a disaster on the level of The Elder. But Ace saved the day with a pretty irresistible collection of rough and ready tunes. Of course, this lit the long fuse toward his eventual exit, with Kiss never fully recovering despite a few stray moments of greatness in the '80s. Thanks, Ace, for being authentically you - a rough, cluttered, unapologetic yet truly original player. Rest in peace and rock on.
Mike Fildes: The first four tracks are great, as is Fractured Mirror, but there are a couple of filler tracks. I always loved the languid vocal style, effortlessly cool, like the man himself. I've always thought if he had saved Shock Me and Rocket Ride for this album, we'd be looking at a classic.
I'd give it 7/10, but it gets an extra half point for being Ace, RIP. 7.5 /10.
Final score: 8.24 (110 votes cast, total score 906)
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