Ace Frehley (album)

Ace Frehley is the debut studio album by American musician Ace Frehley. It is his first album as a solo artist as was he the lead guitarist of hard rock band Kiss. It was one of the four solo albums that all four Kiss members decided to do released by Casablanca Records on September 18, 1978.

Ace Frehley
Cover painting by Eraldo Carugati
Studio album by
Ace Frehley
ReleasedSeptember 18, 1978 (1978-09-18)
RecordedJune–July 1978
StudioThe Mansion, Sharon, Connecticut
Plaza Sound Studios, New York City
GenreHard rock
Length36:44
LabelCasablanca
Producer
Ace Frehley chronology
Ace Frehley
(1978)		 Frehley's Comet
(1987)
Kiss chronology
Double Platinum
(1978)		 Ace Frehley

Gene Simmons

Peter Criss

Paul Stanley
(1978)		 Dynasty
(1979)
Singles from Ace Frehley
  1. "New York Groove"
    Released: 1978

Background

The album was produced by Frehley and Eddie Kramer. It featured Anton Fig on drums. He later performed session work on the Kiss albums Dynasty and Unmasked, and became a member of Ace Frehley's band Frehley's Comet. Fig and Will Lee, who played bass on three of the album's tracks, later gained prominence as members of the World's Most Dangerous Band and the CBS Orchestra along with Paul Shaffer on Late Night with David Letterman and Late Show with David Letterman. In an interview with Loudwire, Frehley stated that some of the songs from his solo album were originally slated for the fifth Kiss album, Rock and Roll Over.

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal8/10[2]
Pitchfork(8.5/10)[3]
Rolling Stone[4]

In a retrospective review Greg Prato of AllMusic wrote that "of the four Kiss solo albums, the best of the bunch is Ace Frehley's", who "did not stray far from the expected heavy Kiss sound".[1] Jason Josephes of Pitchfork concurred that it was the standout of the Kiss solo efforts, describing it as "a melange of riff rock, power pop, and just a little bit of soul".[3] Canadian journalist Martin Popoff defined Ace Frehley as "the least pretentious, heaviest and best-selling platter of the Kiss' solo album quartet", describing the music as "solid, well-rounded simplified '70s metal".[2]

Commercial performance

"New York Groove", which was first recorded in 1975 by British glam rock band Hello, rose to No. 13 on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.[5] This was the highest chart placement for any of the singles released from the 1978 solo albums. The album reached No. 26 on the US Billboard 200 album chart. It was certified platinum on October 2, 1978, and shipped over 1,000,000 copies.[6] It is the highest selling of the four Kiss solo albums in the Sound Scan era (1991 onwards).[7]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Ace Frehley, except where noted.

Side One
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Rip It Out"Frehley, Larry Kelly, Sue Kelly3:40
2."Speedin' Back to My Baby"Frehley, Jeanette Frehley3:37
3."Snow Blind" 3:55
4."Ozone" 4:43
5."What's on Your Mind?" 3:28
Side Two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
6."New York Groove" (Hello cover)Russ Ballard3:03
7."I'm in Need of Love" 4:39
8."Wiped-Out"Frehley, Anton Fig4:13
9."Fractured Mirror" (instrumental) 5:26
Total length:36:44

Personnel
Artist
Additional personal
  • Anton Fig – drums, percussion
  • Will Lee – bass on "Ozone", "I'm in Need of Love" and "Wiped-Out"
  • Carl Tallarico – drums on "Fractured Mirror"
  • David Lasley and Susan Collins – backing vocals on "Speedin' Back to My Baby", "What's on Your Mind?" and "New York Groove"
  • Larry Kelly – backing vocals on "Rip It Out"
  • Bill "Bear" Scheniman – bell on "Fractured Mirror"
  • Bobby McAdams – power mouth (talkbox) on "New York Groove"
Production
  • Eddie Kramer and Ace Frehley – producers
  • Eddie Kramer and Rob Freeman – engineers
  • Eric Block and Don Hunerburg – assistant engineers
  • George Marino – mastered at Sterling Sound, NYC
  • Dennis Woloch – album design
  • Eraldo Carugati – album artwork

Charts

Album

Certification
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[13] Gold 50,000^
United States (RIAA)[14] Platinum 1,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References
  1. Prato, Greg. "Ace Frehley / Kiss – Ace Frehley review". AllMusic. Retrieved August 7, 2009.
  2. Popoff, Martin (October 2003). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 1: The Seventies. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. pp. 163–164. ISBN 978-1894959025.
  3. Josephes, Jason. "Review Ace Frehley". Pitchfork Media. Archived from the original on June 26, 2003. Retrieved August 7, 2009.
  4. "Kiss: Album Guide | Rolling Stone Music". Rollingstone.com. Archived from the original on June 27, 2011. Retrieved August 4, 2011.
  5. "Ace Frehley Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved February 17, 2022.
  6. "RIAA Gold & Palatinum Database: Ace Frehley". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved February 17, 2022.
  7. Barnes, Ken (February 9, 2007). "The Kiss sales report". USA Today. Archived from the original on February 12, 2007. Retrieved February 17, 2022.
  8. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 119. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  9. Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970-2005. Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
  10. RPM100 RPM100 albums chart history – February 3, 1979 Archived August 13, 2014, at the Wayback Machine October 1, 2011.
  11. RPM100. RPM100 singles chart history – February 17, 1979 Archived August 13, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. October 1, 2011.
  12. "Ace Frehley - New York Groove (song)". Charts.org.nz. Hung Meiden.
  13. "Canadian album certifications – Ace Frehley – Kiss". Music Canada.
  14. "American album certifications – Ace Frehley – Kiss – Ace Frehley". Recording Industry Association of America.
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