Ace Frehley (album)

Ace Frehley is a 1978 solo album from Ace Frehley, the lead guitarist of American hard rock band Kiss. It was one of four Kiss solo albums released by Casablanca Records on September 18, 1978.

Ace Frehley
Cover painting by Eraldo Carugati
Studio album by
Ace Frehley
ReleasedSeptember 18, 1978
RecordedJune–July 1978
Studio"The Mansion", Sharon, Connecticut
Plaza Sound Studios, New York City, New York
GenreHard rock
Length36:44
LabelCasablanca
Producer
Ace Frehley chronology
Ace Frehley
(1978)		 Frehley's Comet
(1987)
Kiss chronology
Gene Simmons
(1978)		 Ace Frehley
(1978)		 Peter Criss
(1978)
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]

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.[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"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
Production
  • Eddie Kramer and Ace Frehley - production
  • Eddie Kramer, Rob Freeman - engineering
  • Eric Block, Don Hunerburg - assistant engineers
  • Mastered by George Marino at Sterling Sound, NYC
  • Album design by Dennis Woloch
  • Album artwork by Eraldo Carugati

Charts

Album
Chart (1978) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[8] 48
Japanese Albums Chart[9] 30
US Billboard 200[10] 26
Chart (1979) Peak
position
Canada RPM100[11] 34

Singles
Single Chart (1978) Peak
position
"New York Groove" US Billboard Hot 100[12] 13
Single Chart (1979) Peak
position
"New York Groove" Canada RPM100 Singles[13] 25
New Zealand Singles Chart[14] 24

Certification
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[15] Gold 50,000^
United States (RIAA)[16] Platinum 1,000,000^

^shipments figures based on certification alone

References
  1. Prato, Greg. "Ace Frehley / Kiss - Ace Frehley review". AllMusic. Retrieved 2009-08-07.
  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 2003-06-26. Retrieved 2009-08-07.
  4. "Kiss: Album Guide | Rolling Stone Music". Rollingstone.com. Archived from the original on June 27, 2011. Retrieved 2011-08-04.
  5. "AllMusic-Billboard". Retrieved 2009-01-15.
  6. "RIAA-Gold and Platinum". Retrieved 2009-01-14.
  7. Kiss: Sound Scan Era Record Sales Revealed - Blabbermouth.net
  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. "AllMusic-Billboard". Retrieved 2009-01-14.
  11. RPM100 RPM100 albums chart history - February 3, 1979 Archived August 13, 2014, at the Wayback Machine October 1, 2011.
  12. Billboard Hot 100. Allmusic - Billboard charts. October 1, 2011.
  13. RPM100. RPM100 singles chart history - February 17, 1979 Archived August 13, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. October 1, 2011.
  14. Recorded Music NZ. Official New Zealand Music Chart - February 25, 1979. October 1, 2011.
  15. "Canadian album certifications – Ace Frehley – Kiss". Music Canada.
  16. "American album certifications – Ace Frehley – Kiss – Ace Frehley". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
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