The kiss icon In the history of electric guitar, Ace Frehley is a revered personality who encouraged numerous young and old musicians to take up the instrument. The guitarist’s approach—loose, melodic, enjoyable, and unconcerned with technical perfection—contributes to that tradition of inspiration.
The guitarist claims he doesn’t mind the label, but it has resulted in charges of carelessness on Frehley’s side.
Ahead of the release of his most recent solo album, 10,000 Volts, the former Kiss axeman told Total Guitar that making mistakes occasionally is just a natural aspect of his performance.
I’m a fucking bad guitarist! Frehley says, “I’ll be the first to admit that.” “I make errors and bad things happen, especially when I’m performing live. I perform the songs in their original form. I perform my solo songs and the iconic Kiss songs just as you remember them.
He is content to defend his own freewheeling approach, but he doesn’t go so far as to suggest that other players adopt it.
When asked if he had one piece of advice for readers of Total Guitar, Frehley said, “Looking back, I should have practiced more.”
Kiss’ guitarist made a point of pointing out how his unique style on the instrument differs from that of Tommy Thayer, who replaced him in the band, as they made the rounds before saying goodbye to their fans in their final concert last month — without Frehley.
“I haven’t taken a guitar lesson. In an interview with Guitar World earlier this month, he stated, “I was born with a certain technique that many people, namely Tommy Thayer, can’t duplicate.”
Frehley praised 10,000 Volts, on which he collaborated with Steve Brown, the guitarist for Trixter, in the same interview.
Frehley told GW, “We [Brown and Frehley] put the pedal to the metal and did the best songs that we could.” “We left a lot of tunes off and made some difficult choices. With its abundance of spontaneity and several solos I’m particularly proud of, this record captures the trajectory of my life.
Check out the most recent issue of Total Guitar to read the entire interview with Frehley. It also includes a 2024 guitar exercise that can help you achieve your guitar objectives in as little as 30 days.
Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Eric Singer, and Tommy Thayer took the stage for the last time, appropriately, in the band’s hometown of New York City at the legendary Madison Square Garden, as the official Kiss website countdown drew closer to zero hours. And Classic Rock was present to see it all take place. Would this truly be the last time?
Paul Brannigan, our daring reporter, was sent to see Kiss’s long-rumored (threatened?) final stand. He spoke with Gene and Paul about finally hanging up their stack-heeled boots, at least in the real world. What happened at the end of the play, which hinted at their next chapter, was unexpected. However, as they say, that will be a story for another day.
We’ve also created a limited edition bundle of four magazines with exclusive live photographs of Gene, Paul, Eric, and Tommy on four distinct covers to commemorate Kiss’ historic last performance. More information can be found below.