We’ve seen numerous fantastic guitarists and drummers come through KISS, filling in for Ace Frehley and Peter Criss, because Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley stayed with the band through all of the lineup changes.
Bruce Kulick is regarded highly by Kisstory’s fans as one of the band’s six-string idols. Kulick made five studio albums and stayed in the lineup for more than ten years.
We just had a conversation with Kulick on his tenure in the band and his approach to playing guitar. We discussed his versions of guitar solos that Ace Frehley originally wrote and recorded, among other things, and Bruce stressed the significance of honoring the original member.
When you performed the earlier KISS songs, were you ever instructed to mimic Ace’s solos?
Bruck Kulick: “KISS is incredible because of that. The catalog is very extensive and diverse. Although I was never required to perform Ace’s riffs note for note, I always showed a great deal of respect for what I believed to be his hallmark riffs.
Thus, Tommy [Thayer], who was so good at mimicking Ace’s eras, like 1975 or something, that was his sort of He was asked to do it, I believe. It made sense because he is that character and is wearing the attire.