Review: Founding Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley blasts off with new solo album 'Space Invader'
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With seven-plus years of sobriety under his belt, the original Kiss lead guitarist has recorded his best solo album since his groundbreaking self-titled album in 1978.
With walls of wailing guitars, droning feedback and snarling solos, Ace Frehley launches an old-school '70s-style hard rock jam fest. It kicks off with him talk-singing his way through the title track, about a well-intentioned extraterrestrial who comes to save the Earth, and it includes a sudden tempo change for the guitar solo just like he did on "Snowblind" and "I'm In Need of Love" on his first solo record.
"Gimme A Feelin'" is a timeless rocker, with thick guitar chords, and "I Wanna Hold You" and "What Every Girl Wants" could be melodic hits.
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On "Change" and "Inside the Vortex," Frehley showcases some impressive growth as a songwriter and arranger, with complex chord progressions and melody lines.
The only weak track is a vanilla remake of Steve Miller's "The Joker" that adds nothing to the plodding original, but apparently was too much for Frehley to resist with its "Space Cowboy" intro.