Ace Frehley: Spaceman CLR version on vinyl LP/CD in colored edition. This particular edition was published in Europe in publishing company eOne in cooperation with SPV on 8. February 2019.

You already know about Ace Frehley: he's the original guitarist of KISS (which he co-founded in 1973). He's always been one of their best - his solos in songs are as much a part of KISS as the 18-inch heels of their shoes. And he's always been the coolest member of KISS - proudly rock'n'roll, laid-back, mysterious - just ask Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine, Naoko Yamano of Shonen Knife or Abbath of Immortal. Even people who don't like KISS much like Ace. Some may not have known that Ace hasn't been a member of KISS since 2002, when he ended his second stint with the band (there is still a "Spaceman" who plays solos with KISS, but he's no longer Ace). During his absence from KISS (from 1983 to 1996 and from 2002 to the present), Frehley has built the most successful solo career of any KISS member, both present and past. And Ace is still on a winning streak. Introducing Spaceman, his current musical adventure and first solo album in four years. Of all the albums Ace has released outside of KISS, Spaceman is probably the closest to his highly regarded 1978 solo record, both in idea and execution. First, because Ace recorded all the guitars and - with two exceptions - all the bass parts himself. His longtime drummer Anton Fig, whose friendship with Ace began on the aforementioned 1978 album, can be heard on "Off My Back" and "Pursuit Of Rock And Roll" (joined by Frehley's longtime drummers Scot Coogan and Matt Starr, who also drummed on Spaceman). In addition, the new album features a thematic, almost autobiographical thread about his rock and roll life that Ace says was not planned in this form. The first single, "Bronx Boy," unmistakably shows Frehley's roots prior to his time in KISS, when he was roaming the clubs with Irish street gang the Ducky Boys. It's arguably his scariest song to date, with an opening riff that jumps out like a knife. "Pursuit Of Rock And Roll" nods to the tradition of many rock songs, including Little Richard and the Rolling Stones, that made Ace what he is today. Frehley unequivocally declares that rock is all he needs: "So sick of looking at reality TV / and like the Beatles said, you gotta ''Let It Be''." His cover of Eddie Money's "I Wanna Go Back" breathes gritty power-pop. Ace chose this number for his new album. "I was lying in bed with Rachael (Gordon), watching YouTube videos, when all of a sudden this song came on. I told her I was going to cover it because it kind of relates to me." "No need to worry, I'll be home soon 'cause I'm gonna rock it with the boys," Frehley sings on Rockin' With The Boys, a song about life on the road. Ace explains that he wrote the original version of this song during KISS' heyday in the 1970s - if you listen closely, you can consider this number a counterpoint, so to speak, to the KISS classic "Beth," written by Peter Criss. And speaking of fellow KISS members, let's go back to the two Spaceman numbers on which Ace didn't play bass. One is the album's opening track, "Without You I'm Nothing." This song's powerful bass rasp was written by Gene Simmons, who co-wrote it with Ace, as well as "Your Wish Is My Command". Both songs were recorded at Frehley's home studio in Rancho Santa Fe, California. Ace recalls three exceedingly creative hours when the former bandmates would get together, write songs and eat sandwiches, just like in the KISS days when they often shared a hotel room. While many poison arrows have flown between the two musicians over the past few decades, they still share a close friendship, as evidenced by Ace's participation in the Simmons Vault Experience. His reunion with Simmons and KISS singer and guitarist Paul Stanley (who accompanied Ace on a cover of Free's "Fire and Water" on the 2016 cover album Origins, Vol. 1) may also be related to the fact that Frehley has been sober for more than a decade (he'll celebrate 12 years of abstinence from alcohol in September). The healthy lifestyle has clearly provided him with a veritable avalanche of productivity, which he unleashed with the release of Anomaly (2009) and Space Invader (2014), and which now culminates with Spaceman (the album's title was suggested by Gene Simmons himself). Spaceman contains nine solid tracks, including a spacey instrumental that could hardly be more typical of Ace. "Quantum Flux" is a classic prog'n'roll song penned by Frehley, featuring acoustic guitar and a two-part solo. Fans will notice the song's doomy outro, which is reminiscent of "Black Diamond" from KISS' 1974 debut. Along with composing and producing new material, Ace has been touring continuously, performing at festivals and traveling throughout America, Australia and Japan (including appearances with the great Alice Cooper). As always, Ace has toured with an intensity that we mere mortals will probably never understand - after all, he lives his life with sheer passion and continues to defy all odds. So if you ever discover a space ace in the universe, the only proper response may be, "Hey, that's rock'n'roll!"

Album spans genres Rock and Hard Rock. 180g Magenta Vinyl.