Last year’s Space Invader was a surprise hit for former KISS guitarist Ace Frehley. Debuting in the top ten and selling nearly 20,000 copies, it became the most successful debut ever from a member of KISS. How’s Space Ace going to follow that up? By releasing an album of covers. he tells Billboard. That will include not just the bands he grew up listening to, but a few songs from his former bands as well:
“The album’s going to be about my influences,” says Frehley. “I’m probably going to do a Rolling Stones song, a Who song, possibly a Led Zeppelin song, maybe a Beatles song. Stuff from bands that I grew up on and greatly influenced me. Those are the songs I’d redo, besides vintage KISS stuff and a Frehley’s Comet track.”
Of the KISS songs, he says he’s probably going to redo “Cold Gin” and “Parasite.” Stating that he didn’t sing lead in KISS, he says “I’m going to sing lead on them like I do live so there’s [studio tracks] out there with me.” He expects that aside from his voice, the re-recorded tracks will sound different:
“That’s something I don’t plan. I just go in and do it. Try a couple different ways. It’s obviously going to be a lot heavier than the original, and the production is going to be far superior because technology has advanced so much [to a] higher state since we tracked a long time a go in the ’70s. Those are going to be the major differences. Obviously, Peter Criss isn’t going to be playing drums on it. I’m going to be using my touring drummer, Scot Coogan.”
He’s asked Lita Ford, Slash and Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready to guest on the album thus far, and while h’s considering asking Gene Simmons to play bass and sing on a track with him, he hasn’t gotten around to asking yet. In the meantime, he’s touring Australia, New Zealand and Europe.
