One of our our favorite Ace Frehley quotes is something he told us last year: “If I’d known I was going to influence thousands of guitar players, I woulda practiced more!”
He was joking, of course, but there’s an element of truth to the Spaceman’s words. No one ever could’ve accused Ace, a free-spirited (and, in his youth), hard-partying type, of being meticulous when it came to his playing. The Spaceman was more of a grip-it-and-rip-it guy.
“I’m always flattered when people tell me I influenced them,” Frehley told GW in September 2024. “I’ve had so many players come up to me and say, ‘You are the reason I play guitar,’ and I’m always like, ‘Wow…’”
1. Cold Gin – Kiss (1974)
It’s no secret that Frehley liked to drink in his younger (and yes, some of his older) days. Alas, one of his earliest contributions to Kiss’s catalog was Cold Gin, a hard-riffing drinking song tailor-made for biker-bar singalongs.
There have been rumors that Frehley used an Ovation Breadwinner on 1974’s Kiss, but he ended those rumors last year, when he told Guitar World that – that for most of the album – he used a red double-cut Epiphone Coronet like the one the Small Faces’ Steve Marriott played.
As for the Cold Gin riff, Frehley reportedly came up with it in his head on the subway on the way to a Kiss rehearsal. The rest, as they say, is Kisstory.
2. Strange Ways – Hotter Than Hell (1974)
Strange Ways is generally considered one of Frehley’s nastiest solos. There’s a good reason: it’s heavy, cutting, kinda psychedelic and very off the cuff. It’s got the vibe of a madman – with a Gibson Les Paul slung over one shoulder – standing in front of a mighty Marshall and letting it feed back as he attacks the strings uninhibited – and that’s precisely what happened.
By this point, Frehley had his trusty ’73 Tobacco Burst Gibson Les Paul Deluxe equipped with DiMarzio Super Distortion/Dual Sound pickups. With those in hand, he let rip and produced what Gene Simmons has often referred to as Frehley’s “dinosaur bends,” followed by a hard-charging, frenetic guitar solo.
3. Parasite – Hotter Than Hell
From the album of the same name – and recorded with the aforementioned hot-rodded Les Paul Deluxe – comes this majestic track. It was penned by Frehley, though at the time he wasn’t comfortable singing, so he let his guitar do the talking.
Parasite was a Kiss concert staple through 1976 and returned to the setlist in the ’90s and early 2000s when Frehley returned to the fold. After leaving Kiss again in 2002, Parasite became a Frehley solo staple, with Ace having the courage to sing this time.
Guitar-wise, Parasite is one of Kiss’s heaviest songs, with a curb-stomping proto-metal riff and an off-the-rails solo that finds Frehley demonstrating his version of shredding, which is basically him grinding across all six strings and flying along the neck as quickly as his fingers would allow.
4. Deuce – Alive! (1975)
If there’s one solo that epitomizes early Kiss – and what Ace was about as a player – it’s the outro solo from Deuce. The song appeared on Kiss’s 1974 debut, but that version has this searing solo faded out.
The one we’re blabbing about here is the live version from Alive!, which finds Frehley rattling the walls of a forlorn Rust Belt arena with his ’73 Les Paul Deluxe. If you’ve seen Frehley live with or without Kiss, you’ve seen him perform this solo.
There was simply nothing like watching him slip into another world while he sloppily (a style choice!) lacerated your eardrums with a 100-watt driven Les Paul dustup.
5. Shock Me – Love Gun (1977)
No one could have accused Frehley of being hyper-focused on technique, but that didn’t stop him from writing solos that subscribed to the “song within a song” theory.
Aside from being Frehley’s first-ever lead vocal, Shock Me features a typically repetitive yet catchy riff, leading into a solo that sounds as if it crawled out of the Spaceman’s amp and hit you upside the head.
As usual, the solo is relatively straightforward and, as he told Guitar World in 2024, resulted from Frehley “emptying his head.” He handled the rhythm parts with a Fender Strat but grabbed his Les Paul for the solo, all while plugged into a dimed 100-watt Marshall.
6. Rocket Ride – Alive II (1977)
Remember how we said Frehley wasn’t so technical? For this one, we can throw that out. Rocket Ride, which comes off a random suite of studio cuts on Side Four (an old term from the age of vinyl) of Alive II.
The riff is notable as it features a flange effect, something Frehley wasn’t known for. And then there’s the mid-song solo, which isn’t anything special technique-wise, but is interesting as Frehley deployed a wah, creating a sound and vibe that was unique to him.
Lastly, there’s the end solo, which finds an unaccompanied Frehley dialing into his blues roots and delivering an unusually hyper-focused, yet clearly off-the-cuff guitar solo with a tone that’s rich and enticing.
- This article first appeared in Guitar World. Subscribe and save.
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