KISS Hell Reviews "12 Picks"
ACE FREHLEY 12 PICKS REVIEW

Closing the book (or re-opening?) on the Frehley's Comet era is the new 12 PICKS CD from Megaforce. Ace was practically the only KISS member to make it on his own. The only member with his own tribute album & tribute band. That's why KISS is #1-they have ACE. Hearing all the studio songs will bring back memories for F.C. fans from the 80's. I know I bought all these albums when they came out & was always proud of Ace whenever he put albums out & toured.

While this CD doesn't have the greatest track listing (picked by John Regan) it does serve a purpose & shows that Ace did leave an impression with great music in the 80's & was successful enough to warrant a greatest hits CD no other 1 member of KISS has done that (not that they couldn't). Looking back on this material I almost appreciate it more now than ever. With Ace back in KISS and this band not around anymore it's easier to look back and be objective about it.

The 6 studio songs include: INTO THE NIGHT Ace's first minor radio/video hit. WORDS ARE NOT ENOUGH-poppy keyboard song. Good vocals from Ace but SHOT FULL OF ROCK would've been better. INSANE-classic Ace riff rocker. A must. HIDE YOUR HEART-Not sure why they put this on here, I've always thought of this as a Paul Stanley song even though Ace does a great version I think DO YA would've been a better choice for a cover song. TROUBLE WALKIN' Title track of Ace's best post KISS solo album. This is where Ace shines and it also has back-up vocals from Peter Criss & Skid Row. ROCK SOLDIERS-Ace's anthem. Had to be included. One of the best songs Ace has ever written (I think).

The 2nd part of the CD has 6 live tracks recorded at Londons Hammersmith Odeon in 1988. These were recorded with Jamie Oldaker (Eric Clapton Band) as a fast replacement for Anton Fig so his drumming is somewhat flawed and foreign. While he's a great drummer you get the feeling that he either didn't know the songs too well or just wanted to play his own parts over these classics. The result is very raw-probably completely unedited recordings of 4 KISS era classics & 2 Ace solo songs. This shows Ace ripping it up with an obscure band. Ace's playing is reckless and powerful. The line up of the band was sporatic and not compatible and you can hear it. RIP IT OUT, BREAKOUT, COLD GIN, SHOCK ME, ROCKET RIDE & DEUCE are all given the ALIVE SHOCK TREATMENT from Ace's Comet. On RIP IT OUT you'll immediately hear that they kick ass much more live than in the studio. Ace is a live player, he's at home on stage, that's where he belongs. I can't say that for the high pitched vocal squeals from Tod Howarth on the chorus but the band gets off to a great start with this classic.

BREAKOUT has Tod singing lead. The guitar solo rocks & the instrumental breaks at the end sound better than the studio version. Ace introduces COLD GIN as a "song about a cocktail." Ace's live versions of this song (I've always thought) were far superior to the versions KISS played through the 80's. It just needs Ace's guitar, this song belongs to Ace. No other guitar player can claim this song. Decent band chemistry but the drummer plays a strange slow beat over the verses. Ace does lead vocals which sound killer & also plays 2 guitar solos that sound improvised-this is Ace jamming-doesn't sound over rehearsed. Tod Howarth's introduction to SHOCK ME shows what a frontman he was as he tells a goofy story of Ace getting electrocuted sounding like a complete geek as if the crowd didn't already know. The song itself is the highlight of the CD with Ace's full un edited guitar solo to finally hear in great quality. The solo on this is worth the CD price alone. Hopefully a guitar mag. will be smart enough to transcribe this one. The song clocks in at 9:44. Ace did a great job on his solo spot (I would compare this recording to Peter's marathon drum solo on ALIVE!).

You can just tell when a live album has been touched up-this one hasn't. You can even hear John Regan tuning his bass immediately after SHOCK ME. Ace introduces ROCKET RIDE & shows exactly what was missing from KISS. DEUCE closes the CD with a bang! This is the first official recording of Ace singing DEUCE. If there were any doubts before that Ace couldn't take the KISS sound with him by the time everybody heard DEUCE they saw it clearly-it's all in the guitar solos. Ace was the first to ressurrect this song, about a year before KISS did on the Crazy Nights tour. This shows that Ace had not changed his playing hadn't changed-it had improved.

Even upon hearing some sloppy licks you have to admire Ace as an original guitarist. There's really very few guitar players who have their own recognisable style & tone. Ace does, that's why we copy his licks instead of Yngwie Malmsteen's, they're easier, more fun & they sound cooler. If Ace's playing on this live material shows anything, it's that with guitar playing-it's not how technical it is, it's how cool it sounds & how fun it is to play. Ace taught me that.

Joe D.

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