It’s been 14 long, drama-saddled years since Ace Frehley played live with Kiss. But the guitarist recently united with former bandmate Paul Stanley for a rendition of Free’s “Fire and Water,” which appears on Frehley’s new covers LP, Origins Vol. 1. Now the duo have joined forces for the song’s video – their first together since Kiss’ 1998 clip for “Psycho Circus.”
Frehley and Stanley open with an alley pep-talk, telling each other it’s been “too many years” but emphasizing they’ve “still got it.” The rock legends hit the stage and perform the hard-hitting 1970 track, backed by flashing lights. “You’ve got what it takes to make a poor man’s heart break,” Stanley sings, flamboyantly pointing straight into the camera.
Though Kiss have engaged in some press mud-slinging – even around the band’s 2014 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction – both Frehley and Stanley told Rolling Stone that the bad blood has been overblown. “We are linked together forever,” Stanley said. “We created something that will live far past our lifetimes. And I would love to see him succeed.
“I have no anger,” he continued. “I’m sitting in an amazingly beautiful house with an incredible family, an amazing wife, an amazing life, and it’s all built on Kiss. And the foundation of Kiss is something Ace is a part of. We couldn’t have built this without him. He’s part of it.”
Frehley also praised Stanley’s “fabulous” vocal performance on their new collaboration. “He jumped at the chance to do this because it’s something that’s outside of Kiss and his character in Kiss, and it gave him a chance to, you know, sing. With Paul, you usually think of him singing in a slightly higher register, and on ‘Fire and Water,’ he’s singing deep from his diaphragm, and it’s a real cool vocal. Everyone who’s heard it just thinks it’s the shit.”