Daily Archives: March 30, 2025
“I used a flange on the main riff and a wah-wah on the solo. I just said, ‘Hit the record button and I’ll let it rip!’”: Kiss legend Ace Frehley on his greatest cult classic song
“Paul and Gene weren’t the only lead singers in the band”
It was arguably the best song that lead guitarist Ace Frehley ever wrote and sang with Kiss.
And in a strange twist, it was a studio cut featured on a live album.
Its name: Rocket Ride.
By the time the band’s second double-live album, Alive II, was released in 1977, Ace Frehley had just one lead vocal under his belt in Shock Me, which came off Love Gun, the studio album released earlier in ’77.
Frehley’s lack of confidence in his singing voice while recording Shock Me is well documented. But after touring behind Love Gun and belting out Shock Me in front of audiences across the globe, his confidence had grown.
On vinyl, Alive II had three sides of live material plus a final side featuring five brand new studio tracks.
And without doubt, the pick of the bunch was Frehley’s Rocket Ride – with a slinky, flange-ridden riff meant to simulate take off, and not one but two rip-roarin’ solos.