So, it's that time again - Ace Frehley is back with his first album of original material since his very well received 2014 album - Space Invader. And for all of his boastful declarations of being a "Bronx Boy", it's easy to think (given the title of this new album) that Frehley can't seem to shake the persona that defined him during his two stints in his original band, KISS. Recycling a space theme for the title yet again, Frehley's new album Spaceman can't help but leave a listener perplexed at its title because at the end of the day, this album is the most divorced from his persona that he's been in decades, in terms of lyrical themes.
The album's release was preceded by the release of "Bronx Boy" as the lead single followed up with "Rockin' With the Boys". The former was received rather lukewarm with fans - many critiquing the messy nature of the song and uneven production while others praised Ace for going back to his New York roots. The latter single was received with a little more positivity - many calling it a "hard rock Beth" due to its lyrical theme being vaguely similar.
For this reviewer - both singles were severe let-downs and/or underwhelming, at best.
But now, thanks to a close friend I've been able to listen to a digital copy of the album and I've had some time to digest it. I've heard this album many times and listened to each track as I reviewed it, as well - in case I missed anything.
So...Is Ace Frehley back and better than ever? Or did he burn up on re-entry this time?
The Songs -
1.) "Without You I'm Nothing"
The song opens with Ace chugging the guitar pick across muted strings and it leads into a stomping, marching drum beat. It almost has a Cheap Trick vibe, in a way. This opener feels odd, though - the first things we really hear consistently is a grooving bass and the drums, with Ace doing the chugging guitar-pick maneuver. And then we hear Ace's messy, space-y tone play a generic couple of chords. The reason I'm going through this is because it just strikes me as an unusual way for Ace to open a record.
Nearly every Ace record opens with Ace slamming the listener in the ears with a hard, driving riff. It's typically a meaner, straight-forward opener. And this one is all but that. It's very laid back and it's also a bit of a love song, in a way. Lyrically, Ace describes what all he's been through - and he describes having "No regrets" and having been with fallen angels.
The drums on this track are rather generic - with a snare-heavy marching beat. The bass is more prominently memorable than Ace's riffing during the riffs because in between verses, the bass and drums are the only instruments present.
Vocally, Ace sounds decent, here. Though, the chorus suffers from it being overdubs of only Ace's voice. The chorus feels very uneventful as a result.
The lead solo isn't too bad, actually. The solo itself seems to be more drawn out, not as busy as many of his latter day leads and it seems that it was thought out a bit more than usual. It eventually dips into a faster pace before rounding out with some noodling on the fret. Simple chorus repeats until it's over.
Easily the weakest opener of Ace's career, though. It just doesn't kick-off the album in an effective way, at all. It fails on that front.
2.) "Rockin' With the Boys"
So far, Ace is two-for-two with his "marching drum beat" theme, going on here. It feels like he's trying to get the drum pattern of "Rock Soldiers" back. The drums just don't have any sense of urgency or interesting fills - very functional. And that's a problem that runs through the album.
The main riff of the song isn't very memorable, it feels very generic and the breakdown before the first verse feels like he's ripping off the breakdown before the solo of "Inside the Vortex". In fact, he's done that same riff a few times on the last two records.
Ace's vocals aren't as strong here, mostly because he's fallen back into his 2000s over-annunciation of words. He knows his vocal limitations so instead of pushing a note, he seems to extend syllables and words longer than they should be.
This track's strength seems to be that it has more melody. The verses have a flowing feel and the fact that the song has a bridge/pre-chorus gives the song some added depth. The chorus is easily memorable, as well. Though lyrically the song is weak and makes little sense. "I'll be home soon 'cause I'm rockin' with the boys" - which implies that the boys must have a reputation for not rockin' all that long. Which thematically sounds rather...silly.
Ace's lead solo doesn't last too long, here. Again, he doesn't seem to be aimlessly noodling, but he does some bends here and there that seem to be a little too predictable. It's very short - but perhaps that's for the best. The later-song chorus/drums repeat is pretty cool, sure - but once that part is over, you've heard the whole song.
Not great, not bad, just...there.
3.) "Your Wish Is My Command"
So, KISS and Ace seem to have been bitten by the whole acapella intro (KISS' "Eat Your Heart Out"). Thing is with KISS, it worked. For one, when KISS opened their track with an acapella segment, they sung more than one line of lyrics and it felt tongue-in cheek on purpose. Second - they had four distinct voices that blended well together to make it interesting.
Ace has none of that, here. It's simply Ace's voice dubbed a few times to sound like more than one. It's also not obviously tongue-in-cheek and worst of all, the intro acapella segment is simply Ace singing "Your Wish Is My Command" and after an awkward second or two, you can imagine Ace in the booth shrugging as to what else to sing...so he awkwardly sings the line again.
Well, after that - the song properly begins. It's a bit of a mid-tempo track just like the first song. There seems to be a bit of an acoustic underlying the electric guitar. The guitar playing during the verses isn't all that interesting, just a few chord chugs. The melody of the verses repeats twice then the third line of changes. They're very Gene Simmons, too. But it's odd that this doesn't feel like it'd fit with Gene singing it. But the lyrics sure do.
We've got a line about "desire", too. Classic Gene...And before the lead solo, after Ace has sang about pleasing the subject of the song, he shouts out "Abracadabra!" for some reason. The lead solo is pretty strong on this one, actually. It has some pace changes with Ace's typical tone and noodling and it ends on a prolonged bend.
After the song repeats a chorus, it goes for a bit of a quieter breakdown with some leads faintly in the background. The drums beat behind the guitars and atmosphere. It's a well done little diversion and a flair of texture that's missing from most songs on this album.
4.) "Bronx Boy"
Well, here we are - Ace's first single. The song itself begins so out of nowhere especially after the fade out of the previous track. It sounds like the first five seconds of a proper intro or riffage was sliced off accidentally. The drums here are truly the weakest on the album - the snare sound is so artificial and it feels like the timing on it is a bit lacking, as well.
Ace's accent is useful on this one, but his over-annunciation is again very noticeable. Aside from his forced delivery, lyrically the song is a bit silly. His swearing during the chorus is a bit forced. The pace of the song is at least a good break from a mostly mid-tempo first half.
Production-wise the guitars' screechy prominence feel a bit different than the rest of the album. Perhaps this track was the first one fully mixed/mastered and finished - but it feels off.
Ace's guitar riffing during his vocal segments followed by bass/drums dominating the song when he's not talking is here, yet again. But at least the "scribbling" riff is more memorable than anything riff-wise he's done so far on the album.
The lead solo is just a bit aimless and messy. And not in a good way. Screechy and hard to listen to. I do like how he hangs on a note still at the end when the chorus comes back into the fold.
5.) "Pursuit of Rock and Roll"
Oh, yes! A hard driving, heavy riff. This is what I was expecting from an Ace album.
Yeah, well don't worry - that pace doesn't last because after some ascending drum beats, it slows down to another mid-tempo rocker. And that's a problem - the first ten or so seconds make you think this will be a faster, riff-ier song. And it just isn't.
The drums here are the most interesting and least phoned-in on the album, at least. The song makes references to Elvis Presley and The Beatles, with Ace declaring with gusto that he doesn't want anyone telling him what to do. He wants "A Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Rock and Roll". Eesh...that grammatically doesn't even make sense.
The chorus itself isn't bad, but it feels very much like Ace thinks that repeating a line louder qualifies as a chorus. But the second chorus has a bit of a slow down and drum beat to build up to it, which makes it a lot stronger.
Moving onto the lead solo - he seems to be repeating a lot of the same shrieking notes and a lot of it feels aimless, here. But near the end it slows down a bit more and is less harsh on the ears. Right at the end where he holds a note he does some simple tapping, which feels laid back and pretty cool, actually. After that, we go back into chorus repeats and a meandering lead solo until fade out.
Same old, same old.
6.) "I Wanna Go Back"
Beginning yet again with drums instead of a guitar to lead us in is Ace's cover of Eddie Money's track. I won't spend too much time on this one because lyrically, musically and chorus-wise this song is much stronger than the rest of the album.
And it's head and shoulders far better than Ace's ill-fated cover of "The Joker". This song suits him far more as an aging rock legend than the aforementioned cover song did. However, the fault of this track lies in the fact that it's yet again another mid-tempo song. No urgency, no "put your fist in the air" aura.
Good cover. And it fits the album - which is a good thing for cohesiveness but bad for its feel and tempo.
7.) "Mission To Mars"
This song begins very differently from the rest of the album - and that's a good thing. Fading in, you hear Ace doing some bends and such reminiscent of what he'd do during his smoking guitar bit circa 1977/1978. The drums plod and land, building up to the song's kick-off point while Ace lays down some nice, sweet sounding leads. And the main song kicks off and it's one Hell of a smoker.
There is actually a decent riff here and it's urgently played while Ace's harmonic leads play over top of it. It sounds like a messy description, but it works here. One thing about this song is that it doesn't rush to get to Ace's vocal delivery segments - it's about 42 seconds into it before we get the first verse. So for varieties sake, it's great we got a bit of a proper intro for once on the album.
Ace's vocal delivery here is quite aggressive, actually - by Ace standards. This is the most hard rock track of the album, bar none.
Lyrically - this is what you'd expect from a song by Ace with the title "Mission To Mars". He opens talking about an "alien ship" coming a little too close. He's off course and on a mission to Mars - apparently in a hurry. Yeah, that's what we got here, folks.
The chorus isn't really much to write home about - it just sounds like the verses with a bit more aggression? A chorus just isn't that present, here.
As for the lead, Ace riffs along with the heavy drums that lead into the solo - and it's a cool little moment. The lead comes in and it starts off with a harmonic tone and meanders yet again into aimless noodling, but at least it sounds okay. Some parts of the solo have some thought put into it. And with the riff/drums chugging away in the background, it does sound pretty cool.
This is pretty standard Ace Frehley fanfare - but given the mid-tempo nature of a lot of the album and most songs devoid of any sense of aggression or urgency, this album is a mean, uptempo break from pace and a welcome one.
It's a shame that I have to concede that the one space-themed track is the best track of the album.
8.) "Get Off My Back"
Finally, we have a song that begins with just a guitar intro. There's some distortion on the guitar tone, here. And if you got hyped up from the previous track's uptempo, hard rock feel - don't worry, you'll need to bust out the smelling salts to make it through this one's verses.
Lyrically, the song is about a tumultuous relationship. Either past or current - or perhaps fictional. The song honestly sounds like an Anomaly-reject. Its guitar lick and pace is a bit too similar to "It's A Great Life". Not that they sound the same as songs - they don't. But like I said, this track's lick sounds like a slower version of the former one. Which should give you an idea of the song's mid-tempo pace issue.
The shame about this song is that lyrically it's a bit of "Pain In the Neck" Part II - but with the ferocity of a hamster and the energy of Eeyore. And the lead solo's production just doesn't sound consistent with the rest of the album or even the song - almost muddied and under a pillow.
The chorus is rather non-existent. This song's subject matter could bring about one Hell of an aggression and anger - when I saw the title I couldn't help but think of a scorned Ace telling some woman to get off his back - but here he's less in common with an angered man taking his independence back and more in common with a guy who's being drained from alimony payments.
Weakest track on the album.
9.) Quantum Flux
This instrumental starts off rather moody - with acoustic strings plucking away contemplatively. I really love how it begins, truly. At the 25 second mark, it gains some pace with the drums - which not only sound like a different kit than the rest of the album but another drummer entirely.
That segment (with the drums) isn't that great. But it leads into a really nice, well played lick that screams out. It's quite a lovely sounding lick - it has a Queen-like quality to it, which I understand is an odd statement to make, but you'll understand what I mean later.
It does feel a bit aimless as a whole, though. A lot of the acoustic background guitars with some lead playing in between the song's revisits to that regal-sounding lick from earlier. The way it ends though, is truly a surprise and not what I was expecting.
The song slows down to just the acoustics, like it began. But the playing slows down...and slows down, and gets more spacey and quieter. It feels like the guitar is dying slowly. It just is bizarre and a bit depressing - in a good way. What an interesting way to end the album.
I can see many fans loving this one. It's definitely his most interesting and layered instrumental closer in a long, long time. I don't know what to say about it other than it's just interesting.
The Good -
So, let's take a look back on the good.
As a whole, the album is produced well enough. Most of the songs have a fun-vibe to them - it sounds like Ace is enjoying himself on most of these. The most winning attribute of the album is easily his lead solos - while he isn't back to classic Ace - there does seem to be a lot more thought put into them than on any of his previous 2000s releases, easily.
He does repeat a few licks here and there and many of his shreds just seem like he had absolutely zero aim, there are different parts to his lead solos that are distinguishable than the other parts. So that's definitely a plus. It seems like he tried more, here. Whether or not he succeeded is up to the listener but for me, his effort was appreciated. Does that make the leads good? Not necessarily, but they're not bad to listen to.
The most extreme improvement that this album has over his previous two releases is a tenfold less reliance on a space theme - which took me by surprise, quite a bit. The album is titled Spaceman...yet on this album, he seems to embrace a New York persona and style more than anything he's done since the late '80s.
The lyrics here aren't brilliant - but Ace isn't milking his former KISS persona to an eye-rolling level, here. And that's great. Oh, and the cover song is much more fitting and better this time around.
The Bad -
Oh, boy. Where do we start?
Starting with the title - Spaceman. While I was so let down by the title and still am - at the time I heard it initially, it made sense thinking Ace would yet again milk the persona. But he doesn't. So the title/theme and the atrocious cover of the album feel at constant odds with each other. It feels like the title was a nostalgic/marketing move rather than a title/theme that fit the actual songs itself. It doesn't represent the album, at all.
Moving onto the pacing of the album - it's so mid-tempo, it's not even funny. There is no "Toys", here. No "Foxy and Free". No "What Every Girl Wants". Notice I'm comparing his 2000s self to this new album because comparing him to '70s Ace is unfair. So even by his recent standards, the pacing on this album is just poor.
I wanted to hear more hard driving, riff-laden Ace tunes on this album. And we really only get one (or two, if we consider "Bronx Boy" a fast tempo'd track) song out of eight that actually has a kick-ass pace. Everything else is either mid-tempo or close to it. It just feels so restrained and some of these songs would honestly sound a little better played quicker.
It just feels like the least inspired Ace release in a long time.
The drums on this album are typically just...not great. I mean, they're technically fine and in time, of course - but there's nothing really interesting about them. They're just...there. The snare sound is particularly bad, though. Anton Fig is desperately needed to give some much needed flavor to the songs. The bass is pretty decent, though.
Ace's vocal faults is still present - warts and all. Over-annunciation, wacky delivery. And the choruses need more than 5 takes of Ace's vocals layered on top of each other. Many of the choruses themselves aren't that great, either. They come and go without much fanfare.
The opening song really, really is not an opening song. It does nothing to excite the listener and doesn't kick off anything.
And for all of his trying - the solos aren't really creating that beginning-middle-end feel of the past. Also, a huge annoyance is how many fade-outs the album has.
The thing is, it's hard to honestly know where to start. This album isn't "bad" - it's just...there.
Conclusion -
I expected to dislike this album, a lot. But I don't. But I also don't really like the album, either. It doesn't have the fire and fun of Space Invader and it doesn't have the experimental artistic departure of much of Anomaly. It just feels a bit gray. It exists - and that's all I can really say about it.
The lead singles didn't do anything for me - in fact, I didn't like them. I still don't really consider them good...but on the album they at least make a little more sense but given the middling quality of the album, I'm sad to say that's not a flattering thing. Fitting in on an album that's pretty lacking isn't a good quality to have.
The album feels the least inspired of his 2000s releases, too. In fact, it's curious to think if the mid-tempo nature of the album as a whole could be a result of the lack of inspiration. The problem with the album is that none of it is really that good or great - but none of it is truly awful enough to be memorable either.
It's very forgettable, as a whole. I've had a hard time remembering specific parts. There aren't really any memorable riffs, either. Too many songs start without Ace's signature guitar tone tearing it up. And the album's opener just isn't effective in its placement, which is a huge deal.
Overall, Spaceman by Ace Frehley betrays its album title and fails to really make a lasting impression with its opportune diversion from theme for Ace. It's a very middle of the road, inoffensive and ineffective album. No fire, no fury - just presence.
Best Tracks - "Without You I'm Nothing"/"Mission To Mars"/"Quantum Flux"
5/10
