The bitterness between the current and former members who founded Kiss will not be quelled anytime soon. It’s been a little over a week since the group announced that it would not perform “in any lineup” at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, following Ace Frehley’s comment that he would not perform with current guitarist Tommy Thayer wearing Frehley’s sometime makeup. Now, in a new interview with Guitar World, vocalist-guitarist Paul Stanley has questioned Frehley’s talent.
“What we had at the beginning was magical. . . Ace and I played great together,” Stanley said. “But in my mind it’s a crime what Ace did: He threw away incredible potential and talent. The Ace I played with when the band first started out was a comet – and not [Frehley’s late-Eighties band] ‘Frehley’s Comet!’ But he was burning bright and really had the ability – and this would rub him the wrong way – to be a real contender. But he stopped practicing. He got involved with a whole lot of things that really diluted and diminished his craft. I saw that comet grow dim.”
Stanley added that after KISS fired drummer Peter Criss in 1980, he decided the band needed to reinvent itself, and that’s why they removed their makeup in 1983. It’s a decision he now feels hurt the band. “Rather than saying, ‘We’ve built these iconic figures together and we’re going to continue on with what we built,’ we bought into the idea of, ‘We have to have a new character,'” he said. “That watered it down. Some people may argue with me, but I feel that Batman is Batman whether he’s played by George Clooney, Christian Bale, Val Kilmer and on and on.”
additional source: Rolling Stone
238 Responses
Oh dear, his majesty Paul the Great is himself a very mediocre guitarist. He is much more of a showman than a musician in the context of this band (whiloe he might be OK at home and in the studio), just listen to live recordings, there are whole passages of songs when he does not really play at all because he is so busy making his moves. Is that talent?? While Ace might not have evolved since the late 70s, he is the influential one and always has been. He is remembered, repected and even loved for that. All the bashing will not alter this fact. Paul is obviously just envious that Ace has always had such a following and that Ace is the one whom everyone will remember when it comes to the question who really had talent and was the influential and signature-sound musician in this band called Kiss. From a musical standpoint, it ws very much Ace that was Kiss, from a theatrical standpoint it was a bit of Paul and mostly Gene’s demon persona. It is a disgrace how Gene and Paul are still trying to downplay Ace’s and also Peter’s influence on the classic sound. Singer does not recreate that classic sound, no matter how much better technically he might be. What a douchebag Paul is. G & P have major issues with hubris and self-importance, they should go for therapy, but hey, their therapy is obviously going out in public and bashing everyone who does not kneel before them. it is soo obvious it hurts.
I’m the biggest Ace Frehley fan on Earth, and as painful as it is to say – there is some degree of truth in what Paul Stanley is talking about. For one thing – it took 20 years for Anomaly to come out – that is just too long a period of time for any artist. What was Ace doing in that time ? I definately love all the solo stuff – to me Ace Frehley has the best guitar tone in Rock and Roll – it’s just a shame, or as Paul says ” a crime” that there is not more of it.
Regardless – he is my favorite, and my Guitar Idol; as a player myself I play as if to say ” how would Ace play this solo ? He’s fantastic – and I am glad he’s still playing !
ACE didn’t even have to do another album. 10, 20, 30 years doesn’t matter. He could have stayed out of the music business from 1982 ’till the day he died. He owes us nothing. What ACE did from 1974- 1982 is enough of a legacy for me. Everything else is icing on the cake. You can’t watch KISSOLOGY 1 and tell me those guys didn’t kick some serious ass. I’ll put that box set up against lots of other bands entire careers and KISS would still come,up on top.
Maybe he just enjoyed life? Maybe he just played stuff at home and with friends we will never get or need to get to know? Maybe many people want to hear more or his music and playing just because it has become quite rare? More precious than the yearly American tour of the current lineup?
I love how people come on here and apologize for Paul’s behavior. Has Paul or gene seen ace or Peter high or whatever in the last 3 or 4 years? I mean does he think people never change? Addicition is like a sickness… You learn to deal with it as well the guilt of being a former addict. Having people accuse you of being one when you are not is not healthy for anyone. Moving on and forgiving people’s past mistakes is what a responsible person would do… Not continually bringing it up all the time. What a loser. The past affects your future only if you let it. I guess Paul just wants to hold on to grudges instead of moving on and trying to be positive with the honor they are receiving.
Paul has to live the fallacy and the lie that Peter’s makeup is just as valid whether it’s on Eric Singer or anyone else. When I was 7 years old in 1977 and discovered KISS and wanted to play drums like Peter Criss – and not the cat persona – it was between me and peter Criss. When Peter left in 1980, I moved on to others bands. I find it absolutely classless, sad and so self-absorbed that Paul (haven’t heard much from Gene on the subject) has decided to continue to act as if he is above it all and above Ace & Peter when I was defending him up until this HOF in regards to business decisions. I didn’t want a reunion past 2000 and I didn’t care if they played at the HOF or not. But this constant tripping over his ego and shit-canning Ace & Peter for what at this point? Peter is a cancer survivor and happily married. And Ace is Ace, warts and all. Without the Reunion and Ace’s & Peter’s involvement KISS would either be a club band or non-existent. And I think that that’s what Paul resents the most at the end of the day. That here Gene and he kept themselves together and yet couldn’t have a 2nd wave without the two derelicts. Always remember Paul that people who live in glass houses….
Good arguments. Paul as it seems to be considers himself an artist (look at his third-class paintings …) when he in fact is just a scond-class musician at best, if he could only just focus on his first-class songwriting – whereas Ace and to a lesser extent also Peter were first-class influences on a whole legion of young people who took up instruments in the 70s and 80s, like you, like me. Deep down Paul might know that the reason why is a multi millionaire today is that A and P collaborated again, which for an ego like that is very hard to stand.
I guess Paul hasnt listened to Anomaly. Which is better than Sonic Boom and Monster combined. Sure Ace made some mistakes but Paul taking the bull by the horns didnt return Kiss CD sales to where they were with the Original Line up. This shit is so tired, Tommy is a clone and a lap dog. Who couldnt make it until he pretended to be Ace. Eric is a good drummer, he was much better when he was in Alice Cooper’s band. Just tired of 30 years of the same complaints.
Agreed.
You should probably preface your post with, My Opinion is……. Anomaly is hardly better than Sonic Boom or Monster (in my opinion). You just don’t like the current line-up of Kiss.