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
When is paul going to realize that nobody cares about what happened 40 years ago. Aces comet went dim???? Why the did he sing a third of the songs on dynasty and unmasked????? Why did he release the best solo album of the four BY FAR! The longer ace stayed in the band, the more ace contributed musically. Paul is a liar and full of crap. It’s always everyone else’s fault but paul & gene. Nice job throwing ace under the bus AGAIN!!!!!!!!! So classless…………..
He sang 1/3 of the songs because he probably threatened to quit the band if he didn’t.
He sang 1/3 of the songs because his solo album rocked and was the only one to produce a hit single. Sure he may have threatened to leave but his then recent solo work was 80% of the reason he got more power musically.
Dude, those albums came out over 35 years ago!! And who cares? Obviously you. And Paul is not lying. Ace has barely done anything. What has he done musically since he left Kiss? One cd. And it was just ok. Christ there are a lot of guitarists who record and release a lot of stuff, not to mention get involved in side projects, soundtracks etc. Since he left Kiss what has he done??? He did stop practicing. He did quit working, he was held back by a lot of issues and thats wasted potential. Paul is NOT lying. Not sure if I really wanna hear it AGAIN though. Paul is almost as bad as Sammy Hagar talking and complaining about VH relentlessly in every interview.
Ace did work I seen him in different clubs, prior to Unplugged he was on tour with Peter.
Ace’s CD was just ok but IMO it was better than the stuff on Monster and most of the stuff on Sonic two very weak CD’s IMO. Ace has played various clubs prior to and after his solo CD. The biggest issue with recordings was no one really wants new KISS or solo stuff ask Paul and Gene they were very upset with sales on A**-whole and Live to Win. Paul’s was ok but nothing special.
Gene’s had one good song and that was a cover.
One cd???? Did you forget about frehleys comet and the 78 solo album? And yes he did only make one cd but kiss isn’t exactly pumping out new CDs either. Plus anomaly is better than monster and sonic boom combined. Took a look at gene & Paul’s solo careers and tell me they are more successful outside of kiss MUSICALLY than ace. That’s a joke!
Who cares??? So because an album is old it is irrelevant???? Explain why black sabbaths early records have songs that are forever tattooed on western culture! You seem to disregard older music as irrelevant making you sound extremely ignorant. Kiss’ most well known songs came from the 70’s era………..everyone knows that. Nobody cares about the garbage made after! Sorry it’s a fact……………….
The difference in the work/CDs/music Kiss and Ace have put out since the Farewell Tour is: Kiss are trying to make it sound like the classic bits way back in the 70s, Ace is just doing his thing, which includes putting weird songs with weird song structures and crazy or even sloppy solos on a record. I prefer his authenticity above Kiss’s fake revival of the old stuff just to make yet another million. You cannot measure a musician by listing what he has done, it is not like a 9 to 5 where you have to prove to your boss that you have spent every minute working hard. It is an art, it is a way of living. It might not be yours and it might not be fully understood by us who are not in this scene, but using parameters of a desk job to evaluate a musician’s “work” is just pointless. if Ace feels like it or maybe needs some money, he goes on a small tour, if he does not tour again, well, maybe he is just happy in his studio, why blame him for that. That would be like a child crying for getting a certain X.mas present.
sorry, for NOT getting …
I agree! Kiss sounds more packaged now. Aces record is more raw and gritty which I like. If ace & peter are so useless as some gene & paul defenders claim, than why are they still trying to create that classic sound they created with the original line up in the 70’s.
Ace is only able to create that “gritty” “Ace sound”, that might make him seem limited as a musician or songwriter, but it is also what the fans whant to hear from him and came to love in the first place, so it actually does not matter if anyone here is blaming him for not having evolved over the years. Even Eddie VH did not evolve – he too has his signature sound and way of songwriting. AC/DC is always “the same” – everyone is happy that they are! Love it or leave it.
Paul don’t have the right to criticize Ace and Peter,they are just doing this to less in the chance of Ace and Peter to want to play at the RRHOF induction ,by the way Ace is a way better guitarist that Paul.
Duhhhh. Ace was LEAD, Paul rythm.
Lead or rhythm does not naturally mean good or bad, you can both be a great or not so great rhythm AND/OR lead guitarist. These positons in a band do not tell something about who is a great musician, that is just the perspective of a fan who does not know anything about playing in band at all. Every posiiton in band is equally important because the impact of a band on an audience is bigger than the sum of the indivual parts or, from a different perspective, can only be as good as the weakest part/member.
I want all my money back i spent in the 70’s on music i bought from this band.
Does anyone remember when KISS used to be a dangerous band? I thought this would be a nice change of topic!
Knights In Satan Service!
This has nothing to do with how well Ace can Play, Paul Just does not like him anymore!
I think Paul has more hatred for Peter than Ace.