ACE FREHLEY: My New Album Is Gonna 'Make PAUL STANLEY Look Like An Imbecile'

In a brand new interview with ZackAttack of the 93.5 FM MAX classic rock radio station in Muncie, Indiana, original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley offered an update on the progress of the recording sessions for his next studio LP. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "My album is done and it's being mastered as we speak. And if everything goes well over the weekend, the album is gonna be delivered to the record company Monday [October 30]."

Regarding what fans can expect from the upcoming effort, the 72-year-old rocker said: "I think it may be the best album I've ever done to date. And it's the first time I co-wrote most of the songs with Steve Brown from TRIXTER. He's a great songwriter, and I'm a great songwriter, and we put our two heads together and songs come out doubly good. He also harmonizes perfectly with me.

"I've never really written with that many people — most of the songs I write by myself," he explained. "I might get a little help from somebody, but this album pretty much is co-written by Steve and myself, almost every song. And it came out way better than I had anticipated. And the vocals are strong, the guitar solos are strong, the songs, the lyrics, the melodies, everything's really powerful."

Asked if he expected that his solo career would have this kind of longevity when he signed his first solo deal, Ace said: "It was hard in the beginning, but now I've picked up a lot of steam. In fact, I remember when I first signed with eOne Music — now they sold the record company to MNRK Music Group, and I'm still working with the same people — but I remember the guy that got me signed to the label, he told me that, before [2009's] 'Anomaly' came out, he said a lot of people said to him, 'You're not even gonna get the record.' Because [KISS founders] Paul [Stanley] and Gene [Simmons] have pretty much tried to destroy my credibility by calling me a drunk and a drug addict and somebody who's not dependable. But if that were the case, how did I make five albums? And I've been touring steadily for the last 10 years plus. It doesn't make any sense. They contradict themselves all the time. Now they're putting me down and saying if I came up and played with them on the farewell tour, it would mar their performance. Paul said on 'The Howard Stern Show', you might as well call the band PISS instead of KISS if I got up on stage with them. Well, when this album comes about, it's gonna make him look like an imbecile."

Frehley previously spoke about the recording process for his new album this past March during an appearance on SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk". At the time, he marveled at the amount of material he was able to complete, saying: "Within six days I had written and recorded five new songs, which is unprecedented for me."

Ace went on to say that he had also been working on his new LP with Peppy Castro of the BLUES MAGOOS. He added: "Back in the '60s, [the BLUES MAGOOS] had the big hit '(We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet'. I grew up with him in the Bronx. He inspired me to become a rock star. I remember going to Orchard Beach in the Bronx, and all of a sudden I hear Peppy's song on the radio. I go, 'Jesus Christ. If he can do that, I can do it. I'm better looking than him.' [Laughs] He actually taught me how to play bar chord in the basement of an apartment building… But we've been friends ever since, and we've followed each other's career. And he's been in my studio a half dozen times. And he also hooked me up with Tommy Denander. He wrote three songs for me that I'm probably gonna rearrange at least one or two of them and add vocals. But me and Steve have been doing a song a day. It's insanity."

According to Ace, his upcoming LP will include at least one cover song.

"If my memory serves me correctly, the last two studio records I did both had one cover on them and one instrumental," he told "Trunk Nation". "I have two or three songs that can be instrumentals or I could add lyrics to it. I'm just deciding which one is gonna be the best one for an instrumental, because if I don't do an instrumental, my fans are gonna be upset, because every one of my studio albums have had an instrumental track on it. It all started with 'Fractured Mirror' in 1978."

Peppy previously collaborated with KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons as a songwriter and performed on Frehley's and Stanley's solo records.

Ace's next all-original album will be the follow-up to "Spaceman", which was released in October 2018 via eOne.

Frehley's latest release was "Origins Vol. 2", the sequel to his 2016 collection of cover songs that inspired the former KISS guitarist.

"Origins Vol. 2" featured cover versions of THE BEATLES' "I'm Down", DEEP PURPLE's "Space Truckin'", LED ZEPPELIN's "Good Times Bad Times", THE ROLLING STONES' "Jumpin' Jack Flash", THE KINKS' "Lola" and THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE's "Manic Depression", among others. A cover of the 1975 KISS tune "She" also appeared as a bonus track. Guests on the set included CHEAP TRICK's Robin Zander, Lita Ford and former KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick.

Simmons co-wrote two tracks on "Spaceman", "Without You I'm Nothing" and "Your Wish Is My Command", the latter of which also features Gene's bass playing.

Ace Frehley photo credit: Jay Gilbert (courtesy of Entertainment One)