ACE FREHLEY: My New Solo Album Will 'Embarrass' PAUL STANLEY And GENE SIMMONS

In a new interview with Cassius Morris, ex-KISS guitarist Ace Frehley was asked how he feels about the fact that his recording career has now outlasted that of Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley and even that of KISS itself. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, getting sober was probably one of the major stepping stones for me to keep myself going. I'm much healthier now than I was 10, 15 years ago. But Paul and Gene, over the years, have always kind of dragged my name through the mud. To try to validate the fact that they had Tommy Thayer in the band, they used to make statements. You can look 'em up in videos — there's dozens of 'em — where they say, 'Oh, Ace wasn't up for the job.' 'Ace was unemployable.' 'He was always late.' And that got to me. And to this day, it still bothers me, but it doesn't hold water."

Ace, who is preparing to release a new solo album called "10,000 Volts", continued: "I made this statement before this record even started. I said, 'This album's gonna embarrass them,' because they can't do a record this good. I dare them to."

Last October, Ace was asked by ZackAttack of the 93.5 FM MAX classic rock radio station in Muncie, Indiana 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 Paul and Gene 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."

The 11-track "10,000 Volts" LP was produced by Ace and Steve Brown (TRIXTER) and will be released on February 23, 2024 via MNRK Music Group (formerly eOne Music).

Ace released the single "10,000 Volts" on November 28. The track's music video — directed by Alex Kouvatsos from Black Wolf Imaging — has garnered more than 850,000 views on YouTube.

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

"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.

Photo credit: Jayme Thornton