750. Ace Frehley / Space Invader. 2014. 2.5/5

Following up his previous album Anomaly from five years ago, Ace Frehley has again written and performed the majority of this himself, which while it sounds great in theory does tend to narrow its ability to surprise. He might be a talented - and legendary - guitarist, but sometimes it helps to have a bit of input from other people in regards to the other parts of the process.

The first half of the album is listenable but suffers from the lack of a really good lead vocalist out front to make the most of what has been written. "Space Invader" is a good hard rock song, with a singable chorus and a great solo spot from Ace, but the change in timing between verses and the lead break is a little mystifying. "Gimme A Feelin'" is more characteristic of that other band Ace was once in, and pull the right strings in most departments. "Change", "Toys" and "What Every Girl Wants" all favour that simple hard rock theme of basic back beat and vocals, shove in a guitar solo, and move on to the next one. Some songs are less inspiring, such as "Immortal Pleasures" and "Inside the Vortex".

The thing that sets this apart from the KISS albums and various other solo projects is this - whereas Paul Stanley can write a great song, and sing them just as well. Ace does what he does well (ie play guitar), but he doesn't write songs as good as Paul's. Like the majority of work Ace has done in his years since KISS, this is hampered by some mediocre song writing, and lackluster vocals, because let's face it, Ace is not a lead singer. But what it does have is Ace's guitar, and while he may not be the best ever, his is a signature guitar sound, and his solos still hold enough to make you listen and say, "Yeah, Ace can still play". For the most part though, the songs are stereotypical harder rock songs that survive on a blues based drum and bass beat that sticks to a similar timing all through each song of the album. Added over the top of this are Ace's monotone vocals that barely raise any enthusiasm throughout, and certainly do not inspire any excitement or heart thumping. In between these comes Ace's guitar, which during the basis of the songs barely makes an impression, before breaking out for short sharp solo breaks that remind you, "Hey this is Ace Frehley!"
Seriously, "Reckless" could have been an eight second short piece that was then placed on a loop and repeated twenty times, because it doesn't seem to change a whole lot during that 4+ minutes. Then there is the cover of "The Joker". Really? Is this necessary? Is it an album filler? Or did Ace just want to do a cover of this song? It's real problem is that it doesn't bring anything new to the song at all, apart from Ace's interpretation of the solo break. the rest is just business as usual. Drab. "Starship" is the instrumental closer, which is more of an opportunity for Ace to express himself on his guitar, but again this seems to just drift into stratosphere without direction, and its length overplays itself, and almost feels as though it is just long for the sake of it, rather than because there is something to listen to or enjoy. It's not bad, it just isn't overly interesting.

There is enough here for fans of Ace to enjoy, and perhaps rate higher than I have. I find myself troubled by the flaws more than I am impressed by the good spots on the album, which dominates my enjoyment of the album overall. It's not a complete loss, but I just get the feeling it could have been a lot better by adding a couple of components and losing a couple of others at the same time.

Rating:  When I play with you there is a chemical reaction.  2.5/5