The Spaceman has left us. Like E.T., he came into our lives, enriched them, got drunk, and returned to his home planet. “Space Ace” was a character. Everyone in Kiss was a character, but the Spaceman always felt like the most irreverent, carefree, and fun member of the band.
This spirit was reflected in Ace’s guitar style. His playing was instinctive, melodic, and rarely flashy. “I don’t like to practice; I like spontaneity. When I don’t play guitar for a week and I pick it up again, I play better,” he said in a 2009 interview with Guitar World. For Ace, rock ’n’ roll wasn’t a job, it was a lifestyle.
Which is why, despite his talent, Ace’s role in Kiss was often limited. His laissez-faire approach to rehearsal left him outside the band’s creative hierarchy most of the time. He wrote his share of Kiss Klassics, like “Cold Gin,” “Parasite,” and “Rocket Ride”, but often felt more like a sideman than an equal part of the group.
Everything changed in 1978. On September 18, 1978, all four members of Kiss released solo albums. It was a cool idea, an opportunity to see each band member explore their own style and voice, satisfying creative impulses that didn’t fit the usual Kiss framework. Too bad they fuckin’ sucked.
I’m kidding. The critical reaction to the Kiss solo albums is overblown. I remember reading Pitchfork’s scores for each solo album years ago and rolling my eyes: Ace got an 8.5, Gene a 5, Paul a 2, and Peter a fat 0. Talk about cynical Gen-X bullshit (the reviews were all written in 2003).
Ace’s album is hands-down the best of the solo releases, but let’s not pretend he reinvented the wheel. What works about Ace’s album is catchy songs, crunchy riffs, and a consistent style and tone. Peter’s album is a mix of boogie-woogie blues rock and sappy ballads with a yacht-rock sheen. It’s not good, but it’s not a zero. Gene’s album can’t decide if it’s pop, funk, or disco, and it closes with his ill-advised cover of “When You Wish Upon a Star.” Paul’s sounds like a Kiss album sans hits… because all the hits he writes end up on Kiss albums.
Ace’s songs are in the Kiss mold, but because he sings them and plays all the guitars and most of the bass, they feel special. Ace is far from the best singer, he’s not even better than Peter Criss, but he has a rough-and-tumble New York grit to his slurred, nasally howl. What he lacks in vocal prowess he more than makes up for in riffs.
Whether it’s the echoey swirl of “I’m in Need of Love” or the bluesy bends of “Speedin’ Back to My Baby,” Ace’s lead guitar is always the star of the show. On “Ozone,” Ace sings in lockstep with a woozy slide guitar. This, backed by both acoustic and electric rhythm, gives the song a richness you don’t get on most Kiss tracks. It would be my favorite song on the album if not for…
“New York Groove.”
Originally recorded in 1975 by the UK glam-rock band Hello and penned by Russ Ballard (who I know best from Argent, which Kiss also later covered), “New York Groove” is a funky pop earworm. Infused with Ace’s trademark Bronx attitude and a chorus of lively backup singers, it became the biggest song any Kiss member ever had outside of Kiss. The track climbed to #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1979 and remains the only single from any of the four Kiss solo albums to reach the U.S. Top 20. Oh, how pissed Gene and Paul must have been.
The success of Ace’s album gave the Spaceman validation and a stronger sense of creative identity outside the shadow of Paul and Gene. Paul called it a “fluke,” considering it was a cover, but he’s full of it. Have you ever heard Hello’s version of “New York Groove”? It’s alright, but it doesn’t have Ace’s badass wah-guitar or the boisterous backup vocals on the chorus. I’ll take a song about New York sung by an actual New Yorker over an Englishman any day.
Ace’s success reinforced the idea he didn’t need to rely on Kiss anymore, which factored into his eventual departure in 1982. Ace would rejoin the band time and time again. Unlike Peter Criss, Ace always claimed he was never fired from Kiss; he quit both times. If true, this follows his philosophy that music should be fun, not a job. Hell yeah, brother.
It’s sad Ace wasn’t asked to rejoin Paul and Gene on their “End of the Road” World Tour. The whole staff here at Mildly Pleased attended Kiss’ Tacoma show, and you could feel the void of not having the other half of Kiss present.
You can’t have Kiss without the Star Child, the Demon, the Catman, and the Spaceman all on one stage. We’re lucky (as humans) it ever happened in the first place, even if only for a fleeting moment. So goodbye Ace, and may your riffs echo and soar across the galaxy for all of eternity.
Favorite Tracks: “I’m in Need of Love,” “New York Groove,” “Ozone”