“It’s probably my best album that I’ve made in many years, maybe my strongest since my 1978 solo record,” enthuses former Kiss guitarist and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Ace Frehley. And that’s not false modesty speaking. 10,000 Volts, Frehley’s new studio album, is truly the Spaceman’s most impressive release in years, filled with a clutch of radio-friendly juggernauts and teeming with fierce guitar riffs and swagger fueled lead guitar magic. Standout songs such as “Cherry Medicine,” “Walkin’ on the Moon,” “Back into My Arms Again,” “Cosmic Heart” and the title track “10,000 Volts” were recorded in tandem with co-producer and collaborator Steve Brown (Trixter) to create a uniformly strong release.
Join us for a conversation with Space Ace about the new record, street gangs, pawn-shop scores and more.
THEN AND NOW
GOLDMINE: In the past five to 10 years, you’ve been incredibly productive with a succession of albums. What do you attribute that to?
ACE FREHLEY: Lots of things: losing 45 pounds, exercise, taking my vitamins, eating organically and working out. I just feel like I got a new lease on life. I went to my doctor five or six weeks ago, and we were going over my bloodwork, and he just started cracking up. And I go, “What the f**k’s going on?” He goes, “I’m looking at your bloodwork over the last three years, and you seem to be aging in reverse.” (laughs)
GM: With the 10,000 Volts album that you’ve done with Steve Brown of Trixter as co-producer and songwriting collaborator, prior to partnering with him, you were working on the record initially yourself, and it wasn’t knocking you out.
That’s right. Well, originally I was working by myself, and
