ACE FREHLEY - 10,000 VOLTS

Ace Frehley has been in the news a lot as of late – due to a recent round of interviews for a variety of outlets in which he is quite candid (particularly, about his former band, KISS). But it turns out that the original Space Man has quite a few tunes to back up all the banter – as evidenced throughout his latest solo effort,10,000 Volts.

Working closely with Trixter guitarist Steve Brown (who co-produced the LP with Frehley), 10,000 Volts contains quite a few tunes that measure up well to his prior solo standouts – tops being the album's one-two punch of the title track and "Walkin' On The Moon" (not to be confused with The Police tune of the same name), as well as "Fightin' For Life" – a tune that is lyrically reminiscent of such past Ace "tales from the streets" tunes as "Hard Times" and "Bronx Boy." And as with most of Ace's solo albums, it ends with a melodic instrumental, "Stratosphere."

The only area which can use a bit of improvement is the vocals, as Ace appears to warble a bit off key (to catch my drift, compare his lead vocals on his classic '78 solo album – the best of his career – to those on 10,000 Volts). But upon further pondering, that's also precisely the charm of the guitarist – and what sets him apart from the largely same-sounding pack of rock/metal artists.