As
a longtime fan of the band with whom he gained fame, I have loved Ace
Frehley for a majority of my life. While he isn't necessarily the
most technically proficient guitar player in the world, he has a
completely unique style of playing that is all his own. His sound is
instantly recognizable; it was one of the best things about Kiss as a
band, and has influenced many people, myself included, to take up the
guitar themselves.
Being
a loyal fan, I always support Ace's solo efforts, just as I do with
every other member of Kiss, both past and present. That being said, I
shouldn't have to tell you that I was among the first in line to
purchase his fifth solo album, Anomaly, when it was released on
September 15, 2009. I placed my order that very day. For the next
week, I waited eagerly for the CD to arrive from Amazon. When it
came, I felt a mixture of excitement and nervousness, as I unwrapped
it and dropped it into my player for its inaugural spin.
I
wasn't really sure what to expect from Ace this time, considering
that he had not released a solo album since his 1989 disc, Trouble
Walking. My excitement came from the anticipation of finally
hearing the record that he had been promising fans for the last
twenty years, but I was nervously hoping that what I was about to
hear would be worth it. Still, I was optimistic in spite of my
trepidation, so I hit the play button and tried to keep an open mind.
I
wish I could say that I was blown away by this masterpiece, and I
spent the rest of the day rocking out as it played over and over. Unfortunately, that was not the case. The first time through, Anomaly
left me hollow with disappointment. It actually took a couple of
listens for me to get it. By the third time through, I was starting
to hear what Ace was trying for. The main things that I found fault
with on this CD were its lyrics, which in some cases sound like they
were written by a fifth grader, and the often sub-standard
vocals...most notably on the song Pain In The Neck.
To
Ace's credit, the guitar playing remains strong throughout. The CD
does have some really great moments, but to be honest, Anomaly isn't
quite as strong of an album as I was hoping for; it isn't completely
terrible, but I felt that Ace could have done better. After all, he'd
had more than twenty years to write and record it. In that amount of
time, he could have (and should have) produced a brilliant opus of
staggering magnitude. I mean, heck, that's five years longer than it
took for Axl Rose to record the elusive Chinese Democracy
for crying out loud!
To
be honest, only about half of the twelve tracks here are really good. Four of them are just so-so, and two of them are flat out stinkers. In most cases, the lyrics are hopelessly cheesy. There is even a
spoken section in one tune that is just laughable. On the good side,
the few strong tracks that the album does have really do a lot to
make up for its multitude of other flaws. The tracks that really
rock here are: Foxy & Free, Outer Space, Sister, Fractured
Quantum, an instrumental cut called Space Bear,
and a great cover of the Sweet classic, Fox On The Run.
Although
it pains me to speak harshly of The Spaceman, I would only recommend
this for die-hard loyalists like myself. The casual fan would
probably be bored by it. Your best bet would be to listen to preview
samples and spend a buck a song to download the ones you like, rather
than laying out full price for too much filler material.
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