Benjie here, and full disclosure…long time KISS and Ace Frehley guy. Ace can’t do much wrong for me (okay, maybe that second Frehley’s Comet record if we’re being completely honest), and so far the early tracks released for the new record are rewarding my faith. The title track and “Walkin’ On The Moon” are both filled with classic Frehley riffs, lyrical Ace-isms, and sing along choruses. Friday morning can’t get here soon enough so I can hear the rest, like “Cosmic Heart,” “Cherry Medicine,” and “Blinded.”

*Friday morning update! Now that've I've had a chance to listen to the full record, highlights for me are "Up In The Sky," "Back Into My Arms Again," and "Fightin' For Life," along with the title track and "Walkin' On The Moon."

Ace truly epitomizes the “give the fans what they want” aesthetic. You want songs about electricity. Check! How about songs about outer space? You’ve come to the right place. And as always there’s that unmistakable voice. Is it great? No, never has been. Is it totally one of a kind and you always know it’s Ace? Yes. You could say the same about Dylan. (Did I really just compare Ace Frehley to Bob Dylan? I kinda did. Apologies to those offended but I stand by it). Anyways, I digress. Nowadays, with KISS officially gone (Avatars don’t count)… and they long abandoned making any new music a long time ago anyways… it’s left to Ace to feed our need for anything resembling classic KISS tunes. Until the next Paul Stanley Soul Station or Gene solo record that is, unless someone can talk them out of it. While KISS has spent the last decade on their farewell tour, Ace has quietly been pumping out solid to great solo albums like Space Invader, Spaceman, and two volumes of his Origins covers records, which are way better than they have any right being. Now we get to see what he’s been up to for the last few years with the release of 10,000 Volts.

He's been nominated for a Grammy and inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and I’m sure Ace thinks those things are nice. But at the end of the day, I like to think what really makes him happy is still being able to play his electrifying (pun intended) brand of hard rock and busting out classic solos from songs like “Shock Me” (considered one of the "50 Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time” by Guitar world magazine) to rooms filled with fans like me who are grinning from ear to ear with a fist in the air. I think it’s even fair to say that rock and metal music probably wouldn’t be the same today without the influence of Ace, both sound and image wise.

Here's the technical info if you’re into that kind of thing. 10,000 Volts was produced by Ace and Trixter guitarist Steve Brown, and mixed/mastered by Bruno Ravel of Danger Danger fame. It was probably a childhood dream come true for both of them. Along with Ace and Brown doing the engineering, you’ll also find Anton Fig, David Julian, and Alex Salzman getting some knob-turning and fader pushing credit. The record is available on CD and multiple different color vinyl variants, because if there’s one thing we old school KISS fans like, it’s collecting stuff. You can also stream it of course.