Ace Frehley — Anomaly CD Review

Written by General Jabbo

After the release of his classic album, Trouble Walkin, Ace Frehley repeatedly promised fans its follow-up was imminent. Well, 20 years and one KISS reunion later, Anomaly is here, featuring all-new material, save for a rocking cover of Sweet’s “Fox on the Run” and “Sister,” a song that dates back to the mid 1990s that Frehley debuted on tour before reuniting with KISS.

The album starts strong with the driving “Foxy & Free,” referencing Hendrix, and “Outer Space,” which covers Frehley’s typical sci-fi themes. These are strong, heavy tunes that would be at home on Frehley’s 1978 solo album and both feature some excellent lead guitar work by Ace and drumming from Ace Frehley/ KISS/David Letterman show band alumni Anton Fig.

Ace channels his inner Zeppelin with the mostly instrumental “Genghis Khan,” whose bombastic drums and exotic tones recall “Kashmir,” while he reprises his “Fractured” series with the album-closing instrumental “Fractured Quantum.” The title of the instrumental, “Space Bear,” refers to the legendary The Tomorrow Show interview KISS did in 1979 where a very inebriated Frehley created a space bear by putting his KISS costume pieces on a teddy bear he found on the set, much to Gene Simmons’ chagrin.

That was the old Ace, however. In the last few years, Frehley has gotten sober and many of the lyrics reflect a more mature outlook on life. On the introspective “Change the World” he sings, “When I was young, I played. I had lots of fun, but now I can see it’s time for a change.” Frehley is more direct on the acoustic “A Little Below the Angels,” “Alcohol was a friend of mine. It almost got me dead. I crashed some cars, got into fights, some things I now regret.” The song features a somewhat cheesy spoken-word part, but this is a changed man baring his soul, and it’s obvious he is being sincere. Frehley celebrates his survival and sobriety on “It’s a Great Life,” a surprisingly groove-oriented song from the guitarist.

Anomaly does have a couple clunkers, most notably “Pain in the Neck” with its dissonant chorus and “Too Many Faces,” which seems disjointed. That’s disappointing news for fans waiting 20 years for this album, as it should be all killer, no filler. There’s plenty of killer though and Anomaly is definitely an album that gets better after repeated listens. Besides, it’s nice to hear Frehley taking chances, even if they don’t all work as well as he had hoped.

There are a few nods to Frehley’s 1978 solo album in the packaging — from the original artwork being used with new artwork on top of it to the back cover with its dedications. The inner packaging folds into a cool prism and harkens back to the days when KISS included fun extras in their releases. These touches, along with a number of rocking tracks, should please both Ace and KISS fans alike.

Kissology 3 DVD Review

Written by General Jabbo

You wanted the best, you got the best. Kissology: The Ultimate Kiss Collection Vol. 3 is the third and, depending on who you believe (Gene Simmons claims there will be 10 volumes total), final volume of the excellent Kissology DVD series.

Covering the years 1992-2000, Kissology 3 features six concerts, starting with the band's Auburn Hills, MI appearance on their 1992 Revenge tour. One is immediately taken aback by both the picture and sound quality of the show, as well as the musicianship of the excellent Revenge lineup. This was one of the shows recorded for 1993's ALIVE III.

Up next is a behind-the-scenes look at their now-legendary MTV Unplugged appearance - which featured their first performance with founding members Ace Frehley and Peter Criss in 16 years. It is here we learn from Unplugged producer, Alex Coletti, that Frehley and Criss were almost no-shows at the actual taping due to legal issues and that Paul Stanley and current Kiss guitarist, Tommy Thayer, had to help Frehley relearn his old guitar parts. Disc one concludes with the complete MTV Unplugged performance.

Discs two and three document the band's reunion period, with their performance at Tiger Stadium - the first full show of the reunion tour, their 1996 MTV Video Music Awards' performance at the Brooklyn Bridge, their Dodger Stadium show from the Psycho Circus tour, the Detroit Rock City movie premiere party in Los Angeles and The Last Kiss pay-per-view from 2000's farewell tour. While it is great as a fan to have the Tiger Stadium show, from a performance perspective, it is very sloppy with lots of missed notes and timing issues. In stark contrast, the Brooklyn Bridge performance shows a tight, hungry, focused band that looks to be enjoying each other's company. Peter Criss in particular seems to be having the time of his life, singing along to "New York Groove." We also learn from the commentary that when the band was assembling the footage for the Dodger Stadium show, they could not find any of the footage from the drum cams and, as such, Peter Criss is rarely seen up close in this show.

Though the band has continued since 2000, the farewell tour was indeed the last time the original lineup all performed together, so The Last Kiss pay-per-view is a nice document of that tour to have. It also features the added novelty of the band playing "Heaven's On Fire" as they had adopted songs from their non-makeup period into the set at this point.

Disc four may be the real gem of this collection, however. Teased as an Easter Egg on Kissology 1, the full 1973 performance from the Coventry in New York is included on Kissology 3. This is the earliest filmed performance of the band and while the picture quality is nowhere near the rest of this set, the historical value is immense. It's shot in black and white and the audio is not bad for it being a 34-year-old single camera video. It also features the seldom-played "Let Me Know," an added bonus to an already rare show.

Kissology 3 features commentary from Simmons, Stanley, Thayer, and Bruce Kulick and has regular stereo and 5.1 surround sound mixes. It also has a number of Easter Eggs, including rehearsal footage for the VMAs in street clothes and no makeup, a behind-the-scenes look at the recording of Carnival of Souls, the last album recorded by the Revenge lineup, and "2000 Man" from the band's millennium concert in Vancouver, BC. Initial copies include bonus discs depending on which retailer they are purchased from. These shows are the KROQ Weenie Roast from 1996 (The first reunion performance by the band), Brazil 1994 and Madison Square Garden 1996.

While Kissology 3 touts having six complete concerts, that really isn't the case. Auburn Hills, Tiger Stadium and The Last Kiss all have songs cut, possibly to avoid repeats of material. The commentary and liner notes also include a fair amount of Ace and Peter bashing by Simmons and Stanley, which is surprising given the fact that they are on a large portion of the material presented, but also refreshing in the sense that the band isn't pulling any punches and is being very candid with the fans.

As this material is the most recent chronologically in the Kissology series, it is also of the highest quality, both in terms of picture and sound. The rarity and quality of the material more than make up for the fact that some of the shows aren't complete and make Kissology 3 a fine addition to any Kiss fan's library.

Gene Simmons Zipper Issue #1 Review

Written by General Jabbo

Long before he got into a rock and roll band, Gene Simmons of Kiss was into comic books. When Kiss was at the height of their 1970s popularity, they even had two comics produced by Marvel (using real Kiss blood no less). It is therefore no surprise that Simmons now has his own comics imprint - Simmons Comics Group, which is published by IDW. Simmons was the brains behind the creation of Gene Simmons Zipper, a science fiction story about the quest for individualism.

Zipper is the story of Denizen Xeng Ral of Etheria, whose only crime against his people is trying to think for himself. Etheria's people are part of a collective and individual thought is forbidden. The mantra of the people of Etheria is "we are one," which, not coincidentally, is the name of a Simmons-penned Kiss song from the Psycho Circus album. When the people of Etheria try to capture Ral to recondition him and return him to the collective, he flees. Donning a suit covered in zippers and boarding a spacecraft, Ral ends up in Detroit.

It is there that we learn the suit can mimic human appearances, as well as study the language to determine the appropriate response to any question. This makes for some humorous scenes when Ral attempts to greet people as his English is good, but not perfect. He greets the first person he meets by saying, "One wishes hell oh, you."

While Ral gets used to his surroundings in Detroit, a shady preacher named Dr. Foster H Deveroux tries to rile up a crowd in Los Angeles at his Cosmic Defense Ministry Cathedral saying, "in a universe we know, both scientifically and religiously, to be infinite, how can we possibly be alone? And, if we are not alone, how can we possibly be safe?" We can be sure that Deveroux will mobilize his parishioners against Ral once he is discovered.

And that discovery shouldn't take long. Back in Detroit, Ral finds a drug dealer named Ronnie J being threatened by a rival gang, reverts from his human appearance to his zipper costume and takes out the entire gang on his own using chains and blades. The gang stood no chance against the fierce attack of Ral, who is later christened "Zipper" by the Ronnie J after his costume and because Ronnie J can't pronounce his real name. The story ends with Zipper and Ronnie J on the run from the law and Etheria's forces sending a search party out for Zipper.

Zipper is written by Tom Waltz with artwork by Casey Maloney. While the crooked preacher character is a bit clichéd, the story is otherwise well written with excellent artwork. Zipper has managed to anger a lot of people on his journey toward individualism, and his encounters with these new enemies should make for an entertaining read in the issues to come.