Ace Frehley has a plan to outdo Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley.
“They would stifle my creativity,” the guitarist told Guitar Tales with Dave Cohen. “If I did a great guitar solo in the studio, they would never acknowledge it. ‘All right. We got that done. Let’s move on.’ I never got the adulation that I would have given other people. I never felt like they appreciated me and that’s not a good feeling.”
Frehley continued, “Paul and Gene put me down so many times. I said to Lara [Frehley’s ex-girlfriend] and she said to me, ‘The best way to get back at them isn’t to have a name-calling thing. Just make a great record. They haven’t done an album in 20 years.’”
“Even when I did really great solos, I really never got praise from Paul and Gene,” Ace previously explained while talking about his studio time with KISS. “They always underplayed my abilities. I can’t remember one recording session where I did and amazing solo and they ran out and said, ‘That’s amazing, it’s great!’ It was always, ‘Okay, that’s the one. Good take.’”
Frehley discussed the challenges in his early career last year, “Because [KISS founders] Paul [Stanley] and Gene [Simmons] have pretty much tried to destroy my credibility by calling me a drunk and a drug addict and somebody who’s not dependable.”
The musician added, “But if that were the case, how did I make five albums? And I’ve been touring steadily for the last ten years plus. It doesn’t make any sense. They contradict themselves all the time.”
“Now they’re putting me down and saying if I came up and played with them on the farewell tour, it would mar their performance,” Ace replied to Stanley’s words. “Paul said on The Howard Stern Show, you might as well call the band PISS instead of KISS if I got up on stage with them. Well, when this album comes about, it’s gonna make him look like an imbecile.”
Frehley also revealed that he and Peter Criss were not invited to KISS’s final concert at Madison Square Garden, despite claims that they were. He also speculated that Simmons would like his solo album, ‘10,000 Volts,’ but Stanley would probably get jealous.
You can watch Ace’s entire chat below.