I can enjoy cover songs done by artists I like – or when someone else covers artists I like. When artists I like covers other artists I like, that’s double cool.
But, I’m really just talking about the odd song now and then. Full albums of cover songs? It could work, but in my experience I mostly listen with a curious ear. When I know how it’s working out and my curiosity is satisfied, a covers album rarely stays in rotation. There are exceptions, of course.
This year, I’ve made yet another exception for Ace Frehley.
Ace Frehley has always had a knack for delivering most excellent covers. On his first solo album released in 1978, he made the ultimate version of New York Groove (by Russ Ballard) and got a hit record in the process. On the following KISS album, he performed a cracking version of 2000 Man (The Rolling Stones). On his first solo album of the 1980s, he covered Into the Night, another Russ Ballard song. He later did a great version of Do Ya (The Move), as well as cheekily covering the KISS song Hide Your Heart just as KISS were putting it out themselves. His last three studio albums of original material features a cover version each, of The Sweet, Steve Miller Band, and Eddie Money respectively.
Given this, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that Ace would be doing a covers album at some point. Especially during the last decade, which has now seen him release no less than five albums! Having slotted into a satisfying ‘one album every other year’-pattern, he released his first covers album Origins Vol. 1 in 2016. Given that title, it was always in the cards that there would be more of them, and this year saw the release of Origins Vol. 2.
Ultimately, how interesting a covers album is depends heavily on the song selection. I have yet to hear one from any artist where I agree with every single choice. This time is no different, but there seems to at least be a common principle behind the choices that makes it more of a unified experience listening to these tracks in order. They were all songs that Ace listened to in his formative years, and even played in the clubs in one of his pre-KISS bands. As such, all of these tracks come from the period of a few years before/after 1970, making it an album representing a specific time in music. That gives the songs a sense of unity, avoiding the feel of the utterly random hodgepodge collection it could have been.
Good Times Bad Times was an excellent opener on Led Zeppelin’s first album, and it is a great opener here as well. It does set the tone in a nice way. Rather than trying to emulate Robert Plant, which Ace would not be able to do anyway, he gives it a cool Ace vocal. Ace is not really changing up anything much – he simply runs it through his own little filter by adding his own style of guitar playing and singing, with everything else fitting in as required around that.
Most of the tracks are performed by the power trio consisting of Ace (vocals, guitars, bass on three tracks), Alex Salzman (bass), and Matt Starr (drums). Plus several guests, which is a big part of the Origins albums.
Never In My Life by American hard rock band Mountain was featured on their debut album Climbing! (1970). It suits Ace very well both vocally and musically. It’s very clear that musically, he was very inspired by tunes like this. It’s got a very comfortable groove with lots of licks, and a lot of extra soloing in the background by Ace. I’m not sure how remembered Mountain are today, but this cover should hopefully send a few people searching for the original.
I was very curious when I heard the news that Ace would be tackling Space Truckin’ from Deep Purple’s classic 1972 Machine Head album. As the original Spaceman any song with those kind of references will be an obvious pick. The original is full of Ian Gillan’s banshee screams and vocal acrobatics, which Ace was obviously never going to attempt. The difference between the two of them is evident. Gillan was one of the absolute best rock vocalists, which Ace has never been. He is however one of the coolest ones, with a wonderfully blasé delivery. The song is keyed down and Ace delivers it the only way he can, emphasising the groove of the song and giving it a cool vocal delivery.
He also adds a lot of Ace-isms to the lyrics. “Hey curley” he sings at the end of a verse, and at the end of every chorus he sings “We’re Space Ace truckin’.” Some say it grates, I say it’s cool. Musically he has no problems making it his own either, bringing in Rob Sabino to emulate Jon Lord’s original Hammond organ sound and solo.
Apparently, Ace felt it was an oversight that the first Origins album did not feature a Beatles track, and he was determined to include one this time. He went for one of the most frantic rockers in their catalogue: I’m Down, originally the b-side of the Help! single. The original was recorded on 14 June 1965, making it the oldest song pick on the album (but only barely, with The Animals track having been recorded just one day later on 15 June 1965!). I have seen several other reviews referring to it as an “obscure Beatle track” – but as it’s often featured in documentaries and on collections, and McCartney still plays it live, I think that says more about the age of the new wave of reviewers. Ace does a cool version, not really changing the song apart from adding lots more guitar to it and turning the intensity up to eleven.
If you feature the Beatles, you got to even the score by including a track by the Stones. Jumpin’ Jack Flash is a decent choice, if somewhat predictable, and I’m ultimately not really sure that this song fits Ace well. It features the first guest vocal on the album by Lita Ford. She and the band deliver a competent version rather than a genuinely exciting one. Politician by Cream is perhaps a less predictable choice, but definitely a more exciting one. It is also very suitable to Ace, both musically and vocally. This is one of Cream’s bluesier songs from their final studio album Wheels of Fire (1968). It features the same driving riff throughout, with energetic drums and lots of wailing guitars soloing in that old blues-rock style that Ace emulated.
One of the more puzzling choices on the album is the Kinks classic Lola. I adore The Kinks, and evidently Ace does as well, but this song isn’t exactly one of their rock’n’roll moments. It’s also such a well-known song, which does nobody any favours when trying to cover something. Ace and the band have clearly spent some time finding the right approach to the song, and have ended up delivering an intriguing arrangement where they have almost reinvented the song by shaping it into a suitable mid-tempo hard rocker. That works really well – better than I would have thought possible, honestly.
I will readily admit that I give Ace a lot of leeway as far as his vocals go. I like his voice. He has one of the coolest deliveries in rock music. But, it has its limitations, and they show a little too much during the first few verses of Lola. Singing in a low key does not suit him at all. It gets significantly better after a few verses when he goes up an octave and in fact does splendidly. I am not sure it was worth it to struggle through the first initial verses just to give audience that lift later in the song, but overall there are a lot of interesting things happening in Lola (especially musically), and the song benefits when Lara Cove comes in to provide backing vocals. When the song ends it is in significantly better shape than when it started, and as we know, all’s well that ends well.
30 Days In the Hole is the seventh single by the English rock group Humble Pie (featuring Peter Frampton and Steve Marriot), from their 1972 Smokin’ album. They were always on the brink of mainstream success, never quite making it big, but they were a major influence on Ace and KISS. The song is written by Marriott who had one of the most amazing voices ever to emerge from the British isles. Ace cleverly gave it to Robin Zander (Cheap Trick) to sing, and he delivers it with the exact over-the-top panache that it requires. Musically, this is one of the tracks on offer that sounds the most like Ace’s former band. I like the actual performances, but sonically the track feels a bit compressed, with the rhythm guitar in particular sounding bothersome as the song wears on. It’s still a good take on a great song.
We’re getting into a real highlight. The Jimi Hendrix Experience is represented with Manic Depression from their first album Are You Experienced? (1967). Notably, fellow KISS guitar player Bruce Kulick was invited to play a scorching guitar solo on this track, which is exceedingly cool. That also makes this the third Ace album in a row to feature a fellow member of the KISS family, after Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons showed up on the last two respectively. I hope he can lure Peter Criss out of retirement for one last soulful rock’n’roll delivery on the next one!
Manic Depression is extremely suitable for Ace. Hendrix did not have the greatest singing voice himself, instead coming from a place of cool delivery and emotion much like Ace does. Musically the song is great, but the vocal kinship between Hendrix and Ace makes that side of it shine particularly, Ace adding his own little touches all over the place, just like Hendrix did. We especially note the final verse, where he sings “I wish I could caress and kiss”, repeating “KISS!” after a meaningful pause.
Kicks is perhaps the outsider pick on the album. It was a 1966 non-album single by the American band Paul Rever & The Raiders, added to their fifth album Midnight Ride (1966) due to its success. They were primarily successful in their homeland, and Kicks were one of their biggest US hits. The original is very much a 1960s-style hit, but Ace is doing a good job of making it sound like it comes from an underground 1970s hard rock band. That tells you all about his take on the song, which is able to utilise the guitar lick that was always present in the song to maximum effect.
Kicks was written by the songwriting duo Mann and Weill. They originally offered it to The Animals, who turned it down. They would regret that choice later, but Mann and Weill had already delivered other hits to The Animals, including the next song on Origins Vol 2: We Gotta Get Out of This Place. This was one of the earliest songs Ace performed live in a band with his brother, so no doubt it must be very cool for him to do it here. The version is reasonably faithful and competently played. I have no problem with it, it is not my favourite on the album.
The album ends there, but every known version of the album features a “bonus track” (which in effect makes it a standard track): a cover of the KISS classic She from their 1975 album Dressed To Kill. Ace did not sing on the original version, and has opted not to sing here either, focusing on recreating (and reinventing) the guitars. The musicians on this track are in fact Ace’s live band, which Ace inherited from Gene’s solo touring band from a few years ago. They are extremely competent and huge KISS fans, delivering the songs with an accuracy and enthusiasm that make them perfect for the job. Toward the end of the song, they break into the solo section that KISS would do live, which is exceedingly cool – until they end it mid-solo on a frustrating fade-out. That is NOT cool. But all in all, it is a great inclusion on the album, and very nice to see Ace visit his own roots as well.
And that’s it – the second Origins collection is in the books. It adds up to seven songs from the 1960s and five from the 1970s, which makes it just slightly older overall than volume 1 which was close to the same formula but at least touched on the 1980s too.
Looking at the band choices, there are also several similarities between 1 and 2. Leaving aside the KISS tracks, which are fair game and always to be expected, both albums also feature songs by Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, Kinks, Jimi Hendrix, and Cream (even from the same album). Ace has his go-to favourites and will obviously pick them if he wants to, but maybe he should dig deeper in his vinyl collection next time to mix it up more. It would be cool to see him look closer at the 1980s, for example.
There are plans for at least one more Origins album down the road, so time will show what that could contain. With the pandemic still dominating, it may even appear sooner than planned. I would not be surprised to see it appear in 2021.
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