Eulogy for Ace.
Now on a different kind of Rocket Ride.
Rip It Out. That’s how I’ve been feeling today since I learned yesterday that Ace passed away. At first it was just “oh, how sad,” but today is different, now that it’s sunk in and I’m contemplating how important this music has been in my life. I’ve loved KISS since I was a small kid, and as I’ve grown older my appreciation has gravitated toward Ace and his songs in the band. Even as a child I recognized that his solo album was not only the best of the four, but a great rock-and-roll record in its own right.
Sure, it was easy to dismiss the band as “just clowns” pretending to play music. But snobs are usually thick-headed; they couldn’t hear the greatness in those KISS albums. For me, the original lineup’s greatness extended through Dynasty, an album with three Ace songs. One of them is the Rolling Stones cover “2000 Man”—in Ace’s version, a song I absolutely love to this day.
Seeing today’s unimaginable outpouring of love and admiration for Ace from so many great musicians has made me realize I’ve been well accompanied on my musical journey. Even though I’ve taken a very different path in music-making, I will always carry the music from my formative years in my heart. A good chunk of that is KISS, and those fantastic Ace songs: “Parasite,” “Shock Me,” “Rocket Ride,” “Rip It Out,” “Speedin’ Back to My Baby,” “New York Groove,” “Fractured Mirror,” “2000 Man,” “Hard Times,” “Talk to Me,” “Two Sides of the Coin,” “Torpedo Girl,” and “Dark Light.” And then Frehley’s Comet with “Rock Soldiers” and “Into the Night,” among others.
His on-stage antics were out of this world, especially for an impressionable 10-year-old. The blend of music and imagination was taken to another level.
Ace’s defiant, devil-may-care attitude gave us songs that were inspiring and fun, beautifully complementing KISS albums the way George Harrison’s songs did for the Beatles.
I still have the records. I’m listening to his first solo album as I write. It’s the same noisy Mexican pressing I’ve had since I was a child, daydreaming of playing the guitar.
When an artist dies, people reevaluate their work. Now it’s clear that “those clowns” influenced and inspired countless kids who later became musicians and gave us wonderful music. And of course it was Ace leading the way in one final eccentric act, to make us turn around and see the fireworks again.
Ride back into space, Ace.