UAWIL #201: Ace Frehley - Trouble Walkin'

The Ugly American Werewolf in London Rock Podcast

By 1989, Ace Frehley had been out of KISS for 7 years and during that time he'd maintained a debaucherous lifestyle including car accidents and very little in the way of new music. Finally Eddie Trunk helped get him signed to Megaforce and got him working. Frehley's Comet released 2 albums in 1987 & !988 (Frehley's Comet, Second Sighting) trying to reestablish himself on the rock circuit. And while 1989's Trouble Walkin' was a solid offering for the time it was released, looking back it's easy to see why it didn't crack the top 100 in the US.

Though Ace and Richie Scarlet put together some catchy, heavy riffs with some signature Ace guitar licks, Ace's vocal need help. Left alone they're too bare unless they have the sing-a-long chorus behind him. Shot Full of Rock Five Card Stud and the title track are great straight ahead rockers...until the vocals kick in. As usual, Ace's lyrics are somewhere between silly and bad. But we're Ace fans darnit! So we like hearing what he does. Fractured III connects the record to his 1978 solo and first Frehley's Comet album with a solid instrumental. But lyrics on songs like Back To School, 2 Young 2 Die and Five Card Stud illustrate why KISS had to reign him in on those records.

And the mystery is why did Ace cover Hide Your Heart, a song written by Paul Stanley, Desmond Child & Holly Knight, which was originally sung by Bonnie Tyler and that KISS would feature on their album Hot In The Shade? It's a head scratcher but maybe Ace was ready to show his old bandmates that he can still rock, even with their tracks. But as college students, we loved this one and wanted to celebrate Ace as Trouble Walkin' turns 35!

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