Kiss Legend Ace Frehley Talks About Recording ‘Hotter Than Hell’ and ‘Dynasty’
Ace Frehley talks about the changes he'd make to 'Hotter Than Hell,' and the competitive nature of Kiss during the sessions for 'Dynasty,' during an exclusive talk with Ultimate Classic Rock.
'Dynasty,' celebrating its 35th anniversary in 2014, found three of the four members of Kiss contributing multiple songs as the '70s drew to a close. Frehley and Paul Stanley both had three originals, while Gene Simmons contributed two.
"Everybody wanted to get as many songs as they could," Frehley says in the video attached above. "Everybody wanted to shine for the fans."
The guitarist had come a long way since 'Hotter Than Hell,' released 40 years ago this year, when he composed two tracks -- 'Parasite' and 'Strange Ways' -- but was too timid to handle vocals on either one of them.
"I was insecure about my singing voice," says Frehley, who just released the advance single 'Gimme a Feelin'' from his upcoming 'Space Invader' LP. "I mean, when I recorded my first lead vocal, I recorded it singing on my back -- with the lights down in the studio, [with] Eddie Kramer kind of directing everything through the glass in the control room. I remember my first lead vocal, when I sang 'Shock Me' live at Madison Square Garden, after that it was like, 'OK, I'll sing more now.' Next thing you know, I'm leaving the band, and I've got a solo project happening."
Four decades later, Frehley says 'Hotter Than Hell' still holds up well -- though he'd make some tweaks if he had to do it all over again. "It's funny, when I listen to those songs, they seem a lot slower than I remembered," Frehley says, laughing. "The production is a little dry. Back then, we didn't have digital reverbs, and all of the special effects we have today."