Ace Frehley Solo Album Rankings
Ace Frehley (1951-2025) is my favorite guitarist ever.
One of the founding members of my favorite band KISS, Ace has inspired literally millions of people with his playing and inspired tons of musicians to pick up an instrument, namely a guitar.
Some have said he is the most influential guitarist ever.
I’m not going to disagree with that.
Is he the best singer ever? No, but he was great singing the songs that he wrote. I learned a long time ago that singers don’t all have to be Pavarotti or Freddie Mercury as a vocalist. So Ace was more than good enough on the mic.
Outside of his landmark work with KISS, Ace also made many solo albums and definitely was the most prolific original KISS member outside of the band.
He was making an album at the time of his passing, which who knows if it was done enough to be released.
But regardless, Ace truly left his mark on the world and I cannot emphasize that enough.
Here, I am going to rank Ace’s solo albums.
Now I before I do this, I want to preface by saying I love all of them so this is hard to do.
But here it goes:
- Ace Frehley (1978)-Most will say this is his best album outside of KISS and I definitely agree. It is a perfect album, in my opinion.
- Space Invader-Released in 2014, I find this album to be amazing and has some of Ace’s best playing ever on it.
- Anomaly-This was Ace’s first solo album in 20 years. Released in 2009, it showcases everything you would expect if you’re an Ace fan. Very good songs and great musicianship. A welcome return to Space Ace.
- Frehley’s Comet-Ace’s first album after leaving KISS. Released in 1987, this album features several rocking tunes and once again, a welcome return to the one and only Space Ace.
- Trouble Walkin’-Released in 1989, Ace consistently put out solid rocking albums outside of KISS. This one is no exception. This is my girlfriend’s favorite Ace studio album.
- Second Sighting-I don’t know how loved this album is (I know Ace’s friend Eddie Trunk hates it and fair enough.) but I actually love it. Great songs and it just rocks.
- 10,000 Volts-I want to rank this one higher (I’m actually already ranking it higher than I thought I would.) but I just love the ones above this more. But it is a very rocking and catchy album. Maybe Ace’s most catchy album he ever made. I’ve played it a bunch and really like every song on it, especially a song that he made a demo of when I believe he was still in KISS called “Back In My Arms Again”. Excellent ballad. If this is Ace’s last album, it’s a great one to go out on. I love you forever Ace!!!!
- Spaceman-Another solid, rocking album from Ace. Actually features fellow KISS member Gene Simmons on bass for one song and he co-wrote another song with Ace. AWESOME!!
- Origins Volume 2-I like both covers albums/KISS re-records Ace made, but I just like this one more.
- Origins Volume 1-Features another fellow KISS member Paul Stanley singing a Free song. Phenomenal version. Lots of great covers on this, and Ace played a KISS song he was not originally on, which is Rock And Roll Hell. Love his interpretation of it.
- Greatest Hits Live-My girlfriend’s favorite Ace solo album, this was released long after it was recorded. Great live album featuring two unreleased studio tracks.
- Live + 1-Great live EP featuring one studio track.
Again, this is tough to rank. Like I said, I love all of them, but hey, I have to rank them somehow. Ask me another time and I may think differently and rank them another way, but this is how I’m feeling as I type this.
Rest In Peace Ace. Thanks for all the amazing music and the happiness you brought us all.
And I included one of KISS drummer Peter Criss’ solo albums in the solo album picture because Ace plays on three songs. And the KISS live album just happens to be in the picture. My KISS album rankings is here if you want to check them out also.
