by Randy Duckworth

Created on: February 01, 2010

As a longtime fan of the band with whom he gained fame, I have loved Ace Frehley for a majority of my life. While he isn't necessarily the most technically proficient player in the world, he has a completely unique style of guitar playing that is all his own. His sound is instantly recognizable; it was one of the best things about Kiss as a band, and it influenced many people, myself included, to take up the guitar themselves.

Being a loyal fan, I always support Ace's solo efforts, just as I do with every other member of Kiss, both past and present. That being said, I shouldn't have to tell you that I was among the first in line to purchase his fifth solo album, Anomaly, when it was released on September 15, 2009. Then, for the next week, I waited eagerly for the CD to arrive from Amazon.

When it came, I felt a mixture of excitement and nervousness, as I unwrapped it and dropped it into my player for its inaugural spin. I wasn't really sure what to expect, since Ace had not released a solo album since his 1989 disc, Trouble Walking. My excitement came from the anticipation of finally hearing the record that he had been promising fans for the last twenty years, but I was nervously hoping that what I was about to hear would be worth it.

I wish I could say that I was blown away by this masterpiece, and I spent the rest of the day rocking out as it played over and over. Unfortunately, that was not the case. First of all, it took a couple of listens for me to get it. By the third time through, I was starting to hear what Ace was trying for. To his credit, the guitar playing remains strong throughout, and the CD does have many great moments. Truthfully, however, Anomaly isn't quite as strong of an album as I was hoping for. After all, Ace had more than twenty years to write and record it.

To be honest, only about half of the twelve tracks here are really good. Four of them are just so-so, and two of them are flat out stinkers. In most cases, the lyrics are hopelessly cheesy. There is even a spoken section in one tune that is just laughable. On the good side, the tracks that are good really do a lot to make up for the album's other shortcomings. The strong tracks here are: Foxy & Free, Outer Space, Sister, Fractured Quantum, an instrumental cut called Space Bear, and a great cover of the Sweet classic, Fox On The Run.

Although it pains me to speak harshly of The Spaceman, I would only recommend this for die-hard loyalists like myself. The casual fan would probably be bored by it. Your best bet would be to listen to preview samples and spend a buck a song to download the ones you like, rather than laying out full price for too much filler material.

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