NMC #252 ACE FREHLEY/ZAKK WYLDE

[RJhog (Admin)]

by "guitar heroes from a to z" RJ

Ace Frehley - Origins Vol. 1

1. Fire And Water

2. Emerald

3. Parasite

4. Cold Gin

5. Rock And Roll Hell

Zakk Wylde - Book of Shadows II

6. Tears Of December

7. Lost Prayer

8. The Levee

9. Forgotten Memory

10. Harbors of Pity

[Jon]

Ace Frehley--Thumbs In The Middle

Yay, a covers album!

Hey, he actually sings pretty decent on that first song..........oh. That's not him. Actually, this isn't too bad.

Note to all other bands and artists: DO NOT TRY TO COVER "EMERALD". IT WILL JUST ENDING UP SOUNDING BAD. You know, like this. 

Hey, he's "covering' Kiss songs. Can't mess those up too much, can he? Guess not. Of course there's nothing from The Elder here so I don't care much.

I don't have much else to say. It is what it is, I suppose.

[Jon]

Zakk Wylde--Thumbs In The Middle

Well, this was pretty depressing. Made me want to go out on my yacht and crank this up. You know, because it's "yacht rock".

It just sounded the same after the second song. Mellow stuff, quite countreyey and yachtey. Other than listening to this on the ole boat, I don't know when I would listen to this.

It's not terrible, but it's not my bag of yachtey tea. Respect what he's doing, but sometimes thinks don't click. This doesn't, at least for me. 

[Scott]

SPACE ACE FREHLEY ...  Thumbs little more that half

I had the same thought as Jon when I heard about this release, and that's was, oh boy, another covers album.  But on second thought, he's always included a cover on his solo stuff (e.g. New York Groove, Fox On The Run, and Do Ya) as well as 2000 Man.  And his covers have always seemed to be done really well, so maybe this has a chance of not being just another covers album.  Fire and Water was pretty good, I liked the assist Paul gives him here to lead this off.  Nice gesture.  Also agree with Jon on Emerald, this was a not a good choice for Ace, though his solo work is really good!  Parasite is an interesting listen, the guitar work is fairly close but he extends the solo nicely, I would never complain about more guitar.  The main riff sounded a bit different to me as well.  I have always loved the distortion in the Cold Gin riff!!! Easily the best track here for me.  Loved the new guitar solos and the drums really worked much better than the original. Just the complete opposite of Rock and Roll Hell, didn't care got that.

Not a purchase for me but a cool listen, especially the early KISS redo's!

[Scott]

ZAKK-A-RONI AND CHEESE WYLDE ... Two confused thumbs...

Read Tage review, so I'm 'affected' before I even start.  I must say the vocals sound exactly as Tage describes, the annunciation is indeed sleepy and I would add lazy and slurred.  The guitar work does keep me listening however, though I'm tempted to skip through these.  Kinda see where this is going right?  And this goes on for 16 tracks?  Lost Prayer is very well written tune, bogged down by the vocals yet again, but again Ive not skipped though it.  The Levee is very monotone, but I do love that guitar tone.  Forgotten Memory feel like the first real misstep here and then here comes that guitar again.  Ultimately it is the misstep I thought.  And so the story goes for the closer here as well.  This is confusing...  the potential is unrealized, the song writing feels one step away from great, but that guitar keeps the listener hoping for something that I fear wont happen, at least on this record...  And for those reasons, I'm out... 

[TageRyche]

The most important part of this post is how you mention how much I affect you. AWWWWWW....LOL!