NO REGRETS "A ROCK 'N' ROLL MEMOIR" BY ACE FREHLEY

[RJhog (Admin)]

Ace Frehley, original lead guitarist for Kiss, has finally decided to put his life story down in black and white for all of us to enjoy.  The big question is, exactly how enjoyable is it?  From a thirty-plus year Kiss fan, myself of course, it's just somewhat enjoyable. 

 

Maybe it's my expectations of the book.  You see, first and foremost, I'm a fan of Kiss, the rock band and it's music, much more so than Kiss, the brand and marketing machine.  Don't get me wrong, I love Kiss T-shirts as much as the next person.  But I truly love the music that this band has given me over the years, and that includes Ace Frehley's contribution.  So when I picked up the book last week, I certainly expected a little bit of dirt.  Most fans know that Ace is a recovering alcoholic and drug addict.  So I expected that, along with a bit of dirt on Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley from Ace's years in the band.  But I had also hoped to read about the music that he contributed to Kiss, as well as his solo music.

 

This is where I was left a bit disappointed.  He mentions most of the songs he wrote for Kiss, but it's really in passing.  He doesn't get into any of the specifics, other than the song Rocket Ride.  He gives a decent account of how it was written by himself and Sean Delaney while they were high.  The bulk of the book is about the things that happened to him when he was high, which obviously was the majority of his life.  I don't think Ace is trying to put drug use up on a pedestal, I truly think he's just trying to go back over the irresponsible things that he did in his life while high.  But quite honestly, a book of stories about a drug abuser just doesn't really interest me.

 

I will also mention that I do think he tried to be quite fair to Gene and Paul.  It's obvious that his lifestyle did not mesh at all with their lifestyle, which leads me to wonder how they kept it together as a band 7or 8 years before parting ways with Ace the first time.  And although he mentioned a few negative things about the other two, Gene more so than Paul, he does balance it with positive statements about his former band mates.

 

So would I recommend this book?  Not to the casual reader.  I don't think any hard core Kiss fan will skip it, but if you don't fall into that category, you probably don't need this book.

[Jon]

I saw this at Target yesterday. I didn't buy it.

[Scott]

Good review, I will pass it up now ...  I woudl have been most interested in the music, the tours, and the realtionships within the band (including management).  but it soudns like that doesnt get much attention...

 

How about the photos?  Any great shots never before seen?

[RJhog (Admin)]

Not much as far as Kiss photos.  A few non-makeup shots.  Some childhood photos.  Nothing earth shattering.

 

He did talk about touring, but mostly about the crazy stuff while high.

[Niels (Mod)]

If you need a book full of "never before seen"-shots of KISS, Scott, then "Sealed with a kiss" by Lydia Criss is the one, for sure!!!

Thanks for the review, RJ. I'm not going to buy this. I would have expected the same as you. What are the stories about his abuse about? Somthing like "Man, was I high, when I threw that televison out the window" or something like that? How many pages are there? A LITTLE interested, I guess I am, so it's probably not a bad christmas-gift for me. Anyone? 

 

[RJhog (Admin)]

It's around 290 pages. 

[Niels (Mod)]

I found out a couple of days ago, that I can get this book on my IPad, pretty cheap, and I might just do that, just to try and buy a book like that, AND of course because I am a little curious about this book.

I looked for the new Glenn Hughes-book, but couldnt find it.