Fan Fare

Former KISS guitarist Ace Frehley releases first album in 20 years

These are heady times for KISS fans. The hard-rock band is gearing up for the Oct. 6 release of its first album in 11 years, “Sonic Boom”, and will hit the road to mark the 35th anniversary of its breakthrough concert album “Alive!”

And then there’s the band’s former guitarist, Ace Frehley, who on Tuesday will release his first solo album in 20 years, “Anomaly”. The date is also significant because it marks his third year of sobriety.

But don’t look for the two camps to work out some cross-promotion efforts. Frehley was asked during a fan Q&A at the Grammy Museum on Monday whether he would join KISS on stage for the first time since he left the band in 2002. (He first left the band 20 years earlier.)

“I haven’t gotten a call,” Frehley said to laughter. “I’m not holding my breath. They took one road, I decided to take another. It’s a little late in the game for me.” 

Instead, Frehley has a busy concert schedule: Japan and Australia next month, followed by dates in the United States, and then “probably a complete worldwide tour” next year. 

Frehley, 58, said it took so long to issue a follow-up to 1989′s “Trouble Walkin’” because “I just didn’t have my act together at certain points on my life.” He had hoped to start making an album in 1995, but was invited to participate in the KISS worldwide reunion tour, which ran from 1996 until 2002.

“I got off that tour and was ready to blow my brains out,” he said. “It took me a while to get my head screwed on straight. I went into outer space for a while … came back.”