FREHLEY'S COMET

In his final interview for Guitar World magazine (conducted in early 2025 and not published until now), Ace Frehley looked back on the 1987 album that brought him back into the limelight

- ANDREW DALY

AFTER QUITTING KISS in 1982 due to his heavy drinking, drug use and stifled creativity, Ace Frehley was seen as a liability in the music industry. He thought leaving Kiss would be fruitful, but things hadn't gone to plan. Despite his influential guitar style, swagger, showmanship and songwriting ability, no record company would touch him.

By 1984, Frehley had begun to sober up. He connected with bassist John Regan, guitarist Richie Scarlet and drummer Anton Fig (who had played drums on Frehley's '78 solo record and Kiss's Dynasty and Unmasked) and formed what would become Frehley's Comet.

Frehley also had tunes. Regan and Scarlet helped him refine songs like "Breakout," which dated back to Frehley's Kiss days and had been co-written by Kiss drummer Eric Carr. But that wasn't all, as Frehley was also working with songwriter Chip Taylor on another soon-to-be classic, "Rock Soldiers," based on Frehley's newly adopted "say no to drugs and alcohol" lifestyle - and a certain car chase through Connecticut involving a DeLorean. But Frehley needed a record deal, and no one came calling - except Johnny Zazula's Megaforce Records. Even so, Megaforce only wanted Ace because a young Eddie Trunk, who was Megaforce's vice president at the time, vouched for him, resulting in a six-album deal and the initial sessions for 1987's Frehley's Comet.

With Eddie Kramer in the control room and a reshuffled band consisting of Regan (bass), Fig (drums) and Tod Howarth (guitars), who replaced Scarlet after his drug-related firing, Ace hit Right Track Recording Studios in New York City and reeled off one of the finest studio albums of his career.

On the strength of songs like "Rock Soldiers," "Breakout" and "Calling to You,"