''Anomaly'' is the third solo album by former

Kiss A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...

guitarist

Ace Frehley Paul Daniel "Ace" Frehley (; born April 27, 1951) is an American musician, best known as the original lead guitarist and co-founding member of the hard rock band Kiss. He invented the persona of The Spaceman (a.k.a. Space Ace) and played wit ...

, released on September 15, 2009. It is his first album of new studio material since 1989's '' Trouble Walkin'''. Frehley produced most of the album himself, with

Marti Frederiksen Martin Harold "Marti" Frederiksen (born July 1, 1962) is an American songwriter, record producer, and musician. He writes and produces music primarily in rock, country, and pop. He is best known for his work with many artists and bands incl ...

producing the

Sweet Sweetness is a basic taste most commonly perceived when eating foods rich in sugars. Sweet tastes are generally regarded as pleasurable. In addition to sugars like sucrose, many other chemical compounds are sweet, including aldehydes, ketones ...

cover " Fox on the Run". The album was dedicated to Kiss drummer

Eric Carr Paul Charles Caravello (July 12, 1950 – November 24, 1991), better known professionally as Eric Carr, was an American musician who was the drummer for the rock band Kiss from 1980 to 1991. Caravello was selected as the new Kiss drummer after ...

Pantera Pantera () is an American heavy metal music, heavy metal band from Arlington, Texas formed in 1981, and currently comprised of vocalist Phil Anselmo, bassist Rex Brown, and touring musicians Zakk Wylde and Charlie Benante. The group's best-kn ...

guitarist

Dimebag Darrell Darrell Lance Abbott (August 20, 1966 – December 8, 2004), best known by his stage name Dimebag Darrell, was an American musician. He was the guitarist of the heavy metal bands Pantera and Damageplan, both of which he co-founded alongside his ...

, and

Les Paul Lester William Polsfuss (June 9, 1915 – August 12, 2009), known as Les Paul, was an American jazz, country, and blues guitarist, songwriter, luthier, and inventor. He was one of the pioneers of the solid-body electric guitar, and his prototype ...

. The album debuted at number 27 on the ''Billboard'' 200, number 20 on the Swedish album chart and number 52 on the German chart.

Marketing

Frehley's official website and YouTube channel released a promo commercial for the album. In it, a boy is outside a sound studio, telling a girl that he has waited for the new album for over a year. Their uncle, sporting a mullet and a '' Trouble Walkin''' T-shirt, tells them he has waited 20 years. Suddenly, from a thick cloud of smoke, Frehley appears on a Chopper. He makes a hitchhiking-like gesture (referencing the '' Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park'' film, when using his transportation powers), magically giving the trio copies of the CD. He lets out an "Ack!" (another reference to the aforementioned film, in which it was his

catch phrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...

), then rides out. The CD cover folds into a pyramid. Another version of the CD included a temporary tattoo. ''Anomaly'' has also been pressed on limited copies of

vinyl records A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog signal, analog sound Recording medium, storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove ...

. The track "Outer Space" is a downloadable song for the ''Rock Band'' series.

Reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

reviewer stated that "the album remade a case for Frehley as one of rock's most potent, soulful axe slingers", who "surprised even longtime supporters with its forceful, confident performances and sharp songwriting." ''Anomaly'', wrote longtime Kiss supporter

Geoff Barton Geoff Barton (born July 1955) is a British journalist who founded the heavy metal magazine ''Kerrang!'' and was an editor of ''Sounds'' music magazine. He joined ''Sounds'' at the age of 19 after completing a journalism course at the London Col ...

, "is full of the Spaceman's signature charms: guitar playing that teeters on the brink of disintegration; gobby

Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

attitude; shout-it-out-loud vocals; songwriting skills that veer between brilliant and blundering. If Kiss's new album ''

Sonic Boom A sonic boom is a sound associated with shock waves created when an object travels through the air faster than the speed of sound. Sonic booms generate enormous amounts of sound energy, sounding similar to an explosion or a thunderclap to t ...

'' is a slickly realised summation of the band's heritage, then ''Anomaly'' is the exact opposite: it's Ace at his most idiosyncratic, vulnerable, prankish, calamitous and, yes, cataclysmic." Justin Crafton of Sleaze Roxx.com reminded how the release of this album marks Frehley's 3rd year of sobriety and "features Ace at the top of his game, mentally, physically and musically."

Track listing

Other songs

Tracks recorded and/or not on the album #"Laurado" #"Skels" - Became "Space Bear" #"Hard for Me" - Became "Foxy & Free" #"Steamroller" #"The Pursuit of Rock 'n' Roll" - Later released on Frehley's 2018 album '' Spaceman'' #"The King Is Kong" - Became "Genghis Khan"

Personnel

– lead vocals, lead guitar, additional bass on tracks 2, 5, 9, 11, and 12 * Anthony Esposito – bass *

Anton Fig Anton Fig (born 8 August 1952 in Cape Town, South Africa), known as "The Thunder from Down Under", is a South African session drummer, perhaps best known as the drummer and second-in-command for Paul Shaffer and the World's Most Dangerous Ba ...

– drums, percussion on all tracks except 4, 10, and 12 * Derrek Hawkins – rhythm guitar on track 2 *

Scot Coogan Scot Coogan is an American musician known for his accomplished drumming and vocal skills, working as both a session and touring musician. Scot resides in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he records, performs and has worked as a counselor at Rock and Ro ...

– drums, percussion on track 10, background vocals on 3 and 10 *

– keyboards, additional bass and rhythm guitar on 4 and 9, drums on 12, producer and engineer on track 4, mixing *

Brian Tichy Brian Tichy (born August 18, 1968) is an American musician, best known as having been the drummer for Whitesnake, Billy Idol, Foreigner (band), Foreigner, Sass Jordan, and Ozzy Osbourne. He was the drummer of Whitesnake from 2010 to 2013. His s ...

– drums on track 4 *

Pearl Aday Pearl Aday (born 1975) is an American singer. She is the adopted daughter of vocalist Michael Lee Aday, better known as Meat Loaf, and was a member of his touring band Neverland Express for nine years starting in the mid-1990s. She has appeared o ...

— female backing vocals ;Production * Frank Munoz - associate producer * Jay Messina - engineer * Bruce Somers - engineer on track 5 * Tim Hatfield - engineer on track 10 * Alex Salzman - engineer on tracks 9 and 12, overdubs engineer * Rich Tozzoli - overdubs engineer * Anthony Focx - mixing, digital editing, mastering

Charts

"Fox on the Run" reached #30 on the Billboard Heritage Rock Chart.

References

{{Authority control 2009 albums Ace Frehley albums