Ace Frehley Dead At 74: The Ultimate Tribute Playlist For KISS’s Original Spaceman

I was bumming pretty hard on Thursday after I found out that we'd lost another rock god, with news that former KISS guitarist Ace Frehley had passed away at the age of 74, weeks after a fall in his studio.

It's a massive loss made worse by the fact that it comes just weeks before Frehley, along with fellow original KISS members Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, and Peter Criss, are set to be honored at the Kennedy Center.

Not having the original Spaceman is going to leave a big hole.

READ: KISS NOD SHOWS TRUMP’S KENNEDY CENTER KNOWS ROCK BETTER THAN ROCK HALL

I love playing guitar, and that's why I always considered Ace my favorite member of KISS. I felt this way even more so after I read his book, No Regrets, back in high school. He came across as a guy who truly loved music and seemed like a fun-loving, nice guy.

Whenever we lose someone like this, my favorite way to pay tribute to them is by throwing on their music. I've got Ace's 1978 solo album (which we'll talk about in a second) on my record player as we speak.

So, I thought I'd put together a list — with some help from my buddy and fellow rock guy, OutKick's own Austin Perry — of tracks you need to queue up today or this weekend in honor of the Spaceman.

"Shock Me"

When you think of the definitive Ace Frehley KISS song, a lot of people go right to "Shock Me" off of the band's 1977 album Love Gun.

This is because it's one of the songs in KISS' catalog on which Ace handles lead vocals.

That's a quintessential ‘70s KISS tune, and Frehley reportedly wrote it after he was nearly electrocuted by his own electric guitar during a show in Lakeland, Florida.

Yeah, the same guitar he would shoot rockets and lasers out of, or put smoke bombs in the pickup cavity.

Damn, he was cool.

"New York Groove"

Now, we've got to talk about Ace's first solo album because this is what made people realize what a musical force he was.

In 1978, each member of KISS released a self-titled solo album on the same day. Of the four, Ace's was the bestseller, as it should've been, because it's brilliant.

The best-known song off the album is without a doubt "New York Groove," which is a cover of a song by the band  Hello.

If you don't recognize it by now, you will as soon as you hear it, and you'll probably be humming the chorus for the rest of the day.

Fun fact about this album: the drummer on it was Anton Fig, who is best known for having been the drummer in David Letterman's house band.

"Rip It Out"

Sticking with Ace's solo record, we need to give some love to the opening track, "Rip It Out."

To do that, let's turn it over to Austin:

This anthemic album opener packs some serious punch and was a great way for the Space Ace to announce his arrival as a solo artist. 

It features all the guitar pyrotechnics one would look for in a vintage Ace Frehley effort and is a phenomenal driving song (provided you have a little extra dinero squirreled away for the inevitable speeding ticket). Crank this one the next time you're on a road trip and thank me later.

"Snow Blind"

There are so many good tracks on this album (another one of my favorites is "Ozone"), but let's wrap up with "Snow Blind."

Not to be confused with the Black Sabbath song "Snowblind" or the Styx song "Snowblind," all of which I have to assume are about cocaine… but maybe they really are just about being blinded by frozen precipitation.

Anyway, Austin's got more on this tune, which has one of the best riffs on the entire album:

A groovy little chromatic shuffle, "Snow Blind" is a heavy tour de force that sounds like it was plucked straight from the cutting room floor of some of those late '70s Kiss albums. 

The chorus shows off a little of Ace's singing range, as most of his songs that feature his voice are a little phoned in, vocally speaking. Not here, though, as Frehley croons his heart out in this not-so-thinly-veiled ode to cocaine. Heavy riff, great vocals (for Ace, anyway), and a classic bend-o-rama solo, this is Frehley at his best.

"Rock Soldiers"

Ace left KISS (for the first time) in 1982 and eventually put together a band called Frehley's Comet, which is such a great name.

They released a self-titled album in 1987, and the song "Rock Soldiers" is, without a doubt, the definitive Ace Frehley solo/Frehley's Comet song.

It also has a fantastically '80s music video, which is worth looking up.

The Tom Snyder Interview

This last one isn't a song, but I think it's worth checking out.

At the height of their power, KISS was guests on The Tomorrow Show with Tom Snyder, and Ace absolutely stole the show (much to the apparent chagrin of others *cough*Gene*cough*).

Ace wrote about the appearance in his book, and you can see the whole thing online, but here's a highlight that shows what a hilarious guy Ace was.

And with that, go turn up your turntables and Bluetooth speakers, folks.

Rest in peace, Ace.