Ace is back and he told you so. Quite an apt lyric as this was Ace’s first attempt at going solo after his removal from Kiss. His battles with exotic substances have been well documented, especially by his former band mates who would use this as an excuse not to bring him back in to Kiss.
When you compare this album to what Kiss were doing at the same time – this holds up really well – and I would say it’s better. At least Ace is being honest with who writes the tunes – unlike his ex employers who would buy songs from outside writers and then put them down as Simmons/Stanley compositions. So the anthem that is Rock Soldiers get us underway, with it’s spoken lyrics by Ace – its very Kiss sounding. Breakout is next and is a great song and a nice track to follow on. The next song shows how weak Ace’s voice is, and it’s not that good of a tune if I’m honest – even though Ace plays a nice solo. Something Moved follows and is a better tune, and a typical hair rock track of the day – written and sang by Tod Howarth who would later join Dave Lee Roth’s band. Side closer, We Got Your Rock, is a typical 80’s stomper sing-a-long tune.
Over to side 2 we go and Love Me Right gets things underway with it’s semi funky riff and an Ace vocal. Calling To You starts off with a riff you have heard a million times before, and could have been any band of the time, but it’s an ok tune. Dolls is a quirky tune about Ace’s love of dolls. He doesn’t specify which type, but you get the drift. Stranger In A Strange Land is the penultimate track and is another typical stomper track. The final track is the instrumental, Fractured Too, not a bad tune – it just doesn’t do a whole lot and doesn’t go anywhere.
As I said earlier, it’s comparable with what Kiss were churning out, and in places it is really good. It sort of sums up Ace really.
7.5/10 from The Grooveman.
