Tales from the Spaceman: Ace Frehley's, "No Regrets".

Cover of Ace Frehley's, "No Regrets".

Though I don't normally do book reviews-- I felt this would make a great first (of hopefully many more), considering it being a KISS-related and music-related topic. Through all of the KISS books that have just came out over the past few years-- Ace' Frehley's autobiography, "No Regrets" was first of the recent string of self-penned books by the band and seemed to cause a chain-reaction in the release of Peter Criss's book, Paul Stanley's autobiography as well, and the KISS, "Nothin' To Lose" book by both Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley on the creation of the band and its early years.

The previous two I haven't had the pleasure of fully reading just yet. However, I have read Peter Criss's, "KISS and Make-Up" as well as the biography of the whole group, "KISS: Behind the Mask" by Ken Sharpe and David Leaf. The different angles and perspectives of the band make each book, especially Ace's in particular, all worth reading for KISS fans.

Ace's book is a total mind-blower of a tale: full of car crashes, fireworks, guitar solos, wild women-- if he had not have actually lived it, it would sound more like a James Bond flick. Unlike some books that tend to fast-forward up to a certain point of time-- Ace takes you from his childhood to long walks in New York in his years as a gang member; onward to his first moments of picking up a guitar and the moment KISS began, as well as the journey of his solo career. Basically, Frehley doesn't leave anything out. 

Ace's story is also told in what might seem at first to be a bit of a cliche rockstar-alcoholic-goes-to-rehab-defeats-struggles-then-triumphs-over-alcoholism lens. In reality, his story is not so black and white and cannot be simplified as just another sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll story. Of course, all those elements are present in his story-- but it's just one portion of it, and it doesn't revolve around that. The story shines a light on the harsh realities of those situations, and the portions of the story about his struggles don't leave the reader bored and rolling their eyes. Instead, it leaves you thrilled at his overcoming his addiction while witnessing his rising to be arguably one of the most exciting guitarists of rock 'n roll history. 

Ace Frehley & his famous smoking guitar.

Ace's story is unique in the incredible up-close glimpses he gives you into his life, the sort of thing most people can only imagine-- yet within those rare sneak-peeks of seemingly unfathomable stardom he also mentions the less obvious moments he encountered, and these are often the most exciting moments of the book. Some highlights such as these are when he tells of meeting Mitch Mitchell (drummer of the Jimi Hendrix Experience) and Steppenwolf by sneaking backstage and simply pretending as if he was part of a stage-crew and casually walking past security; setting up drums for Mitchell and changing guitar strings for Steppenwolf.

Ace's book gives you his first-hand account of joining and the formation of KISS, designing the logo and his makeup, the explosion of their fan-base with KISS Alive!, his personal philosophy on guitar playing and solo improvisation, his light-bulb moment when he created his smoking guitar-- to his struggles with the band, fighting to get some of his material included like, "Shock Me", the seed of separation being set with the simultaneous four solo albums releasea, the outrageous filming of KISS Meets the Phantom Park, and so much more!

This book is an incredibly fun and insightful look into KISS's original lead guitarist and there is something remarkable for every KISS fan, or quite possibly any music fan in general for that matter. It is one of the most memorable and unique stories from a critical member of a band that pioneered so many exciting aspects into putting on a rock 'n roll show that no one else before or since has ever even dreamed of.