Ace Frehley "Origins Vol. 1 (USA, eOne, EOM-CD-9399)"

Origins Vol. 1 is the fifth studio album by American guitarist Ace Frehley, released on April 13, 2016 in Japan and April 15 in the United States. It is a covers album which features guest appearances from Slash, Lita Ford, John 5, Mike McCready, and Frehley's former Kiss bandmate Paul Stanley. The album was announced on February 11, 2016.

In addition to covers of tracks by Cream and Thin Lizzy, Origins Vol. 1 features newly recorded versions of several Kiss songs which were written but not sung by Frehley, such as "Cold Gin" and "Parasite", as well as a new version of the Kiss song "Rock and Roll Hell" from the Creatures of the Night album, which he never performed on, as he was leaving the band at the time.

In a 2016 interview with The Pods & Sods Network, Ace described other songs that were considered, recorded and about plans for Origins Vol. 2.

The album entered the Billboard 200 chart at number 23 selling 16,113 in its first week, but totaling 16,386 copies including streams and tracks.

Track listing

1. "White Room" Jack Bruce, Pete Brown Cream 5:04
2. "Street Fighting Man" Mick Jagger, Keith Richards The Rolling Stones 4:01
3. "Spanish Castle Magic" (featuring John 5) Jimi Hendrix The Jimi Hendrix Experience 3:35
4. "Fire and Water" (featuring Paul Stanley) Andy Fraser, Paul Rodgers Free 4:11
5. "Emerald" (featuring Slash) Lynott/Robertson/Downey/Gorham Thin Lizzy 4:29
6. "Bring It On Home" Willie Dixon Led Zeppelin 4:26
7. "Wild Thing" (featuring Lita Ford) Chip Taylor The Troggs 3:45
8. "Parasite" (featuring John 5) Frehley Kiss 4:03
9. "Magic Carpet Ride" Rushton Moreve, John Kay Steppenwolf 3:43
10. "Cold Gin" (featuring Mike McCready) Frehley Kiss 5:18
11. "Till the End of the Day" Ray Davies The Kinks 2:27
12. "Rock and Roll Hell" Gene Simmons, Bryan Adams, Jim Vallance   Kiss 6:31

Recording information:

Warren Huart – producer (3, 7, 12), engineer, mixing

Ken Gullic – producer (12)

Sam Martin – engineer, mixing assistant

Alex Salzman – engineer

Mike Everett – engineer (2)

Josh Evans – overdubs engineer (10)

Greg Collins – vocals engineer (4)

Jonathan Burns – mixing assistant (4)

Pablo Valda, Eric Gonzales – mixing assistants

Adam Ayan – mastering

Kiss "Smashes, Thrashes & Hits (Japan, Mercury Records, PHCR-1146)"

Smashes, Thrashes & Hits is a compilation album by the American hard rock band Kiss. It was the fourth hits album overall but the second hits album released by the band in the United States (Killers and Chikara were not released there originally). Of the 15 songs on the album, two were new compositions, and three were released after the band's unmasking in 1983. The remaining 10 were all released during the band's years in make-up.

The two new songs on Smashes, Thrashes & Hits were "Let's Put the X in Sex" and "(You Make Me) Rock Hard," which featured a similar polished production style as 1987's Crazy Nights. They were both produced and co-written by guitarist/vocalist Paul Stanley and were accompanied by videos that received moderate airplay on MTV. Unusual for Kiss videos, Paul Stanley never plays the guitar in either video for the new songs.

Nearly all of the songs recorded by the band's original lineup were altered in one way or another, and the Axeology website has made a detailed walkthrough of the alterations, which include a different bass line, recorded by Gene Simmons in 1975, for the song "Rock and Roll All Night". "Beth" was re-recorded with lead vocals by drummer Eric Carr, who had replaced the original drummer Peter Criss in 1980. It was Carr's first lead vocal on a Kiss album. The cover art was done by Amy Guip and directed by Mitchell Kanner.

Track listing

All credits adapted from the original releases.

1. "Let's Put the X in Sex" Paul Stanley, Desmond Child previously unreleased 3:48
2. "(You Make Me) Rock Hard" Stanley, Child, Diane Warren previously unreleased 3:26
3. "Love Gun" (remix) Stanley Love Gun 3:31
4. "Detroit Rock City" (remix) Stanley, Bob Ezrin Destroyer 3:45
5. "I Love It Loud" (remix) Gene Simmons, Vinnie Vincent Creatures of the Night 3:48
6. "Deuce" (remix) Simmons KISS 3:20
7. "Lick It Up" Vincent, Stanley Lick It Up 3:53
8. "Heaven's on Fire" Stanley, Child Animalize 3:19
9. "Calling Dr. Love" (remix) Simmons Rock and Roll Over 3:38
10. "Strutter" (remix) Stanley, Simmons KISS 3:38
11. "Beth" (Eric Carr vocal) Peter Criss, Stan Penridge, Ezrin 1988 re-recording originally from Destroyer 2:46
12. "Tears Are Falling" Stanley Asylum 3:54
13. "I Was Made for Lovin' You" Stanley, Child, Vini Poncia Dynasty 4:29
14. "Rock and Roll All Nite" (remix) Stanley, Simmons Dressed To Kill 2:56
15. "Shout It Out Loud" (remix) Stanley, Simmons, Ezrin Destroyer 3:07

Total length: 51:54

Additional musicians

Peter Criss – drums on "Love Gun", "Detroit Rock City", "Deuce", "Calling Dr. Love", "Strutter", "Rock and Roll All Nite" and "Shout It Out Loud"

Ace Frehley – lead guitar on "Love Gun", "Detroit Rock City", "Deuce", "Calling Dr. Love", "Strutter", "I Was Made for Lovin' You", "Rock and Roll All Nite" and "Shout It Out Loud"

Vinnie Vincent – lead guitar on "I Love It Loud" and "Lick It Up"

Mark St. John – lead guitar on "Heaven's on Fire"

Anton Fig – drums on "I Was Made for Lovin' You"

Vini Poncia – keyboards on "I Was Made for Lovin' You"

Dick Wagner – acoustic guitar on "Beth"

Bob Ezrin – piano on "Beth"

Eddie Kramer - keyboards on "Love Gun"

Phil Ashley – keyboards on "Let's Put the X in Sex" and "(You Make Me) Rock Hard"

Kiss "Paul Stanley"

Paul Stanley is a 1978 solo album from Paul Stanley, the rhythm guitarist and lead vocalist of American hard rock band Kiss. It was one of four solo albums released by the members of Kiss on September 18, 1978. It is the only album of the four Kiss solo albums to feature all original songs, as Simmons, Criss and Frehley each recorded one cover song on their albums.

The album reached #40 on the US Billboard album chart. AllMusic gave the album 3 stars out of 5 and said that it is the most "Kiss-like" out of all the Kiss solo albums.

Track listing

All songs written by Paul Stanley, except tracks 2, 3 and 5, co-written by Mikel Japp.

1. "Tonight You Belong to Me" 4:41
2. "Move On" 3:12
3. "Ain't Quite Right" 3:34
4. "Wouldn't You Like to Know Me" 3:16
5. "Take Me Away (Together as One)" 5:26
6. "It's Alright" 3:38
7. "Hold Me, Touch Me (Think of Me When We're Apart)" 3:40
8. "Love in Chains" 3:34
9. "Goodbye" 4:09

Total length: 35:10