The album that Ace Frehley said is the best of all time

Ace Frehley helped to form Kiss in New York City back in 1973 alongside Peter Criss, Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley. He was a fundamental part of the band’s sound during those first albums and also had a praised solo career afterwards.

He already talked about many of his influences as a guitar player and also revealed once which is the greatest album of all time in his opinion.

The album that Ace Frehley said is the best of all time

To Ace Frehley, the greatest album of all time is the Jimi Hendrix Experience debut album “Are You Experienced”, released in 1967. He mentioned the album when asked by Classic Rock in 2023. “Led Zeppelin changed my life. And Hendrix’s first record, Are You Experienced, was revolutionary. I used to carry that record to high school and just stare at the pictures on the cover,” he said.

Produced by The Animals bassist Chas Chandler, the album also had the legendary Hendrix bandmates Mitch Mitchell (Drums) and Noel Redding (Bass). Some of the most famous songs from that record are “Foxy Lady”, “Manic Depression”, “Red House”, “Fire” and “Are You Experienced”.

Frehley had the chance to meet Hendrix

The original Kiss guitarist had the chance to see Hendrix playing up-close when he was young. Freheley snuck backstage and they put him to work as a roadie.

He recalled that story in an interview with Guitar World in 2014. “I remember walking around with it all the time (‘Are You Experienced’ album). (So) I brought it to school with me and showed it to everyone. I brought it to band rehearsals. I lived with that album until someone ripped it off at a party. Of course, I went right out and bought another one. My guitar style was modeled after a lot of musicians, and Hendrix was definitely one of them. But even more than the music, what really influenced me was his attitude. The way he dressed, the way he looked. He was so anti-establishment, and nobody wrote music like him. I loved ‘Are You Experienced’ and ‘Purple Haze.’”

He continued:

“(…) And I got a chance to meet him when I was 18. I snuck backstage at his last New York appearance at Randall’s Island. They ended up putting me to work with the road crew. Back then, they didn’t have laminates or heads of security. If you looked like you belonged with the band, they let you go backstage. I had hair down to my waist, lemon-yellow hot pants and a black T-shirt with a snakeskin star on it. So they let me in. But after a while, they were like, ‘Who is this fuckin’ guy?’ But before they kicked me out, they said, ‘Can you do anything?’ And they put me to work setting up Mitch Mitchell’s drums and working on the stage when Jimi was playing. It was bizarre.”

Ace covered a few Jimi Hendrix songs during his career, like “Spanish Castle Magic” and “Manic Depression”. Those versions were respectively part of his covers album “Origins Vol. 1” (2016) and “Origins Vol. 2” (2020).