''Space Invader'' is the fourth solo album by former

Kiss A kiss is the touching or pressing of one's lips against another person, animal or object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely; depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sex ...

guitarist

Ace Frehley Paul Daniel "Ace" Frehley (, ; born April 27, 1951) is an American musician who was the original lead guitarist, occasional lead vocalist and founding member of the rock band Kiss (band), Kiss. He invented the persona of The Spaceman (a.k.a. ...

, released in the UK on August 18, 2014, and in the US on August 19 via

eOne Music MNRK Music Group (pronounced "monarch"), formerly known as Koch Records and Entertainment One (eOne) Music/Records, is an American independent record label and music management company based in New York City. It was formed in 1987 as a music div ...

. His first album of new studio material since 2009's '' Anomaly'', it was produced by Frehley, and recorded at The Creation Lab in

Turlock, California Turlock is a city in Stanislaus County, California, United States. Its population was 72,740 at the 2020 United States census, making it the second-largest city in Stanislaus County after Modesto. History Founded on December 22, 1871, by pr ...

. Reaching No.9 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart, it is the only solo album by a past or current Kiss member to attain a US top ten position.

Artwork

The cover art was by fantasy artist Ken Kelly, who painted covers for the Kiss albums ''

Destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...

'' (1976) and ''

Love Gun ''Love Gun'' is the sixth studio album by American hard rock band Kiss, released on June 30, 1977. Casablanca Records and FilmWorks shipped one million copies of the album on this date. It was certified platinum and became the band's first top ...

'' (1977). "It was very exciting when I was approached with the idea of doing an album cover for Ace," he said. "I am very pleased with the results and proud to play a part of Ace's continuing successful career!"

Reception

"His music still has the raw edge and offbeat sensibility that he brought to early Kiss and the best of his subsequent work…" opined ''

Classic Rock Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...

''. "The title track is quintessential Frehley; 'Toys' reminiscent of

Aerosmith Aerosmith is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of lead vocalist Steven Tyler, bassist Tom Hamilton (musician), Tom Hamilton, drummer Joey Kramer, and guitarists Joe Perry (musician), Joe Perry and B ...

circa ''

Rocks In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks form the Earth's ...

''. And on two other space odysseys – 'Past the Milky Way' and the seven-minute instrumental 'Starship' – Ace travels to places that Kiss could never reach."

Track listing

Personnel

;Band members *

– lead and backing vocals, guitars, bass, sound effects, producer, engineer * Chris Wyse – bass * Matt Starr – drums, percussion, backing vocals ;Additional musicians *Alex Salzman – keyboards *Phil Allen, Chris Cassone, Rachael Gordon, Ken Gullic,

Warren Huart Warren Huart (born 28 January 1969) is an English record producer, musician, composer and recording engineer based in Los Angeles, California who is most associated as a music producer and/or engineer in the recording industry as a multi-platin ...

, Ronnie Mancuso,

Larry Russell __NOTOC__ Larry Russell (October 14, 1913 – February 14, 1954) was an American composer working mostly in the motion picture industry. He is widely remembered as being one of three writers of the song " Vaya Con Dios", which has been recorded ove ...

– backing vocals ;Production *Warren Huart – engineer, mixing *Mike Everett, Alex Salzman, Ronnie Mancuso, Mark Greene,

– engineers *Phil Allen – assistant engineer *Adam Ayan – mastering *Paul Grosso – creative director, design * Ken Kelly – cover painting *Jayme Thornton – photography

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2014 albums Ace Frehley albums MNRK Music Group albums Albums with cover art by Ken Kelly (artist)