“All the kids would record it with their iPhones, and then A/B it and say, ‘Yeah, this isn’t live’”: Ace Frehley talked his label out of making him do a live album to follow 10,000 Volts
Frehley plans instead to record a third instalment of his Origins cover album series.
Ace Frehley. Credit: Daniel Knighton/Getty
Ace Frehley has revealed that he shot down the idea of doing a live album instead of a third instalment of his Origins cover album series.
The former Kiss guitarist’s label had pitched the idea to him as a follow-up to his recent album 10,000 Volts. However, he rejected it on the basis that live albums are less relevant when anyone attending a show can capture it for themselves with their phone and footage usually circulates around the internet in the days after.
“I just got off the phone with my record company a few hours ago and they wanted me to do a live album instead of Origins Volume Three, but I talked them out of it,” Frehley tells Goldmine. “I said to them, ‘Listen, when Kiss did Alive and Alive II, we didn’t allow recording of shows.’
“But every time I do a concert now, everybody’s recording the show with their iPhone. So even if I make some mistakes or sing flat here or there live, I can doctor it up in the studio and do overdubs and so forth, but all the kids are going to have the original concert, and they’re going to A-B it and say, ‘This isn’t live.’”
He continues: “So yeah, I talked them out of the idea and today we decided to definitely go through with Origins Volume Three. I can’t tell you just yet but I’m going to have some very special guest stars.”
The previous instalments of Origins were released in 2016 and 2020 respectively and saw Frehley collaborate with a host of special guests including Slash, Lita Ford and ex-bandmate Paul Stanley.