How would you imagine the soundtrack in Ace’s spaceship? I bet it would include Rolling Stones, Hendrix, Cream, Free and Zeppelin in a frenzy, intoxicating, sensual mix-tape dipped in excesses and Frehley’s rock’n’roll lifestyle.
“Origins Vol.1” features covers of some huge classics, as well as three KISS renditions. The big surprise of the album is Paul Stanley’s contribution on Free’s “Fire And Water” that makes this collaboration the first for the duo in many many years, although they didn’t actually meet in some studio to work on the track, but exchanged files digitally (one of the downsides of the digital age). The best song on the album is “Magic Carpet Ride”, not because it’s played differently than the original, but because it fits like a glove with is playful, melodic, swaggery, retro feel. It’s definitely a highlight on the album, as well as “White Room” and “Emerald” with Slash trading guitar solos with Ace on a six string Les Paul holocaust. The album features more special guests, Lita Ford who actually steals the show on the Trogg’s anthem “Wild Thing” and John 5 on “Spanish Castle Magic”.
In general, cover albums like this one don’t add much to an artists’ career or the fans, except from one more purchase for the collection. Nevertheless, Ace is doing a decent job recently having released two honest albums in “Anomaly” and “Space Invader”, so I guess “Origins” is a kind of a break, but still the “Vol.1” indication worries me…
