The album “A Million Dollars” by KISS, which Ace Frehley would have bet would not be successful

Ex-KISS guitarist Ace Frehley’s opinion of the rock band’s controversial album from 1981 was not one of those instances in which it is possible to tell with full certainty whether an album will be a success or a failure. In most cases, it is difficult to say what the outcome of an album will be. According to Frehley, he was quite certain that the album would not be successful in terms of sales for the record label. When he finally heard the final cassette tape, he was so outraged that he smashed it against a wall. In fact, he is still upset about it. But, hey, at least there is some satisfaction in acknowledging that you are correct, right?

The album that Ace Frehley knew would be a failure was the KISS album.
At the beginning of the 1980s, the American rock band KISS had a difficult time connecting with their audience. Following a string of consecutive commercial failures, the four members of the band set out on a mission to create an album that was comparable to Tommy by The Who. Music from “The Elder” was an album that was released in 1981 and was characterized by its theatricality, orchestration, and high level of controversy. On the other hand, members of the band would go on to state that the record was a mistake, and that Gene Simmons is the one who is responsible for it. The record was criticized by audiences and critics alike.

What about Ace Frehley? He was aware of everything the whole time.
The former KISS guitarist stated that the music from “The Elder” was a mistake during an interview that took place in 2018 at the Musicians Institute in Hollywood. He also shared this information with his bandmates and producer Bob Ezrin. I was constantly telling all of those guys that this album was not appropriate for the time period that we were in. Fans, in my opinion, are interested in hearing a powerful hard rock record. A deaf ear was just shown to me by them. ‘It’s not going to work,’ I remarked, and of course, the record was a complete and utter failure.

“I suppose I was still able to keep a handle on what was going on. Frehley remarked, “Those guys never had any basic understanding of street culture.” The following is an excerpt from a statement made by BlabberMouth: “I always had my pulse on what was going on, and I knew all the time—I would have bet a million dollars that the album was going to fail.”

Ace Frehley, the guitarist for KISS, firmly listed the album “Music from The Elder” as his least favorite KISS album in an interview that took place in 1993 with Guitar World. “That album was really the icing on the cake, as far as me leaving the band is concerned,” Frehley recalled. “I never thought I would leave the band.” “In the first place, they brought in Bob Ezrin to produce, who is someone with whom I do not have a strong connection. In addition to that, I had the impression that the music on that album was not at all where we ought to have been headed at that moment in time.

KISS should not have attempted to release a “slick, bulls*** concept album,” according to Frehley, who stated that knowledge. After listening to the final mix of the record, I decided that I did not want it to be released anymore. On the other hand, I was not chosen. They removed fifty percent of my guitar solos without even informing me, despite the fact that I had performed some incredible things. I can very vividly recall grabbing the cassette away from me and hurling it against the wall. Our record of success was the lowest it could be. After all, I am aware that my instincts were correct.

On the other hand, hindsight has a tendency to soften even the most adamant of opinions. During his discussion at the Musicians’ Institute, Frehley conceded that the album, on its own, was not a horrible piece of work. Frehley believed that the most significant flaw was the album’s positioning in comparison to the other KISS albums. “As I was conducting an interview with Billboard magazine, they asked me, ‘What would happen if The Elder had never been released, and you went from Unmasked (1980) to Creatures of the Night (1982)?'” Due to the fact that I enjoy Creatures of the Night, I gave it some thought for a moment. It is heavy, it is powerful, and it is all that I described as being something that we need to be doing when we recorded The Elder. It is possible that Frehley did not leave the band, as he admitted. “However, unless we enter a time warp or a black hole, it is impossible to rewrite history,” the speaker said.