With the incredible reaction the public has had regarding the limited edition Ace Frehley Signature Guitar, it occurs to me that the impact of Ace extends far, far beyond the walls here at Gibson.

With the desktop arrival of Ace Frehley's 12 Picks, I was given an opportunity to experience the power of Mr. Frehley first hand.

This 12-song, er, um "pick" collection consists of six studio tracks and six live tracks, all recorded/performed over the course of Ace's solo career (after his departure from KISS, before last year's reunion tour).

"Frehley's Comet" was the name of the all-star band put together by Ace. The group went through many lineup changes but consisted primarily of Anton Fig of David Letterman's show, John Regan of Peter Frampton fame and Tod Howarth, who does a pretty good Paul Stanley impression on lead vocals and backing guitar.

Anyway, the studio tracks sound dated and dull, especially because of needless keyboard frivolity. With the exception of "Rock Soldiers" which somehow possesses a charm and vibe of sincerity that shines through the studio gimmickry, I pretty much skipped the first six, despite cameos by Peter Criss and members of Skid Row. The last seven tracks (recorded at London's Hammersmith Odeon Theater) is where the CD comes alive, no pun intended.

Stand-in drummer Jamie Oldaker had just stepped off the road with Eric Clapton while Regan, if I'm not mistaken, provided the thumping low end on the legendary Frampton Comes Alive record. Needless to say, Ace is no stranger to a stage. The combined live experience of this group really shows. This is a raucous, spontaneous, deliciously sloppy exercise in rock and roll excess. The guitars are full blast the whole time and each tune is played like the world was to implode an hour after the gig.

Highlights include "Cold Gin" and "Shock Me" (this reviewer's personal favorite Ace tune), both replete with extended guitars solos and ear-bleed feedback fueled concert endings.

As a lead guitarist, Ace proves surprisingly fleet-fingered, yet melodic, and of course milking his signature descending pull-off lick for all it's worth. At the tail-end of "Shock Me," Ace does a little solo thing that falls somewhere between "Eruption" and Jimi Page's instrumental break in "Heartbreaker." It was okay; his leads sounded far better in the context of a song.

All in all, this is probably a must for any KISS fanatic but not a great place to start if you're a KISS newbie. 12 Picks is probably best heard using a strong diet of KISS as a point of reference.