Recently interviewed by Eonmusic, guitarist Bruce Kulick mentioned that Kiss made the right choice to get guitarist Tommy Thayer on board, replacing Ace Frehley back in 2002.
Here’s what the guitarist said:
“When I knew that Ace was causing problems for them, I heard the rumblings from people I knew that were close to the band, and I was always wondering like, would they really ask me to become the Spaceman, but basically negating everything from my era.
”Because I would then have to shoot rockets from my guitar; I would never play a whammy-bar solo in that outfit; I would then be playing Ace, maybe more note for note, something I never had to do.
“I really think they made the right choice, knowing what they were trying to do, which was just trying to sell the characters and the make-up version of the band.
“By going with Tommy [Thayer] it was no harm, no foul; there’s no connection to any era that wasn’t when they were doing the make-up. I was sad that I wouldn’t be in Kiss, and somebody else would now be in Kiss instead of the original guy.”