Considering their contributions to the rock music scene in terms of guitar playing techniques, it’s no doubt that KISS’ Ace Frehley and Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page are highly influential guitarists. Throughout his career in KISS, Frehley became known for his atmospheric, melodic, and aggressive playing. Page rose to prominence with his unique guitar riffs and varied style in Led Zeppelin.
As of now, Ace Frehley and Jimmy Page are continuing their career as solo musicians. Since they are two guitarists who have played in the same era, many compare Frehley and Page to each other in their guitar playing styles. While the vast majority puts Page above Frehley, Megadeth’s Marty Friedman once said Frehley’s guitar playing is better than Page’s.
Marty Friedman Said Ace Frehley’s Guitar Playing Was Superior To Jimmy Page’s
Speaking to WRIF’s Meltdown podcast in 2017, former Megadeth guitarist Marty Friedman revealed he had been a big fan of KISS since his childhood. He then remembered when the people around him claimed that Jimmy Page had done everything Ace Frehley was doing.
Friedman stated Frehley had something special, and Page had a fantastic playing, but one couldn’t say what solo Page was playing because it was random. He then claimed Frehley planned out what to play, and his guitar playing was well constructed despite being simple.
Implying Frehley is his number one, Friedman added that he quickly got so much satisfaction while trying to play the KISS icon’s works. According to Friedman, making a guitar style that even kids can play is the work of an ultimate guitar god.
In the interview with WRIF’s Meltdown podcast, Marty Friedman said the following:
“I don’t know what Ace had, but he really had something special. I remember as a kid, people used to say, ‘All the stuff that Ace is doing, Jimmy Page did before.’ And I said, ‘No! Jimmy Page has some fantastic things, but oftentimes, when you needle drop, you can’t say what solo he’s playing because it’s just random!’
Ace’s stuff seemed planned out, and it seemed well constructed for such basic stuff. I was playing that stuff after playing guitar for about a year. And that’s the ultimate. If you can make a style of guitar music that kids can play and wanna play, and get so much satisfaction in such an early period, that’s the ultimate guitar god.“
He then continued:
“When you got guys like Van Halen, and guys like myself, that do this difficult stuff, there’s no way that guys are going to get any satisfaction when they’re playing that stuff in a year. So that’s kind of negative as far as I’m concerned, at least in my case.
But I look at Ace Frehley, and I go, ‘This is the ultimate.’ I got so much enjoyment out of playing like Ace when I was a teenager. It was a really big deal for me. So, I can’t say enough good things about the guy.”
So, Marty Friedman believed creating basic guitar riffs that can even be understood and played by the kids and getting so much reputation for these simple works equals being an ultimate guitar god. Moreover, the guitarist thinks Page is also a great guitarist, but his style is not well-constructed and planned like Frehley’s.
