There's no love lost between Ace Frehley and the members of KISS. The guitarist left the band in 1982 and he recently told The Today Show in Australia that he split in order to get his life together. Frehley was indulging in the rock 'n' roll lifestyle too much and didn't like the direction of the band when he left.

"I quit because I started abusing substances and alcohol," Frehley said, Ultimate Classic Rock notes. "And I also wasn't agreeing with the direction of the way the band was going. You know, we had that big hit 'I Was Made For Loving You,' and I'm more of a blues-based rock guitar player."

The guitarist remembered being relieved when he left the group, saying, "I just felt like I was on a collision course with - I just thought I was gonna end up being a statistic. By the grace of God, I'm here today, clean sober eight years, and life's never been better."

Frehley said the first two years getting clean were difficult, but he doesn't miss his party days with KISS.

The musician is currently on the road, taking time to work on his follow-up to last year's Space Invader album. The new LP will include covers of classic tunes and material he contributed to his previous band. He confirmed "Parasite" from 1974's Hotter Than Hell as one of the tracks. Slash, Lita Ford and Pearl Jam's Mike McCready will join Frehley on the album.

"I'm going to get a lot of different guest stars to play with me on these tracks," he told 100% Rock Magazine. "And it's going to be a much easier record than this last one, because I don't have to write solos, and I don't have to write lyrics because they're already set. So, that's going to be another fun record for me, and I'm looking forward to that, you know, start tracking it out in between tours and whatnot."

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