Strange Ways
by Kiss

Album: Hotter Than Hell (1974)
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Songfacts®:

  • Ace Frehley: "I love 'Strange Ways.' I just came up with the riff. It was one of those inspired, heavy tunes. I didn't feel comfortable as a singer at that point. Gene and Paul are very intimidating people. A lot of the time they tend to make people feel inadequate. It took me a while to get over my feeling of inadequacy. I didn't think I was as good a singer as I am. It took me a while to come out of my shell. Whenever I wrote songs in the early days, I'd always ask Peter (drummer Peter Criss) to sing so he would get some of the spotlight. I wasn't that secure with myself as a singer around Gene, Paul and Peter. They were all confident lead singers and even though I knew I could sing, they didn't encourage it, so, I just kind of laid back. 'Strange Ways' was never performed live by KISS. I had forgotten just how heavy it was. One of my favorite guitar solos is the one on 'Strange Ways'. It was done in one take. I just closed my eyes and that's what came out. Usually, I record in the control room, but for that solo I went out and stood in front of the amp and got that wild feedback bend at the beginning. It sounded like a dinosaur."
  • Peter Criss: "Ace wrote it and I sang it. It was really different for me, really heavy and new. I'd never sung anything like it, it wasn't exactly R&B. It was a great challenge to me and I loved it." >>
    Suggestion credit:
    Ken - LaSalle, Canada, for above 2

Comments: 8

  • Luna Loud from Royal Woods, MichiganAce's solo band plays this song live regularly.
  • Acefan from UsaAccording to setlist.fm, "Strange Ways" was played once: https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/kiss/1975/commodore-ballroom-vancouver-bc-canada-73ca1e31.html
  • Jeff from Williamsport, PaAce's solo in this is AWESOME with all the distortion, and the unique chord progression. Sometimes Ace would play a wrong note and bend the string until the tones matched. For the people who just blindly state that Kiss doesn't have talent, listen to Ace's solo in this. If you have any music knowledge you'll hear the greatness.
  • Axeman from Melbourne, AustraliaJust so every1 knows this ISN'T the KISS version of Strangeways!
  • Francisco from Cudahy, Cai wonder how it would have been live this is my favorite KISS song. Rock on ACE!!!!!!!!!!
  • Andrew from TorontoA drum solo?I did,nt know that,thankfully that did,nt happen.God bless ya Pete but your solo album with Kiss showed the world that you don't even speak the same language.
  • Eddie from Acton, MePeter Criss wanted to do a long drum solo in the middle of this song.
  • Andrew from TorontoI love this tune and album.It is very dark sounding due in part to the muddy production which hampers this record somewhat,but still a great song.You can,t really go wrong with the first three records,until money,substance abuse,over production and egos took over.
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