Ace Frehely's first solo album after leaving Kiss, 1987's Frehley's Comet, was a decent effort -- easily on par with non-Frehley/Criss Kiss albums of the same era, but not as strong as his 1978 solo debut, Ace Frehley.

Frehley's 1988 release, Second Sighting, turned out to be his poorest solo effort, due to pedestrian songwriting (most of the compositions were penned by second guitarist Tod Howarth or with the help of outside writers) and an unwelcome, glossy production -- longtime Ace/Kiss producer Eddie Kramer was sorely missed.

The keyboard-heavy tracks "Time Ain't Runnin' Out," "Fallen Angel," "New Kind of Lover," and "It's Over Now" (the latter a schmaltzy power ballad) are all lowlights, while the album-closing instrumental, "The Acorn Is Spinning," fails to impress as much as 1978's "Fractured Mirror" or 1981's "Escape From the Island" (with Kiss) did.

A few tracks are reminiscent of Ace's expected heavy sound -- "Insane," "Juvenile Delinquent," and "Separate" (all suffer from half-baked lyrics, however) -- but it just isn't enough to prevent Second Sighting from being Ace's weakest solo outing to date.