Remember all those classic rock bands that we (or our parents) grew up on? The bands that molded guitar-driven music into the art it is today? Didn't you ever wonder why and how such amazing groups disappeared so suddenly? I mean, these were pioneers of their genre, the geniuses and inventors that would inspire all who were to follow them and yet, for all their might, they dropped off the radar as suddenly as they seemed to appear. Where did they go? What are they doing now?

Generally these groups tended to fall apart because of a little known universal law that states that (much like coolness) only so much genius can occupy the same area at the same time before resulting in a slow-boiling catastrophic meltdown. In short, whenever a music group splits up, citing "artistics differences" as the reason, you can damned sure bet that someone's ego was outgrowing their usefulness to the rest of the band.

Nevertheless, the fact remains that these "artistic differences" have robbed the world of a great many of the most mind-blowingly amazing rock to ever grace creation and, as is always the case with high profile, almost iconic figures, we want to know what happened to them.

Ace Frehley (of KISS)

Possibly best known as "The Spaceman" character in the KISS lineup, Paul Daniel "Ace" Frehley has always been a talented guitarist (if somewhat overrated because of his role as KISS's lead axeman) and - as is too often the case with the gifted - he knew it.

Ace Frehley - along with drummer, Peter Criss - is often credited with being one of the major deciding factors leading to the eventual downfall of KISS as a band. His perpetual inebriation combined with his dissatisfaction with the musical route the band was taking, led Frehley to become less and less involved in KISS's musical output. In fact, Frehley had no involvement with KISS, aside from public appearances, from 1982 until the eventual offical removal of him from the group's roster in 1985.

Now, enough with rock history 101, let's get down to where Frehley is today.

Frehley has just released his first solo album in 20 years (that's right, his last solo studio effort came all the way back in 1989) obviously hoping to cash in on the memories and nostalgia of hardcore KISS fans. The album is entitled Anomoly and debuted on Billboard's Rock Albums at 8. Time will tell if it's ranked that high based solely on his name value, or onthe content of the album.

Mark Knopfler

Mark Knopfler was THE creative driving force behind the country rock group, Dire Straits. This, of course meant that when he decided to leave Dire Straits and pursue a more casual solo career the band's only reaction could be to disolve and quit playing all together.

Unlike Mr. Frehley above, Knopfler is not only a very talented individual, but he's also managed to maintain a very active and successful solo career - not waiting 20 years before releasing a new album :) - working on a number of soundtracks as well as standard albums. He may not be as big as he was with Dire Straits, but truth be told, he doesn't want to be, and that's perfectly all right.

Mark Knopfler has just released his ninth solo album (not including soundtracks) Get Lucky and is showing no signs of waning talent.

John Foggerty

The popular Swamp Rock band, Creedence Clearwater Revival was the brainchild of John Fogerty. It was also destroyed by his massive ego, only to be replaced by his far less impressive and less influential solo career. Chances are you've never heard the name John Fogerty before. On the other hand, there's a better than fair chance that you've at least been in the vicinity of someone mentioning Creedence Clearwater Revival. That gives you an indication of Fogerty's impact on the musical world without his former bandmates.

John Fogerty has gone through a number of stages in his solo career, retiring and returning from retirement over and over again (in fact the only constant he has maintained is his refusal to play with the former members of CCR out of anger at some imagined slight) and he has just recently (circa 2007) returned to the fold to continue inflicting his sounds upon unsuspecting people of taste everywhere.

John Fogerty's latest album, The Blue Rangers Rides Again, was released in August of this year, and has a country cover as cheesy as it's name. I've not found the courage yet to give it a listen.

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