Bruce Kulick has reflected upon his tenure in Kiss, noting that the band’s decision to not bring him back was ultimately “the right way to go.”

For more than a decade, Kulick was Kiss’ guitarist, playing on five studio albums: Asylum (1985), Crazy Nights (1987), Hot in the Shade (1989), Revenge (1992) and Carnival of Souls (1997). His era coincided with Kiss’ unmasked period, so Kulick never donned makeup or an onstage persona.

It was somewhat surprising that Kiss didn’t invite Kulick back into the band after Ace Frehley quit for a second (and final) time in 2002, instead opting to bring in Tommy Thayer. In a recent conversation with Loaded Radio (transcribed by Blabbermouth), Kulick said he understood the band’s decision making.

READ MORE: The Day Ace Frehley Played His Last Kiss Show

“Not everyone’s aware of some of the backstory,” the guitarist noted. “I would hear things about them having problems with Ace and Ace was getting erratic or difficult. And Tommy Thayer was actually tour managing with them; he was on the road with them. Because even during my era, he was involved with the band, helping with Kisstory and doing things for the group. He wrote some songs with Gene [Simmons] and was always part of the inner circle, shall I say.”

According to Kulick, Thayer secretly filled in for Frehley on two different occasions prior to the guitarist’s exit.

“There was one or two things that Kiss did — not a concert, even though once Ace was almost not gonna make it and they made Tommy get the outfit on. [He had a] similar build — tall and thin — and Ace made it to the show. But there were a couple of other things they needed to do. I believe That ’70s Show, when they were taping, Ace didn’t show up. ‘Tommy, get the outfit on.’ And then I think there was a private gig, too, that no one would really know about — one of those things where you go to an island and play for some rich people. And Ace wouldn’t go.”

“If they ever had a thought of me, I think they would have known that that probably would have been a lot harder,” Kulick continued. “Tommy was younger, there already, if you know what I mean, working with them. And Tommy, not everybody knows that he was in a tribute band for fun at times called Cold Gin as Ace Frehley.”

‘I Never Felt Like They Made the Wrong Choice’

While Kulick admitted he may have accepted the job if he was offered it, he ultimately recognized that taking on Frehley’s Spaceman persona wouldn’t have been a good fit.

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“I miss being in Kiss,” the rocker confessed. “I do realize it would have kind of pooped on my era because then I’d have to kind of play the role of the ‘Spaceman’ and shoot rockets and play more like Ace. I was never given that direction from Gene and Paul [Stanley], where Tommy knew that it actually was more comfortable with his natural style of guitar playing… So I never felt like they made the wrong choice — ever. I always felt that was the right way to go because then Tommy could assume the role of the Spaceman in the group.”

“I actually kind of lost the big gig on many levels for the right reasons though,” Kulick surmised. “And I was never fired the first time. It was simply, ‘Well, we’re making all this money. Now we’re selling out from arenas to stadiums in makeup.’ So my era ran its course.”