The ludicrous joy of the Vinnie Vincent Invasion


The Vinnie Vincent Invasion are a not-so-guilty pleasure of mine. I have the first album on vinyl and the second on tape, and they still get an airing on a basis that is slightly more regular than is healthy. Love him or loathe him, there's no denying that Vinnie Vincent and his insane (not to mention slightly sloppy at times) guitar playing summed up an era of hard rock excess that the scene hasn't really had ever since.

Sure, the tunes were cookie-cutter rock and the solos were so OTT as to be almost comedic (well, they were on the first album. On 'All Systems Go' the histrionics had been reined in a bit), but those albums were a ton of fun and still pack some punch today.

The above video is for the lead track from the self titled debut album, and is noteworthy as the vocalist in the video, Mark Slaughter (who went on to find greater fame with the Slaughter band), is actually lip synching to a different singer, namely original vocalist Robert Fleschman.

I adore the Vinnie Vincent Invasion albums. They have some superb songs, such as the immaculate 'Back On The Street' on the debut and 'Ashes To Ashes' and 'Love Kills' on the second opus. It's a shame the third album by the Vinnie Vincent Invasion, recorded in 1990, remains unreleased to this day, as more lightspeed guitar solos are always a good thing. We miss you, Vinnie!

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