Customer Reviews

All Systems Go

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

All Systems Go, the second full-length album from Vinnie Vincent Invasion that was released in 1988, is a consistent and enjoyable piece of music. This disc contains a total of 11 tracks--"Ashes to Ashes," "Dirty Rhythm," "Love Kills," "Naughty Naughty," "Burn," "Let Freedom Rock," "That Time of Year," "Heavy Pettin'," "Ecstasy," "Deeper and Deeper," and "Breakout." Overall, the musicianship is proficient, the songwriting is good, and the sound quality is tight, polished, and clean. All of the material is in a straight-ahead hard rock musical vein. Of the 11 cuts, eight of them are straightforward hard rockers, and the other three are power ballads ("Love Kills," "That Time of Year," "Ecstasy"). Vinnie Vincent, ex-Kiss, does a talented, unique, and energetic job with the guitar playing throughout--he undoubtedly is an original-sounding guitarist. I also think that Mark Slaughter does well with the singing; his high-pitched vocal delivery is both ambitious and spirited. I like every one of the songs. They all contain enjoyable harmony vocals. The ones that I consider to be personal favorites are the opening tune "Ashes to Ashes," the smooth "Love Kills," the pleasing "That Time of Year," and the rewarding "Ecstasy." The effervescent, catchy "Ashes to Ashes" features noteworthy rhythm guitar work and a creative, memorable, fleet-fingered guitar solo from Vincent. "Love Kills," a nice power ballad, displays enjoyable singing and a pleasing, melodic guitar solo. Another tuneful power ballad, "That Time of Year," provides an attractive chorus and a pleasurable guitar solo. The well-written, notable power ballad "Ecstasy," one of my favorite songs from Vinnie Vincent Invasion (and in general), is a touching and infectious confection--it exhibits inspired and impressive vocals from Slaughter, a good guitar solo, and luminescent harmony vocals. Other examples of compositions that I like are the sprightly-sounding "Burn," the hard rocking and urgent "Let Freedom Rock," and the fast-paced "Breakout." "Burn" sports a cool intro, a nice main guitar riff, emphatic harmony vocals, and a feisty, swift-fingered guitar solo. An interesting facet of "Let Freedom Rock" is its intro that's made up of Vincent's cool guitar rendition of the "Star Spangled Banner." I also like the tight guitar riff to "Let Freedom Rock." "Breakout" is also a vigorous one that features a nice falsetto from Slaughter. This digitally remastered CD is an import from England. The CD booklet includes the song lyrics. The back of the CD booklet shows four black-and-white photographs of each individual member of the band. Also, there's an individual black-and-white photo of each of the guys behind the CD tray. The back of the CD jewel case has a group photo that's in color. I like the CD cover artwork, too. The disc's total length is just over 49 minutes. It's nice to finally have All Systems Go on CD and not just on cassette. This is an album that I've enjoyed listening to since I first got it in 1988. It's a worthy and enjoyable album from Vinnie Vincent Invasion.

... yes, I mean FINEST. This is the Invasion's most promising release (too bad it was this band's last). Both metal appeal and pop appeal, thx to the voice and persona of then-unknown vocalist Mark Slaughter. "Love Kills" and "That Time of the Year" are metal ballads at their finest: both rhythmic guitar picking and strumming and loud leads and ear-catching arrangements not heard in their contemporaries. One complete listen to this album will tell ANY rock music fan that this band had the makings of being one of the hottest bands of their time (late 80s, early 90s) (there are live recording floating around fan club sites which document this band as a moving force in rock at that time). Too bad for Vinnie: it seems there were conflicts between Vincent and Slaughter/Strum (vocals and bassist), and the latter two parted ways with Vincent and recorded (with Vincent's label, no less) as SLAUGHTER, selling millions to both rock and pop fans alike. I say "too bad" because you can hear the beginnings of what SLAUGHER became with this very CD.

Although this cd is a slightly weaker album than the previous Invasion album, it still kicks. Although Mark Slaughter's High pitched vocals take a little getting used to. Ashes to Ashes is the best hard rock anthem on this disc, followed by Dirty Rhythm. The last 3 songs worht going back to are Love Kills, Ecstasy, and That Time Of Year.
Its a must buy for any metal fan.
Vinnie did hold back on the shredding on this album (guess he wanted to show people he can do more than shred) because of that fact everyone considers this to be watered down, but just shredding does not make good rock music.

This is an EXCELLENT album!! Have to admit that Mark Slaughter steels the show though, his voice is amazing every song on this album rocks.My favorite are "That time of year" and "Love Kills" a song from the movie Nightmare on Elm street. Mark and Dana went on to form Slaughter and made amazing music with Blas Alias and Tim Kelly(rest in peace)Check out Slaughters cds. You will definitely LOVE this ALL SYSTEMS GO album.

Mark Slaughter takes over the helm at vocals, and the sound is a bit more refined on this second release than on the debut. Still extremely slashing, however, and more intense than almost all of Slaughter's followup band work. More intense, and better as well. Riffs flow and crunch throughout, with "Ashes to Ashes," "Naughty Naughty," "Burn," "Let Freedom Rock," and "Heavy Pettin'" all being non-stop cruisers, with the sassy "Heavy Pettin'" being the closest harbinger to the future Slaughter band's sound."That Time of Year" was the first single off of the release, but it's also one of the three somewhat toned-down tracks off the disc. Because of this, a lighter impression may have been given than was expected. Still, very driving work on the track, and some emotional vox by Slaughter. "Love Kills" is a mysterious tooler, and was the lead song for one of the "Nightmare on Elm Street" movies (the fourth??). Hear it for yourself at http://www.methodshop.com/mp3/ This album is a solid release, and overlooked in the grand scheme of both '80s heavy glam and hook-and-riff metal in general. Vinnie himself has slagged this record in the past, but I think that's more due to a possible falling out between him and Slaughter/Strum than anything else. The material rips; he has nothing to be ashamed of.....

First, I need to preach a bit! This is not the first release of ALL SYSTEMS GO on CD! This was originally released as a CD when it was brand spanking new, as was INVASION. CDs and players were out commercially 8 years before this was even released!

Vinnie Vincent's Invasion, although a short lived band, was great. The guitarist and main ingredient was Vinnie Vincent, from Kiss fame, Mark Slaughter on vocals, Dana Strum on bass and background vocals, and Bobby Rock on drums. This, their second and final release, featured once again searing guitar leads, overdubs, screeching vocals, excellent harmonies, and a driving beat. Within a year Vinnie's band would move on and become Slaughter.

Musically this band lacks nothing. The musicians play with precision, the vocals are great, the lyrics interesting, and the performances near flawless. I have to give credit to the production on this disc, as well, wonders were worked here just as they were on the first release. My favorite songs are "Love Kills" and "Ashes to Ashes", as the fate of the band would soon be. If you're into HOT guitar, great vocals, and songs with flash, try ALL SYSTEMS GO. IF you like it, I think you might, you only have one more CD to buy to finish your Invasion collection.

The first time I listened to this album, I was blown away by it. And to tell you the truth, I still am. This was the second and last album from The Vinnie Vincent Invasion, another 80's hair metal group that was formed by Vinnie Vincent, who joined KISS after Ace Frehley left. I enjoyed Invasion's first self-titled debut album, but in MY opinion, this was a better album. Since Robert Fleischman had left the band by the time Invasion had released and recorded this album, Mark Slaughter, who at the time was unknown and had performed in a few local bands in Las Vegas, was the lead vocalist on this album taking over for Fleischman and boy, he can sing. The songs and performances on this album are both really good,and while Mark Slaughter did a good job at taking over for Robert Fleischman (who, let me add was one of Journey's lead singers and co-wrote the hit song "Wheel In The Sky")Vinnie, drummer Bobby Rock,and bassist Dana Strum all shred on this album. For the heavier tracks, the best songs are "Dirty Rythmn", "Let Freedom Rock", "Breakout", and "Ashes To Ashes". For the ballads, the best songs are "That Time Of Year", "Ecstasy" (OK, maybe the title is a little misleading, but this is a very pretty song), and "Love Kills". Out of all of the tracks on this album, my favorites are "That Time Of Year" and "Dirty Rythmn". "That Time Of Year" is a very beautiful song about the relationship between a husband/wife or a boyfriend/girlfriend (song does not say which)and even though the husband/boyfriend really loves his wife/girfriend, he has to say good-bye to find what Vinnie calls in the song his "dreams of glory". "Dirty Rythmn" is a very fun rocker with cool lyrics, an excellent drum intro by Bobby Rock at the very beginning of the song, along with the fact that Mark Slaughter's nasal vocals work well with the lyrics of this track. All in all, this is a great CD. It was pretty much the last time Vinnie Vincent had his moment of fame, since he has not put out any full-length original albums in a long time (in 1996 he released a four song EP called "Euphoria" that was supposed to be a future full-length album that never saw the light of day, and his most recent album, 2002's "Speedball Jam" has some good guitar work on there, but it is very hard to find (I found it at a KISS expo). This, by the way, was also the band that turned into Slaughter, especially since once the time Invasion broke up, Mark Slaughter and Invasion bassist Dana Strum went on to form Slaughter, another hair metal group that was really big in the early 90's and are still around to this day. This was actually the album that resulted in me getting a copy of Slaughter's debut album, 1990's "Stick It To Ya". If you happen to be a fan of KISS or Slaughter (or both great bands)and you haven't purchased this album yet, then what are you waiting for? This was one of the best CDS of the 80's, and if you decide to buy this album, make a careful purchase- this album was re-issued with digitally remastered sound and two bonus tracks, and an import with both this album and Invasion's first album all on one disc were also released. Vinnie Vincent should be the next President of the USA!

I thought "Invasion" was a great album, but this one "All Systems Go" is even better. Don't get me wrong "Invasion" is still great, but "All Systems Go" is a gerat follow up. With Mark Slaughter being the Voice, Bobby Rock on drums, Dana Strum on Bass and Vocals and Vinnie Vincent on Guitars these guy's just tear it up on "All Systems Go". Ever since getting this cd it is one of my most played album's. "Love Kills" is my favorite song of all time and in my opinion one of the greatest power ballads ever. "Ashes to Ashes" is a great track to open up the album. Awesome rift in that song. From beginning to end there is not one bad song in my opinion. My personal favorites are "Love Kills", "Ashes to Ashes", and "Dirty Rhythm" but they are all awesome songs and this album is definetly worth it.

All Systems Go is the 2nd (and, it seems, final) album for Vinnie Vincent Invasion. This time around, Mark Slaughter is on vocals, and it's a much better album than the first.

The first disc was ambitious, but the vocals were so shrill it was tough to take. Never was the "nails-on-a-chalkboard" comparison so appropriate as it was on the first disc. This time around, the vocals are a big improvement. The lyrics aren't really any better, but the singing is.

The songwriting is better, too, and that's really what makes this record such an improvement over the first. The guitar tone is more listenable, the solos are a bit more restrained but still impressive, and the result is a better album.

Unfortunately, the group disbanded after this album and Vinnie's hardly been heard from since. He put out an EP a few years ago (once again featuring the shrieking of Robert Fleischman on vox--and it's just as hard to take as the 1st album), but that's about it. There was talk of a "Guitarmageddon" album a decade or so ago, but nothing has materialized. That's a shame, because this album was was one of the better (although usually overlooked) albums of the 80's.

So here it is the follow up to the spellbinding Invasion disc, and a very different beast it is too. The blistering guitar work is still on offer here, but certainly this time deeper in the mix, as the band (see record label) appeared to be pushing towards a more commercially accessible direction. As was the trend around this era for most metal bands we have a cry baby style vocalist trying to be a dab hand at being a Robert Plant wannabe, but never mind Mark Slaughter seems to add a little more warmth to the songs this time around, although the songs are not as strong as the last time around. "Ashes to Ashes" has Zeppelin karaoke written all over it and isn't really that great, but the follow up of "Dirty Rhythm" is much better being a very catchy sort of Kiss romp that Gene Simmons would have loved to have written I'm sure. "Love Kills" appeared on one of the Elm Street movies (which one I forget) and is just brilliant, I love these mega ballads that Vinnie can pen, Slaughter's vocal gymnastics do this one proud too...read "real" rock and "real" good, certainly worth the price of admission alone! "Naughty Naughty" is a little too much like Dirty Rhythm to be effective at this point on this CD and the vocals really irritate being too high in the mix drowning out any interest in this song quick smart. "Burn" is far more successful and has absolutely nothing in common with the Deep Purple song of the same name, sounding more like a sister song to "Animal" from the debut disc by the Invasion, as could really be a way to describe most of the rest of the material at the later end of this opus. However, two songs sit head and shoulders above the rest here and together with the afore mentioned "Love Kills" ensure that this disc earns four stars. Firstly, "That Time Of Year" is brilliant with its stylish power and class, a fantastic lead break, and maturity. This is the direction I would have liked to see Vinnie continue to take...alas ultimately to date no direction has been the direction taken! Oh well, next is "Ecstasy" which is the gem of the CD, I can really only describe this as (to date) the best Vinnie Vincent song I've ever heard, a song for the romantic in us all. I just love the one breath vocal stylings on this and again a non shredding and tasteful bit of guitar work. So in summary this CD really isn't really a patch on the jaw dropping originality of its predecessor, and earns most of its stars from a hand full of trax, but I guarantee you'll know which ones earnt them when you press play. Vinnie strap on that pink shark fin and come back and remind us what a talent the world has been missing...soon!!