Invasion [Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered]

Vinnie Vincent | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 8, 2003)
• Original Release Date: 1986
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
• Label: Capitol
• ASIN: B00009RDE9
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,877 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #23 in Music > Classic Rock > Glam

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars "a silver bullet through the heart", December 4, 2004

By 

mwreview "mwreview" (Northern California, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Invasion (Audio CD)

Invasion was the debut album from Vinnie Vincent's post-KISS band Vinnie Vincent Invasion. Vincent, of course, joined KISS after Ace Frehley's departure for the Creatures of the Night tour. His Egyptian pharaoh persona included an Ankh painting on his face. He is also featured on the first un-masking album Lick It Up. Vinnie, however, wanted to be the next guitar hero and even tried to upstage Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons during a show at Long Beach Arena, California with a 7-minute plus guitar solo that saw no signs of ending until the rest of the patient-worn band re-joined him on stage. It was not a good idea to try and become bigger than the founders of the band and soon, Paul and Gene would let Vinnie know his services were no longer needed. With his ambitions and ego, Vinnie needed a band with his name as the forefront...thus formed Vinnie Vincent Invasion.

Invasion is full of speedy rock songs with blazing guitar riffs. Actually, there is much creativity in Vincent's guitar solos. Many of them sound like sirens and bombs (appropriate for the "Invasion"). As far as any "invasion" on the metal world, there is not much revolutionary on this album. Robert Fleischman has a powerful voice (with Vinnie providing backing vocals on "Back on the Streets") and, of course, the musicianship is excellent, but much of the music is just straight forward heavy rock `n roll like "Boyz are Gonna Rock," "Shoot U Full of Love," and "Do You Wanna Make Love." It even sports a sappy romantic track in "No Substitute." "Back on the Street" is another slower, radio-friendly track. "Baby-O" is a little too sappy for my tastes. "I Wanna Be Your Victim" is one of the better, heavier tracks. The one stand-out track is saved for last. "Invasion" blew me away. Despite the sexy lyrics, "Invasion" is, musically, more of a serious metal track. It does not have the good time rock `n roll sound of most of the other songs. I include "Invasion" on most of my metal compilation tapes. The one unfortunate part, however, is the 3-minute repetitive siren sounds at the end of it. At first I thought there was something wrong with my copy but, no, they meant it to be that way (now I know how Paul and Gene must have felt). If Vinnie thought it would be impressive, he failed. A computer could have taken one riff and repeated it continuously for all I know (it is THAT repetitive and annoying). Still, it is easy to fade it out.

In defense of Vinnie Vincent's guitar abilities that are criticized by a previous reviewer, even Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons wrote in KISStory that Vincent was a "ferocious guitarist" and that "98% of the population has no idea how talented a player Vinnie is" (p. 357). He may not have become the household name he hoped to be, but he could/can play a blazing guitar solo.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Better than remastered - remixed the way it SHOULD have sounded, July 8, 2009

By 

Michael Javorka (Minersville, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Invasion (Audio CD)

Back when this came out in 1986, I liked it, but there was just something not right about the way it sounded. The guitars plain overpowered EVERYTHING. The drums sounded like they were recorded outside in the hall with one mic, the bass was almost inaudible, and the vocals sounded as if they were underwater. What a way to sabotage your first album by making yourself the only thing that stands out, and even with that, the guitar sounded like it was played thru some cheapo starter Gorilla amp. This 2003 remaster has corrected all of these problems and sounds almost as if it was recorded yesterday, making the songs sound so much better than they did. I must congratulate whoever re-did this mix since now the drums are crisp and clear, the bass shines thru even when Vinnie is shredding during his solos, and Fleischman's vocals are CLEAR and INTELLIGIBLE! This is definitely worth getting just to show what a different mix can do for an album.

As for the songs... well, if you're reading this, you probably already know them, so I won't convince you one way or the other of how good or bad they are. That's all subjective anyway. I personally believe that Vinnie was a great songwriter with an incredible sense of melody (his solos, though, were moreso speed for speed's sake) and now that these songs sound so crisp and clear, it's like I'm hearing them again for the first time. If you are a fan of the album, do yourself a favor and get this incredible remaster, even though I'd say it's more accurate to call it a remix. You will NOT be disappointed.

As I finish writing this, I am listening to the song ANIMAL and still can't believe how much better this sounds than the original LP/CD version. There is just so much I've never heard before thanks to how clean everything now sounds. Simply amazing!

8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars The Invasion that Failed, April 23, 2008

By 

Graboidz (Westminster, Maryland) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Invasion (Audio CD)

Vinnie Vincent is a really good guitarist, and seemed like the perfect talent to build a band around. With a high profile launch from KISS, Vincent should have been able to parlay his guitar wizardry into mainstream success. Unfortunately, Vincent's songwriting ability was the chink in his metal armor. None of the songs featured here are awful...but they aren't that great either. Take the least memorable song from the "Lick It Up" album by KISS and multiply it by 10. The tunes are all pretty pedestrian, and while the guitar tracks are really good, there really isn't enough difference between Vincent's shredding, and what was available on hundreds of hair metal releases coming out at the same time. If you are a hair metal fan, you may enjoy popping this in every now and again, but it's not going to become a heavy favorite. But for under $10, it may be worth it just to escape from today's over-produced, under performed junk from the latest American Idol winner.