Customer Reviews

Invasion

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I've always enjoyed and respected this self-titled debut album from Vinnie Vincent Invasion. It was originally released in 1986, and I first got my copy of it (a cassette) in 1987. After initially having seen the music video for "Boyz Are Gonna Rock," I felt compelled to get this album. Vinnie Vincent, the former guitarist for Kiss, undoubtedly is a talented, energetic, and unique guitar player; he also is a good songwriter. His guitar work is uninhibited, and his fleet-fingered guitar solos are distinct, frenetic, and intense. Also, there are some cool, well-constructed guitar riffs throughout. The rest of the band is comprised of lead singer Robert Fleischman (ex-Journey), bass guitarist Dana Strum, and drummer Bobby Rock. Fleischman is an impressive vocalist. I really like his clear, high-pitched vocal delivery--he does a nice job of hitting the falsettos, too. It's nice being able to finally have this release on CD and not just on cassette. The CD is an import from England and is digitally remastered. The sound quality is good, the musicianship is solid, and the songwriting is fulfilling. There's a total of ten songs: "Boyz Are Gonna Rock," "Shoot You Full of Love," "No Substitute," "Animal," "Twisted," "Do You Wanna Make Love," "Back on the Streets," "I Wanna Be Your Victim," "Baby-O," and "Invasion." The music is in a straight-ahead hard rock musical vein. Eight of the songs are straight-ahead hard rockers, and the other two are power ballads. The CD is just over 48 minutes in length. I find every track to be listenable and worthwhile. I don't have any personal favorites; all of them are good. "Boyz Are Gonna Rock" is an extreme, hard-hitting song that contains a frantic, swift-fingered guitar solo from Vincent. "Shoot You Full of Love" features impressive vocals from Fleischman and an engaging chorus. The power ballad "No Substitute" is a nice tune, too--it displays solid leading and background vocals. The other power ballad "Back on the Streets" sports a cool guitar riff and a vocal duet between Fleischman and Vincent. "Baby-O" is a pretty good one that benefits from its catchy chorus. "Twisted" is a fast-paced song with an interesting vocal effects intro. "Animal" sports an infectious guitar riff and also another imaginative vocal effects intro. All of the songs contain enjoyable background vocals. Also, there are no synthesizers used in this album. The CD booklet includes the song lyrics and some cool photos of the band. The disc is also supposed to be played at the highest volume. I've been listening to this album from time to time for over 13 years. This self-titled debut album from Vinnie Vincent Invasion is durable, enjoyable, and worth a listen.

This classic CD will leave blisters on your ears, will leave your knees trembling and your stereo in ashes...its fantastic. "Boyz Gonna Rock" tears out of the gates against a wall of feedback and a siren wail of distortion taking you on a glam sleaze journey "where the street dogs dwell". A musical journey down the Sunset Strip in eighties style all big hair and bravado.... phew!!! Just when you thought it couldn't get any hotter beneath the headphones "Shoot U Full Of Love" swaggers out and provides a lauching pad for the best guitar lead break you'll ever hear bar non. This is a monster of a song, a perfect song, with every ingredient you'd ever want in heavy metal excessiveness. The next cab of the rank in "Substitute" demonstrating to one and all that Vinnie Vincent is one hell of a songwriter too! Being a little slower and the albums only ballad didn't mean the guitar work had to disappear into the mix...oh no, they are still set to stun. The two rip roarers being "Animal" and "Twisted" will have your brain curcuits smoldering before we burst into another glam gem in "Do Ya Wanna Make Love" which will finish the job nicely and have your brain explode in spasms of musical ectasy. "Do Ya Wanna Make Love" is yet another song I can only describe as perfection...and perhaps the only song I would say is almost Kiss like in style. I'd love to hear Paul Stanley vocals around this! Other mentionables are "Back On The Streets" that has Vinnie trading vocal lines with Robert Fleischman which is way cool and the titanic closer in "Invasion" brilliant apart from the awful repeating ending tagged on! Vinnie really burns on this whole disc and its really not suprising in hindsight why his tenure in Kiss was so short lived because if anyone had the songs and the fret work ability on offer here...they'd be mad not to wanna go it alone too! I'm glad he did..I just wish after all these years there was more of it!

This CD will rock your world. I originally bought it in 1986 on cassette only to have it stolen out of my car. I just got it yesterday and it was the first time in 16 years that I had heard the music. The Cd grabs you by the throat and won't let go. "Shoot You Full of Love" is my favorite track followed by "Boyz Are Gonna Rock" If you don't have this very important Metal masterpiece in your collection, you could be missing out. Buy it, by all means....BUY IT!

"Made to be played at maximum volume" is the quote on the insert for this one. That says it all! This CD has been a staple among high-priced auctions since they came on-line. There simply wasn't anyone who wanted to part with this disc! Now, get the original. KISS missed the boat when they let this guy go. Every song is straight-up, ear-shredding rock and roll, straight from the decade that did it best! Check out "Shoot You Full Of Love" and "Substitute", as well as "Animal". Basically, it's just an outstanding spin from start to finish. Buy it while you can!

This cd is awesome. I just bought it from Amazon and I was really impressed I didnt expect it to be as good as it was. There isnt one bad song on the album. My favorte song is Baby O. Its just a 5 star album and definetly worth getting.

We all know Vinnie Vincent is a talented guitarist. He co-wrote all the songs on the Kiss "Lick it Up" album, and others as well if you dig into some Kiss history. I bought VVI originally on LP way back in the day, intrigued to see what Vinnie would put together without Kiss.

This is nothing like Kiss, so get that out of your head. It's full-on, spandex rock that stands alone among the other 80's rock/metal albums based on 2 factors: 1. Crazy, over-the-top guitar playing, and 2. Vocals that are more over-the-top than the guitar.

Vincent's guitar playing is frenetic and loud (you decide if that's good or bad). One complaint is that the solos don't seem to go anywhere. Sure, they go a million miles per hour, but there doesn't seem to be much of a point--just a lot of notes. I've read in several interviews over the years that Vincent slowed the tapes while recording in order to make his soloing sound even faster (don't know if that's actually true, though).

Robert Fleischman's vocals are what make this disc a tough listen for me. First off, the lyrics themselves are pretty ridiculous, even by 80's glam metal standards. I can get past that. But the vocals are so over-the-top and high-pitched I have a hard time listening to this after a just a few songs. Perhaps the one exception to this is "Back on the Streets," which also features Vinnie on co-lead vocal. I've heard a demo of this track sung by Jeff Scott Soto (new Journey vocalist) and I'm left thinking I'd probably like this album more if JSS handled the vocals.

One thing is for sure: this album is pretty unique. "All Systems Go" was the follow-up to this disc (and the group's last), but it's fairly tame compared to this one.

It is too bad Vinnie Vincent disappeared after only two super releases. I first bought this in a whim, after seeing a video, and boy was I glad I did. Now I am finally able to purchase the CD on Amazon.com.

A great CD, almost every song on it was a hit back in the 80s (I remember hearing each one on the radio as a kid). Get this album and add it to your rock collection now. Its great that Vinnie left KISS to fully exploit his talent and no long be held back by Gene's request to play like Ace. The Wiz shows off his awesome shredding skills in fast and furious music.
Vinnie get the 6 string back and start releasing more music.
100 percent must have!

Well after Vinnie Vincent was dropped from KISS, he seemed to take some time off. Then it was in 1986 that this album was released and it was amazing. Vinnie Vincent Invasion is without a doubt one of the most underated metal bands of the 80s. For a glam rock band they played pretty heavy. The track "Boyz Are Gonna Rock" opens up the album and leaves you begging for more. The whole album is awesome. My personal favorites on the album are "Baby O", "Invasion", and "Boyz Are Gonna Rock". This album is definetly worth checking out as well as the bands follow up album "All Systems Go". Those are the only two albums Vinnie Vincent Invasion came out with and both are very very hard to come by and some what rare but they are amazingly right here on amazon.com

Vinnie Vincent is obviously a very talented guitar player, so talented in fact that he felt KISS was just not an adequate showcase of his technical and songwriting prowess. Behold the debut of Vinnie Vincent Invasion, one of the most craptacular acts of the 80's hair metal scene.

I'll give the man proper credit for his guitar skills. The guy's a shred wizard, no doubt about it, but his songwriting skills leave a lot to be desired. Vinnie embraced every single hair metal cliché he could find for his debut album, including lyrics fit for a Spinal Tap album. Shoot You Full of Love in particular make Warrant's Cherry Pie look downright subtle. Joining Vinnie on vocals is Robert Fleicshman, who (very) briefly sang for Journey. I'm a fan of Fleischman's solo material, but here he spends the whole time using a high pitch wail in a vain effort to keep pace with Vinnie's fretwork.

I'm sure I'll be hearing from the dedicated contingent of Vinnie Vincent fans over this review, but I have to call it like I see it. This is one of the most obnoxious hair metal albums I've ever heard, and I love hair metal.

The 2003 reissue of Vinnie Vincent Invasion puts the previously impossible to find album back into circulation, this time with digitally remastered sound. Of course that means those dreadful lyrics are that much easier to hear.