I remember buying it , took it home, dropped the needle and got blown up against the wall by its production , sheer volume and ferocity.
'Boyz are gonna rock' alright. Fleischmans voice was nuclear grade weapon strength , ( he was in a Zep cover band prior to VVI by the way) and Vinnie's sound , rythym work and soloing?  Crushing !  I thought his solo's at times came across as more Slayer style , wild, aggresive, disregarding nearly all sense of standard composition and predictability , a battering assault of armour piercing projectiles that did. not. stop.
By the time the last screeching , dive bombing whammy bar cacophany on the closer 'Invasion' stopped, i was utterly drained, a true test of aural stamina and endurance was required to get through this bad boy.
I listened to it on a train ride recently, and man i still got the chills and arm hair standing up on 'shoot you full of love'  'Twisted' and  'Do you wanna make love' .
No one had or has a sound and style quite like Vinnie, he didnt so much play the Jackson as utterly ravage it.  We used to listen to this to get pumped up before we went out on a saturday night , good tunes good times. cheers.

Gene suggested the album name Spaceman.

I love the first VVI album. So over the top. Shame he’s not a well adjusted human being.

"Genius or train wreck??"

YES.

Last night I heard "Gypsy in her Eyes" with Vinnie on lead vocals with the band Warrior (basically 3/4ths of the band New England). Holy crap. One of the most amazing Kiss-related songs I've ever heard. So talented. And yet so hard to work with --and understand.

Gene suggested the “spaceman” record title. He told Ace to “lean into” his rock star past.

Real men wear pink. I bought the debut of The Vinnie Vincent Invasion, pretty much because of what he contributed to Kiss's Lick It Up. I enjoyed it. It's the definition of 'hair metal'. I do give props to Mr. Vincent for introducing Mark Slaughter to the music world. Another great episode, guys!

The debut album is great.Sophisticated chaos.

Kane Roberts was the hulk of Alice Cooper band.

I remember buying this cassette tape back in the day

Paul Stanley said that Vinnie wore a wig on the cover of Lick it UP..

In a rock mag I had in 86 or whatever Dana Strum did a long interview talking about how he spent all this time getting people into bands and discovering people but that this was his first band to get big. Probably a hit parader bc that was my go-to then

One more thing, Vinnie in makeup was on a special release of Creatures in South America. Made a special cover during the tour down that way and it's pretty valuable to fans.

I have no friends, that’s why I watch you two. 😂😂😂😂

The best rock show I ever saw in  smallish club was the Vinnie Vincent band (Dana Strum, Bobby Rock and Mark Slaughter).  They were tight and gave a great performance.

Genius.
Vinnie Vincent saved Kiss it was just too bad he could not save himself.
I LOVE this first VV Invasion album. Full shred head on.

I shall elaborate.
My actual first Kiss concert was NYE 1982 Rockford, Il.
It was quite the experience being exposed to Vinnie on his first Kiss tour.

Seeing that tour along with the unveiling of Kiss sans make up and the Lick It Up tour made me a life long Vinnie fan.
I remember going to the record store and seeing the Lick It Up album. I was amazed. There they were Gene, Paul, Eric and Vinnie sans makeup. A great photo graced the cover with the guys just standing against a plain white back drop. Gene’s tongue was wagging for all to see. The guys looked proud of themselves, and why not?

The album kicked major ass topping the Creatures of the Night LP. As one reviewer put it, you could feel the freshness blowing through the grooves. Here were Kiss, stripped of all the accouterments they so many previously claimed to have held them back. Here they were Kiss with a new album and a new lease on life in the music world. It was a beautiful thing to see and dropping the needle on the record it was song after song of pure metal gold. The thing that really stuck me the most was how utterly perfect Vinnie fit in Kiss. Not just in his guitar playing but in the way he filled the shoes of each member songwriting wise. Vinnie was able to provide what each member needed in the co-writing department. When co-writing with Gene Vinnie was able to provide the Paul Stanley element and when writing with Paul he was able to provide the Gene element.
The band having drifted apart in the co-writing department - most tunes being penned strictly by one member or another dividing tunes into ‘Gene’ songs or Paul songs.

Vinnie filled the void that had been there since the Love Gun era. Suddenly Kiss felt like a band again.
Vinnie filled the space that was left not just by Ace regarding guitar playing but of each member in terms of songwriting.

No longer was it totally necessary for Gene and Paul to HAVE to write together if they didn’t want to.
Vinnie now able to fill the void of each songwriter as if they were and yet still have it be totally Vinnie, and totally Kiss.
As one reviewer put it - You could feel the freshness blowing through the grooves.
I was certainly sold.

The bottom line was if Lick It Up sucked that would have been a hard road for Kiss after that.
Taking the make up off was only going to get them so far.
They had to have a good record behind all of that.
This, to me, was the non-make up Kiss line up and I was thrilled with it. The band suddenly felt right in line with many of the other bands of the time that were vaulting up the charts. Suddenly, Kiss music wasn’t as much of a blues based affair as it had been for much of Ace Frehley’s tenure with the band. Kiss was now a twin guitar axe attack that many of the other bands of the time featured. They were more as quoted in many a magazine a “metal and roll” outfit. They were now heavier than before and able to run with the pack with their new twin axe attack fronted by Vincent.
The band sounded and felt reborn.

Just as soon as he was there though he was gone.
I was thrilled when he resurfaced on his own and I LOVE this first Invasion album.
It blows away everything Kiss did after Vinnie left until the Kiss Revenge album where Vinnie once again brought his incredible talents back to the fold for one more go around.

VV Invasion was all killer and no filler and seeing as that shred was the flavor of the day back then Vinnie ripped it up backed with incredible song after song. Many of these songs were ready to go for what turned out to be Animalize, but the powers that be (a horrible contract offered to Vinnie by G&P) had Vinnie striking out on his own.
In a 1996 interview Vinnie Vincent was quoted as saying that he had the following tunes demoed and ready to go for what turned out to be the Animalize record.

Boyz Are Gonna Rock
Shoot U Full of Love
Back on the Streets
Twisted
Animal
I Wanna Be Your Victim
Do You wanna Make Love

Meld those with some of the songs that did end up on Animalize and you would have had an album where Kiss was leading the pack instead of following it. It was not be but VV Invasion more than carried it's weight in gold. I was able to see the Invasion of the All System's Go tour. Little did I know that was going to be the end of Vinnie (and the beginning of Slaughter) for quite some time.

Vinnie disappeared and as Bruce Kulick has said he became the Howard Hughes of Kiss. A recluse in the south he finally resurfaced for nothing good, but he was back so to speak.

A few years ago I was more than happy to attend the  Creaturesfest convention in Nashville where Vinnie was slated to appear and play.
I was there for Vinnie Vincent. Period. Everything else at this fest was secondary by far (no slight to anyone else). The chance to see the Ank warrior. The Pyro Messiah. The Howard Hughes of Kiss was not an opportunity to be missed. What was promised was just too good to pass up.
My first Kiss show was on the Creatures of the Night tour. This was going to be a full-circle moment for me. I am a big Vinnie fan so I was not going to miss this.
What was promised was a full Creatures of the Night set w/actual live band w/Vinnie in costume and make up w/audience being able to take pictures and video if they like w/tank stage.
What was delivered was Vinnie in makeup with the tank stage.
NO full set of any kind.
NO costume.
NO full band
NO pics or video.

What I would have settled for would have been somewhere in between. If he had the makeup, tank stage, and played 8 – 10 songs with a full band and guitar solo.
Security was out of control slapping down phones and confronting people.  We were only told right before going into the main venue that no phones, pics, or video were allowed. When I asked one of the security gals about this and told her that this was not what was promised she got argumentative with me. This was the gal that was later featured in certain videos around the internet. I saw her in the Vinnie meet and greet line the next next day and she was very apologetic to everyone.

I thought it was a masterstroke to have him atop the tank wailing away for 15 minutes or so to start this whole thing off. Once settled down front I stood there in awe waiting for what was to come next. I could see the mic stands set up so I assumed the full band was to come out next.

IF that had actually happened and Vinnie had delivered on what was promised it would have gone down as an incredible moment. It would have been fantastic to see Vinnie up there the whole night blasting away while his band played below. Add Bruce and Ace into the mix for a song or two and the whole thing would’ve gone down in Kisstory as a huge success and resurrection of the Ank warrior.
When the bass player came out I was ready for things to really get going but instead, we all know what came next. As the drum and vocal tracks started pumping out I just stood there wondering just what it was that I was seeing. I was hoping that was to be some sort of one-off thing to start the show. I was willing to go along with it for I Love It Loud in hopes that what was to come next would be an actual band. Bruce and Ace emerged and I thought that the full band was to follow. Obviously, that was not what happened and it went from there.

When the whole thing was over I felt like I was walking out of a bizarre dream of some sort. I was kind of exhausted and in no mood for Pretty Boy Floyd and Vixen. I went up to my room took a long shower and then went back down to the bar for food and drinks. It was interesting hearing everyone’s opinion right after the show. I heard no one say they liked what they saw.

I was close enough to see that Vinnie was very emotional as fans chanted for him. He really was appreciative of the support that was given. When the whole thing was over and he came down the row and shook everyone’s hand. He had tears in his eyes and a big smile on his face.
HE clearly can still play but it is obvious to everyone now that he just doesn’t want to do what Bruce and Ace have done over the years. He wants to live in his own shell and that is his business.
The truth is that as cool as many of the other shows, events, meet & greets, and expo was at Creaturesfest IF I had known this was what was going to be delivered on the Vinnie night I would not have gone. That is the bottom line.

As far as I know, the drum tracks and vocal tracks that were used were the ones Ace and Bruce were sent to practice to. They didn’t know there was no actual band until arriving at the fest so they did their best to deal with it all. This was according to Bruce at a luncheon I was at the next day so I’m not telling tales out of school or anything. There were a lot of people at this luncheon. It will make the rounds on the internet since others were recording it. I was standing in front of the where Ace played and he didn’t call Vinnie out as much as joked about what was going on.
Vinnie will now be relegated to conventions and meet & greet opportunities. It is what he wants. He wants to live in his own little world and so be it.

I was happy to finally meet him and get my Creatures ticket stub signed.
He was very gracious and spent a little time chatting before taking pics with me.

Saw the Lick it up tour with Vinnie. Got band autigraphs at Sound Warehouse in Denver. Fast forward decades later, I move to Tennessee and who lives here as well, Vinnie Vincent. Trying multiple times to start the band again...

12:53 SUPER BANGLES 💀⚰️🪦

11:30 Confirmed, vinnie's "hair" has always been a wig...>

Fun video! I pretty much “graduated from KISS” after I heard The Elder, so I never really gave any thought to checking out any of the members’ post KISS solo albums. But with this video, I might just have to look up that Vinnie album. As for whether Vinnie saved Kiss, I don’t really think so. I think it was a combination of them taking the makeup off plus having good songs to back up the new image.