''Vinnie Vincent Invasion'' is the first studio album by

Vinnie Vincent Invasion Vinnie Vincent Invasion was an American glam metal band, formed in 1984 by former Kiss guitarist Vinnie Vincent. History Forming the band in 1984, Vinnie Vincent recruited bassist Dana Strum, who had served as a talent scout in L.A., recruiting ...

, released in 1986 through

Chrysalis Records Chrysalis Records () is a British record label that was founded in 1968. The name is both a reference to the pupal stage of a butterfly and a combination of its founders' names, Chris Wright and Terry Ellis. It started as the Ellis-Wright Ag ...

Background

Two singles were released, "Boyz Are Gonna Rock" and "Back on the Streets". A music video was only made for "Boyz Are Gonna Rock". In the video for "Boyz Are Gonna Rock," the singer in the video is

Mark Slaughter Mark Allen Slaughter (born July 4, 1964) is an American singer and musician, and one of the founders of the glam metal band Slaughter. Career Slaughter was born in Las Vegas, Nevada, on July 4, 1964. Before the formation of Slaughter, he fr ...

rather than the actual singer

Robert Fleischman Robert Fleischman (born March 11, 1953) is an American singer and songwriter. He is known for working with the rock band Journey, briefly as their lead vocalist in 1977 and occasionally thereafter as a songwriting collaborator. Biography Fle ...

. Fleischman left the band prior to filming the video and Mark Slaughter lip-synched to Fleischman's vocals. "Back on the Streets" was originally written by Vincent with musician Richie Friedman in 1981, demoed but not used for the

Creatures of the Night ''Creatures of the Night'' is the tenth studio album by American rock band Kiss, released in 1982. It was the band's last for Casablanca Records, the only label for which Kiss had recorded up to that point. The album was dedicated to the memor ...

album and recorded by 3 Speed for the 1984 movie ''

Voyage of the Rock Aliens ''Voyage of the Rock Aliens'' is a 1984 film directed by James Fargo and starring Pia Zadora and Craig Sheffer. Plot A guitar-shaped spaceship and Robot 1359 (voiced by Peter Cullen), search the universe for the source of rock and roll music. A ...

''. It was later covered by

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

's original guitarist

John Norum John Norum (born 23 February 1964) is a Norwegian-Swedish guitarist and one of the founders of the rock band Europe. Concurrent to his role with Europe, he also maintains a career as a solo artist. Biography As an infant, Norum moved with his p ...

for his 1987 solo album '' Total Control''. This song was also played by

Ace Frehley Paul Daniel "Ace" Frehley (; born April 27, 1951) is an American musician, best known as the original lead guitarist and co-founding member of the hard rock band Kiss. He invented the persona of The Spaceman (a.k.a. Space Ace) and played wit ...

during his earliest shows with his post-

Kiss A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...

band

Frehley's Comet Frehley's Comet was an American rock band formed and led by ex-Kiss lead guitarist Ace Frehley. The group released two studio albums and one live EP before Frehley left the band to release his 1989 solo album, '' Trouble Walkin. The band ...

in 1985 and also demoed by his band as well during this time, but the song has never appeared on any of Ace Frehley's solo albums. For the CD and

cassette Cassette may refer to: Technology * Cassette tape (or ''musicassette'', ''audio cassette'', ''cassette tape'', or ''tape''), a worldwide standard for analog audio recording and playback ** Cassette single (or "Cassingle"), a music single in the ...

versions, the song "Invasion" contained about three minutes of looping

guitar feedback Audio feedback (also known as acoustic feedback, simply as feedback) is a positive feedback situation which may occur when an acoustic path exists between an audio input (for example, a microphone or guitar pickup) and an audio output (for examp ...

at the end of the song. The record version had the same feedback, but the difference was that it never ended until you picked up the needle. This was because the sound went all the way to the end of the vinyl, causing the needle to loop it over and over again. The

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desce ...

state that no

pedals A pedal (from the Latin '' pes'' ''pedis'', "foot") is a lever designed to be operated by foot and may refer to: Computers and other equipment * Footmouse, a foot-operated computer mouse * In medical transcription, a pedal is used to control p ...

, outboard gear or

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

s were used anywhere on the album. The band opened for

Alice Cooper Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer whose career spans over five decades. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, including pyrotechnics, guillot ...

in 1986 and

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...

in 1987 to support the record. The song "Animal" appeared on the soundtrack for the 1987 movie '' Summer School''. The songs "Boyz Are Gonna Rock" and "Back on the Streets" are 2 of 4 Vinnie Vincent Invasion songs featured on the 2008 tribute album '' Kiss My Ankh: A Tribute to Vinnie Vincent''. Mike Weeks played the guitar, bass and did the vocals on a very accurate version of "Boys Are Gonna Rock" which also featured drums by Andre Labelle, who had previously recorded drums on Vinnie's third (and unreleased) album "Guitarmaggedon/Guitars from Hell".

Reception

The album was listed number 8 on ''

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication ''Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one- ...

''s list of hard rock albums in 1986. The same magazine listed the album number 100 on their list of ''100 Greatest Heavy Metal Albums of All Time''. In the book '' Fargo Rock City'', journalist

Chuck Klosterman Charles John Klosterman (; born 1972) is an American author and essayist whose work focuses on American popular culture. He has been a columnist for '' Esquire'' and ESPN.com and wrote "The Ethicist" column for ''The New York Times Magazine''. K ...

names it the second greatest heavy metal album of the 1980s, behind only ''

Appetite For Destruction ''Appetite for Destruction'' is the debut studio album by American hard rock band Guns N' Roses. It was released on July 21, 1987, by Geffen Records. The album was released to little mainstream attention in 1987. It was not until the following ...

'' by Guns N' Roses.

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

listed it 39th on their 2015 list of Greatest Hair Metal albums of all time.

Track listing

Personnel

- vocals *

Vinnie Vincent Vincent John Cusano (born August 6, 1952), better known by his stage name Vinnie Vincent, is an American guitarist. He is a former member of the rock band Kiss from 1982 until mid-1984 during the band's transition out of their 1973–1983 make ...

- guitars, vocals *

Dana Strum Dana Strum (born Dana Strumwasser on December 13, 1957) is an American musician whose career spans over 45 years. He is best known as a co-founder, bass player, and one of the two primary songwriters of the US-based hard rock band Slaughter, ...

- bass, backing vocals *

Bobby Rock Nitro was an American heavy metal band from Hollywood, California. Formed in 1988, the group originally featured vocalist Jim Gillette, guitarist Michael Angelo Batio, bassist T. J. Racer and drummer Bobby Rock. Nitro released its debut album '' ...

- drums

References

{{Authority control Vinnie Vincent Invasion albums 1986 debut albums Chrysalis Records albums