Vinnie Vincent announced for Kiss Expo 2018 (Surprise!)

I'm gonna just scattershot my ideas about Vinnie's KISS Expo weekend because I can't seem to properly put all my thoughts together and even if I did it would wind up being an excessively long essay.

So bottom line, I feel like this was an exercise in 'one step forward one step back' by Vinnie. He starts off the weekend by talking to Eddie Trunk and referring to Paul Stanley as "Mean Mr. Mustard" which is funny to everyone except Paul Stanley. That's a mild shot and surely meant in jest but Paul has proven over and over until present day that he is exceptionally thin skinned so that's a misstep on Vinnie's part.

Then the festivities begin and he's classy as could be in talking about Gene and Paul and his KISS experience. And without reservation I give him 100% credit for taking the high road. Except that it comes off 100% unbelievable.

I did find it frustrating that when talking about Paul and Gene mentoring him in KISS, Vinnie referred to himself as 'a kid' several times. Let's not forget that Vinnie was born the same year as Paul, and was around 29 years of age when he entered the KISS realm. Certainly it could be taken at face value but again Vinnie had played on an album 5 years previously and worked in the music side of the TV business. It all comes off as a deflection for what is commonly believed to be Vinnie's poor behavior in KISS.

And it's great to take the high road, but let's also not forget that Paul said Vinnie was a thief and a terrible person on virtually every level from day one of meeting him. It's great to take the high road but it reads funny when your side of the story is that it was a dream situation that was smooth as glass outside of the pay issue.

And I really feel like Vinnie shot the whole weekend to hell when he went after Mark Slaughter. Of course it's the usual 'bad manager', 'bad record label', 'bad everything' except Mr. Vinnie Innocence. Don't start the weekend by talking over and over about Gene and Paul and how everything was great and it's all water under the bridge, and that there's just too much negativity in the world only to just assault Mark Slaughter.

I have no love for Mark Slaughter or the band that used his name, never owned one of their records. But was Mark the record company owner's son? I mean, even if Mark was pushed onto Vinnie (at the expense of Robert Fleischman) why would that be Mark's fault? Mark is some pretty boy 21 year old singer, why would he hold any cards with the record label? Instead of blaming everybody else, I'm inclined to ask why (if Vinnie thought he and Robert F. were the next Page/Plant) Robert wasn't also signed to the record deal as an equal member with Vinnie?

I'm inclined to believe that Vinnie was no more tied to Robert F. than he was to anyone, and Robert might have easily gone under Vinnie's wheels eventually one way or another.

Personally I wish that Vinnie had stuck around and put out a dozen albums; regardless of the fact that I find both Invasion albums virtually unlistenable. He should have been his own singer. His over that top guitar stuff is an acquired taste and I could dig it but when either Robert F. or Mark starts singing it's nails on a chalkboard to my ears.

Now the box set fiasco. I think Vinnie is digging himself another potential hole to be promising a bunch of stuff that he can't deliver. First off, what are the odds that everyone that sent him money has a receipt or some legitimate way to claim what they're owed? So he says he's going to send them two copies instead of one? Look, this will never get figured out properly so that every person is made whole but at least just offer to get ONE copy to people, why offer up a second copy? And some kind of special gift? It's just another disaster waiting to happen. He apologized and I think that's all a reasonable person can expect. Don't start making promises when you've got a history of coming up short.

Also I find it hilarious that he's talking up "I'm back if you want me to be back". It's a room full of a few hundred die hard fans. The guy can't be sitting on a fortune AND he can't expect to sell a hell of a lot of records so it's another bad idea to start giving the impression that the floodgates are about to open and new music is on they way. And it's never a good idea to think you're going to make your decisions by what a relative handful of die hard fans thinks; this group of people would give Vinnie a standing ovation is he said the earth is flat.

Vinnie showed up for the money. And quite reasonably so, I have no criticism of that at all. But to slobber all over his lawyer and the big fella who ran the event about how this was the opportunity to get the truth out? Come on, Vinnie could have controlled the narrative anytime he wanted through any platform he wanted if he really wanted to get the truth out. But there's no money in putting up a webcam and having his lawyer interview him and releasing that to the public.

As far as how Vinnie looks. My only problem with it going unmentioned is that the first thing Vinnie says is some version of "I know there's a lot of misinformation out there about me and I'm here to set the record straight". So yeah, if you recognize that you have to realize that at the top of the list is the looks issue. I do believe that everyone has a right to be themselves and set their own timetable for being public with things. But I'm not the one who said that everything was on the table and "let's clear the air".

I hope Vinnie is happy and I hope he records and releases tons of music for years to come. But to preach positivity and the hurtfulness of negativity, to slobber all over a guy who called you a thief and then to set your sights on and crush another guy just shows me a sad lack of growth and insecurity from a man who is 65 years of age.

 

I don't think Vinnie is transitioning. I mean he has looked like this before so what's the difference now?

https://img.discogs.com/bLiIMeKJyXO...)/discogs-images/A-405638-1136152899.jpeg.jpg

 

I'm 50/50 to be honest, neither would entirely surprise me. Honestly, I'm just thrilled to have him back

 

You make a lot of great points. Once you look past the emotion and weigh it all up there is not a lot of substance here just a lot of smoke and mirrors.

I love what Vinnie contributed to KISS as a writer and performer, I've also enjoyed this pantomime over His history and mystery. I'm glad he is back and I hope he does release some new material I would welcome that as he is a very talented songwriter and one of my favourite members of KISS

 

Following on from that.. Personalities and politics aside, Imagine if the Revenge line-up had Vinnie Vincent in it. The album would have been all the better. His songwriting and natural aggressiveness in his playing would have made a perfect match for that heavy dark album.

Maybe in a parallel universe we have a workable and compliant Vinnie Vincent still writing and playing with KISS. I for one would be happy to hear what could have been if from Animalize on we got a different 'Beast' as opposed to what followed throughout the '80s

 

FYI...Vinnie came though on shipping t-shirts. Got mine today!

 

Don't tempt me! I need a new fleece blanket, but I don't have the money...

 

i have never heard that mark slaughter was related to anyone at a record company. he was in several bands before VVI that got nowhere and no major label or push or anything.

mark slaughter though at one point in life could sing anything. hence the voice work he also did for WB cartoons. very gifted vocalist. not sure what songs you have heard mark sing but really check these out and most of the harmonies are also him. shows how great and unique he was from about 1988-2004



Slaughter - Street of Broken Hearts


Slaughter - American Pie

Slaughter - You're My Everything

 

I'd rather rip my ears off.

 

most of those songs he is singing in a lower range

 

Problem is when he sang on a higher register which was most of the time, same as the guy from Steelheart

 

I just don't like him as a human being

 

to me he doesn't sing as high as often as people think he does

 

Who Mark Slaughter?

 

You're batting 3 for 4, you'd get into the Hall of Fame with numbers like that!

Days Gone By-I love a good power ballad from the 80's (okay, 90's in this case but it's right out of that mold) and this is a pretty good song, it would get repeated listens from me. The final minute is very Queen-like and I also get a sense of Jani Lane's writing on Warrant's Dog Eat Dog. And I will say that there's a quality in the voice that is recognizable; not as much as say Vince Neil, Bret Michaels or Stephen Pearcy but more than a guy like Don Dokken who I just can't get a read on.

Street of Broken Hearts-I like this one right from the acoustic guitar/keyboard intro. The verses are my favorite part, I wish the bridge was a bit stronger. These first two songs really sell themselves without any instrumental histrionics which seems unusual from much of what I was into in the late 80's from bands of this genre.

American Pie-This one lost me. It's basically Bang a Gong and I never liked that song. I listened to the other three songs twice each but this one only got 1 and a half listens. But at least it's not Mark's voice turning me off.

You're My Everything-Damn, I like this one too. Mark is straying towards that high voice but he's singing some nice melodies. The lyrics are awfully trite but I can live with a cavity here and there. They could probably have easily knocked a minute off of the running time but whatever.

I'll definitely be giving three of these songs more listens, thank you for the recommendations.

Even though Mark is only on one of them, now I want to give those Invasion albums another try!

 

mark sings super high and different pretty much all of the VVI album he sings on. he really showed off his talent of the slaughter albums. here is my take on them

-stick it to ya- the bands most successful album. however I feel this is the bands most immature release. a lot of really silly lyrics and mark sings ultra high on most of the album. however there are some standout tracks "fly to the angels", "gave me your heart", "eye to eye", spend my life" and "you are the one"

-the wild life- the band goes for a slightly toned down and more progressive release. a couple of really long tunes to show off some of the bands chops and progressive and queen influences. highlights are "reach for the sky", "the wild life", "days gone by", "times they change", "real love", "streets of broken dreams" and "do ya know"

-fear no evil- this is imo the bands best release. was due out in late 1994 but after some band setbacks and record label shakeups the band was dropped. the album was finally released on CMC around mid 1995. super very heavy moments here and some great ballads. check out "unknown destination" (almost a thrash tune and mark does an ungodly scream around 1:35 in the song. a must hear), "live like theres no tomorrow", "it'll be alright", "outta my head" and "yesterdays gone"

-revolution- instead of jumping on the grunge trend like most acts did in the late 90's slaughter does an album with a 70's rock influence. this still sounds like slaughter but mixed with bands they say influenced them. they had done a beatles cover on mtv in the early 90's and here they cover "rocky mountain way". highlights are "heaven it cries", "can we find a way", "hard to say goodbye" , "I'm gone" and "you're my everything".

-back to reality- sadly the bands last new album to date. the title says it all. the band dropped the 70's influence here and what back to what made them famous. a very solid late 90's from a band of the hair metal era. highlights are "killin time", "all fired up", "take me away", "love is forever", "on my own" and "nothing left to lose"

 

Ive ordered a signed photo and T-Shirt from Vinnie. Glad he delivers the goods! Were some nasty rumors about his in his wilderness years!
Incidentally, he has a book coming out!!!
This recent interview is superb and VV comes across as very polite and grateful (especially about his time with Gene Simmons).
Vinnie Vincent Reflects on Invasion Debut (Albums Unleashed) - Ep318 | Decibel Geek

 

Link to purchase please, wasnt their recent talk about a box set again?

 

Found it, weird it didn't come up on a google search

Products – Vinnie Vincent

 

What he has said is that he plans to make good on the box set orders circa 1996-1998 (of which I am one)

 

Vinnie has disappeared from Facebook. He was due to appear at an event and pulled out. Not sure it was his fault but it was supposed to be a free appearance or something.
On the plus side I received my order directly from Vinnie. T-Shirt and signed photo plus bonus lanyard!
A week later I received another T-Shirt, another signed photo and some bonus guitar picks!
Now that is a good deal and top service!

 

Glad to hear Vinnie delivered! Sad but not terribly surprised that he's disappearing again.

 

Fans can go back to nasty rumours after he cancelled his "full shred" comeback shows twice. He could have gone the Peter Green comeback route if he could get it together.

 

Maybe no surprise for the Vinnie Vincent Evasion.

VINNIE VINCENT Cancels Comeback Concerts