April 1990 - Piece on Slaughter

[Euphoria]

I don't know if this has been posted before, but I found it interesting, especially the part MS says about honesty!

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=KL ... cent&hl=en

[Skwint]

its funny as a matter of principle at the time - i was 18 in 1990 i refused to buy anything of slaughter due to being loyal to Vinnie - now i have a few slaughter albums as Vinnie doesnt care.

[birnie]

I had read the articles on how they had no cash to buy beans and Vinnie was doing well so they split from V, so i didn't hold on to any loyalty...although i still wanted more V material
As soon as the Slaughter album emerged i had a copy and loved it!
I never listen to it now though.

[Genebaby]

I get the whole being treated badly aspect but to be completely honest, they all were sidemen. It was the Vinnie Vincent Invasion. Not a "band" called something else where they were all equal members. It was Vinnie's band and a showcase for his talents and vision.

That's why there so many crazy solos, it's what Vinnie wanted to do. He couldn't do it in Kiss, which was fair enough, it wasn't his band, but VVI was.

They were probably treated better but I never heard the other guys in the Jimi Hendrix Experience complain about Jimi's over the top guitar soloing.

I did like the Slaughter album when it came out and they were very friendly to all their fans and deserved the attention they got. The first album is a bit sugar sweet on the luvy duvy stuff, if you know what I mean. I couldn't listen to it anymore for years and can take it in small doses now again.

I personally think Mark oversang in Slaughter, much like they said Vinnie overplayed.

[metatron]

It was Vinnie's band and a showcase for his talents and vision.

That's why there so many crazy solos, it's what Vinnie wanted to do. He couldn't do it in Kiss, which was fair enough, it wasn't his band, but VVI was.

I personally think Mark oversang in Slaughter, much like they said Vinnie overplayed.

Vinnie didn't overplay....It was jusssssst right

[shramiac]

I thought the 1st Slaughter album was utter dogcrap! The only good thing was the cover! (sexist pig that I am!) I sold it a week after I got it to a friend!

[doublev]

i didn't read this. I got the Slaughter record the day it came out and hated it.
I tried to like it as I liked all things VV related.
I was surprised the songs were so popular.. they were way behind bands like Winger in my opinion.
But I do think that it was on the cards.. those guys were not allowed to write with VV, they were not really paid well and they were not free.. i don't see how it could have worked at in any situation .
the weird thing is that the VVI should have been able to keep going with a new line up (like Yngwie).. i am not sure what happened.

my feeling about Slaughter is.. if you have to put a pretty girl on the cover to sell your record.. you are hiding something.. but i think it got them half a million sales just for the cover.

[Genebaby]

How were Slaughter behind Winger? Sure Reb was technically better on guitar but the songs of both bands are sugary, girly stuff with little substance?

God, I could never get Winger and saw them live in 2007 when Ratt finally played here. I filmed Ratt and was going to film Winger but decided after a song it wasn't worth getting caught for them.

Listening to their set I was embarrassed in how light weight their music was. 17 this, lovey dovey that. Reb could have done so much better.

[poserboy71]

I'd have to agree with Dino on this even though I can enjoy both bands. Winger wasn't a one trick pony. They had the capabilities to go off into Rock/fusion land given the talent and education of it's members. What's weird is that Reb , although incredible, is probably the weakest link in that band. That right there fills the cracks in on any doubt about Winger.

[Genebaby]

Who wrote the lyrics in Winger? They make my stomach turn. Soppy, soppy stuff.

[Brooklyn_Born]

I never got into Winger either... Way too soft no edge whatsoever... I got the Slaughter album when it came out also but was bored with it in no time! I preferred Ratt from all those softer sounding Rock bands at least the song writing was good and I really dug DeMartini on lead back then... Interesting that Kiss took out Slaughter on the Hot in the Shade tour.. Gene and Paul would have done it just to spite Vinnie and reaffirm how much they disliked him... They always laughed about Vinnie being " fired" from his own band in interviews in the late 80's/early 90's...Gene & Paul's ego's make me sick sometimes...especially on the X-treme close up video from 1992..the way they talked about Peter Ace and Vinnie was really disrespectful...

[Genebaby]

Yeah, dissing the guitarists they had back then, like Mark, for playing fast and flashy, which is exactly what they wanted, was not cool.

Kiss were hanging to take out Slaughter as they were a hot property at the time and helped ticket sales. The Hot In The Shade tour was held back for months and probably would not have happened at all had not Forever actually been a "real" radio hit for them. Forever and taking out other popular bands like Slaughter and Winger made the tour feasable $$ wise.

[Brooklyn_Born]

I remember Forever peaking in the US Billboard top 10 back in 1990 it was their biggest hit since '79! Hot in the shade tour was also a great success for them also which got the ball rolling again after the dismal results from the Crazy Nights tour...

[Genebaby]

HITS tour did fairly well but Revenge was again not that well attended. Issues like that probably helped the reunion tour along.

[doublev]

i hate to say it, but Kiss had Winger and Slaughter on the bill for HITS tour and I heard that Winger and Slaughter were selling as many shirts as Kiss.
Kix were on the bill also on the show I went to. Blow my fuse tour.

[doublev]

Forever wasn't as big a hit as the two or three singles that Winger and Slaughter had out, but it did get a lot of mtv play. Hide your heart got a little too and Lets Put the X in Sex the summer before was an MTV hit.

[Brooklyn_Born]

I remember Let's put the X in seX got a lot of airplay in Australia in late '88 and also charted in the top 50 but (you make me) Rock Hard didnt do as well... Forever bombed over here as did Hot in the Shade and Kiss didn't have a big hit until
God gave Rock n Roll to you II which was a top 20 hit.. Revenge was a top 10 album too! Vinnie again having an impact on Kiss' success

[Genebaby]

Yeah, X in Sex was in the Rage Top 50, I taped the clip. I always bought all the singles.

Forever was Kiss' biggest hit in years but yeah, Slaughter and Winger were more popular. Kiss was Kiss and they always struggled with the makeup off compared to the 70's when everybody just loved them.

They still had die hard fans, like me, but the general public did not always know they were still around.

[Brooklyn_Born]

Kiss always had a market in the US in the 80's after the makeup was removed especially between lick it up through asylum when rock and metal was really peaking but by the late 80's they started to struggle... In Australia most people had no idea Kiss where even still going... They had such a low profile. Even if an album was released you would never see posters up to advertise it in the record stores! The 0nly Kiss posters I remember in the 80's were for Lick it up and Crazy Nights until Alive III and Kiss my Ass were released.. Polygram just made no effort to promote Kiss in oz which really sucked...

[shramiac]

Too true Brooklyn! The same with Iron Maiden! EMI did nothing for them in Oz! They toured in the 80's and again in 1992 but didn't return till 2008! And they were still big in the 90's, even with Blaze(blech) Bailey singing! Obviously since 2000 they've gotten even bigger!

[Brooklyn_Born]

The Maiden is going stronger than ever! They actually headlined the soundwave festival in Brisbane last night!

[shramiac]

The Maiden is going stronger than ever! They actually headlined the soundwave festival in Brisbane last night!

Yeah and on my birthday too! I couldn't go sadly, 1000 mile flight to start with, my brother off work for a while AND I don't particularlly want to go to an all day fesitival either just to see the only band I like on the bill play only 1/2 - 2/3 of a normal gig! Would have preferred to see them at the Entertainment Centre like 2008. My old bass player was there and said that Bruce was having an awesome night on the mic though!

[Brooklyn_Born]

Happy Birthday for the 26th! It's mine today...

I missed Maiden in 2008 when they toured the full stage show... It wouldve been amazing!

[Genebaby]

Maiden were great in 08!! It was the best seeing them do just the old stuff, that's really why I went. I wanted to relive the 80's!!!

[shramiac]

I was wrong too! Maiden played a full 2 hour set!! My mate said it was a little "samey" when they played a heap of new songs off the new album and some of the crowd were tired and sluggish by the time Maiden got on. Bruce got up them for their lack of enthusiasm! Sadly Adrian & Yanick did the unison solos in the Trooper and the other song I can't think of right now and it still sounds sloppy! Other than that he said it was a great gig!

[doublev]

Never got into maiden. A bit too Viking rock for me. I do realize they are good or they wouldn't still be the international sensation they are today.

[shramiac]

Viking rock! That's funny! I can understand that. My favourite is Somewhere in Time which is the most left of centre Maiden album. Bruce's least favourite album actully.

[doublev]

i agree the Winger lyrics were awful. But I felt they had a little more dynamic than Slaughter. I like Kip's voice better. Slaughter's drummer was very good but not on the records I heard. Kix's Blow my fuse was my favourite tune of all the opening acts.