I'm 36. I've always loved metal and when I first got into Kiss it was when Lick it Up came out. The Vinnie era of Kiss was and remains my favorite to this day. When the Invasion album came out my mind was literally blown. I can still remember the first time I saw the video for Boyz are Gonna Rock. I lived on an Air Force base and I ran to the BX to buy the album. I picked up a guitar because of that video. Invasion remains my all-time favorite album 25 years later. Vinnie was a brilliant songwriter. In addition to that, he managed to do something I've never heard another shredder do: he made ridiculous wanky solos sound emotional and moving. Maybe it was my dawning puberty or something but that album still sounds like pure lust to me. It's the best music I've ever heard.
So, the second album comes out. Not as good, but I still love it. Some of the songs still have that lustful vibe that make me happy as hell: Naughty Naughty, Heavy Pettin', Dirty Rhythm to be precise. Ashes to Ashes is fucking amazing and Love Kills is one of the best Power Ballads of all time. I like every song on that album as well, and really, who can follow up perfection with perfection again?
In the 23 years since the release of All Systems Go we've gotten 4 songs with poor production and a drum machine. Honestly it sounds like a demo, but I still love every song. If that is all the music we ever get out of Vinnie (and I'm absolutely certain now that it is) I think it's really unfortunate, but I'm happy for what we did get.
That said, my experience as a Vinnie Vincent fan has been a downward spiral through the years. First I wanted new music. Then I still wanted new music. Then I still waited for new music. I remember reading a blurb in Hit Parader or something about some unknown guy named Andre LaBelle (that name might totally be wrong, it was a long time ago) that was working Vinnie on new music and getting my hopes up. Anytime I read a metal magazine I would read the news wire closely just hoping to hear something, anything. But, nothing ever came. Months and years would go by and nothing, nothing, nothing. Finally Euphoria came out, but it's not like it was any kind of legitimate release. I paid sixty bucks for it on Ebay if I remember correctly. But it was new Vinnie and I was happy as hell to have it. When I got the internet I did the same thing. Anything about Vinnie on Blabbermouth this month? No? Fuck.
The wait never ended. I've gone from hoping for new music, to just hoping that my childhood hero isn't in seclusion going crazy. Rather than wanting new music, the best I hoped for was some sort of public appearance that says he's alive and well. Unfortunately it appears to be quite the opposite. The guy that was my hero as a kid became a laughing stock over the years. A random picture shows up where he looks like a transvestite and everyone mocks him. Repeated losses in court against his former band and everyone mocks him. I defended him to my metal head friends on message boards and in real life every time. I always wanted to give Vinnie the benefit of the doubt. After all, it's not like there aren't other people that had issues with Gene & Paul. The idea of them ripping Vinnie off didn't seem that far-fetched. And really, who gives a shit what he looks like or if he is or isn't gay? Why should that matter? To the world he was some has been replacement guy in a has been band. To me he was the most under appreciated musician in history. When I read what happened to Vinnie's ex-wife I was very saddened for him and worried about what that could do to someone's emotional and mental well-being. No good news ever seemed to come.
Anyway I could have gotten used to the fact that Vinnie checked out of public life and that was that. I thought it was regrettable, given all that could have been, but sometimes people just don't want a public life anymore. I can respect that and understand it. After all, as much as I would love new music from Vinnie, he certainly doesn't owe it to me.
But....
Despite what I want to believe, Vinnie clearly is the bad guy that so many have made him out to be for years. It sucks to find out that your childhood hero is an asshole, but I can finally draw no other conclusion. When practically everyone you come in contact with thinks you're a dick, odds are you're a dick. Ripping off fans, insulting them, charging NINE THOUSAND DOLLARS for a guitar....that shit is just the tip of the iceberg. I really can't think of a comparable public persona who has so completely alienated everyone in the fucking world. Axl Rose thinks this guy is a dick. I used to hate Slaughter simply on principle because I believed they had fucked Vinnie over, so I would like to apologize to Slaughter right now. My bad.
I think that Vinnie is a borderline personality. Read about Borderline Personality Disorder some time and see if you disagree. My mother is one of these and it basically means you're a manipulative nutbag. There is no hope for someone like that. There is never going to be a time that Vinnie decides to make up for screwing so many people over. He's never going to own up to it. He's never going to say sorry. He's going to continue to use people and blame them for his problems.
So...fuck it. Our heroes are human after all. This should be a warning to anyone who idolizes any rock star or anyone else for that matter. You never really know what kind of person they are. Ultimately, the whole thing just makes me kinda sad. To think about all the talent that Vinnie wasted is tragic. Yngwie Malmsteen has like 20 albums and not one single song that comes close to Vinnie's worst song.
Anyway, I just thought I'd get that off my chest. I'll always love the music but my time of looking up to Vinnie Vincent is long over. I got my name legally changed some years back (long story, but I don't really have any family) and I took the middle name Vincent. Guess why? Still sounds cool, but that should give you an idea of how much I thought of Vinnie's music and how important it was to me growing up. Now I think I'll stop telling people that's why I did it.
Cool site though. Sorry to hear about all the drama that brought it into being. I'm at least heartened to know that there are other people out there who were as crazy about Vinnie's music as I was. Most people think I'm nuts for liking it so much.
Welcome.Stick around,it can only get worse. 
