This Week's Forgotten Gem of the '80s - Vinnie Vincent Invasion's "No Substitute"
Monday February 25, 2008
OK, maybe it's just excess nostalgia talking when I apply the term "gem" here, but I still rather enjoy this bombastic, earnest hard rock love song from 1986. In fact, it's one of those songs that I can vividly remember hearing for the first time in my bedroom as a teenager who had just discovered hard rock, genuine heavy metal and the better side of pop metal. I remember being drawn to the passionate, high-pitched vocals of Robert Fleischman, the band's frontman at the time who would ultimately be replaced by hair metal yowler Mark Slaughter.
After revisiting the tune for this occasion, I certainly detect the dated, glossy production and oversized drum sound, but I never realized how totally banshee Fleischman gets at times, verging dangerously close to (or beyond) heavy metal caricature. Nonetheless, early-'80s Kiss guitarist Vincent boasts a singular lead guitar sound, and more surprisingly, has actually written a pretty underrated mid-tempo rocker with unusually decent lovelorn lyrics and memorable melodies. I don't know if this one's gonna build up a huge play count on my iPod anytime soon, but such a development would not be unprecedented in my mottled musical track record.
Comments
The two Vinnie Vincent albums were some of the best 80’s Metal LPs ever recorded. The first especially, had the most insane lead guitar sound ever, bordering on ‘industrial art/noise’. Awesome, catchy songs. Vinnie’s two Kiss LPs ( Creatures and Lick It Up ) were also by far their best studio Lp’s. WAY better than their so-called 70’s hey-day.
Growing up a huge KISS and Ace Frehley fan, I had a hard time initially accepting Vinnie Vincent. By the time he was booted from KISS, I had learned to appreciate his talent. The two VVI records stood well musically, too bad it was about image back then. No Substitute, for me, was one of the more memorable songs – maybe one of the more underrated ballads of the time. And still with a great solo.