Would you pay $225 for a CD single? That’s how much Vinnie Vincent, the guitarist who replaced Ace Frehley in Kiss from 1982 to ’84, is charging for “Ride the Serpent,” the first Vinnie Vincent Invasion release in decades, and even hardcore Kiss Army vets are questioning the price tag to the point that Vincent has had to defend it.
In what appear to be now-deleted exchanges with fans on social media, several publications including Classic Rock, Stereogum, and Brave Words report that Vincent said the following: “If you like what I do, then support the artist. You bitch because it’s one song? This one song is worth more than most entire albums. Consider yourself lucky that it’s only $200, and that it’s autographed yet. It was originally $300, but with the economy suffering as it is, I made it $200. If you don’t like it… That’s your problem, not mine.”
Vincent is releasing the CD, which bears the classic “Compact Disc Digital Audio” logo printed right on it, in a limited edition of 1,000 copies. It’s considered an “extended play” from Vinnie Vincent Invasion’s upcoming Judgment Day Guitarmageddon album. The $225 price tag includes a $25 shipping fee. He’s also charging $300 for “International Orders” of the CD. The release is Vincent’s first new music since he released the Euphoria EP in 1996.
“If the fan support is there, this is what to expect the price will be for these private recording collection pieces,” Vincent reportedly told fans. “There is a bank vault of recordings I have been preparing for release. The time is almost here. I understand the bitching, the moaning, the whining about price, but you must also understand that my situation is such that my music is so desired that it will be targeted and taken from me immediately, which I cannot/will not allow.”
In a recent Facebook comment, Vincent said he may not release Guitarmageddon at all. “The magic of VINNIE VINCENT INVASION is escapism,” he wrote. “GUITARMAGEDDON is escapism on steroids. So it comes down to this; if the fan support is not there which it does not appear to be, this record will not be released. Am I fine with that? Absolutely. 100%. It will be the greatest album of all time, never to be heard, never to be released.”
And if it does come out, don’t expect to see it on Spotify. “NO STREAMING,” he wrote to a fan. “VINYL AND CD HARD COPIES ONLY.”
Vincent played lead guitar on several tracks on Kiss’ 1982 album, Creatures of the Night, but was not credited. After Frehley parted ways with the band, he played on their Lick It Up album in 1983. He co-wrote several of the album’s songs, including the hit title track. He left the band in 1984 and formed the Vinnie Vincent Invasion. After the release of Euphoria, he kept a low profile until making an appearance at the 2018 Atlanta Kiss Expo. He was not among the Kiss members that Donald Trump venerated at the Kennedy Center Honors this month.