[.ca] Vixen

vixen greatest hit full throttle:
their albums are the greatest and they need to be out so they can be gotten easier i always liked the music since the first time i heard it and now want to get it but its hard to find

Nice start for hard-metal 80's femmes:
Among the more lightweight metal acts of the 80's was the female quartet Vixen, who managed to squeeze out two albums before splitting up. They were among the new wave of female metal artists coming up (Femme Fatale, Doro Pesch) or redefining their sound (Lita Ford). Though not as hard as Doro, Vixen's hard metal is still palatable, maybe slightly harder than Patty Smyth's harder material on Never Enough. The debut album yielded two singles, "Edge Of A Broken Heart" and "Cryin'" which are among the standout cuts here. The first single, the "I can live without you"-themed "Edge Of A Broken Heart" was produced by no less a team than Richard Marx and Fee Waybill of the Tubes. With that extended opening airy synth fill, followed by decent guitarwork by Jan Kuehnemund and some vocal oomph by Janet Gardner. "I Want You To Rock Me" sports the same booming drums motif that made Kiss's "I Love It Loud" a hit, and in fact I detect they were trying to reduplicate that. It's one of the better tracks here. Some keyboards lighten "Cryin'" a bit, and just like its sister single, it's one of those reactions against a rotter. "I won't be cryin'" goes the chorus. Jon Butcher wrote "American Dream" for these femmes, and the song tackles those looking for the title concept and those who have trouble, the poor and those striving to break the glass ceiling. Some great guitarwork by Kuehnemund here, and even grittier playing on "Desperate," which really comes alive in the choruses and bridge. All too often, the songs make one ache for the heavy guitar, which dies down once Janet Gardner starts singing, and at least her voice is strong enough to keep the listener in tune. Songs like the hard-edged "One Night Alone" and "Love Made Me" benefit from that combination, Gardner in the lighter moments, Kuehnemund in the heavier moments. In the chorus of the former, the entire group sing in unison, and combined with the instrumentation, that's when things are at their most powerful. "Cruisin'" is by far the most hard-driving song on the bunch, built around the fast-paced drumming by Roxy Petrucci, while the equally ripping "Charmed Life" about a silver-spooned brat who's got her daddy's brand new car and mother's mastercard, and everything she wants. What they lack in being lighter than the likes of say, Europe, they make up for in a cohesive, consistent sound permeating throughout most of the songs. And a lead guitarist who can still remind the listener that they can rock hard enough was vital to the hard metal of the 80's, which pretty much makes Jan Kuehnemund the backbone of the group.

Great Pop Metal!!!:
I just pulled this CD out after not listening to it in about 12 years! Back in College I remember really liking this disc and I wanted to see if it held up. It does! This is just a really fun CD with some great songs. "Edge of a Broken Heart" I think was the single and it is a really catchy tune. But I think the best song on the disc is "I Want you To Rock Me". It has an infectious hook and great chorus. "Cryin", "Cruisin" and "Charmed Life" are all really catchy. The guitar work on this album is great, and I don't think Vixen is given enough credit for thier musical abilities. (Maybe the tie-in with Richard Marx hurt them, who knows?)If you are a fan of Pat Benatar's music you should give Vixen a try, you won't be disappointed.

A guilty pleasure:
Before I got into punk music in high school, I was rabidly a big pop metal fan during my freshman and early sophomore high school years. Vixen was my favorite band at the time. At the time I was more than impressed that it was possible for a group of women to form their own rock band just like the boys. Looking back now, I have to laugh at how cheesy Vixen were but at the time I thought their music was the greatest thing since sliced bread. Their music was undeniably catchy. I forgot how I was introduced to the band but I am more than sure that it was through the first single "Edge of a Broken Heart". Never got to see the band live which I am rather disappointed about. Some of the music on the album is unbelievably cheesy like "I Want You to Rock Me" and "One Night Alone" but they were catchy as heck. Granted the band really didn't write most of the songs on their debut album, I didn't care at the time. My favorite songs (and they still are) are "American Dream", "Waiting", and "One Night Alone" (as cheesy as that song might be). They are so catchy I can't help but sing alone to the songs. Vixen may not have been as hard as L7 or Babes in Toyland but they deserve their spot in rock music. They proved to a lot of people that rock music isn't a gender thing.

• Edge of a Broken Heart
• I Want You to Rock Me
• Cryin'
• American Dream
• Desperate
• One Night Alone
• Hell Raisers
• Love Made Me
• Waiting
• Cruisin'
• Charmed Life