Customer Reviews

Best Of: Full Throttle

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

The Best Of Vixen: Full Throttle(1998). Compilation comprising of the best tracks from Vixen's first two albums: Vixen(1988) and Rev It Up(1991), plus a couple of unreleased tracks.

Hard Rock and Glam Metal. In those two genres normally dominated by male bands such as Motley Crue, Scorpions, Poison, and Def Leppard, one band rose up and proved that "Female hardrock can play with the best of them." Vixen was that band. Sporting a style that sounds like a combination of Heart and Lita Ford, Vixen launched a very brief career with only 3 real hits: Cryin', Love Is A Killer, and Edge Of A Broken Heart. However, even in that short time these hot girls showed that they could really rock the house down with passion! The best part about them is that their other material is equally great, and most of it could've easily become hits, given the proper airplay attention.
Here's the breakdown according to albums:

VIXEN (self-titled debut)-1988
tracks: Edge Of A Broken Heart, Cryin', Love Made Me, Charmed Life, and Cruisin'
comments: Great songs. American Dream and One Night Alone are also good too, but the ones chosen for this compilation are still the better picks.

REV IT UP-1991
tracks: How Much Love, Love Is A Killer, Not A Minute Too Soon, Streets In Paradise, Bad Reputation, and Fallen Hero.
comments: Much more emphasis on this album, though it is the better of the two. Hard 16 is another good track that could've been on here, but once again the song choices made were perfect for representing the album. Fallen Hero is a major standout track as it shifts from a melodic ambient verse to an all-out rocking chorus.

UNRELEASED (new tracks)-exact years unknown
tracks: Give It Away(b-side), and I Want You To Rock Me(live)
comments: Give It Away proves to be a decent melodic fast song that should have made the cut for the debut album, though the other songs on here outshine it a bit. I actually like the studio version of I Want You To Rock Me better, though it's not bad at all. Still, its inclusion on here is perfectly appropriate and shows that Vixen can pull off a real performance well.

Overall, I am EXTREMELY impressed with how well this compilation is put together. There isn't a single song that I don't like on here, though my favorites are Fallen Hero, Streets In Paradise, Edge Of A Broken Heart, and How Much Love. Full Throttle easily gets five stars hands down. Before you look at the tracklist and suddenly don't remember most of these songs being famous at all, keep in mind: THIS IS A BEST OF COMPILATION, NOT A GREATEST HITS COLLECTION. Plus, even though it takes many songs off of only two albums, BOTH OF THEM ARE NOW OUT OF PRINT, SO THIS COLLECTION IS THE ONLY REAL WAY TO GET THEM. Both of these facts boost the quality of this collection even more. If you're a fan of Heart, Lita Ford, Pat Benatar, or any other female 80s hard rock bands, then by all means PICK THIS UP NOW. It is guarunteed not to disappoint. If you're not, then I at least recommend giving it a try. To this day, it is one of my favorite cds, and one of the few compilation discs that truly captures a band in their prime.

Also, Vixen apparently released another album many years later, titled Tangerine(1997). I haven't heard any of it, though I've been told that it sounds much different than the music on this collection.

ALL OF VIXEN GREATEST SONGS ARE INCLUDED ON THIS ONE..FROM ..CRYIN'--HOW MUCH LOVE--LOVE IS A KILLER--EDGE OF A BROKEN HEART--THIS IS NOT JUST ANOTHER FEMALE HARD ROCK BAND..THEY ARE ONE OF THE BEST..IF YOU LIKE THE MUSIC OF JOAN JETT,PAT BENATAR,HEART & LITA FORD,PICK THIS ONE UP! AND YOU'LL AGREE!

Full Throttle is loaded up with good material. You just gotta have it. If you like Heart, Lita Ford, and Doro Pesch, there's no doubt about it--Vixen's gonna be one of your favorite purchases. And guys, this would make an excellent x-mas gift for your girlfriends.

Most of Vixen's great albums are long out of print! I spent way too much time going from used CD store to store looking for their cataloge. Now you can get all the big hits on one CD. Vixen has always been one of my favorite female hard rock bands. They keep getting better with each album. Check out the last studio CD "Tangerine".

I decided to purchase this greatest hits a year and a half ago because I really like hard rock/heavy metal bands. I definitely wasn't disappointed with Vixen. I now have all of their albums, and they have remained one of my favorite bands of all time. If you can come across their first two albums, which are out of print, and the 1998 Tangerine, be sure to try them as well. I really hope they release another one someday. My favorite tracks on Full Throttle are: "How Much Love," "Cryin'," "Love is a Killer," "Streets in Paradise," "I Want You to Rock Me (Live)," "Fallen Hero," and "Cruisin'." Purchase this if you're like me, and love hard rock/heavy metal. You won't be disappointed.

The Case Against Women in Heavy Metal

It really doesn't matter how many semi hot chicks are fronting heavy metal bands today. The sad truth is that aside from a few select exceptions (1), headbanging women are still relegated to mere crooning eye candy roles, and our favorite music gender is still mostly a misogynistic boys club.
Back in the late 80s, we chauvinistic heshers used the "women can't really play so start shaking that ass" rationale to deride female bands like Vixen, which in hindsight was only half unfair in this case: while the girls undoubtedly had their chops together, I really doubt that without their pretty faces and hot bodies getting plastered all over MTV their self titled debut album would've gone anywhere near gold.
Musically, Vixen aligned their stylish coifs among the softest hair metal bands, sounding similar to an untalented Winger, but with real women singing. This collection, which culls the supposedly strongest songs from the band's first two albums, proves just how untalented these girls were as songwriters, since their two biggest hits were penned by outside writers, and ultimately, their flash in the pan career just fed every unfair stereotype about women in metal. If you're seeking for a really good pop metal girl band, do yourself a favor and track Phantom Blue's first two records instead.
Useless Metal Trivia Note: The band's best known song, Edge of a Broken heart, was co written by Richard Marx. Yes, that Richard Marx.

(1) Like Electric Wizard's Liz Buckingham, Virgin Black's Samantha Escarbe, Kylesa's Laura Pleasants or Bolt Thrower's Jo Bench.

These gals rock!! Received in excellent condition and quickly got to me.The Best of Vixen: Full Throttle

These ladies rock! If you like Lita Ford, Joan Jett, and every band from Bon Jovi to Motley Crue, you need this in your collection. Powerful guitar, thundering drums, melodic vocals all come together with these ladies. Pick it up and turn it up!

Drawing Down the Moon is Jan Kuehnemund's new all-girl group. I listened to their new CD, "Angel In My Dream," last night and Jan is still wonderful. Like Vixen, there's more than one lead singer and it's straight-ahead guitar rock - -but with superlative lyrics. A definite buy!

I like Vixen I really do. But how can you possibly have a 'Best of Vixen' after only two albums? One live tune is worth buying all the same songs all over again. Listen up people, go buy Vixen's Tangerine. It'll blow you away. It's not 80's Vixen at all. It's 90's punk/grunge/metal/blues/ Vixen. Buy the album.