Customer Reviews

Vixen

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

After VH1's bands reunited got Vixen back together for a one time performance, an EMI exec at the show decided to re-release their first two albums. God bless you. If you remember when rock was fun and not always anger and pain, when bands like Motley Crue, Poison, and Warrant ruled, then you'll love Vixen. Thanks to EMI, we can now buy these underrated gems. Thank you EMI.

The 80's were great, there were so many cool bands. Vixen was right in there with the best (and worst) of them. An all girl band that teased their hair to the moon, wore a lot of make up, and shopped at the same clothing shops as Poison and Warrant.

My first taste of them was MTV of course and their first single 'Edge of a Broken Heart'. My initial thoughts were this is a catchy tune, and Janet Gardner (lead vox) was the most beautiful woman on the planet. She was smokin! I bought the album that week, actually it was a tape way back in 1988, and I bought it with a gift certificate I had won from Camelot Music.

For those who enjoy or need a light album of rock every now and then, Vixen's debut should do you good. You can listen to the whole album straight through. No clunkers here. My personal faves are 'Edge of a Broken Heart', 'Cruisin', and 'I want you to Rock me'.

I really missed them for a long time, then Tangerine came out. That's a different review, but that album is awesome. Well worth the wait.

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.

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.

For me this Cd is one of the best 80s rock albums, you have the three excellent singles "Edge of a Broken Heart", "Cryín" and "Love Made Me", but there are other great songs like "Desperate" and two of my preferred Vixen songs "American Dream" and "I Want you To Rock Me", in fact all the songs are great.
All the Band plays really good, Vixen have a excellent powerful glam rock music style. I remember that I love this band since the first time I listened, and I was very happy when in 2004 they edited again the first two albums. For me the original line up of Vixen first two album is the best Girl Rock band ever!

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.

Vixen is one of the best female bands ever. Too often compared to Heart. Heart WISHES they could rock this hard! Vixen will remind you of Lita Ford with a Poison/Stryper like sound. 80's style rock/metal with GORGEOUS women in the band!

I always liked hard rock (more hard rock than true metal). I always liked female vocalists. I always have been supportive of female musicians and athletes. So it shouldn't surprise anyone that I like Vixen. But I like Vixen better than the Go Gos, and they are close to edging out the Bangles (my second favorite secular band) and Rachel Rachel (which could be called a Christian Vixen, except they aren't as good at rockin' as Vixen is).

I actually learned about Vixen through MySpace. While I was not surprised there was some turn over, I was when I discovered only one of the original band members was still there (Jan K.) But that did not diminish how much I enjoyed the project.

My favorite tracks (and yes, I liked them all) were "Edge Of A Broken Heart", "I Want You To Rock Me", "American Dream", "One Night Alone", "Love Made Me", "Waiting", and "Cruisin'". 7 out of 11 songs on my favorite tracks list? That says it all, doesn't it?!

Robin Zander, in the Cheap Trick song "I Want You," sings: "I'll search the world for a girl exactly you." Maybe I'm taking my music too seriously, but why would he want a girl exactly like the one who doesn't want him? Yes, a broken heart hurts. But you can't be a wimp, either. That's why I like Vixen's point of view: "I'll find someone else who's nothing like you." Exactly! When your man or woman has done you wrong, replace him or her with someone new, different, and better. Vixen, four gals who could actually play, released a second album in 1990 and then disappeared from the mainstream, a victim of radio's move toward the new rock sounds coming out of Seattle. "Edge of a Broken Heart" was written by Richard Marx and the Tubes' Fee Waybill, an unlikely songwriting duo if ever there was one.

This CD is a remastered edition of the first album by Vixen, a light metal band from the late 1980s. Consisting of four women, Vixen's career was all too brief. Fortunately, both of their early releases are now available again. Stylistically, Vixen ranged from playing Journey-like power ballads to harder-edged, metallic rock. This, their first album was mellower; the second, Rev it Up, was a good deal harder. The 11 tracks here were penned in part by the band, in part by other musicians and professional songwriters, so that at times the writing seems a bit inconsistent. Still, there is quite a bit of strong material on the CD. The instrumental work is solid, and the vocals are almost a guilty pleasure. Both Vixen and Rev it Up are well worth having, particularly for listeners who enjoy 1980s-style metal.