Vixen - Vixen (1988)

Originally from Minnesota, it was a move to LA during the mid-1980s, along with a shuffling of line-up, that gave all-girl band Vixen the impetus required to gain a recording contract with EMI and to jump on the ‘hair metal’ bandwagon spewing forth from the city that was, for a short while at least, conquering a huge mainstream audience. For this album, their debut, EMI brought in the song writing talents of soft rock mullet-meister Richard Marx who set about, along with input from the band, creating a commercial melodic, but hard-edged, sound that fitted into the zeitgeist of the time. The album was reasonably successful on both sides of the Atlantic and spawned three singles that achieved considerable airplay with the, shall we say, photogenic nature of the group ensuring much airtime on the embryonic MTV.

One of the biggest hits, Edge of a Broken Heart opens the album and was penned by Marx and ex-Tubes front man Fee Waybill and just about encapsulates all the elements that made Vixen a strong act, and the whole scene of mass appeal, in one number: excellent production, driving riff and very strong vocals and chorus hook. Although the keyboards now sound a bit dated, the band are on really good form and Edge of a Broken Heart is a really strong opener for the album.

I Want You to Rock Me is up next and is a cross between John Parr’s St Elmo’s Fire and Queen’s We Will Rock You with a very heavily 80’s sounding gated reverb on Roxy Petrucci’s kit which isn’t great. It is at this point that you start to wonder if your initial enthusiasm was misplaced, but fortunately Cryin’ is up next which was a single from the album and, whilst following a rather formulaic power ballad format, is a very fine example and was the first single I’d heard from the band and was suitably impressed enough to buy it at the time which for someone to whom the whole ‘hair metal’ scene was their Nemesis, isn’t a bad recommendation!

American Dreams opens with Petrucci and Pedersen laying down a medium tempo rhythm to which Kuehnemund adds a riff then overlays a good bluesy solo. This is a very strong track that ticks over nicely and was written by US singer-songwriter John Butcher and is a little less ‘of the genre’ than some of the other tracks on the album. And whilst on the subject of ‘genre’, Desperate falls perfectly into the compulsory acoustic ballad territory so well plundered by US rock acts during the late-80s. However, the chorus picks things up and Kuehnemund – whose perception that the band wanted to oust her from her guitarist role largely led to the demise of the band following their follow-up release – puts in a good solo along with some fretless bass from Share Pedersen.

One Night Alone is catchy if unremarkable radio-friendly rock track which is followed by Kuehnemund back in the driving seat for the hard rocker Hell Raisers which, when you consider it was co-written by Nuclear Assault’s Scott Metaxas, was always going to be a heavy track! The follow-up single to Cryin’ is up next with Love Made Me and moves the album back to a more commercial footing with a mellow verse leading into a catchy chorus with full harmony vocals and wailing guitar outbursts from Kuehnemund and is one of the standout tracks on the album: the mid-8 lead-up to the guitar solo is a particularly well-crafted piece.

Waiting, written by Jan Kuehnemund and Janet Gardner, is a good plodding hard rock track with understated vocals on the verse that soar and soar leading up the chorus and, as an example of the band’s song writing, shows a slightly less formulaic and more heavy edge. Kuehnemund’s riff is good, and not merely working around a keyboard sequence as largely is the case elsewhere, and the guitar work throughout strong. Cruisin’ is also a Kuehnemund/Gardner track and once more is a powerful hard rock number, this time up-tempo, and motors along nicely with a less polished vocally-harmonised chorus than their ‘hits’ again indicating the band’s heavier leanings: this is more akin to a combination of Vixen and The Runaways . . . if you can imagine such a thing! Kuehnemund also gets the opportunity to let rip with a more lengthy, less chart-friendly, guitar solo which, being a fan of the odd shred, is only a bonus.

The album closes with Charmed Life, written by Gregg Tripp and Jeff Paris, and is back on a more AOR footing.

I love this album for what it is, a collection of very strong commercial rock tracks performed excellently by a talented group and, having worked on a tour with them in the UK, they reproduced their sound perfectly live . . . and I’ve still got a soft spot for Share Pedersen if I’m to be honest. However, not letting the Pedersen issue cloud my judgement, this is a great album of its genre and it’s a pity Vixen let internal squabbles halt the progress of this line-up after only two albums!

• Janet Gardner- Vocals
• Jan Kuehnemund- Guitar
• Share Pedersen- Bass
• Roxy Petrucci- Drums