Vices

Artist: Kick Axe
Label: Songhaus
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Format: Import
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1

UPC: 655825501128
EAN: 0655825501128
ASIN: B0000517AY

Release Date: 2001-05-23

Related Categories:

General

| Rock | Styles | Music

General

| Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Pop Rock

| Pop | Styles | Music

Hard Rock

| Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Rock

| Imports | Stores | Music

Listmania:

BEST METAL FROM THE OLDEN DAYS PT.1
BEST CANADIAN HARD ROCK OR METAL PT.2
"MOFO'S" (Mostly) Compleat Masterlist XLVI
Lost Treasures of Metal 2
Some of my favorite heavy metal bands (not the same old)
Albums for every heavy metal fan
Best of 80s (REAL) Metal!!
My Music Collection - Part 15
The Best Vocalists in rock/ heavy metal music, NOT IN ORDER
The 80's. When Metal REIGNED!!! Pt. 2

Tracks:

Heavy Metal Shuffle
Vices
Stay on Top
Dreamin' About You
Maneater
On the Road to Rock
Cause for Alarm
Alive and Kickin'
All the Right Moves
Just Passin' Through

Similar Items:

Welcome to the Club
Rock the World
Walkin' the Razor's Edge
Danger Danger
IV

Customer Reviews:

Complete Ripoff.......2005-09-19

In short. Save your money. To say I'm disappointed in the product would be a complete understatement. Understand this is just "my opinion" of the product and other "opinions" may vary. Many of the tracks are repeated at the end of the cd. The same songs, just recorded in another "venue","Nashville,TN." to be exact,the same quirky "are there any metalheads out there tonite?" stage to audience interactions from the band to the crowd. Hey, I heard the same scenario in maybe?Cincinnati? four songs ago, do I really need to hear it again from Nashville?? It's a little redundant. Purchasing this product was my mistake, don't make it yours too!!

4.5 stars - Awesome debut from Canada's premier metal band.......2005-04-13

Vices (1984.) Kick Axe's first album.

The early eighties saw a period of time in which heavy metal bands were striving to make it big. Metal had fast become one of the most popular musical genres of the decade, and many a band was trying to achieve popularity. Most of these bands were American, the vast majority of them existing in southern California. But, there were a number of bands in the genre who hailed from different countries. Among these foreign eighties hard rock bands was Kick Axe, who (oddly enough) came from Canada. The group was pretty much unknown, both in their prime and even up to the modern day. Unlike most metal bands of the day, this group was more of a heavy, aggressive metal band than a glam rock act (the group's stylings are MUCH more similar to say, WASP, than to a band like Poison.) Although the band had been around since the mid-seventies, they didn't get around to releasing their first album, Vices, until 1984. Read on for my review of it.

If you're into classic heavy metal, Kick Axe is one of those bands that's well worth exploring, and their debut album proves the point many times over. The band was one of the heaviest of their time, with a sound so gritty and aggressive that it put many a classic metal act to shame. It's a shame the group never achieved any real popularity, because their breed of metal was one all its own. The sheer intensity of the band's musical stylings must be heard to be appreciated. On this album you get ten tracks, and they are all excellent, hard, and heavy - there's not a power ballad in sight. George Criston's vocals are among the most unique of the genre, which only goes to enhance the band's sound. Larry Gillstrom and Arthur Harvey serve up a dual-guitar onslaught that's tough to beat. Take my advice - if you like metal that rocks hard and rocks right, Kick Axe is well worth checking out. These guys are arguably the best Canadian rock and roll band I've ever heard.

As I previously stated, Kick Axe is NOT a wildly popular band, so finding their stuff may be somewhat of a challenge. Your best bet will probably be to order their stuff from an online store - you're not likely to find any of it in retail stores. Hopefully the band's material will get better mainstream distribution sometime in the future, but for the time being, you're just gonna have to search.

There's not a whole lot else I can say. Kick Axe kicks ass. These guys know how to rock and roll, and they're not afraid to prove it. Classic metal bands don't get much better than these guys - it's just a shame they weren't around to release albums for too long and ultimately disbanded without making a name for themselves. Oh, well - the music itself is far more important than popularity, if you ask me. Classic metal fans, if you don't own this, you should be ashamed of yourselves.

Kickin'.......2005-01-26

This is an awesome album from start to finish. I am a little curious as to how an album from a band out of Regina gets called an Import......

4.5 Stars- A solid 80s pop metal offering by an unknown band.......2004-04-25

Vices(1984). Kick Axe's debut studio album.

Beneath a huge mass of successful hair metal acts such as Poison, Warrant, Motley Crue, Ratt, and Bon Jovi, there were even more bands that never hit big, but rocked every bit as much as their more famous contemporaries. To me, I've always been more of a fan of the heavier hair metal bands whose sound borderlined on actual heavy metal music, such as Twisted Sister, Tesla, Skid Row, and W.A.S.P. Coming from Canada, Kick Axe was one of these bands. Though they have technically been around since 1976, KA went through numerous lineup changes until finally in 1984, they managed to cut a deal with producer Spencer Proffer and made their first studio album. For those who don't know, Spencer Proffer was also the producer of Quiet Riot's most successful album Metal Health(1983), and went on to produce for W.A.S.P. and others. Here we have George Criston on vocals, Raymond Arthur Harvey and Larry Gillstrom on lead guitars, Victor Langen on bass, and Brian Gillstrom on drums. None of these guys are famous at all, but they are good at this genre of metal, so the band has good cohesion. I especially like the vocals because they are different than most other vocalists of hair metal bands at the time.

Here we have Vices. The first track 'Heavy Metal Shuffle' grabs your attention right away with catchy hooks abound. The title track and 'Stay On Top' are both pounding anthems, loud and commanding the way rockers should be. The latter track segues smoothly right into 'Dreaming About You', which is sort of a semi-ballad, though still heavy enough to compete with the other songs. 'Maneater' has a cool pace to it, though the section between the 2nd chorus and solo is just weird with its sound effects. You'd have to hear it to see what I mean. The hard rocking anthems continue with 'On The Road To Rock' and the fastpaced 'Cause For Alarm'. 'Alive & Kicking' is a little more lightweight, but still a very catchy and interesting track. 'All The Right Moves' is cool enough, though probably the weakest song on the album. The closing track 'Just Passin' Through' partially reminds me of Dio's 'Holy Diver' and Def Leppard's 'Billy's Got A Gun'.

So is Vices a worthy investment? If you like 80s styled metal, you bet! Anyone who is a fan of W.A.S.P., Twisted Sister, Quiet Riot, and/or Dokken owes it to themselves to add this to their collection. To me, it fits well along with some of the more popular albums of the time, though it never got the credit it deserved. If you buy any version of this album at all, make sure that you get the imported copy. Not only is it cheaper, but the album has been digitally remastered and it contains a booklet with interesting liner notes. Kick Axe went on to record songs for the Transformers Movie under the name Spectre General, and released two more albums Welcome To The Club(1985) and Rock The World(1986) before disbanding. They were good albums, though not on the level of Vices. Recently though, the band reformed and are going to release a new album sometime this year, called IV(2004), so if you're a fan, look out for it. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Other recommendations:
-'W.A.S.P.' by W.A.S.P.
-'Metal Health' by Quiet Riot
-'You Can't Stop Rock & Roll' by Twisted Sister
-'Pyromania' by Def Leppard

Melodic Metal At It's Best!.......2002-12-30

This debut album from Kick Axe showcases their melodic sensibilities, as well as their killer 4 part harmonies. The production work by Spencer Proffer (Quiet Riot, King Kobra) is state of the art, with the huge drum, guitar, & vocals. Check out "On the road to rock", & "Dreamin' about you" for examples of this. Of course "Heavy Metal Shuffle", & "Alive & Kickin'" are absolute, bonefide rock anthems that stand up with most anything from '80's metal land. This album is a must have for any fan of quality 80's metal that appreciates great song writing (Kick Axe also wrote songs for King Kobra, & W.A.S.P to name a few)guitar work, & kick-[butt] vocals.

Music CD:

Music CD

Music CD

Music CD

Rumaenische Panfloeten ~ Crai Nou Ensemble

Necroticism: Descanting the Insalubrious ~ Carcass

Metal Jukebox ~ Helloween

Sweets ~ Yoko Ishida

Like Weather ~ Leila

Nachtexpress ~ Achim Reichel

Momo

Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban

Prelude to a Kiss ~ Howard Shore

My Love Is for Real ~ Paula Abdul