KICK AXE - Vices reissue
Rock Candy Records
Review by Andy
The year was 1984. Heavy metal was everywhere. MTV had finally realized its popularity. Radio was actually playing some of the more commercial stuff. Metal giants Judas Priest came to town on their Defenders Of The Faith tour. I was there. Who is this opening act Kick Axe We asked ourselves. When they hit the stage. I was not sure to cheer or cringe ! These guys were taking the cheese to new levels ! While the guitars were blazing. Drums pounding hard and heavy. Wicked screaming vocals. But there were those stage moves. Those backing vocals LOL. the entire band sang em out like the Bay City Rollers mixed with Queen drunk on Canadian beer like Moosehead !! Cheese flowing think out of these guys.
I remember it was odd to see a metal band all with huge smiles on their faces. looking back it makes sense. they were a obscure young band from Canada. Opening for Judas Priest in front of a huge Arena full of headbangers. Ha Ha The bass player had a axe shaped bass kinda like Gene Simmons. But instead of a shoulder strap. It was attached to his belt buckle. He would take his hands off it and spin it. The drummer would be constantly spinning his sticks. While the two guitar players would swing back & forth together while shredding 80s style metal. The vocalist would walk back & forth from one side to the other. Spinning His wireless mic like a drumstick. Also He would randomly yell out ... "Johnny" ! WTF? Just going along in the song then .... ! Johnny! He even does it a time or three on the album We have here. Kinda like in the 70s When Mick Jagger would randomly Yell out "Jimmy" in concert. Of course years later it was revealed. That during that time period. Mick had some substance abuse problems. And was actually depressed. And actually had a imaginary friend named Jimmy for awhile LOL. Oh those crazy rock stars. How can We mere mortals even begin to understand LOL.
So enough teenage memories of cheese & metal. I was actually under the influence Myself at that concert. On a side note. Defenders was actually the last decent album by Priest. So Vices ? The Debut full album by Canadian act Kick Axe. Like all Rock Candy re-issues its a quality package. looks great sounds great. A bonus track & very cool booklet telling the sad success to failure in 3 years time story of Kick Axe. Typical from bars to Arenas & back to the bars again. Not a unusual story in Rock N Roll. Its just that Kick Axe did it a lot quicker then most. But this album as cheesy as the lyrics were. the 80s super pop metal production. Could not hide the great musicianship. Killer vocalist. Catchy songwriting. Huge drum sound. And yeah those weird super chorus vocals. Like I said. I never knew what to think of them then. But I did wear that tape out. So I wound up with this CD. And yeah I still don't know what to think of it. But Yes I have listened to it a lot lately. Its a fun unique album. A trip down memory lane of weird cheesy rock n roll history.
Songs? Oh yeah there's some good ones. Heavy Metal Shuffle , Vices, Stay On Top , and a cool bonus track. A cover of Humble Pie's -30 Days In The Hole. Which originally was on the soundtrack. To cheese-ball 80s teen classic movie Up The Creek. A brilliant soundtrack. Which also featured some classic non album tracks from Cheap Trick & Ian Hunter. Look it up for more 80s fun. So yeah. I guess it some ways I blame stuff like Kick Axe. For the beginning of heavy metal getting even dumber & cheesier then it already was. 1984 was the beginning of the end. For a lot of bands. The next year 1985 brought us Poison, Bon Jovi, Turbo Lover .. And Kick Axe went back to the Canadian rock clubs. And produced a fairly poppy more mainstream album. That nobody bought. Myself ? I moved to North Carolina and embraced the punk rock & heavy metal underground.
Rating: 3 Stars. No maybe 3 & 1/2? I don't know maybe a 2?
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