I can't say what it was that first struck me about
the drums in Vixen. I was listening for guitar, and specifically for really
masterful guitar played by women. I thought the guitars were fine, if not what
I was looking for. (Well, maybe "Living In Sin".)
Vixen's percussion stood out. That was the work of
drummer Roxy Petrucci. I don't know why it stands out for me, but I hear it in
Madame X too, Petrucci's other project.
The reviews haven't been really traditional this
week, being a little more historical, and I want to keep up with that because I
learned some things.
My interests during the '80s were more pop and New
Wave. I didn't pay a lot of attention to the bands that I thought of as metal,
though listening to them now very few of them sound that metallic.
I mention that because I didn't spend a lot of time
on Vixen, though I do remember "Edge of a Broken Heart". My other
memory is that I had gotten the impression that they were being gimmicky by
forming an all-girl metal band. (Also, I thought I remembered them as a super
group containing Lita Ford, which was not true at all.)
Now, that people at the time might have spoken
disparagingly of band that was all women but not pop seems completely
plausible. My not paying much attention to the genre would have made it easier
for that to stick. It was just so far off base.
You can find disparate stories of the formation of
the band, with dates given as far apart as 1973 and 1981 (which would overlap
with Madame X) for the formation. That is so normal. The members got started
playing early, tried multiple lineups, and there were changes. Even if you
don't accept the 1973 start date as pertinent to the band, for singer Jan
Kuehnemund it was pertinent. Then when you consider that the signing with EMI
didn't happen until 1988, like they say, it's a long way to the top if you want
to rock and roll.
It may be possible that EMI was trying to be
gimmicky with something different, and that wouldn't be the first time that
something a little bit different helped a band out. The signing is still
happening four years after Vixen has appeared as a band (called Diaper Rash) in
Hardbodies, three years after they moved to Los Angeles to be a part of
the LA band scene (they originated in St. Paul, Minnesota), and one year after
they were featured in The Decline of Western Civilization II: The Metal
Years.
That's a pretty respectable rock trajectory. Even
after they initial breakup it appears that they all kept working on other
projects. So this leaves me feeling that they deserved more respect than they
got, even though I may be misremembering how much respect they got.
I liked listening to the music. I prefer the more melodic
songs, which is no stretch for me, and I think they hold up.
As for why Petrucci's drumming appeals to me so
much, I'm not sure. However, I also get inexplicable joy from watching Ronnie
Vannucci Jr. of The Killers drum. Maybe I have a thing for Italian drummers.
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