Vices (Kick Axe album)

Vices
Studio album by
Released14 May 1984 [1]
RecordedThe Pasha Music House, Hollywood, California, USA, 1984
GenreHeavy metal
Length45:42
LabelPasha / CBS
ProducerSpencer Proffer
Kick Axe chronology
Vices
(1984)
Welcome to the Club
(1985)
Singles from Vices
  1. "On the Road to Rock" / "Stay on Top"
    Released: May 15, 1984
  2. "Heavy Metal Shuffle"
    Released: June 1984
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[2]
Kerrang![3]

Vices is the debut album by Canadian heavy metal band, Kick Axe. The album was released in 1984 in the format of vinyl and cassette album on producer Spencer Proffer's label Pasha Records and distributed by CBS.

The album was remastered and reissued, first time on CD, in 2000 as part of the "Sony Rewind" series.

In 2016, a UK label Rock Candy remastered and reissued the album on CD in a "De Luxe" version comprising a comprehensive booklet (loaded with vintage photos and a very detailed band history by Malcolm Dome) and a bonus track "30 Days in the Hole", which was originally placed on chromium dioxide cassette versions only of Vices album and on the Up the Creek movie soundtrack.[4]

The album was produced by Spencer Proffer, who was notable for producing Quiet Riot's multi-million selling 1983 album Metal Health. A music video was produced for the track "On the Road to Rock", which received moderate airplay on MuchMusic's weekly heavy metal showcase program the Pepsi Power Hour. The album contains a sterling selection of tracks that place the band center stage in the burgeoning mid-80s hard rock renaissance, and give vocalist George Criston room to impress at every turn. Kick Axe and producer Spencer Proffer skillfully blended here hard rock melodies with straight up metal riffs, attitude, and loads of money spent in the studio. The band had a knack for writing catchy yet hard-hitting anthems, and the musicianship and vocal power to make those anthems really stand out.

In Canada, the album reached #66, September 15, 1984.[5]

The album's best Billboard 200 album chart position was #126 [6] reached on 8 September 1984.

  1. ^ "Lethbridge Herald, 12 May 1984, p. A10: Band releases album by Terry Robert Fleming". 12 May 1984.
  2. ^ Huey, Steve. "Kick Axe Vices review". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
  3. ^ Johnson, Howard (28 June 1984). "Kick Axe 'Vices'". Kerrang!. Vol. 71. London, UK: United Magazines Ltd. p. 9.
  4. ^ "Original Soundtrack from the Motion Picture Up The Creek". April 1984.
  5. ^ "RPM Top 100 Singles - September 15, 1984" (PDF).
  6. ^ "Billboard 200". 8 September 1984.