Poll: Hair Metal during/after "Grunge" takeover - who still carried the flame?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by mattright, Mar 8, 2017.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. mattright

    mattright Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Savannah, GA
    First of all - if you think "Hair Metal" is a joke, then please don't comment here.
    However, if you were a fan of the genre - who was able to still create good, solid "hair metal" albums after "Grunge" took off in 1991/1992? Again, I'm looking for those who were still able to create solid "new" music during this period. Sure, ton's of 80s bands are still touring now - but I'm looking for those that are (or were) still somewhat creative from the mid-nineties even through today.
     
    warewolf95 and DirkGentlyUK like this.
  2. Purple

    Purple Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    I would quibble with your time line - hair metal was still pretty popular even until late 1992, possibly even mid-1993. Warrant's Dog Eat Dog (1992) went Gold, Leppard's Adrenalize (1992) went triple platinum, Scorpions Face the Heat (1993) went to #21 and probably close to Gold, Winger's Pull went to #41 in early 1993. Etc.

    I would say, 1994-1999 was really the dead period.

    In that context, I don't think any hair band actually made a "good" album during that time, either in sales or songwriting, although some might say Crue's self-titled in 1994 came close (and dubiously went Gold).

    I would say Van Halen's Balance is easily the best (though not on your list). Short of that, I would say Kiss' Psycho Circus (also not on your list) carried the flame the best, both in terms of album quality and marketplace impact. The reunion was hugely successful. Def Leppard's Euphoria (1999) would be next, which went Gold and had some pop impact. I voted for Leppard.

    My own personal favorites are probably Slaughter's Back to Reality and Fear No Evil, though they had zero cultural impact.
     
  3. mattright

    mattright Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Savannah, GA
    I agree with you on Slaughter - I just happened to be listening to Fear No Evil when I was posting this.
    I intentionally left off Van Halen - I guess I put them on a different level than a typical hair metal band - but for sure they were still putting out great music in the 90s....
     
    RockyMTnLeg Shaver and Purple like this.
  4. ratt, dokken, crue, even stryper were early 80s LA glam metal, even Bon Jovi and kix are from the same period

    Tesla may have been concurrent with the actual hair metal era '86-'93, but they were more no frills, straight up hard rocking than Poison, Winger, Warrant, etc.,

    Def Leppard is NWOBHM

    WHitesnake predates them all


    All these bands did have shared varying songwriting chops and non aversion to hooks and radio airplay. IT seems the ones I flagged because they weren't true hair metal weathered the backlash better than the Poisons, Wingers, Warrants, etc., they existed before, built fan bases, toured hard, and retained followings.
     
  5. JPagan

    JPagan Generation 13

    Location:
    South Florida
    Cinderella's Still Climbing (1994), which I discovered last year, is good; but went mostly unnoticed.

    I've championed Def Leppard's Slang for years now, an impressive effort; and I think it outsold Mötley, too.
     
  6. S. P. Honeybunch

    S. P. Honeybunch Presidente de Kokomo, Endless Mikelovemoney

    One can easily make the argument that most, or at least half, of Def Leppard's albums are glam metal or some form of glam rock 'n roll.
     
    ARK and patient_ot like this.
  7. WolfSpear

    WolfSpear Music Enthusiast

    Location:
    Florida
    Didn't FireHouse do reasonably during the grunge takeover?

    I think they even had a hit during that time frame.
     
    ARK, ModernDayWarrior, Purple and 2 others like this.
  8. Judge Judy

    Judge Judy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brooklyn, NY, USA
    I chose Motley Crue, but I'm not really sure anyone carried the flame for hair metal post-grunge. Hair metal really got knocked to the mat in the early 90s and never really recovered.
     
  9. Holy Diver

    Holy Diver Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
     
    ARK, BluesOvertookMe and rodentdog like this.
  10. JPagan

    JPagan Generation 13

    Location:
    South Florida
    You are correct. I'd forgotten about them; they did have a couple of hit singles, including a top ten (When I Look Into Your Eyes, late 1992).
     
    ARK likes this.
  11. vamborules

    vamborules Forum Resident

    Location:
    CT
    Star Star's 'The Love Drag Years' came out at the height of the grunge boom. One of the best glam/hair metal albums ever, that unfortunately went pretty much unnoticed.

    I think anyone that like this kind of music would love this album. Every song is great.

     
    YardByrd, ianuaditis and mattright like this.
  12. vamborules

    vamborules Forum Resident

    Location:
    CT
  13. Diamond Star Halo

    Diamond Star Halo Forum Resident

    Location:
    Vancouver
    I don't think anyone carried the flame of hair metal. The vast majority of these bands had little real commercial success after 1992 or 1993 at the last. Anything that even remotely resembled hair metal didn't really have a chance to have a hit after 1992.

    Bon Jovi was still huge but their sound moved away from pop rock to quadi-adult contemporary. They had to distance themselves from hair metal in order to survive the 90's. I don't really consider them hair metal anyway.

    Some bands like Motley Crüe completely changed their sound/image with little real success. Even their "reunion" in the late 90s wasn't received with much enthusiasm.

    Def Leppard had some success in the 90's, but I don't think it is fair to classify them as hair metal.

    None of the other bands listed were really a commercial force again.
     
  14. S. P. Honeybunch

    S. P. Honeybunch Presidente de Kokomo, Endless Mikelovemoney

    Def Leppard is a lot like Guns 'n Roses in that both bands have been glam metal torchbearers, yet people hesitate to associate them with the genre due to the negative connotations of genre tags. It makes it easier to criticize the genre. People don't like to associate certain genre tags with certain bands because those bands tend to put the genre in a more positive light than it would be without those bands.
     
    ARK, Kristofa, Purple and 5 others like this.
  15. Matthew Tate

    Matthew Tate Forum Resident

    Location:
    Richmond, Virginia

    firehouse had a top 30 hit with a power ballad in 1995. the album never went gold though partly because the label and the band started feuding and then the band released a contract filler and asked to be released from epic.
     
    Diamond Star Halo likes this.
  16. Matthew Tate

    Matthew Tate Forum Resident

    Location:
    Richmond, Virginia

    tesla opens concerts for poison now so I'd say poison survived more than tesla did
     
    ARK, Ivand, gitters and 3 others like this.
  17. Diamond Star Halo

    Diamond Star Halo Forum Resident

    Location:
    Vancouver
    Yeah, I would definitely say Firehouse was a hair metal band. I forgot about that one.

    I remember thinking that was surprising that it was a hit - not that it was a bad song - but it was so unlike anything else on the charts at that time. It was last gasp of hair metal as a commercial force.
     
  18. Matthew Tate

    Matthew Tate Forum Resident

    Location:
    Richmond, Virginia

    I live my life for you. I was so shocked when I heard it on the radio in 1995. I thought bands like that were all but dead


    anyways the band slaughter at least stuck to the sound they were known for. great white had some good albums in the 90's but I don't really think of the band as hair metal
     
    Purple and Diamond Star Halo like this.
  19. Ten Years Gone

    Ten Years Gone Forum Resident

    Location:
    Indiana
    I thought Dokken's reunion album, Dysfunctional, in '95 was pretty good and still sounded like themselves, just a bit darker. But as far as "hair bands" who stuck to their guns and weren't influenced by grunge, there weren't many. Tesla and Mr. Big were probably the closest to staying pure and not really altering their original sound.
     
    paradox55 and ianuaditis like this.
  20. Matthew Tate

    Matthew Tate Forum Resident

    Location:
    Richmond, Virginia

    apparently you never heard a tesla album released after 1995. into the now has a lot of grunge influences.


    anyways slaughter and great white have albums release in 1999 that sound exactly the same as the stuff they released in 1990
     
    Purple likes this.
  21. YMC4

    YMC4 EVthing or Nothing

    Location:
    The Valley, CA.
    i always thought Warrant's 3rd album "Dog Eat Dog" was their best album by far....very little trace of 'hair metal' in that album.
    Jani Lane was an underrated singer & songwriter in my book...R.I.P.

     
  22. ...indeed, but one can't underestimate the power of television: multiple seasons of Rock of LOve and appearances on The Apprentice.

    And how well did Tesla take care of its legacy before its return, doing nothing tends to stop momentum.
     
    Stormrider77 likes this.
  23. Pop metal, maybe. THey never really did the glam pose, like even fellow UKers Girl did.
     
    Dudley Morris, starduster and Purple like this.
  24. Szeppelin75

    Szeppelin75 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Panama
    For me the best albums of that period 1992-1996 in the genre were Bon Jovi's Keep the Faith, Motley Crue s/t and Slang by Def Leppard. Bon Jovi are still going strong putting out No.1 albums and filling out arenas and stadiums around the world. I guess Leppard is doing great also. Many underrated albums came out in that period like Warrant's Dog eat Dog, Skid Row Sub Human Race, Tesla's Psycho Supper, Extreme's Three Sides to Every Story.
     
  25. jmobrien68

    jmobrien68 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Toms River, NJ
    Were 'Southgang' considered to be the last 'hair metal' band signed from the Sunset Strip before grunge became all the rage?
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine