I have seen Whitesnake labelled hair metal (84-90 era). I don't consider them hair metal, but if you do the musical merit is there in spades!
I don't know what was good about Twisted Sister, other than the catchy message of "We're Not Gonna Take It." That was a band that predates hair metal but gradually embraced it strongly. Ratt was similar and I think was more impressive with "Round and Round" and the twin-guitar attack led by the very good DeMartini. Skid Row was not hair metal by its sophomore album, and Great White during the period I'm discussing was in most ways a very good band with bluesy leanings that occasionally masqueraded as hair metal. Dokken was squarely hair metal, with a knack for making catchy songs and its members could play, especially George Lynch. I suppose Dokken didn't look quite as girly as other bands and that's why it doesn't come up immediately in "hair metal" discussions. Edit: also, I don't think Dokken had the party songs typical of hair metal, at least not among the singles, but I still say Dokken was hair metal and doesn't fit well in any other category.
None. Just a dreadful, cringey genre: we want to be hard but wear make up & have 80s hair. In saying that, I never liked any metal back then but this sub-genre was the nadir of it all. And it insulted the legacy of the Dolls!!
Tons. The musicianship of the 80s Hair Metal bands was infinitely higher than the Grunge acts that followed and don’t even get me started on anything post 2000 cuz that’s a musical abyss musicianship wise. With exceptions of course. it was fun, like early Rock n Roll, and again, those mofos could play.
I’ve never thought anything generally referred to as “hair metal” was all that heavy, really. It’s glam rock with maybe a little more distortion, but no particular heaviness I can detect...
Their photos early in their career did suggest an image of a hair metal band, but I do agree that they can’t really be classified this way. As well as the music, Slash’s choice of guitar (Gibson Les Paul) was very non-hair metal. At that point Les Paul’s were regarded as a bit 70s and passé, but Slash did as much to bring it back in fashion as Clapton did in the 60s.
The only hair metal band I was ever really into was Bon Jovi. I still think that it was a great run of albums from Slippery When Wet to These Days, and they evolved their sound very nicely during those years.
me neither...hair metal wasn't an option either....even Glam Rock...never was not a fan of labels...the music was all that mattered...and it's all rock and roll and I like it! ; )
I'd like an updated version of it to come onto the scene. Put a stake through the heart of the woke trash; back to partying, women, universal meanderings and most importantly, love.
I feel like with most genre's there were bands that were good at what they did, came up the hard way, busted open doors for themselves and paved the way. Ratt, Motley Crue...they could write songs, sound pretty convincing, and had chops. Metal first, hair later. They paved the way for a bunch of bands that seemed more hair than metal. Really kind of made a bad name for the genre, sounding soft and wanky. **** like this:
I think it was based in Dallas. In fact I know it was, as the frequency was sold out from underneath them and the irony was they were based here, but had no station here. We were more the "unofficial" shop, but the promotions guy hung out at our store with us a ton, and we were the place to go for your official Z Rock merchandise. Still have my "Frankenstien" mug. I wasn't that big of a fan. I was the guy who played Dylan bootlegs on his shift.
Trixter and Nelson had some musical abilities, but they were hardly metal and I agree "kind of made a bad name for the genre." The Nelson twins stood out for lacking toughness.
Pretty sure not enough to have it keep coming back to page one like some of those other dinosaur threads
Just to mention some latecomer bands that most people forget, there was Danger Danger, a faceless, average bunch with one catchy song ("Bang Bang"), and Alias, which was formulaic, ready-made hit material minus partying and made of older, talented guys, including three former Heart members. Alias also had the red-flag lack of metal in its sound.
I was just entering my teenage years in the mid to late 80's so I was in the prime demographic for hair metal -- my best friend listened almost exclusively to that genre -- but instead I went backwards and devoted all my listening time during those teen years to the classic rock and pop of the 60's and 70's. In retrospect, I enjoy the music a lot more now that I'm older. Rock could certainly use the occasional infusion of fun, swagger, showmanship, and killer guitar solos. As with any musical genre, some of it had musical merit and some of it didn't. Sometimes it didn't matter one way or the other. Of the few songs that got through to me all those years ago, this one was my favorite, and still is. Merit? I vote yes.
It would be helpful to compile a list of bands we could all pretty much agree WERE 'hair metal' bands for starters. I cringe when I see Motley Crue lumped in with that genre. To me the MTV hair metal trend started with Poison and the many acts that followed who aped their look, sound and simple approach to songwriting for 6 or 7 years afterwards.
Def Lep NOT hair metal. They started in like 1979 way before the MTV million dollar production costs videos started popping up with the cooker cutter 3-minute pop-rock ditties cluttering up the Headbangers Ball every week.
If someone asked me to name a Hair Metal band, the first one I’d name would be Motley Crue. I didn’t have much use for Hair Metal as a listener. It was a thing, just like Adam and the Ants was a thing. Or Duran Duran. Same thing, different look. MTV was hugely influential. What I hated about Hair Metal here in LA, as a musician in a roots band, was how the Hair Metal scene wrecked so many clubs with the Pay To Play scheme. For whatever reason, I suppose ambition, hair bands were willing to play that game. It was gross and gave all the power to the clubs. Many cool venues ended up featuring crappy hair metal bands nearly every night. Hair Metal effectively destroyed the LA club scene and it’s never been the same.
