The song is about inarticulate bloodlust, it's not poetry. Motley are a post-punk, new wave era Hard Rock band, they're not writing fantasy heavy metal lyrics.
Or, they are a stripper band. Which is fine...different strokes. I quite like the first two albums but then (much like Iron Maiden) they become a very, very spotty band.
A "stripper band." If a stripper band ye sees a stripper man ye be. Motley encapsulate many of the "Hair Metal" elements (in fact, they started the genre in 1985) but they also rise above it. "Girls, Girls, Girls" is almost a different genre of music than "Cherry Pie" or"I Want Action Tonight" but there are strippers in the video so I guess we can't have an intelligent conversation about it.
Started? I'd say you are far off the mark...if we're looking at these types of bands Quiet Riot had the first hit album with Metal Health in 1983. And I go back to Van Halen and KISS, who were the inspirations for most of the Sunset Strip bands. And of course you had the brilliant WASP debut in 1984, along with RATT and many others that preceded Motley and Home Sweet Home. But Scorpions hit it big with No One Like You in 1982, along with Def Leppard with Bringing On The Heartbreak in 1981 too.
Yeah . . . you don't know what you're talking about. Hair Metal is a late-blooming, poppy, female friendly strain of 1980s Hard Rock & Metal. It started after the previously-frightening Motley Crue released a surprisingly sentimental and melodic rock ballad that broke all request records on MTV. Also the goofy but friendly "Smokin' In the Boys Room". After this came Bon Jovi (their success), Poison, Cinderella, Warrant: Hair Metal bands. Def Leppard is not a Hair Metal band but, like Crue, played Hair Metal-styled music at times. Twisted sister are also not a great fit for the definition, partly because they had no big ballad and no heart-throbs.
And again, there is no such thing as hair metal. It was a construct of haters at MTV that came up with the term in the 90's. And I stick to everything I said; Motley originated nothing.
Oh yeah... Bon Jovi 'Runaway' hit #39 on Billboards hot 100 in 1984 Motley Crue 'Home Sweet Home' hit #89 Billboards hot 100 in 1985 Chicken, meet egg.
I grew up in the 80s and 90s and so I was into this genre, and I still enjoy it. I don't mind the cheesy ballads, and liked Every Rose quite a bit. Liked Unskinny Bop as well. They are melodic and sound good to me. So I bought Poison's Greatest Hits album, expecting to like a few more songs at the very least...I don't think I liked a single track, other than the aforementioned two songs. Oh well. I still sort of explore this scene for bands I've missed, but for me the following list is what I've liked most. I think I'd agree with those here who have argued most of these bands aren't really hair metal. I think of them mostly as hard rock bands. Some may be hair metal...not really looking to debate this as I think there is some subjectivity involved. GN'R Motley Crue Great White L.A. Guns Def Leppard Faster Pussycat Skid Row The Cult Bon Jovi (mid-90s and earlier) Extreme Certainly I'm not a fan of every song these bands have done, but the first 5 on the list more consistently hit for me. I have to go back and listen to Ratt, Dokken, and Hanoi Rocks a few more times. I suspect I will dig these bands too. This time period in rock/metal is full of mediocre songs for sure, but there are a lot of great tunes as well.
Bon jovi's "Runaway" single broke the request charts on MTV and was a huge about-face from their previous million-selling incarnation? No, it wasn't. Motley were the most "important" Hard Rock band in 1984 and Theatre of Pain was a drastic about-face that people still talk about. That "change" is the exact template for the Hair Metal bands that came later. Next thing you're going to show me a photo of Mozart and insist he was the first hippy.
"Theatre of Pain was a drastic about-face that people still talk about" Of that you are correct...people hated it. HATED. It was a commercial left turn and they became a "chick" band.
If the music brings people enjoyment then the music and the music makers certainly have merit. Someone else mentioned that hair bands brought 'fun' back to rock n' roll. I think they are right. Now that many of these bands are in their 60s-70s a new genre is emerging. No Hair Bands.
Sigh. What's a "chick" band, Curveboy? Could that be a . . . Hair Metal band? So all that for you to ADMIT AND RESTATE the things I've been saying all along only to push the point about the crappiness of an album that was so unpopular it sold in excess of four million. SHF rules.
There is a 47-page thread on these forums about this subject where so far, no band or subgenre have been proven to definitively be "killed" by grunge/Nirvana. It might still be on page 1. Please read it instead of perpetuating the legend. It may be educational.
GNR is atypical on your list. They don't sound like any of the bands on your list. Even the opening chords of the song in the video will alert anyone to that. 2:23 they start coming over all country. In fact the further into GNR's discography you go the more you start to hear the country influence - lot of twangy, jangly guitar. But even to begin with they sounded more blues based. I will concede there is some overlap during the time they when formed with some of those bands who they were friends with but they always sounded too different to be included in the same genre as those bands.
I'm not a fan of that genre at all (and don't consider Def Leppard and Guns & Roses to be part of it), but to say it doesn't have any musical merit isn't fair and is wrong.
Nah...but Heavy Metal is mainly a boys game...but Home Sweet Home made it palatable for the ladies...much like Beth did nearly a decade earlier.
