Posted on 04/19/2024 12:26:11 PM PDT by DallasBiff
Who doesn’t love the 80s? Good music and even better hair styles. Maybe today’s kids will laugh and make fun of them but hey, back in the day, they were the bomb. They look pretty and colorful on stage, they know how to party and of course, they get the girls.
From heavy and glittering makeup to flashy clothing (leopard tights included), what completed the look was the large and wild hair. The more distinctive, the better. Well thanks to the alternative and grunge music of the early 90s, hair metal was eventually swept under the rug.
So let’s revisit some of the best this genre had to offer.
(Excerpt) Read more at iloveclassicrock.com ...
I listen to the Grand Funk red album and I amaze how Mark Farner could get all that incredible sound out of a cheap ass $300 Messenger guitar. But he’s an artist. That’s what artists do.
Just a few comments towards the previous posts.
Saw all of the bands on that list except for Twisted Sister and Whitesnake. I would definitely replace Twisted with Quiet Riot or Night Ranger. Better bands with more good tunes and better albums. Otherwise this list is ok.
Van Halen was never a hair band. Their style spawned every one of the bands on this list but that was never their deal. They are my band. I was fortunate enough to see them 15 times between ‘79 and 2015 and have met Mike and Sammy. I know of what I speak. Metallica(seen 5 times) and Gn’R (seen twice) don’t belong on this list either. They are a different thing also.
I still love the hair metal. My favorite on that list is Dokken followed by the Crue and Ratt. The first two Crue albums are classic. Saw Poison open for David Lee Roth right after their first album came out. They were impressive. Saw Bon Jovi open for Ratt and they blew Ratt off the stage. The boys in Ratt enjoyed their party favors a little too much and were very sloppy. Def Leppard is a great live band. Have seen them a few times between Pyromania tour and last summer with Motley Crue. Still sounded great.
UFO blew every one of those bands , except for Van Halen, off the stage. A really great but unsung 70’s metal band. I saw them Both before and after Michael Schenker. Shenker made them. Their 78’ tour was incredible. I saw them with Blue Oyster Cult and it was my favorite concert of all time. Both bands were at their zenith.
Girl I knew who played in a band referred to a lot of the 80s hair band music as ‘Cheese Metal’. She actually liked it more than 90s grunge, and covered some 80s hair band songs.
I bought it! Twice, actually.
I was just listening to Need Your Love and Ain’t That A Shame (both live) last night.
Bon Jovi was the first concert I’ve been to and Cinderella was the opening act. My friend and I met a couple of guys in the parking lot of a Dominick’s grocery store or something by my house and they invited us along. Man those were the good old days.
Always knew that about Ronnie, everyone that dealt with him through the years said the same thing.
***Slade was so underrated.***
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^^^THIS
Oh, wait... "HAIR" bands. Got it.
(“Power Ballads”)
https://youtu.be/5ETENrv8cnU?si=8u_3LEyhf52a8_pc
https://youtu.be/8Tp0K9YiTPE?si=2bSM218tKAAxpp_y
https://youtu.be/GOJk0HW_hJw?si=y9tZ8U1eIya4MdTC
Skill is far more important than the price of a guitar. If you suck on a $200 Epiphone you will suck on a $3000 Gibson Custom.
Good points about VH, Metallica, and GNR. Almost all of VH’s albums with David Lee Roth were released during my high school years. Later, I liked some music by the 80s glam rock/hair bands, but I loved 90’s metal/grunge.
I heard it was some crap about then-wife Valerie. They eventually patched it up for a great final run.
dfwgator:"Headbangers Ball was mandatory watching on Saturday Night."
Yes it was; and that Truck guy was nowhere as cool as Ricky Rachtman.
circlecity:"I’m not a monster Guns and Roses fans but they killed over produced hair bands and gave garage rock it’s last breath."
True and right when it was most needed. The fantastically talented lead guitar and unique vocalist could not be denied.
dfwgator:"It’s hilarious to see how Pantera started out as a Glam Metal band."
As pointed out, Ronnie James started as a Doo Wop guy, always way older than people thought he was. Awesome! Kick-ass band Ministry started out doing DISCO. If you listen to Rob Zombie you can pick up that he got inspiration from cheerleader routines.
circlecity:"I jest but Kiss's first 3 albums up to Alive just kicked ass. Ace rules.
This is true. Gene was and will always be an ass but he got his dream over and then some. I called into a radio contest in 1975 (?) and won the album "Dressed to Kill" - which severely alarmed my Southern Baptist foster parents. It stands up today as a stripped-down and raw example of rock much like the early Ramones."Destroyer" remains classic, too.
z3n:"The only concert that ever left my ears ringing when I left was Ratt, and I’d been to ACDC (supposedly set the decibel records) and Metallica among others."
My high school was so cool as to buy concert tickets for the best students and even provide transportion there and back in the later 1970s (party hardy), so I saw just about everyone touring then. The absolute worst were Foghat who's sound engineer set their amps to 'Deafening Distortion' while they were obviously too blasted on substances to play. My ears rang for weeks after that.
circlecity:"I loved Cheap Trick. Not a hair band. Pop metal. But they just rocked."
Another stroke of luck: while stationed at Ft. Hood early 1980s the next door town of Killeen had a nightclub named "Woodstock" that somehow booked huge bands to it's little venue. Got to see Cheap Trick there four feet away from the stage and shook hands with most of them (but not Bun E. who's a notorious dick). Still got a Rick Nielsen guitar pick. He flicked them out constantly to the fans as an appreciating (and cool promotional) gesture.
discostu:"And Roddy almost became lead singer for AC/DC when Bon died."
That would have been FAR better. How awesome was Bon for a guy starting out as a chaufer? And you're absolutely right about Metallica's Black Album being a downward path. "And Justice For All" is the masterpiece.
Spacetrucker, If you haven't seen this from "Ash vs. the Evil Dead" you (and everyone) have missed out. This song ,"Smoke on the Water" and "My Woman from Tokyo" cemented Deep Purple in eternal glory.
I'll finish boring you people by saying I had no respect for the 'Hair Metal' trend until hearing Motley Crue's "Shout at the Devil" album. So great that they never approached that again except for "Home Sweet Home" from "Theatre of Pain" which takes a dozen cliche' rock riffs and turns them back into art.
Turned 62 today but still rockin'. I like Korn, System of a Down, Ghost and especially Rammstein - ever open to the evolution of rock at an age when most seem to have turned that part of themselves off at a specific period. Damned shame MTV chased the dollar for Rap then failed so badly they turned into a reality TV channel. Fortunately today we have the internet to preserve the greatness!
I have to admit that I have really never checked out UFO before. Not sure why other than living in a real small town in southeast Nebraska in the late 70’s didn’t expose me to a lot of music other than what KFMQ in Lincoln played. I will check out some UFO on Apple music and let you know what I think. I really enjoy checking out new (to me) music. Especially since there is not a lot out there that is new that is good or even tolerable.
Check out their live album or the studio album Phenomenon. Killer. Saw them in 78’ with Blue Oyster Cult. Still one of my favorite concerts ever.
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