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Hair metal, also commonly known as pop metal and glam metal, is a sub-genre of heavy metal music which features pop and blues-influenced guitar hooks and riffs, and these artists borrow heavily from the fashion of seventies glam rock. Inspired by this glam and punk rock music movement from legends such as Alice Cooper, New York Dolls and David Bowie, hair metal bands rose in the late 70’s and early 80’s in the U.S. These big hair bands formed the famous Sunset Strip music scene in LA. Hair metal was influenced by glam rock from the late '70s and early '80s, inspiring the over the top looks hair bands adopted, including big hair and makeup. Hard rock bands like Slade and Aerosmith helped shape their musical sound.
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Hair metal bands used traditional heavy metal songs, incorporating a very polished cocktail of hard rock and punk rock. Catchy hooks, guitar riffs, powerful ballads were the characteristics of hair metal. Songs were harmoniously slow and gradually pitched up to a powerful end. The songs had a love and lust theme, typically directed to a particular woman.
Warrant, ‘Dirty, Rotten, Filthy, Stinking Rich’ (
Their 1989 debut Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich was chockfull of power ballads (“Heaven,” “Sometimes She Cries”) and anthemic rockers (“Down Boys”). By the time Guns N’ Roses (GN’R) hit the scene with their epic 1987 debut Appetite for Destruction, they also fell into the hair metal trappings. An earlier iteration of GN’R featured guitarist Tracii Guns, who would later form L.A.
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Well, much like when pondering if the New York Dolls were “punk rock,” per se, the answer is “Yes, but….” The connection is there and it runs soul-deep. Frontman Tom Keifer has continued on in his solo career with albums The Way Life Goes (2013) and Rise (2019) and will still belt out some Cinderella classics in concert. On July 14, 2021, former Cinderella guitarist Jeff LaBar, who performed on the band’s four albums, died at 58.
The band has released nine studio albums, with their most recent album, Defying Gravity, released in 2017. Van Halen’s original lineup consisted of Eddie Van Halen on guitar, David Lee Roth on vocals, Michael Anthony on bass, and Eddie’s brother Alex Van Halen on drums. Ratt has released several albums, most recently being Infestation in 2010. Whitesnake is probably best known for their song, Here I Go Again, which is a very popular power ballad. The group is headed by David Coverdale, who sang with Deep Purple for a portion of his career. Any discussion about 80s music cannot be complete without mentioning the group, Def Leppard.
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Top 20 American Classic Rock Bands of the '80s - Ultimate Classic Rock
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The band saw a surge in streams and exposure recently thanks to a GEICO commercial about new homeowners that love their house despite their "Ratt problem." Pearcy said in 2019 that the band has a new album in the works. The band released a trilogy of EPs in 2013 and 2014, but according to Blabbermouth, bassist Rachel Bolan said the band didn't think Solinger was "putting a hundred percent into things," so they fired him in favor of ZP Theart. After the re-release of Skid Row's smash 1989 album, Bach wanted to play a 30th-anniversary tour with the band, but guitarist Dave Sabo said no. Both Skid Row and Sebastian Bach had tour dates planned separately in 2020, but they were postponed due to COVID-19. Yet, four years later, Netflix released "The Dirt," a biopic based on the group's 2001 autobiography written with the help of "The Game" writer Neil Strauss. The popularity of the film convinced the band to literally blow up the cessation of touring contract (as seen on their website).
Regardless of the lead singer, Van Halen continued to hit number one on the charts. That is, until 1996, when Hagar left following spats with Eddie Van Halen while recording the "Twister" soundtrack, Guitar World reported. Guitarist Eddie Van Halen and brother Alex ended up recording "Respect the Wind," which was nominated for Best Rock Instrumental Performance at the Grammys. In 1992, Ultimate Classic Rock reports that lead singer Vince Neil left the band (or was fired), but the rift was short-lived, as he returned in 1997. Mötley Crüe went on to tour for nearly two more decades, culminating in a worldwide farewell tour with Alice Cooper in 2015. The band signed a "cessation of touring" contract that year, with a vow that they'd never tour again.
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Def Leppard emerged as high-octane leaders of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal before tapping into an all-out gusher of platinum with their 1983 breakout, Pyromania. Aside from their incendiary body of recorded work and legendary live shows, Blackie Lawless and the boys made U.S. history by scandalizing the PMRC. If Quiet Riot’s subsequent efforts didn’t make quite the same splash, the group always gave it their all (even through a multitude of lineup overhauls)—and they still do.
Many fans consider these first 2 albums to be required listening for any 80s hair metal lovers. As far as hair bands are concerned, no other band had the pop success that Guns N’ Roses had. It’s the sole reason why fans would wait 15 years for the band to release a lackluster (but hyped) album. Night Ranger was by far one of the biggest successes of the hair band era. This group had their fair share of hits, much of it due to the guitar work in the band. They had a string of successful albums, including "Shout At The Devil", "Theatre Of Pain", "Girls Girls Girls" and "Dr. Feelgood".
Since 2006, Michaels has appeared on three seasons of VH1's "Rock of Love," where women competed for his affection, as well as "Celebrity Apprentice 3" (he won), and he starred in another VH1 reality docu-series in 2010. Poison has continued to tour and are expected to open for Mötley Crüe and Def Leppard for the Stadium Tour in 2022, previously canceled due to COVID. In addition to their musical talents, Great White was also known for their dynamic live shows, which often included pyrotechnics, light shows, and other theatrical elements. Night Ranger has released over a dozen studio albums, their most recent being A.T.B.P.O. (And The Band Played On), released in 2021. After the band broke up, Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin formed Guns N’ Roses with other musicians, and the rest is history.
Over the years, continued turmoil within the band resulted in two touring versions of Ratt, one with frontman Stephen Pearcy and another with drummer Bobby Blotzer. Pearcy released two more albums under the Ratt name with original guitarist Warren DeMartini—Ratt in 1999, followed by the 2010 release, Infestation. By 1989 the band had broken up due to differences between singer Don Dokken and guitarist George Lynch. After several years of solo endeavors and other projects, including Lynch’s Lynch Mob, the two reformed as Dokken for their 1995 album, Dysfunctional, and Shadowlife in 1997—the last album to feature Lynch.
Whitesnake’s most successful period was in the late 1980s and early 1990s when they released a string of hit albums such as Whitesnake, Slip of the Tongue, and Restless Heart. Jani Lane left the band in 1993 and was replaced by several other lead vocalists. The band’s original lineup consisted of Jani Lane (lead vocals), Erik Turner and Joey Allen (guitars), Jerry Dixon (bass), and Steven Sweet (drums).
And if you dig beyond Motley Crue, Ratt and Bon Jovi, there's still plenty of brilliance to be found amongst the scene's lesser lights. Formed by bassist Rachel Boleyn and guitarist David―The Snake― Sabo in 1986, in Toms River, New Jersey. In 2014, the band gave its largest show with a packed audience of 500,000. The band’s original lineup consisted of Jack Blades (bass, vocals), Brad Gillis (guitar), Jeff Watson (guitar), Alan Fitzgerald (keyboards), and Kelly Keagy (drums, vocals).
At the very end of the 80’s, were there any more exciting tunes than Doghouse or Too Much T-Bone? Kiss went on tour with Aerosmith in 2003 and headlined the Rock the Nation Tour alongside Poison. After a few years of sporadic shows, they returned to world touring and have more or less kept it up ever since. Their latest rendition of a farewell tour was supposed to play over 180 shows and gross some $200 million, Simmons told The Wall Street Journal, but it was delayed due to the pandemic. Dates have been announced for 2022, in what they are calling their "final tour ever." If you think Michaels is dramatic enough to be featured on reality TV, he'd be in agreement.
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