Favorite 80's Hair Metal Band

[TURBO]

I don't listen to any of the 80's hair metal anymore, but in my early teens i was obsessed with Motley Crue and the Shout At The Devil album.

 

If i could have had any one wish at the time, it would have been to be Nikki Sixx. My bedroom walls were covered in Crue posters and pictures from magazines like Circus. After i finally saw them in concert with Ozzy, my obsession with Motley Crue got even bigger. Then in 1985 i believe they came out with Theater of Pain, a weak and crappy album along with changing their look to all glam and makeup, i was so pissed off at the time by both.

 

That album/their change in style along with finding stuff like Slayer and other bands helped put an end to my hair metal listening days.

lol, you were not alone man, I too was a crue freak, and theater of pain ruined my world at the time... Shout was soooooo awesome, but my favorite crue album is even more raw and punky, TOO FAST FOR LOVE! great cd, still jam on it to this very day!

[AmyintheSouth]

ummmm, Bon Jovi is DEFINATELY hair metal, Jon's picture might in fact be in the dictionary under "hair metal"...

 

I might be wrong, but I think he may have set the tone for the genre and hair style in the early 80's...

 

I don't consider Nightranger hair metal, their popularity was already pretty much gone when those bands took over.

I guess I consider them more heavy pop than hair metal, especially since their sound has evolved and stayed reasonably current. But I can see where they can be classified as such.

Has anyone read Slash's autobiography? It's on my Christmas list this year.

[TURBO]

isn't most hair metal heavy pop-metal if we are being truthful?

[jschris]

Burnie asked about non-mainstream or lesser known hair metal bands, and the first thing that came to my head was Britny Fox. I think they might have had one song chart ("Girlschool") and they did a song or two on one of the Iron Eagle soundtracks, but I always felt like I was one of the few that knew about them. To this day, I don't think I know one singular lyric to any of their songs.

 

I want to say they toured with Poison and Lita Ford in the late 80s, but I could be wrong.

[TURBO]

Burnie asked about non-mainstream or lesser known hair metal bands, and the first thing that came to my head was Britny Fox. I think they might have had one song chart ("Girlschool") and they did a song or two on one of the Iron Eagle soundtracks, but I always felt like I was one of the few that knew about them. To this day, I don't think I know one singular lyric to any of their songs.

 

I want to say they toured with Poison and Lita Ford in the late 80s, but I could be wrong.

I've got 2 Britny Fox cds...

[uecker9]

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x296/uecker9/tsolhitandrun.jpg

 

This is as close as I got. Bad experiment for these guys!

Luckily after this they went back to their roots, sort of.

 

 

[foamboy1]

I liked Whitesnake and the Crue....but I'm going with Ratt.

[homer]

Stryper!

 

http://www.drivemeinsane.com/submitpics/1085344414stryper2.jpg

 

To Hell with the Devil!

[TURBO]

I'm laughing at the Stryper choice.

 

I saw them in concert with Loudness (japanese metal band) and TNT at Alpine Valley in the mid 80's...

 

Stryper threw tiny bibles into the audience...

 

I own Stryper - "To Hell with the Devil" on cd, as well as Loudness - "Thunder in the East", and TNT - "Knights of the Thunder"... All solid 80's fair, but Stryper had quite a few sappy ballads.

[cooprules]

Probably has to be Tesla for me.

 

After seeing some posts, I totally forgot about Stryper. I was obsessed with them. I was at Alpine Valley as well, and also saw them at the Mecca I believe, in 1987. Totally tacky 80s stuff looking back, but I loved them.

[danzig6767]

I'm laughing at the Stryper choice.

 

All solid 80's fair, but Stryper had quite a few sappy ballads.

Doesn't most every hair band have some sappy ballads?

 

That was the foundation of so many bands at that time. Put one or two sappy power ballads on the CD, release a video of the ballad to MTV, then wait for radio stations to play the ballad on a cycle every hour or two. The video would consist of the guys singing on stage while slow motion shots of girls in the first few rows with their frosted poofy bangs sang along lovingly, once in awhile even a tear would show up on the ladies. Lights go down with a shot of the arena ablaze in held up lighters with everyone singing to the ballads refrain. Cut to the shot of the band members being escorted to the party bus by security or a roadie carrying a wasted band member to the bus as frosted bangs girl desperately screams to the bus, i love you guys. Cut to the following shot of exhausted band on the bus or dressing room drinking beer and/or Jack Daniels with shots making it out like the guys just can't find love while traveling on the road so much.

 

Man, MTV and the radio sure did love the power ballad back then.

[homer]

I sang "Love of a Lifetime" by Firehouse at a karaoke bar in rural Iowa once. Townies were slow dancing.

[Fatter than Joey]

The video would consist of the guys singing on stage...

 

You pretty much nailed it... The only thing I would add is "the guys" sitting around with acoustic guitars "writing stuff for their next album".

[iluvlamp]

Motley Crue. Among the lesser known bands I would say Bang Tango and Love/Hate.

[TURBO]

Motley Crue. Among the lesser known bands I would say Bang Tango and Love/Hate.

 

niiiiice choices.

Bang Tango is still pumping out great tunes, I have all their stuff.

 

I only have one Love/Hate cd, "blackout in a red room" not sure why I only have one since I have always loved that cd. Any others you would recommend?

[TURBO]

Doesn't most every hair band have some sappy ballads?

yes, but most only had one ballad per album, my point was, To Hell With The Devil had several sappy ballads, not the standard one.

[danzig6767]

The power ballad was a smart idea in regards to making money. Girls would eat those songs up, which in turn increased sales. Harder rock bands wouldn't ever consider putting a ballad on the records/cd's, even if it would play a role in costing them some female fans. For the hair bands that almost always did though, the ballads were often their biggest hit on records they put out and got the most MTV play. The songs generally were very cheesy and lame, but i'm sure the unending supply of ladies and extra cash easily trumped any musical integrity the bands may have had if they didn't want to do yet another ballad.

[burniebrewer]

Any others you would recommend?

 

Turborickey, go to Love/Hate's website, they offer free downloads of all their albums. You can give them all a listen and see what you like.

 

http://www.lovehate.com/

[valpocrewsader]

I gotta go with Tesla, I think. That said, there are so many other great choices....

 

* Warrant - Man, could Jani Lane write a good song. Heaven, Down Boys, Mr. Rainmaker, Bed of Roses, SOMETIMES SHE CRIES, Uncle Tom's Cabin, I Saw Red.....

* Firehouse - Wrote some mighty fine ballads and their "Good Acoustics" album is one of the best in my collection of 600

* Winger - Beavis & Butthead just ruined whatever shred of dignity they might've had, but the band had near-virtuoso musicians at every position. Rod Morgenstein on drums? Reb Beach on guitar? Kip singing his heart out? Awesome. Loved the prog metal touches they added, too.... The song "Who's the One" on their Pull album should've been a bigger hit than it was, showed they could adjust with the times a bit.

* White Lion - Most bands would be lucky to write songs as good as Wait, LITTLE FIGHTER, Tell Me, Farewell to You, When the Children Cry, Don't Say It's Over

* Slaughter - Incredibly sensible band, mistakenly laughed at and overlooked. Fly to the Angels, Streets of Broken Hearts, You Are the One, Real Love, SPEND MY LIFE, Days Gone By. Total pros, they were.

* Skid Row - Sebastian Bach probably has the best pipes in the history of mainstream rock. I Remember You, Quicksand Jesus, Wasted Time, 18 And Life, IN A DARKENED ROOM, Breakin Down. All godly.

 

Honorable mention to Cinderella, Enuff Znuff, Great White, Dokken, Crue, Poison.

 

And on the proggier/artier side of hairish metal, let's absolutely not forget Queensryche, Iron Maiden, Savatage, Yngwie Malmsteen, Fates Warning, and Kevin Moore-era Dream Theater.

[iluvlamp]

Nice burnie...I agree with that website.http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[BoneDaddyKool]

I saw Slaughter in 1992 with Dam Yankees and Jackyl. They were horrible, and just about were boo'd off stage. Jackyl on the other hand was awesome, and Yankees blew the roof of the place. I've hated Slaughter ever since and want nothing to do with them when I hear them.

[burniebrewer]

Jackyl on the other hand was awesome

 

I saw them at Summerfest this year. My friends went to see Heart, but I was having none of that.

[Teatoe993]

L.A. Guns, Mötley Crüe, Poison

[homer]

STEELHEART