England and Wales company registration number 2008885. The Spandex-clad gems that turned the Sunset Strip into the boulevard of broken dreams. By 1987 the band sounded closer to the glam metal bands of Hollywood than their original sound which was closer to early Diamond Head. Their music was standard hair metal, although they were more sleazier, edgier, bluesier than most hair metal bands, they had the pop hooks, shout along gang choruses, and killer heavy guitar riffs. Young And Crazy was a fantastic debut, but the band parted ways with Steevi Jaimz after this release. Girlschool), taken from their upcoming studio album, Today, California glam rockers, L.A. Icon released their debut album Icon in 1984. While he never recorded an album with the band, current Queensryche vocalist Todd La Torre was with the band for a brief period. They had all the elements a hair metal band needed to succeed explosive drums, whammy-bar guitar riffs and that Lennon/McCartney-esque melodic harmony of the songs they released. Not exactly household names or Hair Metal , but I think both Kim Mitchell and Brian (too loud) Macleod (RIP) can be added..In the case of Brian Macleod, listen to some old Headpins, which were a raw in your face female fronted hard rock band..He had a real ferocious stripped down Strat in a Marshall tone, and was a master of using volume swells . Pair-A-Dice, a band from Los Angeles seen here in 1988, was a typical hair metal glam band. Heavens Edge I will probably go to my grave thinking that if the debut album by Heavens Edge had only been released a few years earlier, they would have been one of the biggest names is 80s hard rock. Unfortunately, it wasnt released until 1990, just as grunge and alternative rock were becoming all the rage. Halloween never made the jump, but is one of the hidden gems that collectors still look for. For bands that were actually "hair metal," I'd say someone from 1991. We all know about the 70s. The entire band was pretty well tatted up, and the singer had two complete sleeves and complete back piece. The 80s was a decade defined by excess: from the frothiest pop to hair metal's testosterone and the darker depths of post-punk. Holy Soldier While most people think of Stryper when it comes to Christian metal bands, there were, however, a lot of others that deserved to be heard. Black N Blue is one of those bands that you just simply have to scratch your head as to why they never hit the top. No genre has been as mocked and reviled as much as hair metal, but for a few years in the 80s - when it was still called glam metal - it bestrode the world like a Spandex and fishnet-clad colossus, twirling its drumsticks at it surveyed all before it. The band eventually broke up, but has reformed recently and has joined the newly re-formed Combat Records label owned by Megadeths David Ellefson. Detroit rockers Seduce were pushed into the spotlight in the movie The Decline Of Western Civilization Part Two: The Metal Years. A demo produced by Metallicas Kirk Hammett was followed by a self-titled debut album full of dirtier-than-a-used-hypodermic tracks like Doghouse, Too Much T-Bone and semi-immortal single Half The Way Valley. Without a doubt, Love/Hate was one the best of the 90s hair metal scene. The band seemed to be another victim of lack of promotion. Guns. Break Out is currently out of print and is a sought-after collectors item by metal fans. Glam metal hit Sweden hard andbridging the gap between ABBA of the past and Amon Amarth of the futureSwedish riff-slingers Shotgun Messiah fired back. The band garnered great reviews from fans and critics alike. You may know Lead Guitarist Marc Ferrari who also played in Keel, was in the movie "Wayne's World" and actually co-wrote and played on a couple of songs on Pantera's "Power Metal". Lead singer Kelly Keeling has had a great career since the band, singing for Dokken and TSO to name a few. 1 The Cars The Cars were an American rock band that emerged from the new wave scene in the late 1970s. Yeah, the Chicago bands none-more-unique selling point was perma-squinting frontman Stanley who, when he wasnt spitting out genius fuck-you anthems Jawohl Asshole and Fuckin Shit-Ass, lived on the street and had the malodorous clothes and propensity for shitting in public to prove it. Bon Jovi (who, god bless, can still sell out a stadium). Baton Rouge technically released their debut album Shake Your Soul in 1990, but its included here because it reflects the bands earlier material. The band released two albums: Burns Like a Star (1984), Let Them Talk (1986) but couldnt quite reach a large audience. Diamond Rexx is a unique band. Hawk was the band founded by Doug Marks, which you may remember from all of the 80s Metal magazine ads for his Metal Method Guitar Lessons. Savatage was started by brothers Jon and Criss Oliva from Tarpon Springs Florida. It ushered in a new and fresher taste for sure, but by 1992 the whole Hair Metal scene had truly worn out it's welcome and was pretty ridiculous. It derives its name on the basis of the elementsbig hair and makeup. Tuff Luck was a really talented band that fell victim to not being able to land a big record contract. The bands sound was often similar to that of early Def Leppard material. Visit our corporate site (opens in new tab). They changed their name to Shotgun Messiah, fired their singer and eventually went industrial metal. Vistalite Black said: VH1 gives more weight than I would to the band's overall success and how short a time a band could be considered hair metal or glam. The DMolls featured Desi Rexx on vocals, bassist Lizzy Valentine, guitarist S.S. (The debut album was actually released in 1989 but is included in this list because it suffered the same fate as most of the bands of this genre released after 1990). Singer David Glen Eisley drew comparisons in vocal style to that of Journeys Steve Perry. Young And Crazy was one of the best glam metal releases of the 80s. Freight Train Jane This short-lived project by Black N Blue vocalist Jamie St. James was actually very good. Hair metal is flamboyant and loud but glamorous. Some well-known ones are still remembered and listened to until today including Mtley Cre, Def Leppard, Poison, and Twisted Sister. With a sound similar to Britny Fox, the band produced some great songs including the album opener Shake It, Piece Of The Action and Love Potion #9. White Lion A Danish/American hybrid band, they actually had one legitimately kind of OK song, Wait, though their biggest hit would be When the Children Cry, a song so maudlin that Sarah Mclachlan would call them pu**ies. Vocals, Aaron Samson Bass. Led by Nadir DPriest and guitarist Lizzie Grey these albums are worth listening to but failed to chart commercially. Although they did quite well in the rock community, they couldn't manage to pop on a mainstream level. Carmine Appice is currently performing with his brother Vinnie Appice in Drum Wars. The Top Ten. The band had the biggest success with 1988s Over The Edge album, but never quite made it to the level of bands like Motley Crue, Ratt, and others that were dominating the L.A. music scene at the time. Their 80s albums are: Tokyo Blade (1983), Night of the Blade (1984), Black Hearts & Jaded Spades (1985), Aint Misbehavin (1987) and, No Remorse (1989). Nothing says hard rock like guys with big hair singing acoustic rock on a childrens playground, am I right? A-Z Of Heavy Metal Bands: All You Wanna Know! . Metalized should have brought these guys into the limelight because its own hell of a great metal record. Their debut is a fantastic effort to absolutely add to your collection if you don't have it. Canadian metal band, Kick Axe never seemed to get a fair shake. The album is available through Metal Blade Records and is still sought after by glam metal collectors worldwide. Stream songs including "Cum On Feel the Noize", "Sweet Child O' Mine" and more. Looking back, it couldve actually been dangerous, but they werent the only hair metal band that did it. Metallica killed hair metal dead by staying true to their sound, though it took a few more years for those bands to fade away. Wildly popular in Japan, they were never able to duplicate the same success in the U.S. mostly do to changing trends in music. By Freki. Every Mothers Nightmare This band released their self-titled album in 1990 to a decent amount of success. The music was interesting, moody and possibly a great pre-cursor to the sound bands like Alice In Chains would invoke soon after. Thunder Thunder came from England sounding a lot like AC/DC mixed with Extreme. That's just how the ball bounces. Exhibit A: the debut album New York gypsy-bohos The Throbs. It charted in the top 200 in the U.S. In the next week or two we will be making some major upgrades to the site to bring the software and server fully up to date. The band releases a second album Time Will Tell but eventually disbanded afterward. The band is still together and has released consistently solid material over the last few years. Originally a side project formed by Greg Giuffria after his band Angel ended, Giuffria became a full-fledged band. Where Are They Now? The songs17 Goin on Crazy, Lick it Into Shape and Legs Up were all great tracks that should have brought the band way more attention and exposure than they did. Drummer Dicki Fliszar would go on to work with Jack Russells Great White. Where Are They Now? The band was quite talented and remains an underground favorite for many fans of the genre. Their debut album received high praise from critics with Mitchells voice drawing comparisons to that of the late Doors singer Jim Morrison. However, the band split up a year later. The band released only two albums in the 80s: Fighting Back (1986) and Children of Madness (1987). Girlschool), taken from their upcoming studio album, Today, California glam rockers, L.A. 8) Child's Play - From East Baltimore, Maryland, Child's Play released "Rat Race" in 1990 on Chrysalis Records. After White Sister, three of the band members would go on to form another band called Tattoo Rodeo. After an impressive outing the band had internal conflicts which lead to their second and last album entitled Pigs. Lead vocalist Mark Free has since changed his gender to female in now known as Marcie Free. During the 80s glam and melodic metal ruled the airwaves. The wait is finally over! Tramp eventually went solo and still performs and records today. Fans of Kingdom Come will recognize the vocals of Lenny Wolf on these early 80s albums by Stone Fury. Theres almost nothing separating these guys from a boy band except their long hair, but My God, what glorious locks they were. Law And Order's follow up "Rites Of Passage" is pretty damn solid as well. And thanks to the shift in the musical climate at that time, it just wasnt given the great record label support that it deserved. They mostly disappeared, but released three albums in 2010 of repurposed material (demos, live recordings, etc. The wait is finally over! Put together by former members of Bay Area crossover crew Attitude Adjustment who swapped their white hi-tops for cheap leather trousers and bargain-shop bandanas, their debut album plunged its needle into the same vein of bluesy cock rock as fellow greasers Circus Of Power and Little Caesar, throwing in some hardcore-esque gang vocals and nailing their were-not-White Lion cred with a punkabilly cover of Johnny Cashs Folsom Prison Blues. These guys were from Canada and honestly, I don't remember how I ever heard of them or got their debut "Von Groove". Nothing too deep here, just melodic, over the top, poppy, fun rock n roll. This Canadian band released two singles, Poisoned By Love and Dont Turn Your Back On Me Now from their debut album Prey and garnered them a growing fanbase. They received a decent buzz among rock journalists and fans. The band released the album Total Control in 1983. Johnny Hates Jazz If you don't instantly start bopping your head the second you hear the drum and keyboard intro to "Shattered Dreams" and its. Dave Everley has been writing about and occasionally humming along to music since the early 90s. Circus Of Power came onto the scene with their debut self-titled album in 1988. Hey, you never got that with Warrant. Formed in 1982 by Tom Keifer and Eric Brittingham,Cinderella was one of the biggest bands of the 80s rock and metal era. Prophet released two albums in the 80s: Prophet (1985) and Cycle of the Moon (1988). The 1980s and early 90s saw hard rock and heavy metal go mainstream and reach a large audience worldwide. The 80s Hard Rock and Metal scene had some really great bands that didnt have good promotion, good managers, good record labels or simply imploded because of personality conflicts within the band. While the band had musical talent and decent songwriting ability, they were often derided for being un-original. 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