S&D: Glam Metal/Hair Metal

I keep hoping Justin Quirk is going to get his last 3% funding on Unbound to publish.

are Diemonds glam metal?

I found the track listing for the five-CD set I made for a girl who did an '80s glam night at the High Five back when I lived in Ohio. In retrospect I might have included some of the original '70s glam bands to mix things up but still, not a bad box set if I say so myself:

DISC ONE
1. Kix - Cold Shower
2. Alice Cooper - Poison
3. Skid Row - Youth Gone Wild
4. Firehouse - Love Of A Lifetime
5. Judas Priest - The Hellion
6. Judas Priest - Electric Eye
7. Warrant - Uncle Tom's Cabin
8. Guns N' Roses - Sweet Child O' Mine
9. White Lion - Wait
10. Arcade - Nothing To Lose
11. Enuff Z'Nuff - New Thing
12. Cinderella - Shake Me
13. Killingbird - Just Like Heaven
14. Faster Pussycat - You're So Vain
15. Bon Jovi - Livin' On A Prayer
16. Great White - Once Bitten, Twice Shy
17. Bon Jovi - Runaway
18. Steelheart - I'll Never Let You Go
19. Def Leppard - Rock Of Ages

DISC TWO
1. Dirty Looks - It's Not The Way That You Rock
2. Vixen - Edge Of A Broken Heart
3. Tesla - Gettin' Better
4. The Poor - More Wine Waiter Please
5. Keel - The Right To Rock
6. Bang Tango - Dancin' On Coals
7. Buckcherry - Lit Up
8. Mötley Crüe - Shout At The Devil
9. Dokken - In My Dreams
10. Britney Fox - Long Way To Love
11. Kingdom Come - Get It On
12. Mötley Crüe - Smokin' In The Boys Room
13. Twisted Sister - We're Not Gonna Take It
14. Poison - Talk Dirty To Me
15. Katmandu - The Way You Make Me Feel
16. Def Leppard - Foolin'
17. Beautiful Creatures - 1 A.M.
18. Every Mother's Nightmare - EZ Come EZ Go
19. Guns N' Roses - Paradise City

DISC THREE
1. Whitesnake - Still Of The Night
2. Mr. Big - Addicted To That Rush
3. Hanoi Rocks - Teenangels Outsiders
4. Shotgun Messiah - Babylon
5. The Cult - Fire Woman
6. Whitesnake - Here I Go Again
7. The Honey’s - Pink Velvet Cocaine
8. Mötley Crüe - Live Wire
9. Extreme - Get The Funk Out
10. Trixter - Bad Girl
11. Aerosmith - Dude (Look Like A Lady)
12. Winger - Seventeen
13. Guns N' Roses - You Could Be Mine
14. Killer Dwarfs = Dirty Weapons
15. Firehouse - Don't Treat Me Bad
16. Accept - Balls To The Wall
17. Nelson - (I Can’t Live Without Your) Love And Affection
18. Mötley Crüe - Girls, Girls, Girls

DISC FOUR
1. Danger Danger - Slipped Her The Big One
2. Van Halen - Hot For Teacher
3. Manda And The Marbles - Sex Object
4. Def Leppard - Pour Some Sugar On Me
5. Hericane Alice - Tear The House Down
6. Loudermilk - Estrogen Oxygen
7. Krokus - Midnight Maniac
8. Drivin' N' Cryin' - Fly My Courageous
9. Warrant - Cherry Pie
10. Lita Ford - Kiss Me Deadly
11. Guns N' Roses - Welcome To The Jungle
12. Pretty Boy Floyd - Rock & Roll
13. Quiet Riot - Cum On Feel The Noize
14. AC/DC - You Shook Me All Night Long
15. Gene Loves Jezebel - Jealous
16. Zodiac Mindwarp - Prime Mover
17. Ugly Kid Joe - Everything About You
18. Dogs D'Amour - I Don't Want You To Go
19. Poison - Every Rose Has It’s Thorn
20. Ratt - Round And Round

DISC FIVE
1. Kik Tracee - Mrs. Robinson
2. Skid Row - I Remember You
3. Dangerous Toys - Pissed
4. Bon Jovi - You Give Love A Bad Name
5. Ozzy Osbourne - Shot In The Dark
6. Hardline - Hot Cherie
7. Jesse Camp - See You Around
8. Slaughter - Up All Night
9. Poison - Nothin' But A Good Time
10. Kiss - Heaven's On Fire
11. Kix - Blow My Fuse
12. Love / Hate - Why Do You Think They Call It Dope?
13. Poison - Unskinny Bop
14. Bonham - Wait For You
15. Heavy Pettin' - Love On The Run
16. Scorpions - Rock You Like A Hurricane
17. Faster Pussycat - Bathroom Wall
18. L.A. Guns - Sex Action
19. Michael Monroe - Dead, Jail, or Rock 'n Roll

There are a couple of nods to local (at the time) Columbus bands that made the list which may explain some bands most don't know; the rest isn't very obscure, I don't think.

I love everything about this track list

People really don't have enough Krokus in their lives

otm

Oh man, just saw these posts...

Redd Kross were never a glam metal/hair metal band, though they did sometimes do shows with various mid-Eighties Sunset Strip Starz. My friend Kim has a flyer for a show they headlined at a tacky club in the Valley in 1985 with Poison as the opening act! ― Arthur, Sunday, June 16, 2002 8:00 PM

Haha I didnt know Poison once supported Redd Kross. ― Rock Bastard, Friday, March 19, 2004 11:03 PM

One of the McDonald brothers gave me a great story about what is probably that show - they said they played a gig with Poison. At the show, Poison - who was unsigned at the time - had a limo and champagne backstage and a sign on the dressing room door that said they were the "Glitter Glam Slam Kings of Rock & Roll."

I think I remember the exact quote: "We heard they were into the Dolls, but really they just liked Van Halen. And we decided then that we never, ever wanted to be associated with that again."

lol

those cds are great!

I've been reading that hair metal oral history, and tbh forgot what most of these bands sounded like. And the answer is ... they sounded like garbage. Bad songs, terrible production, everything bad but the image, which wasn't bad so much as lazy and stupid. Like, I just spent a bit listening to stuff on youtube by Faster Pussycat and Cinderella and Poison and White Lion and Warrant and Winger and it's pretty much all soooo bad, made probably more embarrassing when the guys can actually sing kinda cool (like Tom in Cinderella) or play (like the guitar solo on White Lion's "Wait," which is super cool) and yet are so beholden to a certain sound that it still sounds like shit. And then the videos ... woof. Even as a middle schooler smack dab in the middle of this particular marketing bullseye I thought this music was shit, and with few exceptions it's aged terribly. It's all so thin and shrill and treble-y, with huge marshmallow snares that take up half the mix (and try to make up for the fact that there's nothing to hide in there anyway).

Imo.

I will stan for Cinderella, wtf!!!!

mostly their later, bloosier stuff, but even the more glammy stuff.

It's gonna be a long cold lonely winter without Josh in Chicago's love.

Note: I saved some of my limited praise for Cinderella specifically.

the solo for "Wait" is really cool, like Vito Bratta figured out some way forward from EVH that was actually interesting

Tom Keifer doing his Cinderella thing solo has been *sad* from the videos I saw, though. He screeeeeeeamed his heart out for a wee bit too long

~cries, clutches aquanet~

YOURE TERRIBLE

I went on a glam/hair metal kick after seeing GNR a few years back and I discovered that I do like eaaaarly Motley Crue, and Dangerous Toys (somewhat), and Black 'n Blue, and I think Ratt, but I hate a lot of it. do not care for Dokken!

Tooth and Nail!!! Cmon

Enuff Z'nuff were the best of these bands, more like Redd Kross musically speaking (if not lyrically).

Enuff Z'nuff were the best of these bands, more like Redd Kross musically speaking (if not lyrically).

― did you hear about the midnight ambler gambler? (Matt #2), Wednesday, May 12, 2021 4:07 PM (one minute ago) bookmarkflaglink

haha they were such the "best pop metal band" for people who didn't like pop metal, kinda bored me personally

Dokken rules

this is the most underrated hair metal album

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSV6R9ZVFFY

I'll ride for Ratt, the first Skid Row record, early Crue.

One other unexpected record I pull out when I'm in the mood for glam metal is Whatever Gets You Off, a Nikki Sixx produced record by The Last Vegas. Their records before and after it aren't worth much at all, but they somehow managed to capture some hair metal magic in a bottle in 2009 for one record.

Dokken are great, also:
Cinderella
LA Guns
WASP
The Leathür Records release of Too Fast For Love sounds a lot better than the “official” Elektra remixed version, ie hearing vince’s voice semi-normal/not-sped-up makes it much more enjoyable

Faster Pussycat’s albums suck, their singles are the only thing you should listen to

Enuff z Nuff are awesome but so far at the end of the period, timewise as to not reallllly fall within the genre. They’re closer to the hippie pop revival than pure glam metal. But they have A+ hooks and def have a slight Cheap Trick vibe and i love that first album SO fucking much

i fucking hate Ratt but i think i’m already on the record for that

oh and Twisted Sister rule also

Enuff Z'nuff were sort of the Cheap Trick contingent, whereas a lot of these acts started and ended with Kiss.

It's amazing in this book how many times you hear some variation of "they couldn't play, but ... " The quotes from Poison producer Ric Browde alone: "And Bret, you know, is to be commended because up to Poison I think the ability to carry a note and sing in tune had been a barrier to entry." Or (again) re: the first Poison record: "It's a piece of shit, that album. It sucks. Sonically, as a producer? It's the worst record ever. And I became known as a garbage producer because of it."

Most interesting bit I've come across is that Kip Winger was more or less classically trained (and also took ballet lessons), and that his own pre-Winger demos were much closer to prog and Peter Gabriel, at least as he describes them. That's sort of what I mean. Some of these people are pretty talented, and yet they have no vision or integrity. It's just about the chicks and free beer. I mean, Kip Winger might have been classically trained, but he still signed off on Winger, and he's such a wuss that in the book he claims he always hated the band name, which may say a little about how he thinks of himself.

xpost

I doubt I could make it through an entire album by any of these choads, good singles or no. They literally hurt my ears, and iirc did back then, too.

sorry that you hate fun, lmao

starting with a high bar is kind of pointless for this genre

the lower your standards the more enjoyment you will get out of it

i mean guitar shredding is really the highlight
if you have any other sonic/lyrical requirements you will be disappointed lol

but sidebar jesus, bay area speed metal, early 80’s punk all sound like they were recorded inside aluminum garbage cans so i think you are also hampered by yr own dislike for the genre :)

Hair metal I would absolutely still listen to today, in descending order:

- the first three W.A.S.P. albums
- the first Junkyard album
- the Ratt EP and the debut album
- Mötley Crue, Shout at the Devil
- the first Skid Row album

xpost Sure! I mean, they don't need me as a fan. Still, those bay area speed metal and early 80’s punk albums may have sounded shitty, but they were shitty by necessity, not as an aesthetic trend-chasing choice.

By the way, Bon Jovi (band and man alike) come off really well in the book. Just stand up, supportive guys.

unperson otm
first three WASP albums are unfuckwithable, so great!!

the crue have some killer jams for sure

and yeah first ratt album is solid

does LA Guns count? their first album rules

I think Cinderella was pretty good

I never though of Twisted Sister as related to this whole thing, maybe because they were from nowhere near LA. Are they in the book much?

Yeah, as kind of the old guard. Kiss and Ozzy, then Van Halen, then Twisted Sister, Quiet Riot and iirc Ratt and WASP as these bands that were sort of always around. Motley Crue seems to be the band that really lights a fire under the Sunset Strip. And by that I mean yes, the book includes Tommy Lee lighting his farts on fire.

LA Guns, they're another one that just sort of hovers on the periphery, for some reason.

A lot of these bands seemed to swap and/or share members in the early days. Like, I know a guy from such and such band, and that band has a guy from such and such band, and then they combine and fire another guy and get a new guy from a third band, etc.

Y&T were cool, they were like a real life Spinal Tap, started out in the very early 70s as Yesterday & Today then just kept evolving through 70s hard rock and into 80s pop metal

twisted sister is definitely from the ny dolls/glam/kiss/dictators type lineage

in that documentary they are playing like lou reed covers and stuff in the early days

Twisted Sister always charmingly inept, no Nuno Bettencourt shredding for those guys!

Twisted Sister had at least two ex-Dictators in their (ever-shifting) early lineups. They started performing (under other names) as early as 1972.

Heh, I always rated Vito Bratta and also liked Tom Keifer as a singer.

The fact that Dee Snider thought Twisted Sister would have a big hit with a cover of "Leader of the Pack" says a lot.

One of my favorite products of the genre is Vinnie Vincent Invasion's first album. VV's guitar solos are insane, they remind me a bit of Ritchie Blackmore.

There's an endless series of blogposts out there somewhere where VV's drummer details how the album recording got derailed by Vinnie's apparent OCD tendencies, it's tragic.

Yeah exactly, it was a pretty small scene, Slash almost ended up in Poison. Where are Guns N Roses in the hair metal canon, below Motley Cue and above Poison or something?

Where are Guns N Roses in the hair metal canon, below Motley Cue and above Poison or something?

Kind of one step to the right; I think they're seen as hair metal-adjacent, especially since they went in a much more mainstream 70s/trad hard rock direction on their second album(s).

My understanding of the prevailing wisdom is that, like Black Sabbath, they were sui generis and transcend mortal categories.

xp

Y&T were awesome right up to (& including) “Summertime Girl” - once you have a robot on the beach in your music video, it’s time to pack your gear

iirc VV invasion ditched Vinnie and became Slaughter

the ponytail! SO funny, i loled

wait til he sings in the rain

its like I Still Believe 2.0

also xposts to me i meant Trixster GIVE IT TO ME GOOD
not Dont Treat Me Bad
i have firehouse brainworms

The rain stuff is great but I also really like when they're arguing in the car and she opens the door and gets out but instead of opening his own door he climbs out for some reason.

i like that she forgives him seemingly because..(checks notes) he sang shirtless in the rain

that video is wild, so many glam dudes took their style cues from Cave Dwellers-era Miles O'Keeffe

loool totally

Some magnificent comments on that Blue Murder video. Damn.

Hi Fans of Blue Murder "JellyRoll". I'm the girl in the video. yes it's true. I skidded in late to the video shoot in my brand new whilte corvette, dust flying off the dirt road. The production assistant said I couldn't park there so I threw it into reverse and saw a crew member in my rear view window dive into the bushes out of my way. As for John, What a great guitarist, vocalist, song writer and kisser ; ) John if you listening, How about a sequel? xoxo, Meg Register

I can’t believe that after all the years since this song was released, I still remember every word of the song. That’s even after I almost died in a coma because my brain was swelling and the doctors didn’t know why. I have trouble with my short term memory, but I’ve gotten back my long term memory. ❤❤❤

A lot of the comments read as if they were ghostwritten by Sykes…!

Was it a Bon Jovi thing that started all the glam dudes playing acoustic guitars on the back porch in their videos? I'm sure Crue and Poison never used to do that, although feel free to supply evidence to the contrary.

every cowboy sings a sad, sad song

I remember being so excited for Blue Murder. Sykes was the man back then: a wicked NWOBHM shredder with Tygers of Pan Tang, he carried Thin Lizzy's Thunder & Lightning, and he literally saved David Coverdale's career. Then Jelly Roll came out, and we were, WTF JOHN?! What a disappointment. That video died as soon as it came out.

He is horribly abusing that 12-string to be right honest.

and then there’s “Valley of the Kings” which is a hard left turn into harem pants town

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfsZ4EzSn80

Every hard rock band must have their piss-poor Kashmir ripoff number

otm

speaking of Kashmir ripoffs, two recurring videos on Vevo

Robert Plant “Heaven Knows”
i always kinda dug this song but the video is like an SNL parody of 80’s music videos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9Omu_QYb4Q

and then there’s this utter shite Coverdale Page “Take Me For A Little While
the song sucks so bad but the video is full of weird lols: lady who turns into a lizard! AND turns into a candle!
and Jimbo is playing some nonsensical looking harp-guitar like a stupid goblin twat
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-ooOf_rih0

Five singles were released, all of which charted. The highest-charting singles were "Pride and Joy" and "Shake My Tree", which reached numbers one and three, respectively, on the US Mainstream Rock Tracks Chart.[33] Music videos were produced for "Pride and Joy" and "Take Me for a Little While", both directed by Andy Morahan.[34][35] While "Pride and Joy" reportedly did well on MTV (also being featured on an episode of Beavis and Butt-Head[36]), "Take Me for a Little While" received minimal airplay according to Coverdale, as the video was deemed too gothic by the channel.[37]

too gothic is how he remembers it orly looool

no it received minimal airplay because it SUCKED DOGS BALLS

i wish beavis & butthead had done this video, it was RIPE for it

anyway those videos kinda stray from the purview of this thread so i’ll bring it back on topic to say Vevo introduced me to a previously overlooked late -period Y&T track i hadn’t heard from 1990

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MA7Bawrpb9Q

i’d always considered “Summertime Girls” to be the cutoff (1985) but this one is really good imo

then again Mr Veg is a big Y&T fan & he kinda hates this so ymmv lol