Who were some of the bands that smoothed the transition from hair metal to grunge?

Skid Row had a big hit with Slave to the Grind but quickly became irrelevant after Sebastian Bach left. GNR also fell apart in the early 90s due to band members leaving and then taking forever to follow up Use Your Illusion. I don't think either band really fit into the hair metal genre though, especially GNR.

There was no transition from hair metal to grunge. One day '80s bands were king, the next day Nirvana happened.

GNR - they were a lot grittier and dirtier than the average hair metal band that had weak rockers and sappy ballads. Plus, they wore punk influences on their sleeves.

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I'd probably say Mother Love Bone...

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Where were they popular before Andy OD’d?

I only heard of them from the SubPop tape or CD that “your cool friend” had. And then Temple of the Dog. Which was written for him after he died.

The Cult was mentioned but even with them you have to go back. I loved Ceremony but it was not their best album. But it was released in that time period before Seattle took over.


Soundgarden was responsible for Seattle but they definitely could do both. Birth Ritual from Singles and some of Badmotorfinger can easily be called metal. Not hair metal but metal.

Does Tesla qualify?

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Tesla

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As a big hair metal fan who was in high school from 1986-90, I always felt like Tesla and GnR were "different" from the rest of the hair bands I typically favored and, if we can categorize an in-between phase before grunge took over, they should be included.

Having said all of that, the band that made me say, "WTF", before I first heard Nirvana on the radio was Faith No More. That might not be a great example, but the song and the video for Epic sticks out to me as one of the early death knells for hair metal.

It seems to have greased the skids for wider acceptance of grunge when the video for Smells Like Teen Spirit was released a few years later.

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Having said all of that, the band that made me say, "WTF", before I first heard Nirvana on the radio was Faith No More.

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That’s actually a pretty good choice.

I might throw in Suicidal Tendencies to the mix as well.

Panter was Glam before the fired their singer and hired Phil

I think Queensryche is probably as close as you can come as a transition band in that respect. Although they had been around for years prior and fit comfortably in the almost heavy metal genre. They definitely were not hair band. "Progressive Metal"?

Tesla was a rock band pure and simple. They had their time during the hair metal days but they did not get all dressed up. They were just as comfortable doing an acoustic set and getting more to the blues rock sound as anyone out there. They could do Clapton like music and hard driving rock. If they had been out 15-20 years earlier their sound would have fit in with the likes of the Faces, etc.

The Cult was NEVER to be confused with Hair Bands. They were something of a bridge between Goth Rock in the mid 80's and hard rock . By 86 and 87 they had moved to the rock sound. Astbury's voice was so different from so many rockers out there, the only voice that may have been that distinctive and deep was Eddie Vitter. But The Cult was not grunge either. There was no real angst in their music like Nirvana, Pearl Jam or Soundgarten. Also Billy Duffy's guitar was closer to the the metal guys when he let loose.

Always thought that The Cult probably hit their zenith about 2 or 3 years too late. By the time they had "recovered" from the Fire Woman tour, etc. Grunge had taken hold and they somewhat faded from the scene and then tried to experiment with their sound to adapt.

That is a really great album, good answer.