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Posted on 5/9/21 at 4:40 pm to lpgreat1
Just my 2 cents from somebody in the music business at the time and an observer of the scene:
The term hair metal is taken mostly wrong, particularly by fans and musicians in that genre and the revisionism is off the charts. Those people love to claim that the term was coined as a derisive catch all for the bands that were struck down after the alt-rock boom of 91/92. The term WAS used in that way but it was around way before that, and it accelerated more around 1987 when Whitesnake took the giant pageant hair look a step further. But since there is really nothing in the term "hair" that denotes a specific playing style it always seems silly to try to pin it down and draw definitive lines around the bands.
Saying that Guns n Roses were NOT hair metal always comes off like a dodge. Like "I like this band so they can't be included with lame terminology". Early GnR band photos show by Aqua-Netted volume and tarty make-up that they absolutely did fit right into the scene. They adjusted quickly after the buzz made it obvious they were going to break big and they wanted to find a way to stand out from the crowded pack.
The term hair metal is taken mostly wrong, particularly by fans and musicians in that genre and the revisionism is off the charts. Those people love to claim that the term was coined as a derisive catch all for the bands that were struck down after the alt-rock boom of 91/92. The term WAS used in that way but it was around way before that, and it accelerated more around 1987 when Whitesnake took the giant pageant hair look a step further. But since there is really nothing in the term "hair" that denotes a specific playing style it always seems silly to try to pin it down and draw definitive lines around the bands.
Saying that Guns n Roses were NOT hair metal always comes off like a dodge. Like "I like this band so they can't be included with lame terminology". Early GnR band photos show by Aqua-Netted volume and tarty make-up that they absolutely did fit right into the scene. They adjusted quickly after the buzz made it obvious they were going to break big and they wanted to find a way to stand out from the crowded pack.
Posted on 5/9/21 at 5:44 pm to 45acp
quote:
After Cinderella had a couple hits on Night Songs they were able to gain more creative control.
Long Cold Winter and Heartbreak Station had a lot more of a blues influence to them than your typical mid to late 80s hair-metal album did. I think I could make a pretty good argument that those two albums would have been the best post 1970s albums Aerosmith ever did if they had recorded those songs instead.
This post was edited on 5/9/21 at 5:45 pm
Posted on 5/9/21 at 7:02 pm to RockAndRollDetective
quote:
Saying that Guns n Roses were NOT hair metal always comes off like a dodge. Like "I like this band so they can't be included with lame terminology". Early GnR band photos show by Aqua-Netted volume and tarty make-up that they absolutely did fit right into the scene. They adjusted quickly after the buzz made it obvious they were going to break big and they wanted to find a way to stand out from the crowded pack.
This is the truth. GnR were always part of the hair metal scene in L.A. Hollywood Rose was a glam band and GnR came from that band. I followed the whole thing religiously as a teenager in the '80s. I read every Circus, Hit Parader and Kerrang! magazine I could get my hands on. It was all the same scene.
Posted on 5/10/21 at 6:20 pm to Saint Alfonzo
quote:
It was all the same scene.
Posted on 5/10/21 at 6:51 pm to lpgreat1
I was once a HUGE GNR fan (still like them, but not on an obsessive level anymore) and I also am very into 80s hard rock (Dokken, Ratt, Stryper, etc.)
The biggest difference between Guns and the three bands I mentioned is that Slash was not a “shredder” in the vein of an Eddie Van Halen, George Lynch, or Warren DeMartini. Slash was a blues-inspired hard rock guitarist in the vein of a Keith Richards or Joe Perry.
Sure, Guns had the look early on of a “hair metal” band, but their sound was always more influenced by bluesy rock.
Say what you will about Winger or White Lion, but you can’t deny the technical prowess, especially on guitar.
The biggest difference between Guns and the three bands I mentioned is that Slash was not a “shredder” in the vein of an Eddie Van Halen, George Lynch, or Warren DeMartini. Slash was a blues-inspired hard rock guitarist in the vein of a Keith Richards or Joe Perry.
Sure, Guns had the look early on of a “hair metal” band, but their sound was always more influenced by bluesy rock.
Say what you will about Winger or White Lion, but you can’t deny the technical prowess, especially on guitar.
Posted on 5/10/21 at 8:04 pm to SaintlyTiger88
quote:
Sure, Guns had the look early on of a “hair metal” band, but their sound was always more influenced by bluesy rock.
The hair metal ballad was a reality.
Posted on 5/10/21 at 8:11 pm to tigermeat
Who hasn't seen whitesnake?
Posted on 5/11/21 at 8:28 am to lpgreat1
Suprised that no one has mentioned Skid Row, Slave to the Grind for example was not Glam at all.
Posted on 5/11/21 at 9:25 am to Tackle74
quote:
Suprised that no one has mentioned Skid Row, Slave to the Grind for example was not Glam at all.
That whole album is heavy as hell.
Posted on 5/11/21 at 10:04 am to SaintlyTiger88
quote:
Say what you will about Winger or White Lion, but you can’t deny the technical prowess, especially on guitar.
Really all those 80s bands, whether it be the NWOBHM bands - Maiden, Priest, yes, Def Leppard, and the "hair" metal bands that got exposure on MTV all had guys who could flat out play. C.C. Deville at his prime, for example, could have played with anyone.
Funny story about Poison auditioning for guitarists. Saul Hudson auditioned and knew right away he wasn't going to fit in based on the image they were presenting. The guy right after him came up with his hair already teased way up and tottering around on high heels. Hudson recalls thinking, "Yeah, they're going to hire this guy." The guy was C.C. Deville, Hudson was right and most of you know Saul Hudson better as Slash.
The more you know, right?
Posted on 5/11/21 at 10:07 am to tigermeat
All you Winger haters can go f yourselves.
Posted on 5/11/21 at 10:51 am to Marciano1
To me, hair metal has always been about the content of the songs more than the look. Power ballads and songs about partying and that sort of thing define the genre more than a particular look of the band. Hence, my opinion that a band like Ratt or GnR don’t fit as well as some others. Skid Row is another that the music seems a bit more serious than a lot of other bands.
Posted on 5/11/21 at 11:06 am to tigermeat
quote:
Hair metal to me is that pussy-whipped sound of Winger, White Lion,
frick off!
Posted on 5/11/21 at 11:12 am to Saint Alfonzo
quote:The ironic part is that Quiet Riot was the first Strip band to really make it huge - and they weren't that glammy. They were way grittier and not pretty.
They had nothing to do with the Sunset Strip metal scene that brought glam/hair metal to the forefront.
Posted on 5/11/21 at 11:14 am to Tackle74
quote:Eponymous debut wasn't glam either.
Suprised that no one has mentioned Skid Row, Slave to the Grind for example was not Glam at all.
Posted on 5/11/21 at 11:14 am to Ace Midnight
quote:Dave Mustaine tried hard to recruit Slash for Megadeth also.
Funny story about Poison auditioning for guitarists. Saul Hudson auditioned and knew right away he wasn't going to fit in based on the image they were presenting. The guy right after him came up with his hair already teased way up and tottering around on high heels. Hudson recalls thinking, "Yeah, they're going to hire this guy." The guy was C.C. Deville, Hudson was right and most of you know Saul Hudson better as Slash.
Posted on 5/11/21 at 11:33 am to lpgreat1
quote:
Hence, my opinion that a band like Ratt or GnR don’t fit as well as some others.
Ratt was one of the first Sunset Strip bands to start dressing glam. Stephen Pearcy helped set the trend. Most of GnR were in the same glam band before they formed GnR. There is no differentiation between Ratt, GnR and hair bands, they were all in the same scene and genre.
quote:
Power ballads and songs about partying and that sort of thing define the genre more than a particular look of the band.
November Rain, Estranged, Don't Cry, Patience. Sweet Child O' Mine, Civil War. All power ballads, some with the requisite epic long-form videos.
quote:
Skid Row is another that the music seems a bit more serious than a lot of other bands.
Their debut album is a hair band benchmark full of ballads and party songs. Their second album has a song called Get The frick Out, as in the party's over so...
The whole "they weren't a hair band" argument baffles me. They were all hair bands. It's not a pejorative term, it's more a catch-all label.
This post was edited on 5/11/21 at 11:34 am
Posted on 5/11/21 at 11:39 am to Saint Alfonzo
quote:There were 2 ballads - one of which wasn't a love song (and arguably wasn't even a ballad). Their lead single was a straightforward hard rock/heavy metal song - it wasn't about partying. It was actually sort of political.
Their debut album is a hair band benchmark full of ballads and party songs.
Skid Row were "hair", sure - but they were not glam.
Posted on 5/11/21 at 11:52 am to Big Scrub TX
quote:
Skid Row were "hair", sure - but they were not glam.
Never said they were glam.
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