Best Metal/Metal-Pop band of the 1980s?

That's a lot of terrible music

Pantera

It's Def Leppard and it isn't even close.

quote:

---

I wouldn’t classify ... Def Leppard as metal. Certainly not their early work

---

DL (my favorite band) was originally a NWOBHM band, broadly categorized alongside Judas Priest and Iron Maiden, so their early work (the lush Tom Allom produced On Through the Night and their first collaboration with Robert John "Mutt" Lange, High 'n' Dry, both featuring guitarists Steve Clark and Pete Willis) is rightly considered metal, at least for the day.

Certainly by 1983's Pyromania (full disclosure - my favorite album), the greater polish, the more Mutt Lange treatment it got, it was more properly in pop-metal or even straight hard rock category as their music would continue to be (epitomized by 1987's Hysteria and 1992's Adrenalize).

quote:

---

First six Van Halen albums are in a league of their own IMO.

---

I don't know about all that. One must admit, in hindsight, they were not great writers. They were riding largely on Eddie's playing. Eddie was the most innovative and influential American rock guitar player since Hendrix (and I can't imagine anyone has supplanted him, since).

And the implication about "First Six" somehow smacks of anti-Hagar bias. If anything, you say the first five. Because how can you like 1984 and not like 5150 or OU812? My best friend growing up was a die hard Diamond Dave and VH fan and didn't really elevate 1984 above the Van Hagar albums.

I go back and forth on Van Halen, but usually end up with them at the edge of hard rock. The distinctions are fairly fine there in the late 70s. Disco was sucking all the air out of the room, musically, but the guys with guitars that were holding on, on both sides of the Atlantic, were guys like Bad Company, Deep Purple, Sabbath, Boston, Van Halen, etc. Throw ZZ Top and AC/DC in the mix - you have a great classic rock station 15 to 35 years into the future, but where was metal in 1976? 1978?

"Metal" didn't really get a kick in the pants until NWOBHM which heavily informed the LA scene (Motley et al). Between Sabbath and that scene, was Cheap Trick metal? KISS? Alice Cooper? Queen?

Guitar oriented rock was really fluid back then. You had guys in bands doing everything. Stone Cold Crazy is arguably the first speed metal song.

quote:

---

Why are hard rock/metal fans such parsing hair splitters when it comes to judging the music?

---

Because a spectrum or range is hard for unsophisticated folks.

quote:

---

Van Halen ruled with Roth and sucked dirty assholes with Hagar and the 78-84 version was better than the other bands mentioned.

---

Just kiddin’.....



And...





But the absolute kick arse best was......

Had to add Tesla.