Who cut the cheese? Forays into hair metal

[interceptör]

Lately I've been browsing through some 80s guitar mags and was once again reminded how big the so-called hair metal was back then. And now I think I might want to spend a masochistic weekend revisiting the stinkiest gorgonzola of the bunch and drinking beer.

What's on my list now: RATT, Cinderella, Poison, Warrant. Maybe Winger, Dokken, Slaughter, Mr. Big or White Lion?

What's excluded due to excessive artistic merit, impressive songwriting skills or blatant non-dorkiness: WASP, Mötley Crüe, Bon Jovi, Guns N' Roses, Skid Row, Van Halen, Aerosmith.

Borderline cases: Scorpions (too old to qualify), Twisted Sister (too ugly to qualify), KISS (too old and ugly to qualify).

So what's your Poison, then? Who do you love to hate? Who had more hair spray and spandex than talent?

[Dave]

The big Ratt record “out of the cellar” is legit pretty solid. Funny you bring this up I played that one through a couple times yesterday while cleaning the house a little.

[Dr Tony Balls]

Cinderella is a huge one. Much much better than the rest. Also Whitesnake. Also....sleeper hit...KIX.

[interceptör]

Cinderella is a huge one. Much much better than the rest. Also Whitesnake. Also....sleeper hit...KIX.

Better at being worse or actually listenable? I had one of their albums (Heartbreak Station I think) back then and have absolutely no recollection.

Coverdale was almost a pensioner in the 80s so Whitesnake should really be excluded, but the videos are quintessential cheese so they get a pass.

[Dr Tony Balls]

Cinderella is a huge one. Much much better than the rest. Also Whitesnake. Also....sleeper hit...KIX.

Better at being worse or actually listenable? I had one of their albums (Heartbreak Station I think) back then and have absolutely no recollection.

Coverdale was almost a pensioner in the 80s so Whitesnake should really be excluded, but the videos are quintessential cheese so they get a pass.

Better at being actually good. Long Cold Winter is the best Cinderella album, imo.

[countertext]

Another vote for Ratt.

Edit: something about the chord voicings on the riffs were different with Ratt. Somehow extra tasty.

[s_mcsleazy]

brian baker (bad religion, minor threat, dag nasty) was in a hair metal/boogie rock band called junkyard. as much as the genre gives me the boak, it's tolerable.

[Plumerai]

Quiet Riot. Was it called hair metal back then? Friends & I referred to it as glam metal.

[Dave]

Another vote for Ratt.

Edit: something about the chord voicings on the riffs were different with Ratt. Somehow extra tasty.

I agree there is something unique about it, I also enjoy the guy’s (forget his name) vocal delivery, it’s sort of less dweeby sounding than the typical singers of the genre. I enjoy the harmony and kind of unusual sound to his voice

[eilrahc]

There were a couple of bands who ended up part of that scene because of their probably label-mandated big hair, but were really good power pop, Enuff Z'Nuff are probably the most famous but I was really thinking of Candy. They looked like Poison but sounded more like the Raspberries, which I suppose might preclude them from being genuine hair metal, but they're well worth a listen.

[Dave]

Cinderella is a huge one. Much much better than the rest. Also Whitesnake. Also....sleeper hit...KIX.

I got thumbing through the first couple albums, yeah man Cinderella kinda fuckin slaps too.

[Plumerai]

re: Ratt - the singer & guitarist (Warren DeMartini) are playing together at M3 fest in Maryland.

[countertext]

This thread has been in my head this morning.

In my mind, there was (maybe is) a fuzzy line that separates hair metal that came from rock roots and hair metal that came from pop roots. An oversimplification, but still.

When I listened to Cinderella back in the day, there was clearly a connection to AC/DC and Aerosmith and the Stones. Motley Crue had NWOBHM and Deep Purple flavors. I was down with stuff like that. I guess I was down with that stuff because it was connected to stuff my older cousins were listening to.

Of course, on the other side of the fuzzy line was things that sounded like it was coming from somewhere else to me, like Poison, or worst of all Warrant. I’m not going to listen to them again to find out if I’m wrong (I might be)… I feel queasy just thinking about it.

Anyway, if I was at a show and somebody dropped a tight rendition of KIX’s “Blow My Fuse”, I would be like fuck yeah brother. There’s good stuff out there.

Just thoughts! Dig through your crates and you might find some nice memories or exciting surprises.

[interceptör]

In my mind, there was (maybe is) a fuzzy line that separates hair metal that came from rock roots and hair metal that came from pop roots. An oversimplification, but still.

True. At the end of the day, what makes hair metal, at least to me, is, apart from pretty boy looks, the lack of soul in music and the lack of meaningful content in lyrics. It's something inherently disingenuous that sounds like (because it probably was) a record company creation, much like many post-grunge bands, boy/girl bands or talent show winners. They make the sounds and they make the moves and they wear the clothes, but it's all choreographed from beyond.

Motley Crue had NWOBHM and Deep Purple flavors.

Funny, I hear something completely different. For me, the first album was punk, glam rock and post punk; the second and third were this newish, non-bluesy hard rock (something akin to Van Halen, Ozzy, WASP, post-1979 Scorpions and Def Leppard's second and third albums); fourth was classic hair metal; and the fifth was classic arena rock.

Deep Purple, otoh, is something I've always instinctively disliked; the grandaddy of power metal and many of the NWOBHM bands, Iron Maiden in particular, not to mention shred metal.

[dinosaurkale->]

I love it all and always have

(just bought a Kix shirt yesterday)