A type of anti-music that became popular in the 1980's and officially died in 1991.
Typical characteristics:
*Women's makeup worn on faces
*Tight, colorful clothing
*Loud, repetive drumbeats
*Guitar has a whiny sound
*High-pitched vocals
*Extreme emphasis on appearance
*Meaningless lyrics about alcoholism, promiscuity, and occasionally substance abuse.
Hair metal is essentially reinvented pop. Whereas metal in the 1960's and 1970's was about various subjects such as politics or personal experiences, hair metal was about hedonism. Hair Metal was the spearhead of teenybopper movement, which was at it's strongest during the 1980's. Were it not for MTV and a legion of gullable fans, hair metal would have never grown into the music-destroying fungus that gave metal a bad name. As it became more synonymous with metal, true metal musicians founded what became known as the trash metal movement, which was shot down in it's initial stages and would re-merge after the death of grunge, which in of itself was a stab at hair metal.
Typical characteristics:
*Women's makeup worn on faces
*Tight, colorful clothing
*Loud, repetive drumbeats
*Guitar has a whiny sound
*High-pitched vocals
*Extreme emphasis on appearance
*Meaningless lyrics about alcoholism, promiscuity, and occasionally substance abuse.
Hair metal is essentially reinvented pop. Whereas metal in the 1960's and 1970's was about various subjects such as politics or personal experiences, hair metal was about hedonism. Hair Metal was the spearhead of teenybopper movement, which was at it's strongest during the 1980's. Were it not for MTV and a legion of gullable fans, hair metal would have never grown into the music-destroying fungus that gave metal a bad name. As it became more synonymous with metal, true metal musicians founded what became known as the trash metal movement, which was shot down in it's initial stages and would re-merge after the death of grunge, which in of itself was a stab at hair metal.
Hair metal is an easy target for anyone with homophobia. Ironically, fans of hair metal are unable to criticize grunge without calling it homosexual.
by SonicSucks October 18, 2009
All you hair-metal haters can suck ass, because people actually had talent in hair metal bands!
For instance, Motley Crue KICKED ASS. Motley Crue sounded the EXACT SAME on stage as they did on their cds-THATS MOTHERFUCKIN TALENT
They sang about all emotions, mostley happiness, while grunge didn`t have half as creative tunes as they did.
Good thing Vh1 is bringing the 80`s back, if not, I`d go insane
For instance, Motley Crue KICKED ASS. Motley Crue sounded the EXACT SAME on stage as they did on their cds-THATS MOTHERFUCKIN TALENT
They sang about all emotions, mostley happiness, while grunge didn`t have half as creative tunes as they did.
Good thing Vh1 is bringing the 80`s back, if not, I`d go insane
by Adrienne the Axl Fan January 17, 2005
A great genre. Defined by high pitched yet melodious screams, happy go lucky lifestyle and lyrics, etc. And of course the hair....and spray and lipstick etc.
Few things to get straight however
1. Guns N' Roses are not hair metal....even thought htey are a great band. Just because they have long hair does not make them hair metal. If thats how you define it we start to get bands like the Allman Brothers Band being hair metal.Neither are they heavy metal. Thats much harder and mostly crappy music exept for a few great bands (Iron Maiden, Metallica, Megadeth, and best of all: etc.) Theyre straight up hard rock.
2. GRUNGE DID NOT FUCKING KILL HAIR METAL!! Holy fucking shit....no one of any influence likes grunge anyway so how the hell could they kill hair metal????? MT fucking V and the rest of the mainstream media stopped playing them......most generally considered guns n' roses to be hair metal so they got all offended at songs like "one in a million".....WHICH DOESNT HAVE THAT BAD LYRICS OMFG!!!!! oh maybe he says the n-word once...try listening to some of the fucking rap that the mainstream media is playing now eh??? He brings up some good arguments but he does step over the line once or twice or five times....but NOT THAT FAR OVER!!!
Few things to get straight however
1. Guns N' Roses are not hair metal....even thought htey are a great band. Just because they have long hair does not make them hair metal. If thats how you define it we start to get bands like the Allman Brothers Band being hair metal.Neither are they heavy metal. Thats much harder and mostly crappy music exept for a few great bands (Iron Maiden, Metallica, Megadeth, and best of all: etc.) Theyre straight up hard rock.
2. GRUNGE DID NOT FUCKING KILL HAIR METAL!! Holy fucking shit....no one of any influence likes grunge anyway so how the hell could they kill hair metal????? MT fucking V and the rest of the mainstream media stopped playing them......most generally considered guns n' roses to be hair metal so they got all offended at songs like "one in a million".....WHICH DOESNT HAVE THAT BAD LYRICS OMFG!!!!! oh maybe he says the n-word once...try listening to some of the fucking rap that the mainstream media is playing now eh??? He brings up some good arguments but he does step over the line once or twice or five times....but NOT THAT FAR OVER!!!
Grunge kids call Hair Metal fans arrogant and self - centered and theyre the ones whining about their problems all the time to us...would you rather go through life happy or sad??take the right turn and get yasself some fuckin motley crue, skid row, ratt, whitesnake, scorpions, etc.
by METAL HEALTH! September 6, 2005
Dictionhousen,slamma,Seattle Man can all eat fn sh*t.. hair metal is the best type of music, and always will be. they sang about being happy, instead of grunge, who sang about how much they wanted to die and how depressed they were. its fn lame. and their look was entertaining if you didnt get it. just wanted to say how dumb you were, later->
by Con January 1, 2004
Quite possibly the best and most enjoyable music genre that ever came into existance. Synonymous with many of the following:
Energetic, keyboard-driven rock songs
Themes of love and togetherness
Big, poofy hairstyles
High-pitched vocals
Sweden
And of course - SPANDEX PANTS!
Hair metal originated in the mid 1980s and died out when hip-hop began to dominate the majority of the 1990s. Such a shame.
Energetic, keyboard-driven rock songs
Themes of love and togetherness
Big, poofy hairstyles
High-pitched vocals
Sweden
And of course - SPANDEX PANTS!
Hair metal originated in the mid 1980s and died out when hip-hop began to dominate the majority of the 1990s. Such a shame.
by Mika June 9, 2004
A band of the hard rock or heavy metal variety associated with the 1980s, even if from the early 90s (as was the case with Damn Yankees, Mr. Big, Nelson) "Hair metal" was a term not coined until well into the 90s, but roughly covers what was known in the 80s as "glam metal".
Self-proclaimed haters of hair metal try to define the genre as music with all focus on image, and contrast it with grunge. Yet in grunge, the lack of aesthetics became a trendy enforced look itself, and the scene never produced any virtuoso "musician's musicians". Many credit Nirvana and grunge with the "death" of hair metal, but this is historically inaccurate, as hair metal's loss of popularity was mainly due to 1) sudden denial by radio stations and Mtv of any airplay or promotion, and 2) unrelated pitfalls of many key bands in a very short time span: Ozzy Osbourne had announced retirement, inner conflict led to Guns n' Roses' break-up, too many years taken off in between some band's albums (Metallica, Alice Cooper, AC/DC, Judas Priest, Def Leppard), while other bands lost prominent members (Iron Maiden, Motley Crue, Poison).
Most hair metal bands in fact continued to put out albums and play small venues throughout the 1990s, finding promotion via the internet, college radio, and the work of loyal fans. Ironically, it then became a much more anti-corporate, "alternative" form of music than the 90s pop music that was still being called "alternative".
Self-proclaimed haters of hair metal try to define the genre as music with all focus on image, and contrast it with grunge. Yet in grunge, the lack of aesthetics became a trendy enforced look itself, and the scene never produced any virtuoso "musician's musicians". Many credit Nirvana and grunge with the "death" of hair metal, but this is historically inaccurate, as hair metal's loss of popularity was mainly due to 1) sudden denial by radio stations and Mtv of any airplay or promotion, and 2) unrelated pitfalls of many key bands in a very short time span: Ozzy Osbourne had announced retirement, inner conflict led to Guns n' Roses' break-up, too many years taken off in between some band's albums (Metallica, Alice Cooper, AC/DC, Judas Priest, Def Leppard), while other bands lost prominent members (Iron Maiden, Motley Crue, Poison).
Most hair metal bands in fact continued to put out albums and play small venues throughout the 1990s, finding promotion via the internet, college radio, and the work of loyal fans. Ironically, it then became a much more anti-corporate, "alternative" form of music than the 90s pop music that was still being called "alternative".
"Haha, look at all that hair metal. I hate anything that came out of the 80s."
"Wait a minute, didn't you just buy the latest CDs from Guns n' Roses, Aerosmith, and Metallica?"
"Yeah, but those bands don't count as hair metal because, um, you know. Er, uhhhh...hey what's on TV tonight?"
"Wait a minute, didn't you just buy the latest CDs from Guns n' Roses, Aerosmith, and Metallica?"
"Yeah, but those bands don't count as hair metal because, um, you know. Er, uhhhh...hey what's on TV tonight?"
by Bill M. July 24, 2004
A natural evolution of glam rock. Noted by their hairspray addictions and spandex trousers hair metal bands first arose on both sides of the Atlantic in the mid 1980's through bands such as Motley Crue, Def Leppard, Wrathchild and LA Guns. Reached a high in the late 80's as the principle form of commercial rock expression before becoming unfashionable with the arrival of grunge in the early 1990's. I never went away and is now undergoing something of a revival through bands such as The Darkness.
Must hear hair metal bands include:-
Poison, Motley Crue, Wrathchild, Smashed Gladys, Pretty Boy Floyd, Love Hate, Girl, Tigertailz, Rankelsson, Hanoi Rocks, Dog's D'Amour, The Quireboys, L.A. Guns, Torme, Tora Tora, The Darkness and Underneath What.
Poison, Motley Crue, Wrathchild, Smashed Gladys, Pretty Boy Floyd, Love Hate, Girl, Tigertailz, Rankelsson, Hanoi Rocks, Dog's D'Amour, The Quireboys, L.A. Guns, Torme, Tora Tora, The Darkness and Underneath What.
by black flag June 28, 2004