great genre, defines 80's hard rock, smome of this bands have great musicians in contrast to crappy grunge and hardcore bands like alica in chains and korn. i know not all the band were good(poison sucks) but the groups generally were excellent. all the stupid people agaisnt this genre usually listen to hardcore and grunge. grunge: crap with no talented musicians
hardcore:decadescense of metal in all ways pure noise, no musianship.
hardcore:decadescense of metal in all ways pure noise, no musianship.
by andrew August 6, 2004
A genre of music begining in the 1970's, which gained mainstream audience in the 1980's, suffered a decline in the 1990's, and now enjoys a more underground success, despite some hair metal bands still breaking into the mainstream.
The first hair metal band is argued by many, although Quiet Riot's "Metal Health" was the first metal album to reach number one on the bilboard charts, and so is often refered to as the begining of the genre, despite Quiet Riot being active throughout the 1970's.
The genre often involved high pitched vocals. The genre's direction would often differ from band to band or even song to song, some displaying pop characteristics, and other displaying blues characteristics, such as Warrant's "Train Train". Lyrical content would focus on an up-beat look at life, involving parties, drugs (Motley Crue's "Dr. Feelgood"), sex (Warrant's "Cherry Pie"), relationships (Blue Crystal's "Someone"), as well as other themes in keeping with a comical or "party hard" look on life ("Slick Black Catillac", "We're Not Gonna Take It", "You're The Only Hell Your Momma Ever Raised").
Power Ballads also became large in Hair Metal, and by the end of the 90's became incredibly processed and watered-down. Examples include "Living On A Prayer" and "Home Sweet Home".
Hair Metal has been meaningful. Warrant's "Uncle Tom's Cabin" deals with two innocents witnessing two police officers commiting murder, and Marilyn Manson's "Mechanical Animals" album deals heavily with the negative effects of drugs.
The visual component of Hair Metal is huge. Many hair metal bands had elaborate stage antics, with pyrotechnics and wire-work. Hair Metals also generally wear make-up, fashion their hair, and wear outfits suggesting femininity. One hair metal performer, Blackie Lawless, took this to the extremes by cutting pieces of raw meat up on stage via the buzzsaw attached to his cod-piece.
Hair Metal's decline is usually credited to the rise of Alternate Rock, although it can also be assigned to the genre being considered sexist, the break-up of key bands, many bands changing direction, and also many individuals involved entering rehab, as well as the "dark side" of the genre, which was displayed in "The Decline Of Western Civilisation II: The Metal Years", which showed many Hair Metalers intoxicated. Rather than looking "cool", it simply looked pathetic.
The genre now has an underground following, and has taken on a much edgier attitude, look, and sound. Many hair metal bands continue to tour and release albums, usually heavier and dealing with more extreme situations.
The first hair metal band is argued by many, although Quiet Riot's "Metal Health" was the first metal album to reach number one on the bilboard charts, and so is often refered to as the begining of the genre, despite Quiet Riot being active throughout the 1970's.
The genre often involved high pitched vocals. The genre's direction would often differ from band to band or even song to song, some displaying pop characteristics, and other displaying blues characteristics, such as Warrant's "Train Train". Lyrical content would focus on an up-beat look at life, involving parties, drugs (Motley Crue's "Dr. Feelgood"), sex (Warrant's "Cherry Pie"), relationships (Blue Crystal's "Someone"), as well as other themes in keeping with a comical or "party hard" look on life ("Slick Black Catillac", "We're Not Gonna Take It", "You're The Only Hell Your Momma Ever Raised").
Power Ballads also became large in Hair Metal, and by the end of the 90's became incredibly processed and watered-down. Examples include "Living On A Prayer" and "Home Sweet Home".
Hair Metal has been meaningful. Warrant's "Uncle Tom's Cabin" deals with two innocents witnessing two police officers commiting murder, and Marilyn Manson's "Mechanical Animals" album deals heavily with the negative effects of drugs.
The visual component of Hair Metal is huge. Many hair metal bands had elaborate stage antics, with pyrotechnics and wire-work. Hair Metals also generally wear make-up, fashion their hair, and wear outfits suggesting femininity. One hair metal performer, Blackie Lawless, took this to the extremes by cutting pieces of raw meat up on stage via the buzzsaw attached to his cod-piece.
Hair Metal's decline is usually credited to the rise of Alternate Rock, although it can also be assigned to the genre being considered sexist, the break-up of key bands, many bands changing direction, and also many individuals involved entering rehab, as well as the "dark side" of the genre, which was displayed in "The Decline Of Western Civilisation II: The Metal Years", which showed many Hair Metalers intoxicated. Rather than looking "cool", it simply looked pathetic.
The genre now has an underground following, and has taken on a much edgier attitude, look, and sound. Many hair metal bands continue to tour and release albums, usually heavier and dealing with more extreme situations.
Warrant
Skid Row
Poision
Quiet Riot
Motley Crue
Bon Jovi (Early)
Alice Cooper
Ozzy Osbourne
The Darkness
The Veins Of Jenna (An example of modern underground hair metal, also known as Sleeze Metal)
Alice
Cindarella
69Eyes
Twisted Sister
Whitesnake
Aerosmith
Skid Row
Poision
Quiet Riot
Motley Crue
Bon Jovi (Early)
Alice Cooper
Ozzy Osbourne
The Darkness
The Veins Of Jenna (An example of modern underground hair metal, also known as Sleeze Metal)
Alice
Cindarella
69Eyes
Twisted Sister
Whitesnake
Aerosmith
by TheUglySoldier June 11, 2007
Hair metal is subgenre of heavy metal. Also called glam metal. It started on the sunset strip in los angeles. The sunset strip was made famous by van halen. Quiet riot got signed and other bands started to get signed like ratt,dokken,montley crue. The music was pretty good. Most people thinks it gay music cause the bands wore catskin,makeup and looked like hot chicks. Maybe you should ask all the groupies from back then if they were gay. Later bands like bon jovi,warrent,and winger are not hair metal there hair pop-rock bands or whatever. They ripped off poisons succsesful balled every rose has it thorn. With there own balleds.
by sage thunder March 31, 2010
Hair Metal is an ambiguous term applied to almost any metal band from the 80's by hipsters and often - ironically - former fans of these bands. It is not a single musical genre that can be classified by musicologists in terms of keys, modes, writing styles, et cetera. It was a visual image cultivated by the record companies and shared by several bands.
Hair Metal as a whole is not much different than alternative or grunge in the early nineties. A few original bands started the scene and the record companies molded every other band in the "alternative" image until they milked it dry. The music had almost nothing to do with any kind of genre. The RHCP were as much a part of the scene as Nirvana, Sonic Youth, REM, Violent Femmes, and Pearl Jam. The only common thread was they all wore plaid!
I really had to laugh when someone mentioned earlier how Alice in Chains had more substance than any number of hair bands. Apparently there are people who have no idea that Alice in Chains actually started out as a glam metal band complete with lipstick makeup and big cheazy hair. No wonder why he over-dosed..........
Or how bout Weezer. Bet you never knew Rivers Cuomo was in a hair band called zoom.
two words:
metal sludge
lord knows what's hiding in your favourite bands past
Hair Metal as a whole is not much different than alternative or grunge in the early nineties. A few original bands started the scene and the record companies molded every other band in the "alternative" image until they milked it dry. The music had almost nothing to do with any kind of genre. The RHCP were as much a part of the scene as Nirvana, Sonic Youth, REM, Violent Femmes, and Pearl Jam. The only common thread was they all wore plaid!
I really had to laugh when someone mentioned earlier how Alice in Chains had more substance than any number of hair bands. Apparently there are people who have no idea that Alice in Chains actually started out as a glam metal band complete with lipstick makeup and big cheazy hair. No wonder why he over-dosed..........
Or how bout Weezer. Bet you never knew Rivers Cuomo was in a hair band called zoom.
two words:
metal sludge
lord knows what's hiding in your favourite bands past
by Lee manestro November 17, 2006
hair metal was thought to be started by LA band motley crue and took tis influence from punk bands such as new york dolls, mott the hoople and english bands liek the sweet and t rex that were already calassifed as Glam rock bands such as motley crue made it heavier n made their image and muysic darker e.g. shout at the devil.Hair metal was/ is a style of music that concentrated on having a good time sec drugs and rock roll, as time wen ton bands faded away apart of afew e.g. motley crue who have over time matured into songs like if i die tomorrow and sick love song.
Hair metal was critised for not having emotion, there is usally alot of meaning behind the songs of hair metal for example. home sweet home, on with the show by motley crue had meaning behind it and were comerically succesful they were anthems.hair metal was rock n roll sex n drugs it was teenage rebellion it was everything parents feared. if anything it shoudl come back the leather the hair the chants the world needs the crue the world needs the hair the metal and the emos need to go crawl in a cave n sleep for eternity.
Hair metal was critised for not having emotion, there is usally alot of meaning behind the songs of hair metal for example. home sweet home, on with the show by motley crue had meaning behind it and were comerically succesful they were anthems.hair metal was rock n roll sex n drugs it was teenage rebellion it was everything parents feared. if anything it shoudl come back the leather the hair the chants the world needs the crue the world needs the hair the metal and the emos need to go crawl in a cave n sleep for eternity.
by will thunders November 19, 2006
Hair metal is a term that was coined in the 1990s, but in it's heyday in the '80s it was called "glam metal." It emerged in the mid and late '70s with bands like KISS, Van Halen, Def Leppard, etc. However, disco and the singer soundwriter era dominated that era until 1981 when MTV came out and drowned our TVs with New Wave and punk rock. It wasn't until '83 when Quiet Riot's "Cum on Feel the Noise" topped the charts, bringing "hair metal" into the mainstream.. Bands like Iron Maiden, Ratt, Motley Crue, etc. At the same time, the bands in the LA scene from the sunset strip would make it big in the mid and late '80s. From the late '80s into the beginning of the '90s, hair metal became saturated with power ballads, alcoholism, and problems within the bands. The hair metal power ballad dominated the charts from 1986 through 1991. Then all of a sudden, an unknown band from an underground scene in Seattle launched this one particular song in late 1991 that changed the rock scene forever... By 1992, hair metal fizzled away....
"Hair Metal=Jack Daniels, parties, women, panties, fame"
"Kick-ass scene in '85, lame-ass power ballads and excessive drinking in '90."
"Kick-ass scene in '85, lame-ass power ballads and excessive drinking in '90."
by nixonisacriminal August 10, 2009
Sprang up in LA (and at the same time Finland) in the early eighties as a backlash against punk, which many people believed was quickly selling out. The most famous hair metal band was (and still is) Motley Crue, who really kicked it all off. Influences of hair metal include Kiss, Aerosmith, Ted Nugent and many other hard rock acts of the 70's. Is actually completely different to 'poodle rock'
by Amy the great October 27, 2004