Those first two albums are absolutely awesome. White Lion are actually my second favorite hair band, but I know they won't rank high on any all time list simply because they were considered wimpy, mainly because they loaded their albums with love songs. However, it also proved to be not very radio-friendly in a couple of ways 1) for being a record by a "glam" band, and 2) for having rather mature lyrical content. Dripping with attitude. I should really pick up some Lillian Axe sometime. Great, unsung (for the most part) gems, no doubt. Also, Dog Eat Dog is significant to the bands history, as it is the final album to feature the bands quintessential five members. Bon Jovi 7800 Fahrenheit (1985) With a much harder edge than the previous release, the second album was produced in Los Angeles by renowned Keith Olsen. That Beau Nasty is kicking my ass right now! An album of pure attitude, arriving when most glam bands were changing over to pop metal. Yeah, thats pretty much it. So, lets flip the script, dont scramble to turn off your radio when You Give Love a Bad Name comes on, out of fear of being thought of as unworthy of your snobby friends musical respect. I prefer Pump over this one, but this is filled with killer cuts. Care to elaborate? Most people will recall this as The record that came out after The Final Countdown, or The record that came out after John Norum left the band. For many reasons, this is a pretty sad state of affairs, as this record is really, honestly nearly as good as The Final Countdown, if not, dare I say itbetter. I got TT on 1st end LP and it's sumptuous! The follow-up album "Blood from Stone" was released in 1991. Oh, man, yeah, checking out Leatherwolf now and I need this for sure! On the other hand, "Dog Eat Dog" represented what the band really wanted to do with their career, which included a much heavier sound and lyrics more diverse than drooling over girls. Completely badass feel, and I really think they wouldve ruled the rock world if the vocalist had made a better style choice. It was formed by the same dude who invented the most popular and inherently-flawed-leaving-endless-bullshit-marketing-for-upgrades-rather-than-just-make-a-great-product-in-the-first-place piece of guitar technology, Mr. Floyd Rose, who, although he did an acceptable job of producing and engineering both Q5 albums overall, did an unacceptable job of engineering the guitar sounds for both albums, and did not have enough finesse as a lead player to make his solos sound pleasing (although he wasnt awkward like Steve Howe, he was no George Lynch). Perma-pouting Hollywood fluffballs Pretty Boy Floyd made Motley Crue sound like Napalm Death and Ratt look like, well, Napalm Death. Real Steel (well done for resisting Reel) are the pick of the bunch for me, almost hints of Manowar circa Fighting The World on there 2 thumbs up! Queensryche is not a hair band per se, but this album bordered on pop metal and would fit right in with the genre. While there's a good handful of underrated bands of this ilk that do still get mild exposure here and there, I'm for the most part trying to stick with personal favorites that I've never even encountered on satellite radio channels such as Hair Nation, etc. The result was a killer record that confused the shit out of thrashers and glammies alike. That Dangerous Toys disc rules, and despite them getting so much shit back in the day those first two Winger albums are very solid. Say what you will about KISS or my placement of this record, but there is no denying its greatness. No, I only stumbled upon this CD in a local used bin for $5 (alongside Roxxi's Drive it to Ya Hard!, so talk about a huge score) a few years ago, and totally flipped out when I tossed it in for the first time. Its worth every second. 5 Underrated Hair Metal Albums - YouTube A response to the article on the Goldminemag website about 5 Underrated Hair Metal Albums that every record collector should. Now, this is a weird entry in many ways. Go ask Axl Rose, who nicked frontman Richard Blacks back-alley sneer and sideways shuffle and spun it into gold. Instead, these New Yorkers are cursed to exist in a world that doesnt give a shit about a bunch of LOreal-haired dudes playing blockbusting songs with choruses bigger than Vince Neils Spanx collection. The band itself was formed in 1982, and the original Mk.1 lineup actually featured legendary guitar hero Jake E. Lee, while Lee would leave Rough Cutt in 1983, to join Ozzy Osbourne as a replacement for the recently deceased Randy Rhodes (freak plane crash), soon to sign on were former members of Ratt in Chris Hager (guitar) and Matt Thorr (bass). As heard above, "I Rule the Radio," from the Heavy Artillery compilation, is a perfect example of Real Steel at their anthemic, fist-pumping best. At that time their songs were a little longer and less good time/party oriented, but they ended up relocating to Los Angeles in the late-'80s, and eventually vocalist Bruce Naumann (who had been the last member to join the group) was working with an entirely new lineup. i hung around with Joker in the old days and went to High school with the guitarist.I hope they do come back. This one also gave birth to the tern "pop metal," and made metal accessible to screaming girls everywhere. Easily Ratt's finest hour. Vinyl Writer Musics principal Andrew Daly has released his list for the 10 Underrated Glam & Hair Metal Era Albums. picdoc 4 yr. ago. Their cult-classic debut album, Welcome To Bop City ,was a Scandi-glam mini-masterpiece featuring groinally-charged anthems with titles like I Dont Care Bout Nothin and Squeezin Teazin, played by men calling themselves Zinny J Zan and Stixx Galore (yup, the drummer). Stand by Me, I Cant Wait, Let Go, etc. All across the board, there are just too damn many to choose from: And all of this barely scratches the surface, so please include your own recommendations in the comments below! And how many comparable artists had successful tracks along the lines of "Stand Up, Shout it Out" or "Say Yeah!"!? White Tiger White Tiger (1986) ConflictAddict 4 yr. ago. Speaking of late-stage Hair Metal, this record is about as late as it gets in that regard. Not every spandexed hick who moved to Hollywood with a headful of dreams and a sneezer full of blow made it. Vain was less poppy than most cock rock bands, and they just had a serious vibe in their sound. Some remain underrated despite having done moderately well in their day, while others have been lost to near complete obscurity. IMHO opinion, there is not a single bad track on Hollands Little Monsters! 07. A bit more polished and focused than their debut, which I personally prefer over this one, but this is the album that blew the door open for the entire 80's hair metal genre. In my opinion the most underrated glam/hair bands are Britny Fox, Danger Danger and the Sleeze Beez. Sure, John Norum is tough to replace, but you could do a whole lot worse than the wonderfully talented Kee Marcello. Regardless of whether you think that glam metal died because it was over-exploited or because grunge killed it, youd agree that the '90s were a very bad time to be a band with a "glam" label slapped on your behind. . Not to mention the fact that Andrew W.K. Thanks. This is a band that was supremely talented but simply didnt hang around long enough to really make any waves. They sound like Toto, Journey or Asia. Never heard of Oney but Im intrigued by what I hear on YouTube. 50 Greatest Hair Metal Albums of All Time - Rolling Stone The glaring sin here is to leave out the godly Heavy Pettin as well as Q5. Because of their look, they were thought of as a Poison copy. Aversionline 2000 - 2023. should be legally required to record a cover version of "Party for Your Life" (embedded above)! Vixen Vixen (1988) As for the comments, they ranged from things like, This album sucks all the way to, This is awesome! [deleted] 3 yr. ago. They changed their name to Shotgun Messiah, fired their singer and eventually went industrial metal. While Dead Davidson may have been a jerk for leaving his bandmates in the lurch, he also was extremely talented, and his buzzsaw vocals simply were not easily replaced. No genre has been as mocked and reviled as much as hair metal, but for a few years in the 80s when it was still called glam metal it bestrode the world like a Spandex and fishnet-clad colossus, twirling its drumsticks at it surveyed all before it. But their debut album was pop-metal perfection what featherweight party anthems Toast Of The Town, Rock And Roll Outlaws and shoulda-been-massive single Rock & Roll (Is Gonna Set The Night On Fire) lacked in heaviosity they made up for in pleather-trousered attitude. The one that gave birth to the entire genre. underrated hair metal albums - cursooficiaal.com It caused enough friction that eventually they produced alternate covers, which featured the womens body dipped into the water, covering up her cleavage and effectively de-sleazing this record. Kind of the Silverchair of hair metal, you'd be surprised at how mature these youngins sound on this, their only album. 08. Check out the old TKO albums also, they are basically Q5 without Floyd Rose. Of course, it turned out to be a put-on Stanley was really a rich kid called Chris Stann, and the whole thing was somewhere between performance art, social commentary and plain bad taste. Less popular and less keyboardy than Slippery, but much better. And while the album never saw a significant spike in the number of copies sold, "Revenge" did manage to draw enough attention to give Kiss a new lease on life, effectively saving the NYC iconic band from drifting into obscurity. Wildside - Under The Influence ;t=2333s Totally overlooked upon release due to being a debut album of the genre released in 1992. 10 years earlier, they would've been superstars. Record labels, radio stations, and the mainstream audience themselves all got very tired of this approach and embraced the Seattle underground sound instead, which led to a lot of bands who were all the rage only years before disband and/or become highly irrelevant. Whereas Skid Row got marketed as your run-of-the-mill pretty boy glam metal outfit from the get-go, their self-titled debut showed that they were capable of much more than providing quick and cheap amusement for the masses, and their sophomore album "Slave to the Grind" made the most of the band's prodigious potential. It sounded to me like the record company saw their potential and stuck their 2 cents in and tried to get them to do a more commercial sound. Appreciate the comment. Also, you must be an Ozzy fan! April 6, 2021 Connor Shelton Features, KTRM-FM, Music, Reviews. Sadly, the band is probably best remembered for their track Touch and Go, being featured on the extremely dated teen comedy, License to Drive. #shorts, Imagining the World Through the Eyes of John Lennon, I Love It Loud: 20 of Gene Simmonss Most Overlooked Tracks, Traversing the Abyss: A Guide to Obscure 70s Rock. The band got started in Los Angeles in the late-'80s as Young Gunns; signed a seven-album (!? Read Part 1 of this series here: https://vwmusicrocks.com/return-to-the-sunset-strip-10-underrated-glam-hair-metal-era-albums/, Read part 3 of this series here: https://vwmusicrocks.com/the-headbangers-ball-reaches-its-edge-10-underrated-glam-hair-metal-era-albums-part-iii/, Andrew Daly (@vwmusicrocks) is the Editor-in-Chief for www.vwmusicrocks.com and may be reached at andrew@vinylwriter.com. Janet Gardner was the quintessential frontwoman, and Jan Kuehnemund played her ass off on this record. 10 obscure but brilliant hair metal albums | Louder - loudersound I'm not being "ironic" here. As grunge became all the rage during the early '90s, these albums never got the attention they really deserved. 200+ Hard Rock And Metal Bands From The 80s That Are Worth Listening To Also, weve added in a few that we feel could have, or maybe even should have, been on the first list as well. I am not anticipating a part three to this thing, but Ill never say never. The band's debut album spawned two respectable hits - "Waiting for the Big One" and "Falling In and Out of Love" - but went largely unnoticed otherwise, which led to Femme Fatale only releasing a. Haha! Well, I stand by it. Here is where people will start screaming. I also noticed that not too many loved my placement of Asylum, and I am good with all of that. Unsurprisingly, at some point they were going to get sued by the not-terribly-dissimilar band Hurricane, so they changed the spelling of their name to Hericane Alice (which is actually kind of awesome) prior to releasing their lone full-length, Tear the House Down, on Atlantic Records in 1990. The only thing louder than the clack of high heels on the pavement outside the Rainbow was the ker-ching of cash registers as Guns N Roses, Motley Crue, Bon Jovi, Poison, Cinderella, Ratt, Slaughter and the rest hoovered up the record sales. You come up with fun lists. Not sure why Ann from NRR sits on it to this day. Vixen was and are as authentic as they were talented. "Headed For A Heartbreak" is an awesome ballad. Adrian Belew - Young Lions. W.A.S.P. Blue Murder Blue Murder (1989) The Road to The Roxy: 10 Underrated Glam & Hair Metal-Era Albums Part II The record stalled at #141 on The Billboard 200 and quickly fell off the charts. After the release of his article, Daly was invariably peppered with comments from various people suggesting other albums so Vinyl Writer Music issued a Part II titledThe Road to The Roxy: 10 Underrated Glam & Hair Metal Era Albums Part II. Heavy Bones formed in Hollywood circa 1990 and featured in its ranks guitarist Gary Hoey (who later scored a surprise hit with "Hocus Pocus") and drummer Frankie Banali (of Quiet Riot and W.A.S.P.). There's an additional layer of irony to this since Warrant's main arranger and vocalist Jani Lane admitted that he wasn't exactly fond of "Cherry Pie", and that the whole album ended up being a dollop of glam cheese (although the cheese in question must have been some gourmet shit) simply because that's what was selling at the time. Vain deserves not a little more love, but a religious following. The Welsh wonders' second album, 1990's Berzerk, is a stone-cold classic featuring the greatest pop-metal anthem of the era in Love Bomb Baby. Never could get into Enuff Znuff, but I do dig that one song they had on the Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer soundtrack. Remember Rough Cutt? Blue Murder - Blue Murder (1990) BulletBoys came with a pedigree right from the start, as the band was founded by Mick Sweda (guitar), who had already starred in the also underrated King Kobra. I would KILL to reissue the Tuff Luck album too. They had a couple of songwriting contributions from Jim Vallance and Kiss' Paul Stanley (the former having co-written hits such as Bryan Adams' "Summer of '69" and Aerosmith's "Rag Doll"). Im sure I can get my hands on recordings for you if youd like. The production, helmed by underrated hair metal architecht Michael Wagener, is nearly perfect, as are the earnest heart spills of frontman Mike Tramp and fret-board gymnastics of guitarist. Less than two years later, they had already been dropped by Capitol before the end of 1993, in large part due to the fact that grunge was taking over. Man, could Mike Matijevic hit a high note! If you're old enough to have been reading guitar magazines in the early-'90s, you probably at least recognize the name Gary Hoey, and may recall having seen him in a good number of advertisements, if nothing else. Probably one of the coolest hair metal albums you've never heard. The most underrated albums by 20 major metal bands | Louder - loudersound Location: 39629. . Hair metal with real bad attitude. Top 20 Hair Metal Albums of All Time: The Complete List KISS Asylum (1985) It was mixed by Steve Thompson and Michael Barbiero (who also mixed. No filler and great guitar playing. 5 Lesser-Known '80s Glam & Hair Metal Albums That Should Be Given a Hey, you never got that with Warrant. You cannot hear that album with seeing the menacing face of Bolo Yeung staring at you in a windows reflection. Also, their weren't too many other guitarists from this era that could rival Vito Bratta's playing. Thanks for popping by, and stay safe! Sign up below to get the latest from Metal Hammer, plus exclusive special offers, direct to your inbox! They did tend to fall just a tad short with their ballads, but for each of those you've got a counterbalance such as the bluesy vibrato, nasty pinch harmonics, and big chorus of "Clock Strikes." By that point, oversaturation was just starting to set in, and so, if you werent truly aces, you werent going to make it. The best LPs from the age of Aqua Net. Songs like "Rest in Peace", "Tragic Comic", and "Warheads" had cleverly arranged harmonies, featured very diverse stylistic approaches, and all had engaging lyrics, but the album produced no hit singles and ended up a commercial disaster despite being the highlight of Extreme's career. Surprised to see this at Number One? 1 hit, "More Than Words," and the album it was released off of, "Extreme II: Pornograffitti.". King Crimson guitarist Adrian Belew released his most successful solo album while he was playing arenas around the world as the musical director for David Bowie's . So being that I grew up on this stuff and have been doing a hair metal podcast for 20 years Ill lay on a few more underrated jems: BANG TANGO Psycho Cafe, DANGEROUS TOYS self-titled debut, LYNCH MOB Wicked Sensation, DON DOKKEN Up From the Ashes, FIREHOUSE self-titled debut, KIX Hot Wire, XYZ Hungry, ICON self-titled debut, BANYLON A.D. self-titled debut, CHILDS PLAY Rat Race, EXTREME self-titled debut, RACER X Second Heat, SLEEZE BEEZ Screwed, Blued, & Tattooed, and lastly Y&T, they have so many underrated albums it is mind blowing. The "Official" All Purpose Heavy Metal and Hard Rock Thread An incredibly underrated disc. Heavy Pettins debut was the first record produced by Brian May of Queen, and although the sound is just fine, the songwriting is utterly badass. Kickstart your hearts and shout at the devil because en route are more huge hooks, mighty guitar licks, and most importantly, more sleaze coming your way, faster and harder than ever. For me, Europes Out of this World is an AOR masterpiece. Joker's high-level songwriting is at times poppier than other selections on this list, dropping some huge sing-along choruses. When it comes down to it, the 1980s was an interesting time in general. I loved this kind of music when I was a kid, and I still love it now. When your band consists of Billy Sheehan and Paul Gilbert, your bound for superstardom, and yet, Mr. Big never really achieved that (well in Japan, maybe). When I was talking about the Warrant line-up, I just meant the classic line-up. But "hard rock" is just too broad, and "cock rock"? Shark Who? All of that aside, go back and listen to Rock Soldiers, Love Me Right, Into the Night, and Calling to You. Those tracks are transcendent rockers, and his backing band of Tod Howarth, John Regan, and Anton Fig are a truly inspired bunch who had sensational chemistry. This is easily their greatest album. 04. Only Bas could rival his voice. It stands toe to toe and chest to chest with any Hair and Glam Metal album of the era. Stay tuned for Part 3! Dont ever let anyone tell you the music you love sucks or is less than. Most underrated hair metal bands? : r/hairmetal - reddit Heres how it works. I didn't discover this album until a few years ago, and it, too, has slowly inched its way into my all-time hair metal Top 10. 100 Essential Hair Metal Albums - Rate Your Music This video is inspired by @rockandmetalinvasion who did a video in response to a 'Goldmine' article with 5 'underrated' Hair Metal albums. If youre one of them, stop reading now and beat it. Tommy Paris filled some big shoes and did so with grace and ease. Stay tuned for Part 3! Let the bargain hunting begin, Id rec The Scream - Let it Scream, Lillian Axe - Love + War, Saigon Kick - s/t, Ratt - Reach for the Sky, Junkyard - s/t, Killer Dwarfs - Dirty Weapons, Some of my recommendations: Femme Fatale - Femme Fatale (1988) While the era of 80s Hair Metal and Glam is mostly known as being predominantly male, several females infiltrated the scene and staked their claim as well. 10 Best Forgotten Hair Metal Bands - Rock Pasta When you listen to this, you get the feeling that this is the album that David Lee Roth always wanted to make. And yeah, anyone unfamiliar, Divebomb has reissued some GOLD in this realm, so pick them up while you still can: The metal press fell hard for em, setting the singer up as a leather-trousered, barefooted pin-up. Great White was so much more than just "Once BittenTwice Shy.". If anyone at all loves Cock Rock, No Respect by Vain should be in their collection, and Davy Vains subsequent efforts have all been respectable. Coverdale & Co. best selling album. Other tracks worth calling out include "4:AM T.M." If Tear the House Down had hit the streets just two years earlier, I bet Hericane Alice would've been at least as successful as the Bulletboys, so it's a shame they never got the chance. The album was recorded at Eddie Van Halen's 5150 home studio, and Wildside was the first band other than Van Halen to record there. 1. Their first album Steel the Light borders on metal in an 80s Judas Priest-ish kind of way, and has one of the best pre-choruses ever written on the albums eponymous song. They had Michael Angelo Batio on guitar. "Slave to the Grind" arrived at the time when record label's realized that the audiences were beginning to get tired with over-saturation of glam metal, and received fairly little support and air time as a result. Wanna know the details? Femme Fatale simply wasnt meant to be, it seems. To sum the vibe surrounding this album up, I leave you with a quote from the bands vocalist, Janie Lane, who recalls, I walked into the foyer at our label (Columbia Records), I discovered a large, framed poster of Warrant had been removed from the wall and had been replaced by an even larger poster of Alice in Chains. The best sleaze metal bands as chosen by Davey Suicide In fact, I expected it and embrace it, so much so that I almost took it to heart, right up until the moment that I gave legendary KISS guitarist Ace Frehley top placement on this list. Had a minor hit with "House of Pain," but never really went anywhere. One of many other early 80's albums that influenced a whole generation of hair metalheads throughout the rest of the 80's. Brighton Rock - Love Machine The greatest hair meatl band album on parole with GNR??? Great article, as usual! You remember Great White, right? Dont believe me? This, their best album contains the song "Metal Health" which is, according to Kevin DuBrow, the original FU song. Theyre the bands were raising a large Jack Daniels and coke to here the ones who never got their time in the neon glare of fame despite making at least one killer record. Copyright All rights reserved Some will say their success is attributed to the novelty of women playing Metal. Ironically, this record is probably regarded as Warrants strongest record from a critical standpoint, whatever thats worth. Listen to the record, and these performances, and prove me wrong. Leatherwolf circa 1987, and Street Ready circa 1989 are two overlooked (or forgotten) treasures. Thrash and hair metal made for strange bedfellows, though nobody told Two-Bit Thief. If he doesnt belong at the top of this list, I dont know who does. Apparently they had even written a bunch of new songs and were in pre-production for their second album when they got dropped. Full of sleaze and attitude, one of the better hair metal albums to come out at the tail end of the 80's. Only time will tell. all the bands on your list kick ass! Unfortunately, the album's lack of commercial success, coupled with being called out on Beavis and Butt-head and several other factors saw Winger disband in 1994 and remain so for the rest of the decade. The result? Warrant Dog Eat Dog (1992) Extreme is best known for their No. 09. Here are 20 bands from the '90s you probably forgot about I still dont really know what makes something good or bad, and I really dont think I am qualified to tell you what you should like or dislike. 07. Cinderella added an element of blues to hair metal, and they pull it off perfectly. with Jim Gillette! Its no joke that their debut was produced by Paul Northfield, the inimitable force behind Moving Pictures and the song Empire by Queensryche (just a couple of my favorites in a cool career), two completely different examples of dark rock sounding fantastic. Been meaning to pick up the first McQueen Street CD for some time now, but havent quite found the right price yet. The album that kind of fused metal and glam into one. Rounding out this powerhouse line-up was Share Ross on bass and the thunderous Roxy Petrucci on drums, who is as hard a hitting drummer as youll ever hear. Sure, it lacked big-budget gloss, and original singer Steevi Jaimz sounded like he was ready to chin anybody who dared look at his pint wrong, but Young And Crazy bristled with the kind of attitude every pack of Sunset Strip poodles would have sold their grannies to have. Michael Kelly Smiths guitar work was inspired, and as usual, Johnny Dee and Billy Childs were ever the capable rhythm section. The Spandex-clad gems that turned the Sunset Strip into the boulevard of broken dreams. Honestly, its not easy stepping into the shoes of a Guitar God, at the height of a bands fame, in the middle of a hysterical wave of Hair Metal mania, but thats exactly what Kee Marcello did. * Sure, it was cheesy, it was loud, and it was definitely colorful. Try Holland - Little Monsters. People didnt give a shit then either. Speaking of hooks, lets kick this thing off with. The perfect hair metal album, and one of the last ones before the glory days came to an end. 05. I can't tell if they're still active or not, but Wildside does have a Facebook page that's touting a remastered re-release of Under the Influence this year, and I'll be all over that if it becomes a reality. What about the tactful keyboards, chorus hook, and big vocal harmonies of token power ballad "Dry Your Eyes"? If theyd been born 30 years earlier, Station would have been as big as Def Leppard, or at least Trixter. Dave Everley has been writing about and occasionally humming along to music since the early 90s. Wildside is still one of my faves simply because it was so much heavier than all the bands at that time and darker too. Dangerous Toys - Dangerous Toys (1989) SPREAD EAGLE, GREAT ALBUM = TO APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION. But Stained Glass is A-grade arena rock like they used to make before Nirvana came along and curled out a turd in the punchbowl.
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