The 25 Best Hair Metal Bands

[Allhallowsday]

The 25 Best Hair Metal Bands
"Through reckless use of hairspray, spandex, make-up, just plain goofy stage moves and even sillier videos, ‘80s hair-metal bands made themselves the butts of some pretty obvious jokes. Like any genre, hair metal had its share of lousy bands and inept performers, bland careerists and overconfident idiots. But there were some bands worth remembering..." 

http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/listoftheday/32122/the-25-best-hair-metal-bands 

I don't agree with the NEW YORK DOLLS on the list (though I'm a big fan of the DOLLS, they don't belong on the list, 'sfar as I'm concerned.  The writer does say " '80s hair-metal bands!!"  And if they do belong, why not LED ZEPPELIN?  They had BIG HAIR, particularly ROBERT PLANT.)  The writer seems to think GLAM ROCK is interchangeable with HAIR METAL (then give me ROXY MUSIC any day, oh and BRIAN ENO had alot of hair when he was with ROXY which he has now lost).     And, okay, if GUNS N' ROSES is a HAIR METAL BAND then they belong at number one! 

[RCMerchant]

GnR. Otherwise....'Hair metal" pretty much SUCKED. Faster p***ycat had a good song or two. Agh! Never really liked 'hair metal'. Were talking 80's hair metal? IMHO...one of the WORST musicical sub generes EVER!!! I HATE MOTLEY CREW! IHATE GREAT WHITE! I HATE CINDERELLA! AHHHHHH!!!!! OH GOD NO!!!! I'M COMING APART!!!! 





Yeah...a little over dramatic.....

[BeyondTheGrave]

I agree with Allhallowsday I can't believe New York Dolls are on that list. Their Glam and far from Hair Metal. If anything they influenced punk way more than hair metal. Same with Hanoi Rocks. Again their glam. They should take them down and put Poison, Skid Row or Dokken. Much more deserving I suppose

[Jack]

Sounds like a list made up by somebody who knows the "definition" of hair metal, but just has no idea which bands were actually considered to be hair metal.

[zombie no.one]

2) Van Halen: Not really glam in the traditional sense, Van Halen with David Lee Roth at the helm were the flashiest dudes on the scene. Punks mocked them, but Roth was always in on the joke. He knew he was being absurd. Of course, reams have been written on Eddie Van Halen's guitar prowess. But what really drives this band is the chemistry of the band itself. The rhythms are virtually jazz, the guitar licks are avant-garde and DLR's sense of scream pure camp. They put the blues in a blender and made it shake. And have you seen junior's grades?

that is very true. VH have made some of the most absurd music Ive ever heard , and I listen to all kinds of stuff...

however, minus points for including Queensryche but not Damn Yankees... D.Y. are (IMO) the ultimate 'Hair-Metal' band. check out some of their vids on the 'tube... this band has no sense of shame or irony, at all

[Allhallowsday]

2) Van Halen: Not really glam in the traditional sense, Van Halen with David Lee Roth at the helm were the flashiest dudes on the scene. Punks mocked them, but Roth was always in on the joke. He knew he was being absurd. Of course, reams have been written on Eddie Van Halen's guitar prowess. But what really drives this band is the chemistry of the band itself. The rhythms are virtually jazz, the guitar licks are avant-garde and DLR's sense of scream pure camp. They put the blues in a blender and made it shake. And have you seen junior's grades?

that is very true. VH have made some of the most absurd music Ive ever heard , and I listen to all kinds of stuff...

however, minus points for including Queensryche but not Damn Yankees... D.Y. are (IMO) the ultimate 'Hair-Metal' band. check out some of their vids on the 'tube... this band has no sense of shame or irony, at all

               
  For all hair or hairless...!!!   
DAMN YANKEES
Love that sh*t!!!

[Mr. DS]

You know what kind of irks me is the lumping of bands like Aerosmith and GNR into that batch.  I kind of feel the same way when Skid Row shows up in hair band conversations.  To me they may have had some glam moments but mostly they were just good old fashioned rock n roll.  I think lists like this are thrown together by people who read books on the era and not actual fans.   

Ok thats out of the way but I'm kind of impressed they brought up Angel.  I'm probably the only person on this board with them on my I-Pod. 

[Allhallowsday]

Yeh, BELA, as you might have guessed there's very little HAIR METAL I, too, can claim as anything I might like or ever really listened to.  Does EXTREME count as a HAIR METAL band?  I did like Pornograffiti and bought it...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kt7L4X4li_k
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Now DEAD OR ALIVE (thanks, Scott) seemed very HAIR focused to me: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMwdAc1Dzfg
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Now that video would work better if they had sped up the part where the three backup musicians are unwinding as on a tape loop... 

FLOCK OF SEAGULLS?  (Looked like a gull landed on lead singer Mike Score's head...)  They had a few really good songs in that synth pop vein.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iS9RPyznAPg
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[Jack]

Flock of Seagulls is New Wave.  Dead or Alive...I have no idea whatsoever. 

[Allhallowsday]

Flock of Seagulls is New Wave.  Dead or Alive...I have no idea whatsoever. 

Yah... I kah noe...

[Scott]

Now DEAD OR ALIVE (thanks, Scott) seemed very HAIR focused to me: 

You have to get a good look at the other three members of DEAD OR ALIVE. They look like they can't escape that video. 

FLOCK OF SEAGULLS?  (Looked like a gull landed on lead singer Mike Score's head...)  They had a few really good songs in that synth pop vein.

Mike Score is a terrible singer, but FLOCK OF SEAGULLS had three great songs together:

Wishing
Space Age Love Song
I Ran

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfDnmOV5Sko&feature=related
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[Allhallowsday]

Mike Score is a terrible singer, but FLOCK OF SEAGULLS had three great songs together:
Wishing
Space Age Love Song
I Ran

Sorry, I liked "Nightmares", too: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFnFAfVO1Ac
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"You just don't make any sense at all..."

[Eyesore]

 Whew...at least Maiden escaped this crap list, and for this I am thankful.

[Eyesore]

Oh yeah, and Motorhead too.

[zombie no.one]

^ maiden and motorhead are too gnarly. hair-metal is 90% hair-spray! no way is Lemmy about to style his coiffure (...sp?)

@ AllHallows, I thought Extreme's last album Waiting for the Punchline had some really good tracks on it...nuno battenburg is a guitar god, of sorts