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. Gotta do some digging there. That said, aside from the classic Smooth Up In Ya, BulletBoys has become a largely forgotten record, and the band is rarely mentioned in those generic MTV/VH1 best of the 80s lists. Sure, they were sort of late-stage Hair Metal, but these guys rock hard, so if you see this record, scoop it up. You remember Great White, right? 13 Most Underrated Hair Metal Albums Of All Time!! - YouTube Not every spandexed hick who moved to Hollywood with a headful of dreams and a sneezer full of blow made it. Not sure why Ann from NRR sits on it to this day. If you listen to this album, you will be singing the songs in your head for years to come. Apparently they had even written a bunch of new songs and were in pre-production for their second album when they got dropped. Just great guitar shredding all over this album. The list is not without some eye brow raising since at least one album achieved gold certification in the United States of America but it's a fun list nonetheless. A shameless throwback or the start of a hair metal revival? Bon Jovi's best selling album. Yeah, thats pretty much it. 1 hit, "More Than Words," and the album it was released off of, "Extreme II: Pornograffitti.". 03. 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. Now, I dont know much, but I do know that if youre a band about to hit the road for a huge tour, you probably dont want to lose your frontman. Every song on here is just infectious. Blue Murder - Blue Murder (1990) Love em, Leave emAs long as their breathin! -Love on the Run. 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.). As a whole, this record does have minor ups and downs. Femme Fatale Femme Fatale (1988) 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. But they could write some damn catchy tunes. Great article, as usual! [deleted] 3 yr. ago. and Classic Rock, Associate Editor on Q magazine and staff writer/tea boy on Raw, not necessarily in that order. In general I dont really identify with the whole good time/party angle either cause its just not my thing, but the misogynistic aspects are what gets bothersome at times. It,s not glam or hair metal. The vocals are really an obstacle moreso on the second album. . Excellent article. Q5 are now called Nightshade and still play out every once in a while. What about the tactful keyboards, chorus hook, and big vocal harmonies of token power ballad "Dry Your Eyes"? These guys got popular fast and then went absolutely nowhere. In retrospect, the tone and style of the record truly are the last of what we have come to know as Glam Metal styling, as not too many albums like it came out afterward if any did at all. 09. It probably suffered from being dumped into the blender that was the 80s Hair Metal scene. Like Joker, there's not a ton of information out there regarding Real Steel. Or the impeccable "Somewhere in Time," which honestly touches on a much more "authentic" level of metal or hard rock (akin to maybe Queensrche or something) with its prominent but not distracting keyboards and thought-out, composed leads? The "Official" All Purpose Heavy Metal and Hard Rock Thread I am not anticipating a part three to this thing, but Ill never say never. BulletBoys BulletBoys (1988) Looking back, though, this record is awesome. 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. THE TWILIGHT OF HAIR METAL: FIVE UNDERRATED & MUST OWN ALBUMS " billy hardaway says: March 23, 2018 at 10:26 am. At the end of the day, time hasnt ever been kind to this record, and it can be had for cheap. underrated hair metal albums - cursooficiaal.com Wildside - Under The Influence ;t=2333s Totally overlooked upon release due to being a debut album of the genre released in 1992. Great White Hooked (1991). Alleycat Scratch - Deadboys in Trash City If youre one of them, stop reading now and beat it. "Don't Close Your Eyes" is one of the best ballads ever written. That said, surely an album with songs co-written by Ronnie James Dio is worth at least a few spins, right? Some remain underrated despite having done moderately well in their day, while others have been lost to near complete obscurity. The greatest hair meatl band album on parole with GNR??? The early 90s cultural zeitgeist was unkind to this record, but present day, we have a chance to flip the script. I totally agree with Q5 and Heavy Pettin for sure! The 1990s started out with DS-1 distortion pedal grunge bands viciously stomping on the global spandex-wearing hair-metal movement from the decade before and ceremoniously ended with the rise. Shark Who? Blackie Friggin Lawless. Who ever thought that Def Leppard could make an album that would outsell Pyromania? More sleaze than hair or pop metal, but once you hear this album, you will never forget it. Aversionline 2000 - 2023. That said, the album received middling reviews at the time, and Ace and the boys were forced to stick to small halls and clubs while on tour, but that has not tarnished this records legacy one bit. Now, this is a weird entry in many ways. To this day, George Lynch's solo in "Tooth & Nail" leaves my jaw on the floor. Never could get into Enuff Znuff, but I do dig that one song they had on the Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer soundtrack. Both Use Your Illusion albums sold like 10 million copies in the first minute after their release. Google, here I come! Guns N' Roses. The whole damn thing. No Warrant album has the original 5. Super interesting comments. I wasnt a fan at all. Speaking of hooks, lets kick this thing off with. Early 90's pop metal at it's finest, this is a hair metal fest from start to finish. Harem Scarem - Mood Swings (1993) *this one is particularly good! No makeup, no hairspray, just a t shirt and jeans band, a "working man's" band. "Headed For A Heartbreak" is an awesome ballad. 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. Shotgun Messiah - s/t & Second Coming Ah, Tigertailz: the band the Manic Street Preachers could have been. I tend to be a huge sucker for catchy songs, so some degree of commercialism probably flies past my radar, heh. Oops. Love Ted Poley's voice. He seems to be singing about an octave and a half lower on the first one, and the overall energy on Lettin Loose is far greater. 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. Total nostalgia trip for me. Been meaning to pick up the first McQueen Street CD for some time now, but havent quite found the right price yet. Other notables: This is another one that generally comes cheap, so for just a moment, give New Jersey a rest and give 7800 Fahrenheit some time with your turntable or CD player. And I still think Sole Survivor is just one of the greatest rock songs ever (despite the ear-splitting treble caused by a shitty mix at the end of the song). had already proved what they were capable of on their previous album "The Headless Children" which saw the shock rock act depart from their usual themes of having sex, and "The Crimson Idol" was a very strong attempt at continuing along the same path. 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. For me, Aces positioning at the number one spot on this list is both hard-earned and well deserved. Stay tuned for Part 3! You'll find this album at at least the top five of any hair metal list, and mine is no different. A dud. If I was going to put a Great White album on this list it would be Psycho City, not Hooked. Put a smile on my face and Ill make sure he sees it. I'm not being "ironic" here. Were much better - especially live. "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. Michael Kelly Smiths guitar work was inspired, and as usual, Johnny Dee and Billy Childs were ever the capable rhythm section. In retrospect, this album came out the same year as Nirvanas Nevermind, Pearl Jams Ten, and Metallicas The Black Albumit never really had a chance. Vain was less poppy than most cock rock bands, and they just had a serious vibe in their sound. Most of their material follows a slower, pulsing paceat times leaning a touch more towards classic, traditional heavy metal than much of this list (notably during "On My Way," dueling leads 'n' all). 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. Yes the vocals are an acquired taste, but, hell, I got used to Scott Jeffreys once, and I was able to get used to Steve Hayman after that. The internet would suggest that they also released a 7" and a full-length cassette, but I can't find any real evidence of such. Vinyl Writer Music's 10 Underrated Glam & Hair Metal Era Albums: 01. 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. Having seen him live several times over the years, I can attest that he still packs the house, and his fans still love these tracks. However, that doesn't mean that there was no glam-labeled music being released at the time. I had forgotten about that band! The former is annoying and yet also expected. The 12 Most Underrated Nu Metal Albums | News | VH1 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. Vixen is everything that MCA Records hoped Femme Fatale could be, except that Vixen did succeed, and when Vixen was released in 1988, it earned gold certification by the RIAA. The new issue of Metal Hammer features two different covers: Sabaton and Babymetal! All of that aside, this is an album where Great White was truly able to allow their undisputed talent to shine, and if you didnt know any better, you might actually think it was Robert Plant singing in place of Jack Russel on some of these tracks. The best LPs from the age of Aqua Net. It has been over 20 years since I have heard it. Doro True At Heart (1991) Do yourself a favor and go score this record. Thanks. Thanks for the excellent comment! This one went way under the radar, but definitely deserves a spot in hair metal history. Mist of the Maelstrom. I loved this kind of music when I was a kid, and I still love it now. 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. Care to elaborate? Other bands just because I am biased, but from Divebomb - SARGANT FURY, DIMAGE and CASANOVA. 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. Contraband - s/t It deserves love too, you know? In fact, some of the bands which got jumbled in this unfortunate category released some of their best albums during this decade, and today, we'll be taking a closer look at six such examples. Now that weve got my justification out of the way lets talk significance. Appreciate the comment. I prefer Pump over this one, but this is filled with killer cuts. Looking back, its hard to pinpoint why this record failed, as it seemingly had all the ingredients to ascend to great heights. I mean, as far as follow-up records go, this album is truly strong, and to expect the band to maintain, let alone reach the stratospheric heights of their now-signature effort, is simply unreasonable. Thank you for your article. Maybe even an old T-shirt laying around! While she may not have been a pure speed shredder, she more than made up for it with tasteful and melodic licks, which always fit Vixens songs like a glove. A couple of other amazing and underrated glam albums that didnt make this list (but easily could have)- DLR's full length debut (after a 4 song EP in 1985). To be honest, by rights, Warrant really had no business releasing a Hair Metal album in late 1992, but they did it anyway, and the results are perhaps their best record. While reviews at the time were mixed, retrospectively, it has been given high praise. Heres how it works. Those first two albums are absolutely awesome. Thanks for popping by, and stay safe! The result was a killer record that confused the shit out of thrashers and glammies alike. 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. Tommy Paris filled some big shoes and did so with grace and ease. Slaughter were hair metal and were damn proud to be hair metal. Thrash and hair metal made for strange bedfellows, though nobody told Two-Bit Thief. Best Song . Looking back, there must have been some necromancy or wizardry in the air. 10. (for which they filmed their lone video); "Turn it On" (which takes the power ballad approach into a catchy and uplifting direction); and, of course, the token high energy, bluesy sleaze of "Where the Livin' is Easy.". Black 'N Blue Nasty Nasty (1986) 03. 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. Tom Beaujour, Richard Bienstock, Chuck Eddy, Reed Fischer, Kory Grow, Maura Johnston, Christopher R . There's a great snarl to the vocals, loads of gritty riffs (and excellent guitar playing in general), etc. Very slick production, the epitome of pop metal. 10. I don't consider Van Halen a hair band per se, but I swear, every guitarist in the 80's wanted to be Eddie Van Halen, and their songs would fit right into the hair metal genre. Bath Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by R79, Jan 27, 2022. 5 Underrated Glam/Hair Metal Bands | Aversionline Extreme: The thinking person's hair metal band Well, I am here to tell you that those people are assholes. Then others like RAZORMAID, PHANTOM BLUE, COLD SWEAT, GREAT KING RAT, 220 VOLT, SKAGARACK, TRASH, MASS, AMERICAN ANGEL etc. THE LATE '80s/EARLY '90s: THE TWILIGHT OF HAIR METAL: FIVE UNDERRATED Overseas, things were slightly better, with the albums final single Never Gonna Die managing to reach number 21 on the Australian charts. A good snotty, snarly album. Throwback pic of Warrant was this band underrated or not? A list by TukkerPride. 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! The Spandex-clad gems that turned the Sunset Strip into the boulevard of broken dreams. Probably everyone on Earth has heard "Rock You Like A Hurricane.". 2) The songwriting on this album is absolutely top-notch, which is something of a small miracle, considering Ace had quit KISS in 1982, in a drunken haze, almost died in several car wrecks, and hadnt made any music in around five or so years. Wait, what? 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: An album of pure attitude, arriving when most glam bands were changing over to pop metal. The '80s have taught us that you could expect a lot of things from Blackie Lawless, but releasing a concept album wasn't one of them. 1. Adrian Belew - Young Lions. You can read Dalys comments for each album at Vinyl Writer Musics website. Be warned! 05. That's a long time. (Harem Scarem is sounding AMAZING so far, pretty damn sure Ill be scooping that up as soon as I can!) Ive never been the sex, drugs, rock n roll type, ha, ha. 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. Not a year after their formation, their debut BulletBoys was climbing the charts, and by 1989, it had gone gold. Vinnie Vincent Invasion Vinnie Vincent Invasion (1986)