- 23 hours ago
Grab your hairspray and crank up the volume! Join us as we count down our picks for the most righteous acts to ever rule the Sunset Strip! From glam metal legends to shock rock icons, we're celebrating the bands that defined an era of big hair, bigger riffs, and unforgettable anthems. Were you there for the glory days of hair metal? Or do you wish you were?
Category
🎵
MusicTranscript
00:00Are you listening to me?
00:02What do you want to do with your life?
00:10I want to rot.
00:15Welcome to WatchMojo.
00:17And today, we'll be counting down our picks for the most righteous acts to ever rule that sound of the
00:23Sunset Strip.
00:32Number 15. Quiet Riot.
00:43The heavy metal history books will never forget Quiet Riot, since it was this band's third album, Mental Health, that
00:49was the first from this genre to top the Billboard 200 chart.
00:53And sure, a lot of ink has been spilled concerning Quiet Riot's successful cover song, Ventures.
01:03Like their take on Come on Feel the Noise by Slade.
01:06That said, Quiet Riot originals, such as the album's title track and the super underrated Breathless, prove that their success
01:13didn't occur in a vacuum.
01:20This was a band that was exploring heavier territory at just the right time and at the right place.
01:25And Quiet Riot had the metal, pun intended, to get the job done.
01:36Number 14. Hanoi Rocks.
01:46This finished group could be considered something like a proto-hair metal outfit, a progenitor whose skill and style would
01:53influence a lot of bands in their wake.
01:55Hanoi Rocks combined a glam sound that was still rooted in the 1970s with a more aggressive and metallic edge.
02:09Michael Munro was a powerful and dynamic frontman, while Hanoi Rocks' songwriting also wasn't afraid to be melodic.
02:16Unfortunately, a fatal car accident in 1984 claimed the life of Hanoi Rocks drummer, Nicholas Razzleddingley, while the latter was
02:25riding in a car driven by Motley Crue vocalist, Ben Sneal.
02:28Hanoi Rocks broke up after, essentially missing their window for hair metal superstardom.
02:40Number 13. Rat.
02:47The discography of Rat is one chock full of bangers.
02:52From their 1984 debut full-length Out of the Cellar, to 1990's Detonator, and their 2018 reunion effort Infestation.
03:00Simply stated, they're one of the best to ever do it, exemplifying a Sunset Strip metal sound that was sleazy,
03:07slick, and in no deficit of sick riffs.
03:09You know you really want to let it go, right now.
03:15Guitarist Warren Demartini and Robin Crosby ripped it up with aplomb, while bassist Juan Crucier and Bobby Blatzer laid down
03:24an aggressive rhythm section that always kept things moving with killer grooves.
03:28Body tall. I see your body tall. You make my body tall.
03:34Finally, frontman Steven Peercy possessed a voice that was immediately distinct and easily recognizable.
03:41Rat rules. And we'll hear no argument to the contrary.
03:51Number 12. Twisted Sister.
04:00Hey, even heavy metal has its fair share of one-hit wonders, right?
04:04Twisted Sister fans may balk at that assertion, but this really isn't intended as a slight.
04:09That's because Dee Snider and the boys actually had plenty of deep cuts that could rock right along their biggest
04:14-selling single, We're Not Gonna Take It.
04:16Oh, we're not gonna take it anymore.
04:22Twisted Sister jams like Hot Love, Burn in Hell, The Price, or Wake Up, The Sleeping Giant, all sounded different
04:29from one another.
04:30We took off, we're gonna take.
04:34It's gotta stop, you know there's too much at stake.
04:38And this served as part of their appeal.
04:40Snyder is an underrated singer, too, possessing a lot of power and range.
04:44In addition to his massive personality and charisma.
04:48End of the game, we gotta play.
04:51Makes me wonder if it's worth it to carry on.
04:56Number 11. Whitesnake.
04:58Still of the night, I hear the wolf bow, honey, sniffing around your door.
05:02Hair metal was big business during the 1980s, and this meant that even established rock bands like Whitesnake could pivot
05:09their heavy roots into something more polished.
05:12Actually, make that extremely polished in this case.
05:14I just wanna get close to you and taste your love so sweet.
05:19Since former Deep Purple frontman David Coverdale's natural good looks made him a perfect glam rock poster boy.
05:25This, combined with Coverdale's murderer's row of musicians backing him up, meant that Whitesnake had it made in the shade.
05:32I'm a stranger, I ain't more stranger to love.
05:37Albums like Slide It In, 1987, and Slip of the Tongue still retained Coverdale's bluesy pedigree,
05:44but added in heaps of slick speed and preening style in order to compete with the younger acts out there
05:49on the street.
05:50And it worked.
05:51I'll be a fool for your love and your boy.
05:58Number 10. Cinderella.
06:00When I was a young boy that said you'd always get older.
06:08Philadelphia's Cinderella only really released one complete glam metal record during the course of their recorded existence.
06:14But it was a darn good one.
06:16Night Songs had the compositional chops.
06:19It had riffs.
06:20It also had songwriter Tom Kiefer's paint-peeling voice.
06:23I need a shot of gasoline.
06:26I'm hitting 116.
06:30And big-time hits like Somebody Save Me and Nobody's Fool.
06:34The group's solid follow-up, Long Cold Winter, still retained vestiges of this sound.
06:39But the blues rock writing was already on the wall.
06:42Kiefer would steer Cinderella further into this direction on both Heartbreak Station and Still Climbing.
06:47But glam fans will probably never forget how Night Songs rocked their heads off in 86.
06:54I'm falling into the night, singing I'm racing down right.
07:00Number 9.
07:02Def Leppard.
07:03Midnight, street magic, crazy people, crazy.
07:09Def Leppard isn't just a rock band or a metal band.
07:12They're basically an institution at this point, hitting at ground zero on the new wave of British heavy metal before
07:18graduating to full-fledged stadium superstars.
07:21And I love to wear the mask, wanna break it up!
07:26Melody has always been the name of the game when it comes to Def Leppard, with influences as diverse as
07:32Sweet, Queen, and Thin Lizzy all being stirred into the group's creative pot.
07:39Melody's LP, it's breathing into my mind.
07:45Def Leppard has evolved through it all, from their hungry headbanging days to embarking upon world-conquering tours in support
07:52of LPs like Pyromania and Hysteria.
07:55So yeah, Def Leppard isn't just a hair metal band, but instead a group with a wealth of respectable history
08:01and killer tunes.
08:17The act of slipping into something a little more comfortable, like hair metal, seemed to fit like a well-oiled
08:24glove for the members of KISS back in the 80s.
08:27This was an era where the band's makeup was coming off, and Paul Stanley's vocals were taking more of a
08:32lead role.
08:32Oh no, tears are falling!
08:40Gene Simmons was indulging in acting, so it was time for the Starchild to take center stage on songs like
08:46Tears Are Falling, King of the Mountain, Thrills in the Night, or I'll Fight Hell to Hold You.
08:58KISS would eventually temper this extreme shift in aggression and speed, but fans will likely never forget how, for a
09:05while at least, the hottest band in the world was also the hairiest.
09:09No, it can't be your love!
09:16Number 7.
09:17Warrant
09:18Got a picture of your house, and you're standing by the door…
09:24It's a crying shame that Warrant's main songwriter, Janie Lane, didn't get the respect he deserved prior to his untimely
09:31passing in 2011.
09:32The musician struggled to get out of the huge shadow cast by the international success of Cherry Pie, a song
09:39Lane was said to have detested.
09:47That tune certainly wasn't indicative of Warrant's other, heavier, and frankly better songs, such as Uncle Tom's Cabin or Mr.
09:55Rainmaker.
09:55Mr. Rainmaker, don't let some turn ya, cause I found a girl who was drivin' in sunshine.
10:04Elsewhere, Warrant's defiant thumb in the eye of grunge, Dog Eat Dog, was released in 1992 and featured some of
10:10Lane's best songwriting up until that point.
10:13Warrant, tracks like April 2031, The Bitter Pill, and particularly All My Bridges Are Burning, proved that Warrant wasn't just
10:20about edible fruits or matching white suits.
10:23They were the real deal.
10:32Number 6.
10:33Guns N' Roses
10:42There will probably always be a marginal line dividing those that label Guns N' Roses a hairband versus those that
10:49would consider this legendary rock band above that sort of label.
10:53Regardless, we feel that the Appetite for Destruction album alone merits GNR for inclusion on this list.
11:06The hairspray force was strong on that release, lending a certain shine to certified album bangers like It's So Easy,
11:13Night Train, and Mr. Brownstone.
11:15We've been dancing with Mr. Brownstone."
11:20Elsewhere, deep-cuts like My Michelle and particularly Think About You would set the stage for a full-blown Guns
11:27N' Roses domination on the epic two-part Use Your Illusion album cycle during the early 90s.
11:39Number 5.
11:40Skid Row
11:48The self-titled debut from New Jersey's Skid Row went quintuple platinum in the United
11:54States on the strength of four amazing singles.
11:56It was the follow-up, however, 1991's Slave to the Grind, that made history.
12:09Doubling the success of Quiet Riot as being the first metal effort to reach the Billboard
12:14200 chart during the era of SoundScan, both albums featured Skid Row's generationally
12:20talented singer Sebastian Bach, whose voice assisted the heavier, grittier sound of Slave
12:24to the Grind on songs like Quicksand Jesus, Wasted Time, and the epic title track.
12:37Elsewhere, tunes like Riot Act bucked hair metal trends of the day by adopting a punk sensibility,
12:42significantly increasing Skid Row's stock as a genre all-timer.
12:524.
12:54Poison
13:02So, was Poison the most talented band from the hair metal era?
13:05Well, no.
13:07But that didn't really matter, because that was never really the assignment.
13:11Poison understood their role as a link between glam 70s past and how rock and roll was progressing
13:16into the 80s.
13:24Their sound was all looks as well as hooks, keeping things simple and anthemic with hits
13:29like Nothing But A Good Time and Fallen Angel.
13:31Elsewhere, cuts like the title track of their smash LP, Look What The Cat Dragged In, were
13:36a smidge heavier, enabling Poison to appeal to a wide demographic with their multi-platinum
13:41stadium rock sound.
13:493.
13:50Alice Cooper
13:59The career of Alice Cooper is one that always had a finger on the pulse of pop culture,
14:04influencing shock rock in the 70s before experimenting with new wave and, yes, hair metal
14:10during the 1980s.
14:11This latter genre actually served as a revitalizing force for the coupe throughout that decade,
14:16with multiple lineups of musicians.
14:18Our love is a better nail, love that's good on a better nail.
14:25The Kane-Roberts era would see horror hits like He's Back, The Man Behind the Mask, while
14:30hit LPs like Trash and Hey Stupid were even more successful.
14:34Yeah, cause he's back, he's the man behind the mask.
14:40This period saw Alice Cooper emerging from the troubling shadows of substance use disorder,
14:45utilizing a muscular hair metal sound to earn certified hits like Feed My Frankenstein,
14:50as well as deep-cut ballads like Might As Well Be On Mars.
15:002.
15:01Bon Jovi
15:06They set the template, and then broke the mold.
15:09Bon Jovi were, quite frankly, the sound of pop metal throughout the 1980s.
15:15Yet, it was the spirit of working-class rock and roll, a la Bruce Springsteen and Thin Lizzy,
15:20that helped anchor John and the boys to their ever-expanding fanbase.
15:32This allowed for early hits like Only Lonely and Runaway to sit alongside multi-platinum smashes like
15:37You Give Love a Bad Name, Living on a Prayer, or Born to Be My Baby, as exemplary tunes from
15:43their hair metal era.
15:44You were born to be my baby, baby, I was great to be your man.
15:51Bon Jovi would eventually conquer the world, of course, while continuing to do things their way.
15:57Looking, looking, oh, oh, oh, I can't stop with you.
16:05Before we unveil our topic, here are a few honorable mentions.
16:09Dockin, grit meets glam with George Lynch's guitar and Don Dockin's voice.
16:14Into the fire!
16:18Into the fire!
16:22Wasp, shock rock sleaze for the 80s.
16:32Scorpions, Germany's finest conquer kraut rock, then the world.
16:44Vixen, smashing through the Glam Metal Boys Club.
16:49See it in your eyes, that you wanted me.
16:56Europe, much more than just the final countdown.
17:00I see your place, an evil place, coming my way.
17:08If you love games, be sure to check out WatchMojo's new game, Terrible Influence.
17:13Just launched for purchase at TerribleInfluence.com.
17:16Terrible Influence is a satirical board game about the dark side of fame from the writer of the most popular
17:21girls in school and us.
17:22Watch Mojo.
17:23Boom.
17:24I can make an apology video.
17:26Oh, you so would.
17:27Click on the link in the description to check out the game and be the first to play Terrible Influence.
17:33Number 1.
17:35Motley Crue.
17:36You say our love is like dynamite.
17:40Open your eyes.
17:42It's like fire and ice.
17:45They're the group that's synonymous with the 1980s glam metal sound, while also being responsible for one of the genre's
17:51all-time top 10 no-skip releases.
17:54Motley Crue's Shout of the Devil had all the tools to prove their genre's legitimacy during its period of cultural
18:00dominance.
18:01We're hot!
18:03We're hot!
18:05We're hot!
18:05We're hot!
18:06We're hot!
18:07We're hot!
18:08It combined heavy riffs with slick production, energetic drumming, and Vince Neil's snarling, charismatic vocals.
18:15Motley Crue were also a group that felt dangerous, walking it like they talked it by living the ultimate rock
18:21and roll fantasy, which eventually turned into a nightmare of substance use disorder.
18:25Yet it would be the Crue, as an entity, that would ultimately emerge victorious from the shadows.
18:39Dominating the scene as its biggest and most recognizable name.
18:44Were you there for the glory days of hair metal?
18:46Or wish you were?
18:48Grab your hairspray and sound off in the comments.
18:51We'll see you next time.
Comments