Speaking of Vixen, here they are! Wildside - Under The Influence ;t=2333s Totally overlooked upon release due to being a debut album of the genre released in 1992. Now, this album did end up going gold at some point, but over time, its fallen into complete obscurity for anyone besides truly devout fans of the band, which is a sad thing. As far as I can tell they only made a music video for the lead track, "Wild, Young, and Crazy," but almost every song herein is better than good, and several are fucking outstanding. 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 classic lineup released I'm A Rebel (1980), Breaker (1981), Restless And Wild (1982), Balls To The Wall (1983), Metal Heart (1985), Russian Roulette (1986) and finally Eat The Heat in 1989 which featured American vocalist David Reece and featured a more mainstream sound. Dokken's greatest. And how many comparable artists had successful tracks along the lines of "Stand Up, Shout it Out" or "Say Yeah!"!? More so, reviewers expecting as much are generally the myopic type, who perhaps think their opinion actually matters to anyone other than themselves. 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! 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. I had forgotten about that band! The former is annoying and yet also expected. Ive never heard Cats in Boots or Harem Scarem so Ive got some Googling to do! Still, damn good sleaze metal. To nobody's surprise, "III Sides to Every Story" followed that labeling trend as well, but what you could hear on that album was anything but stereotypical glam. 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. It was on the LA rockers' sophomore studio album where Warrant began showing what it was capable of, and while "Cherry Pie" definitely got the attention it deserved, you couldn't say the same for its follow-up, 1992's "Dog Eat Dog", despite it being a much better album. Vinyl Writer Musics10 Underrated Glam & Hair Metal Era Albums: A list by TukkerPride. In hindsight, the decade of glam and glitz was most certainly writhe with bizarre and possibly regrettable fashion choices, but it was also magical. They quickly rose through the ranks and paid their dues through club gigs and were noticed pretty quickly, and in relatively short order, signed with MCA Records and recorded their eponymous debut record, Femme Fatale. Ill be emailing you! Perhaps, maybe no one is truly qualified in that regard. This album defined early L.A. glam metal. 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). Man, for real??? It now enjoys a cult following among fans of hair. "Headed For A Heartbreak" is an awesome ballad. The Welsh wonders second album, 1990s Berzerk, is a stone-cold classic featuring the greatest pop-metal anthem of the era in Love Bomb Baby. After even more line-up shuffling, the group finally settled into what would be known as their Mk.3 line-up, which would also come to be their most successful. It was this line-up that recorded the now dusty gem Rough Cutt for the major label, Warner Brother Records. i hung around with Joker in the old days and went to High school with the guitarist.I hope they do come back. Tesla had no gimmick. In their debut album, they had an AC/DC rip-off version of "Hot For Teacher" with their single "Girlschool". But the public proved resistant to the hard sell, and Vain were left sitting forlorn and alone on the sidewalk while lesser groups were whisked behind the velvet rope of fame. 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. Oops. Love it or hate it, but you cant deny that Superstitious slays and it might just be Europes greatest ever track. Enuff Z'Nuff is when the Beatles become a hair metal band. Like Hericane Alice, one can only imagine that Wildside would have been an absolutely huge success had their debut hit the streets a few years prioreven more so considering the good fortune that was lining up in their favor prior to the album's release. Hericane Alice formed in Minnesota in the mid-'80s, and released their debut self-titled EP in 1986 under the properly spelled name of Hurricane Alice. Back then, pretty much anyone with a can of Aquanet hairspray and a guitar could bag themselves a platinum record and free entry to any strip club in town. Recording quite a bit of material for having remained so unknown, they self-released an album called Out of the Box in 1989, followed-up with Joker the following year on Red Light Records (which has almost the same tracklist as their debut), and then came back with Cool Deal in 1992. Stand by Me, I Cant Wait, Let Go, etc. 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. 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. Put together by former members of Bay Area crossover crew Attitude Adjustment who swapped their white hi-tops for cheap leather trousers and bargain-shop bandanas, their debut album plunged its needle into the same vein of bluesy cock rock as fellow greasers Circus Of Power and Little Caesar, throwing in some hardcore-esque gang vocals and nailing their were-not-White Lion cred with a punkabilly cover of Johnny Cashs Folsom Prison Blues. "Their punk rock attitude took sleaze/hair metal in a refreshing direction that was dangerous. Stay tuned for a potential part 3! Wildside did release one more album in 1995 (on an indie label), but had undergone some lineup changes and a complete shift in sound by that pointironically enough taking a stab at the grungier style that had destroyed their initial shot at success. As expected Ive only heard of two or three of the bands you listed off there. There are tons and tons of other glam/hair metal bands that never quite received their due (hell, I'd argue that bands like Lynch Mob and Vain still deserve a little more love). OzzyOsbourne_ 3 yr. ago. I meancome on, Space Ace Frehley basically invented Glam Metal with KISS. . Joker's high-level songwriting is at times poppier than other selections on this list, dropping some huge sing-along choruses. 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). No makeup, no hairspray, just a t shirt and jeans band, a "working man's" band. 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). Less than two years later, Femme Fatale broke up in 1990, ending what could have been a promising career. I still need to try and get used to the vocals in Heavy Pettin, but Q5 is indeed awesome. Way too oversaturated with keyboards,but still catchy as hell. Fantastic band. Vinnie Vincent Invasion Vinnie Vincent Invasion (1986) Love/Hate - Blackout In The Red Room (1990) A little funky, a little southern rock, Rat Race is catchy as hell . The hard rock "Thriller." 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. Listen to the record, and these performances, and prove me wrong. It's a very solid record, though, highlighted by the superb "Dead End St." (included above)a dark, brooding power ballad complete with emotive leads and vocals. A shameless throwback or the start of a hair metal revival? That's a long time. We've decided to rank our 20 hair metal bands of all time. 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. It was mixed by Steve Thompson and Michael Barbiero (who also mixed. I just have to say that I typed their breathin instead of theyre breathin after a marathon of not sleeping. The second album shouldve just been the actual soundtrack to Bloodsport. Its worth every second. picdoc 4 yr. ago. Speaking of hooks, lets kick this thing off with. More sleaze than hair or pop metal, but once you hear this album, you will never forget it. Only time will tell. #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. Probably everyone on Earth has heard "Rock You Like A Hurricane.". You'll find this album at at least the top five of any hair metal list, and mine is no different. Also, you must be an Ozzy fan! Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by R79, Jan 27, 2022. As you stated I have always championed JOKER myself. With a much harder edge than the previous release, the second album was produced in Los Angeles by renowned Keith Olsen. Haha! 13 Most Underrated Hair Metal Albums Of All Time!! Also, Dog Eat Dog is significant to the bands history, as it is the final album to feature the bands quintessential five members. 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. If not, youre not alone. Dripping with attitude. Thanks! If he doesnt belong at the top of this list, I dont know who does. Early 90's pop metal at it's finest, this is a hair metal fest from start to finish. 3) This album was produced by Eddie Kramer, and it simply rocks. It kinda sucks when your biggest hit is a cover song, although probably nobody knew that back in 1989. Also, another tidbit that makes this album pretty cool: Vivian Campbell (Whitesnake, Thin Lizzy, Def Leppard) joins the fun, and played guitar on Desperate. While Vivian did his thing and killed it, make no mistake, Jan matched him note for note the rest of the way. 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. Thanks for popping by, and stay safe! That Beau Nasty is kicking my ass right now! While the late Meat Loaf was a true showman with a near-operatic voice, Bat Out of Hell featured an . 02. Check out the old TKO albums also, they are basically Q5 without Floyd Rose. If theyd been born 30 years earlier, Station would have been as big as Def Leppard, or at least Trixter. It's a shockingly awesome record, easily in my all-time Top 10 as far as hair metal goes. 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. This one also gave birth to the tern "pop metal," and made metal accessible to screaming girls everywhere. For me, Europes Out of this World is an AOR masterpiece. I believe that they wrote songs that way because they LIKED pretty rock ballads. By that point, oversaturation was just starting to set in, and so, if you werent truly aces, you werent going to make it. With Hooked, we see more of the bands Hair Metal stylings, but finally, their Blues Rock roots begin to soak through. 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. The whole damn thing. Bath The production is flawless. Ace Frehley Frehleys Comet (1987) Sure, it was shallower than a puddle after a midnight shower on the Sunset Strip, but that was the point: what the hell else do you want from a band with a singer called Steve Sex Summers? It did away with the bland glam-like stuff Kiss adopted during the '80s in order to get in line with the mainstream sound of the time, and with powerful tracks such as "Unholy", "Domino", and "Heart of Chrome", it reintroduced the hard rock element in Kiss' sound in a very original and appealing way. 05. A subscription makes a thoughtful gift for both family and friends. To this day, George Lynch's solo in "Tooth & Nail" leaves my jaw on the floor. Their No Rules album (produced by Dana Strum!) Britny Fox Britny Fox was in the same league as Poison and Cinderella in the hair metal band corner of rock in the '80s. The Toys could have been worthy successors to Guns N Roses, but this album pretty well fell flat in 1989. Perma-pouting Hollywood fluffballs Pretty Boy Floyd made Motley Crue sound like Napalm Death and Ratt look like, well, Napalm Death. Well, in the wake of the Hot In The Shade screw-job, the band still managed to book a nice tour of well-paying gigs and were set to depart, when Dean The Diva Davidson decided to split and make a go of it on his own. Now, beyond that, what it also did was elicit plenty of comments and responses. Sure, the record did go gold, but the reviews were not kind, with Martin Popoff going as far as to call the record, An offensive Pop Rock outing, much closer to early Warrantthan The Final Countdown could or would dare. Popoff went on to muse, A dunce-cap posse solidly in search of cash and chicks, egregiously removed from any sort of Hard Rock acumen. Ouch. Dave Everley has been writing about and occasionally humming along to music since the early 90s. 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. ConflictAddict 4 yr. ago. So, what have you got to lose? 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. 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). 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. Great article, as usual! Enter Lorraine Lewis, the frontwoman with an absolutely huge voice, who led the now mostly forgotten group Femme Fatale. Michael Kelly Smiths guitar work was inspired, and as usual, Johnny Dee and Billy Childs were ever the capable rhythm section. Looking back, there must have been some necromancy or wizardry in the air. A great early 90's pop metal album. The guitar tone is annoying, but When the Mirror Cracks has some KILLER songs. They also contributed to two movie soundtracks in '92Bad Channels and Demonic Toysbut by that point it was likely too late for said appearances to give Joker the career kickstart they deserved. Some of the artists below released albums on major labels and may have done alright in their day, but they certainly don't get spoken of in the same regard as biggies like Mtley Cre, Skid Row, etc. Tommy Paris filled some big shoes and did so with grace and ease. Better late than never and all, but oh how I wish I had known about Wildside when I was a kid. Britny Fox Bite Down Hard (1991) Then others like RAZORMAID, PHANTOM BLUE, COLD SWEAT, GREAT KING RAT, 220 VOLT, SKAGARACK, TRASH, MASS, AMERICAN ANGEL etc. 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 . Well, I stand by it. They hired Tommy Paris as their new lead singer, called up Zakk Wylde and Rikki Rockett to guest star, and proceeded to make a balls-to-the-wall Glam Metal album. More straight hard rock, than pop metal. Sure, we all know and love Cherry Pie, but Dog Eat Dog is where its at. 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The albums got better after their sales peak - Dog Eat Dog, and especially Ultraphobic. Cool, many thanks. All of that horse crap aside, Out of This World is actually a pretty outstanding album, and while its not The Final Countdown, as I mentioned before, I tend to prefer it. Femme Fatale Femme Fatale (1988) I mean, come on, it's impossible not to sing along to "Mackinaw Avenue" or "Change"the latter of which is practically a full-on pop song, though the quality of the writing and musicianship gives it an edge that avoids the overly pristine sheen of lesser (yet more successful) outfits like Danger Danger or Firehouse. Well, they did. 08. Shortly after the Retrospect Records reissue, Real Steel performed at Rocklahoma 2008 and were talking about working on new material, but it would appear nothing much came of that. 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 best LPs from the age of Aqua Net. DLR's full length debut (after a 4 song EP in 1985). Erotic Suicide - Abusement Park & Perseverance An around pop metal romp in the early 90's, one of the last bands to come out of the genre successfully before the ship sank. 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. "Surrender" is a great ballad. Some good and some bad, which I am OK with, as it comes with the territory of writing, especially when it comes to this topic. Severely underrated, and released at a time when hair metal was just about dead. Slaughter were hair metal and were damn proud to be hair metal. Heavy Bones came relatively early in Hoey's professional career (having moved from Boston to Los Angeles in the late-'80s upon the recommendation of Ozzy Osbourne, after auditioning for the position that ultimately went to Zakk Wylde), and released but one self-titled album on Reprise Records in 1992. Def Leppard officially stepped into pop metal territory with this one. 1. But before we go on, bands like Def. Vixen Vixen (1988) Edit 20-04-2011: Deleted all albums with 60 ratings or higher. 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). 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. Contraband - s/t White Tiger White Tiger (1986) Visit our corporate site (opens in new tab). When it comes to underrated hair metal, I always sing the praises of Kik Tracee. Previously, we alluded to the massive screw job that Britny Fox received in being bumped off KISS Hot In The Shade Tour, which subsequently led to an avalanche of garbage raining down onto them for the next few years. This album should be the focal point for Jani Lane's legacy, NOT Cherry Pie. This one went way under the radar, but definitely deserves a spot in hair metal history. Not quite as big a seller as "Lean Into It," "Mr. Big" is the debut from a band that should have ruled the world. They sound like Toto, Journey or Asia. It deserves love too, you know? Slik Toxic - Doin the Nasty The band got started in Los Angeles in the late-'80s as Young Gunns; signed a seven-album (!? In fact, I myself have only learned about the following groups within the last 10 years! While its not a pure Hair/Glam record, and the band did begin to experiment a little, at the end of the day, its grimy, its sleazy, and it slays. Sure, it was cheesy, it was loud, and it was definitely colorful. Hey, you never got that with Warrant. 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. fans weren't really expecting may have only hindered this otherwise amazing release, which, coupled with other unfortunate circumstances, made the supporting tour for the album arrive 15 whole years too late. I know I'm not alone in crossing my fingers that the band will agree to have their recordings properly reissued on CD at some point! 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. Q5 had two albums that would simply destroy you. Vinyl Writer Music's 10 Underrated Glam & Hair Metal Era Albums: 01. 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. Go ask Axl Rose, who nicked frontman Richard Blacks back-alley sneer and sideways shuffle and spun it into gold. Its an amazing Great White album. Ill have to dig it out and give it another chance. Extreme: The thinking person's hair metal band. Q5 are now called Nightshade and still play out every once in a while. Aerosmith's second shot at glory, and they pulled it off. You cannot hear that album with seeing the menacing face of Bolo Yeung staring at you in a windows reflection. Three junkies and alcoholic,is how Sea Hags own manager described them, to which sandpaper-throated frontman Ron Yocom responded: Nah, it was two junkies and two alcoholics. Either way, it goes a long way to explaining why these Bay Area sleazebags failed to set anything other than their own trousers on fire. The band got moving in late-'80s Cleveland, OH and appeared on a couple of compilations (among them the excellent Heavy Artillery, which was my first exposure to the group). In my opinion the most underrated glam/hair bands are Britny Fox, Danger Danger and the Sleeze Beez. all the bands on your list kick ass! Here is where people will start screaming. Doro True At Heart (1991) A lot of it's not that "metal," some of it's not that "glam," most bands' membersregardless of genrehave "hair," and so on. I would KILL to reissue the Tuff Luck album too. Ive never been the sex, drugs, rock n roll type, ha, ha. Sadly, the band is probably best remembered for their track Touch and Go, being featured on the extremely dated teen comedy, License to Drive. Less popular and less keyboardy than Slippery, but much better. I tend to be a huge sucker for catchy songs, so some degree of commercialism probably flies past my radar, heh. 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 Triple-Axe Attack, as they were known by, exemplified power guitar with great riffs and a lead singer that had a raspy, yet seemingly effortless, powerful voice. Although they werent truly a hair metal band, Leatherwolfs Street Ready album has many of those kinds of sonic qualities and is packed with killer songs. Warrant Dog Eat Dog (1992) Totally different album, and utterly, completely epic and emotional awesome. Buy it, you will be pleasantly surprised. 04. 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. Wait, what? It sent the glam cognoscenti into a tizzy, even if the rest of humanity remained heroically indifferent. 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. As a whole, this record does have minor ups and downs. As for the band, they hung in there until 1993 and then closed up shop, only to regroup in 1998, but without Mick Sweda. 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 glaring sin here is to leave out the godly Heavy Pettin as well as Q5. Not to mention the fact that Andrew W.K. Looking back, though, this record is awesome. 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. Remember Rough Cutt? 07. Britny Fox Britny Fox (1988) 02. England and Wales company registration number 2008885. Some will say their success is attributed to the novelty of women playing Metal. He is still waiting for Billy Gibbons to send him a bottle of hot sauce he was promised several years ago. Its an album that you can listen from beginning to the end, and wont find any bad song. Aside from the Ozzy connections with the Rough Cutt and Britny Fox albums, heres anotherAside from being the original guitarist in Ratt(! 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).
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