80s Hair Bands?

Question

Coming from someone who *lived* the 80s, what is freaking me out is the seeming merits given to some of these joker bands 20+ years later.

I can tell you, the major culprits like:

Ratt
Poison
Europe (total one-hitters)
White Lion
Warrant
etc etc were all simply hacks that stole much of their schtick from *70s* glam rockers like Sweet, Bowie & T-Rex. All of them totally interchangeable & unoriginal.

By the late 80s, we were supersaturated w/ em...Like boybands in the late 90s.
Every last one of them did the obligatory "power ballad". It was such a huge cliche.

Am I alone here??
What truly scares me is the way many of today's under 30s who consider those bands "classic rock".

omg...

Answer 1

I'm definitely not under 30. I remember those 70's bands you mentioned. Unfortunately those bands you mentioned are considered "classic rock" these days. Of those bands, I did like Ratt. The others I could live without. You forgot to mention Motley Crue. They were as bad as the others.

Answer 2

Hard to say. The two labels are too vague. I mean, Iron Maiden and Firehouse are both considered "80's hair bands" by most radio stations. They have nothing in common . Alice in Chains and Niravana were both considered Grunge. Two completely different sounds. I don't think these labels are any good, because there was an awful lot of crap in both , as well as good guys. Most of the younger people will say Grunge, cuz they probably haven't heard anything good from the 80's. It's hard to have an objective opinion when you 've heard 15 80's songs and 2000 grunge songs. But I have to say, at the very least, even the worst 80's hair bands had exceptional guitar playing , compared to most of the 90's grunge. Once you learn to play guitar, your view on music changes.... I wasn't really into Poison, Cinderella or Warrant from the 80's. I thought them to be over-comercialized junk-rock. But even still, any one of those guys could easily out-guitar most of the guys from the 90's. I realize they are completely different music styles that shouldn't be compared on a technical level. But I can't help but ask, When did sucking at guitar become cool? Also, even though much of the 80's vocals were overdone with raging falsettos and such, to the point where it is now laughed at by most, it is much, much harder to sing like Sebastian Bach (Skid Row) than it is to sing like Nirvana, Pearl Jam or the 1000 bands that copied them. It is really a matter of taste. If the style was never over-popularized, it might actually still be around today. Eventually the nervous constipation-type singing of the Grunge era will be out of style some day. One can only wonder what is next...

Answer 3

It's true about the "hair bands" but where did they start? Motley Crue was good before they got famous. So was Van Halen. These other bands like you mentioned are fags! Metal went on a commercial down hill slide about that time when some companies thought they could make a buck off of it. It's sad. Money ruins everything. Look what it did to the Crue. They were good...Halen was awsome. And those "Glam" boys from the 70's...at least they knew what tthey were. And they rocked!

Answer 4

i was a total ratt head but the 80s hair bands are a lot better than this emo crap out today you are right its not classic rock but it was cool growing up in the 80s those were my high school years but i also listend to classic rock and still do

Answer 5

I am with ya Fonz. Much of it was crapola.

And thanks for turnin me on to some good tunes by Trower, Beck, and ELP, and of course, Boston, who's "Smokin" never fails to get my toes tappin.

Answer 6

i dont consider them classic rock
and im only half of 30
i love 80s hair bands

Answer 7

lol........I used to listen to some of them too........just watch them again on You Tube....SO EMBARRASSING !!!