Whats the deal with Glam Metal

sbowman128675

Senior Member
Why do people hate it so much?

Lemme, explain. The evolution on my drumming has gone from, "lets see how fast and complicated I can play," over to "what does this song need to sound good; how can i serve this artist." Ive gone from loving George Kollias and Derik Rody and Mike Portnoy, over to favouring people like John Bohnam, Phill Rudd, Alex VanHalen and (to keep with my topic) TOMMY LEE!!!!......and Rikke Rokket :p

So heres my guff. Alot of people have pretty much boycotted glam metal and any metal band that ever was or is galm metal. But with the influence of the music in my life, I gotta say, I LOVE hearing all those old glam metal bands playing their stuff. Sure the lyrics are a bit much and its not really metal. But I think that for the most part there were some great musicians in that era of music. When the dude from Twisted Sisters comes in with the drum intro to "were not gonna take it," Im like, wow, what a simple part, but so awesomely played. It served the song for what it needed. Same with the album, "Crack a smile and more." by posion, I LOVED hearing the drumming on that album, not to mention the awesome guitar riffs.

Most recently I got Live 8 2005 on DVD and went right to Motley Crue playing "Dr. Feelgood" and it was KILLER!!! Anyone who says Tommy Lee is not a good drummer does not know drumming. He is so solid. And considering it was only 3 musicians playing and 1 singer, they had such a huge sound.

I guess, besides my ranting, I wanna know, what do you guys feel about the glam metal era? Did it have musical merrit? Was it more than just a put on by MTV to you? And did the musicians have a genuine talent that you can honestly say has influenced your playing?

Steve.
 
It was pop music. For the rock crowd. And some of those guys, were, and still are, incredible musicians. So much more so, than what they played, on their albums.​
I saw an "after hours" NAMM show, one year. Simon Phillips was the drummer. Andy Timmons (from Danger Danger) was guitarist/MC, for the evening. And Andy Timmons shreds. He was so far beyond any "Danger Danger" thang .... but hey .... Danger Danger put beans on his table. Reb Beach (Winger) was another cat, who played that night. Totally off the hook. But again, Winger was his money maker.​
Some people just love to hate. Whether it's jealousy, ignorance, or whatever. Who knows. Musicians can have amazing talents, but to make a living, they have to "dumb down", appeal to the masses, and be entertainers. That's where the money's at. If people aren't entertained, they ain't gonna throw any cash your way. For people who loved the glam metal scene, well, it was quite a scene, indeed. And for those who didn't/don't .... hey, buy something else.​
 
Why do people hate it so much?

.

Do people hate it? Come to Los Angeles, and you'll find plenty of people who still think it's 1986. LOL.

But do people hate it? Well, why do people dislike anything?
An album is considered very successful if it sells 1 million copies in the USA.

As of 2012, there are around 313,218,000 people in the USA.

So, a successful album means it only appeals to just under 1/300th of the population.

"Appetite for Destruction" has sold 18 Million copies in the US, which still means 95% of the population doesn't care enough to buy it.

Even the most popular music actually only appeals to a small percentage of people. Which means, by definition, most people don't like any one thing.

So yes, lots of people hate glam metal, because by definition, most people don't like any one thing anyway.

On the flip side, the genre has sold millions upon millions of albums. VH-1 classic still shows mostly glam era video on "Metal Mania." Many bands from the glam metal era still tour on a regular basis.

Anyhow, what already baffled me back then, and still does today, is how some bands ever got called "glam metal" to begin with. Motey Crue? Sure, they have a hardness to their sound, I get that.

Poison? I never heard anything remotely "metal" about them Rock? sure. But metal? I don't get it. Winger? Warrant? Metal? Their sounds were closer to Bon Jovi, whom no one called metal, even back then.
 
Lots of hair rock rules

Glam Metal, Hair Metal... whatever.

Like a lot of us late 40-something / early 50-somethings... this is the stuff I grew up playing. I was one of those teased up leopard skin spandex under my torn jeans shirtless drummers on Sunset for years.

I look back on those times and that music as some of the greatest times of my life.

We'd go see Xciter, then Dokken. We'd go see Greg Leon and Quiet Riot. We'd see the Crue at back yard parties, then at Pookies in Pasadena, then at the Starwood. I still have their self-pressed Leuther Records EP I bought from Licorice Pizza across from the Starwood.

Grand Avenue, Snow, Smile, Odis Lift, Kick Ax, WWIII, White Sister... the list of bands we saw or played with is endless.

I just got home from Japan today. There is a place in Tokyo called Disk Union. floor after floor of metal and punk discs. Stuff never released on disc here, or long long unavailable. I think I spent $200 in that place (or maybe $2000... I dunno. It was a pile of yen), and I had to drag myself out of there.

Priceless finds - bands I haven't heard anything out of for decades... now coming back to life on my iPod as I flew home this afternoon.

Oh, don't kid yourself... a lot of these guys could flat out play. But what is "great music"? Being a great artist? Being a great musician? Being in a great band?

For me, the memories of being in my 20's again - and all the amazing times we had were worth it. Fingering through hundreds of discs, wanting them ALL... just picking the most precious memories for my flight home.

I love hair metal. I love the songs, I friggen LOVE the guitar work, I love the over-the-top balls out live in the moment execution, I love the place it holds in history and in my own feeble mind. I love that we used to get dressed up to go out. Going to a club or a concert was an event... not a walk out the door thing. I loved getting dressed up to play. I loved having another personality to me during that time.

Music is one of those amazing things that utterly and completely depends on the stuff that came before it. As an influencer, as a validator, as a foundation. As musicians we all know this. Grunge is a response to Glam. Acid is a response to 50-s bubble gum. Most of the early rock guys came out of jazz and swing. Punk and Disco started as club music and spawned entire sub-cultures - influencing the rock most of us listen to.

I feel you, sbowman. IMO, the Hair Metal phase gets tossed off, spit on, laughed at, forgotten about, ignored, disrespected, and stepped over far too often. I'm a prog guy... have been forever - when Hair Metal was alive, my road took me that way. When it gave way, I moved back to prog and have been there since.

But of all the turnouts on this road I've been on, the hair metal glam metal turn out is absolutely my very favorite one. The music from 79 - 89 still shapes my playing today more than anything else. I can't listen to it exclusively... I'll go mad. But I love, love to come back to it regularly.

It makes me smile. And that's what music should do.

-Ken
 
Glam is just like everything else in this world...misunderstood by most, then gains popularity, then goes into over-exposed, then onto the "not cool" list...disappears for a while then comes back around as old enough to be cool. Maybe it has to do with the age of the majority of listeners. I appreciate the music for what it is...fun, some cool sounds, nothing too serious. I do think it had it's place as a genre and there are several drummers who definitely made their mark with it.
 
I wish hair metal would make a come back! That was the music I played in my first band and I loved all of it! Probably why I can't stand Nirvana!

Every song had a killer guitar solo. Most of those guys will never get the credit they deserve because most people are afraid to admit they liked hair metal. Like it makes you less of a man or not as knowledgable about music. I proudly admit I love hair metal and still listen to it loud in my car to this day!

You ask people who the best guitar player of all time is and I'm willing to bet that Eddie Van Halen would probably be the most mentioned. But let me throw a name out there of someone who would have been just as big as Eddie had his music and health lasted...Vito Bratta! Say whatever about their music, but that man made that guitar sing! His solo's were melodic where most others were all about speed and high notes.

I love all kinds of music and respect almost all genres, but it seems people don't have the guts to admit they liked hair metal. Or never gave it a chance because they heard it was dudes in tights with make-up on.

Love it or hate it, they were all musicians that although they may not have played your favorite style of music, they still were talented enough to contribute to music. Which is more than I can say for myself and I'm sure many, if not most of the people that put hair metal down!

Too many stuck up music snobs that think they know it all! I'm not speaking of anyone in particular either, so don't crucify me too bad. This is a particular sore subject with me.
 
Another Vito fan?? Wow

I wish hair metal would make a come back! That was the music I played in my first band and I loved all of it! Probably why I can't stand Nirvana!

Every song had a killer guitar solo. Most of those guys will never get the credit they deserve because most people are afraid to admit they liked hair metal. Like it makes you less of a man or not as knowledgable about music. I proudly admit I love hair metal and still listen to it loud in my car to this day!

You ask people who the best guitar player of all time is and I'm willing to bet that Eddie Van Halen would probably be the most mentioned. But let me throw a name out there of someone who would have been just as big as Eddie had his music and health lasted...Vito Bratta! Say whatever about their music, but that man made that guitar sing! His solo's were melodic where most others were all about speed and high notes.

I love all kinds of music and respect almost all genres, but it seems people don't have the guts to admit they liked hair metal. Or never gave it a chance because they heard it was dudes in tights with make-up on.

Love it or hate it, they were all musicians that although they may not have played your favorite style of music, they still were talented enough to contribute to music. Which is more than I can say for myself and I'm sure many, if not most of the people that put hair metal down!

Too many stuck up music snobs that think they know it all! I'm not speaking of anyone in particular either, so don't crucify me too bad. This is a particular sore subject with me.

Werd.

Vito was remarkable.

Good stuff. They're still in my playlist when I need a smile, and I can never play some of those tunes only once.

Thanks for your post... I'm off to go pop some Vito in right now.

-K
 
Re: Another Vito fan?? Wow

Werd.

Vito was remarkable.

Good stuff. They're still in my playlist when I need a smile, and I can never play some of those tunes only once.

Thanks for your post... I'm off to go pop some Vito in right now.

-K

Bro, I went back a read your first post on this thread and it was as if I was saying it. I'm a prog rock guy as well. Sounds like we have very similar tastes.

Thanks for the back up. I'd love to be able to take some of that music and make people listen to it. I think tonight at my pool tournament, I'm going to put $20 in the jukebox and play nothing but hair metal just to see everyone's reaction.
 
I miss the Hair Days! A lot of good drummers in those times. Some of my favorites are Vikki Foxx(Vince Neil & Enuff-z-Nuff), Eric Singer (Badlands) and Troy Luccketta (Tesla). Tommy Lee is also one my influences. My favorite album of Tommy's drumming is "Hooligan's Holiday" great powerful fills on that record but I like the old Crue with tasteful chops and cymbal catches with the hand your hittting the cymbal with while playing. You can pick apart a lot of kool things from Hair Rock.. and don't forget the ending solo of Kingdom Come's "Get It On" that was almost as great as Bonham's "Rock & Roll" solo.
 
I miss the Hair Days! A lot of good drummers in those times. Some of my favorites are Vikki Foxx(Vince Neil & Enuff-z-Nuff), Eric Singer (Badlands) and Troy Luccketta (Tesla). Tommy Lee is also one my influences. My favorite album of Tommy's drumming is "Hooligan's Holiday" great powerful fills on that record but I like the old Crue with tasteful chops and cymbal catches with the hand your hittting the cymbal with while playing. You can pick apart a lot of kool things from Hair Rock.. and don't forget the ending solo of Kingdom Come's "Get It On" that was almost as great as Bonham's "Rock & Roll" solo.

I listed Troy Luccketa as one of my favorite drummers on a different thread. He's a great drummer! Someone else that doesn't get the credit he deserves is Blas Elias from Slaughter. He now plays with the Blue Man Crew in Vegas. Jason Bonham is also a great drummer. I love Bonham's Disregard of Timekeeping. It's definitely on my playlist!
 
Personally, I don't care for it. Usually, I find the sound grating.

Image-wise, The NY Dolls and KISS were so uncool they were cool, and that was fun. No idea how they got around on those platform heels.

There can be depth to it, though. The Sweet (Ballroom Blitz! Yeah!) paved the way for Queen, who started out playing some of the best glam metal ever to full-blown art rock.
 
Actually they call it that because the name Village People was already taken.
 
I was 13 in 1981 when I got my first kit. Up to that point, I had pretty much grown up listening to the Beatles and Van Halen, but once I started drumming, it quickly became Rush, The Police, Missing Persons, The (Dixie) Dregs, Return To Forever, King Crimson, and later bands like The Cure, Big Black, The Cult, Scratch Acid, and the like.

I thought Tommy Lee was a super-badass drummer, but didn't care for his band. I even liked Rikki Rocket, but couldn't handle that band at all. Quiet Riot was a joke a could get, so I did like them, and Frankie Banali was (and is) a total beast. Loved his playing. (sold him a snare on eBay couple months ago - what a trip!)

Ditto for many of the other musos that were playing in those bands, especially the guitar players. Seemed EVH had really set the bar to a ridiculous height and all guitar players had that to live up to. But all the excess and showmanship really seemed to detract from something that I thought was important - which was the songwriting element. Such corny songs saturating the airwaves, I couldn't stand it. Didn't these guys ever listen to The Beatles? Didn't they learn that without a song, you're just an empty suit?

But what might have made the whole genre worse for me than anything were its religious-like followers. Man, these were the people I should have been getting along with since we liked many of the same illegal recreational activities and were total music heads in general, but because I couldn't get on board with what they were listening to, and because what I was into was relatively "lite" and somehow too serious, I became an outcast. The jazz crowd wouldn't have me either, since I was still a rocker. Oh well.

Anyway, I was over the moon when Soundgarden started getting traction, and bursting with glee when Nirvana put all the nonsense to bed once and for all. Finally, good players and good songwriters could coexist in the same band!

Glam/Hair Metal? Yeah, good riddance!
 
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In general I dislike it... But there are some gems that I still enjoy... Appetite for Destruction, Operation Mindcrime, 1st two Ozzy albums w/ Rhoads... I could probably handle Dokken or Ratt in small doses if I had any of their CDs.
 
You ask people who the best guitar player of all time is and I'm willing to bet that Eddie Van Halen would probably be the most mentioned. But let me throw a name out there of someone who would have been just as big as Eddie had his music and health lasted...Vito Bratta! Say whatever about their music, but that man made that guitar sing! His solo's were melodic where most others were all about speed and high notes.

When they first broke, I really thought they stood out from the pack, and had potential to rise above the rest of the hair spray bands at the time. And then I saw them open for Ozzy, and the they put on a terrible performance.


, and bursting with glee when Nirvana put all the nonsense to bed once and for all. Finally, good players and good songwriters could coexist in the same band!!

eh....

In general I dislike it... But there are some gems that I still enjoy... Appetite for Destruction, Operation Mindcrime, 1st two Ozzy albums w/ Rhoads....

While those records tend to get dumped into the hair metal catagory by some, really, they weren't. The first two Ozzy solo albums came out before the Hair metal thing took off, and while Ozzy eventually adopted the hair metal look, he wasn't doing so at the time.

Operation Mindcrime musically had nothing to do with it.

Appetite was more a reaction against the fluff of the 80's hair scene, all though they certainly shared most of the same musical influences.
 
I definately think some great music came out of that period.

The eighties were my my teenage years so the whole "don't need nothin but a good time" party attitude was in full affect.

Still, whenever I hear music from that timeframe it brings a smile to my face
those were happy times.

The 90's seemed to take a much more serious, moody approach - ditched the guitar solo's and went to flannel, army boots and pretty much put a wet blanket
on glam rock for quite some time.

Now there is acutally a resurgence of interest in music form that time due to guitar hero - the younger generation is digging it in a big way.

I think it is cool when I see my friends kids playing guitar hero to glam metal music.

It's like What Zappa said about jazz:

"it's not dead - it just smells funny"
 
Why do people hate it so much?

Here are some the arguments I've heard (some of which are valid and some...open to interpretation).

  • It's vapid
  • It's pejoratively simple in style and function
  • It's misogynistic
  • it celebrates shallow themes
  • It embraces rock's worst cliches
While I don't necessarily buy into all that, the 80s hair/glam material I own is considered guilty pleasure listening. For me, mostly because the lyrics can be so absurd. I'd be the first to admit there is some mightly talent in the glam metal ranks.

Although, for all its bad press there is clearly some need for catchy, riff-driven rock that encourages us all to booze up; get laid; drive our cars fast; get in a fight; rebel against 'the man.' (Not necessarily in that order).
 
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