Great, unsung (for the most part) gems, no doubt. Underrated hair metal songs | Steve Hoffman Music Forums But their debut is way more fun: a rough-arsed glam-punk gem that came on like Poison, if Brett Michaels had grown up in Cardiff and spent every Saturday night getting in a fight down Bogiez. 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. Marq did, however, play guitar with Ratt in their early days. I suspect I am going to get flack for this, but despite what you might think, this all-female Hair Metal masterpiece is supremely underrated. Thanks for the reminder! Hey, you never got that with Warrant. The best sleaze metal bands as chosen by Davey Suicide Top 20 Hair Metal Albums of All Time: The Complete List Not to mention the fact that Andrew W.K. Bonus fact: future Wildhearts frontman Ginger was briefly a member, reputedly dying his hair black as part of the deal. I didn't discover this album until a few years ago, and it, too, has slowly inched its way into my all-time hair metal Top 10. Never could get into Enuff Znuff, but I do dig that one song they had on the Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer soundtrack. Looking back, though, this record is awesome. Doro True At Heart (1991) - In my personal opinion, two of the best damn sleaze bands nobody has ever heard of I tend to be a huge sucker for catchy songs, so some degree of commercialism probably flies past my radar, heh. And how many comparable artists had successful tracks along the lines of "Stand Up, Shout it Out" or "Say Yeah!"!? When I was talking about the Warrant line-up, I just meant the classic line-up. Though there really wasn't much substance to the music, the scene was popular to the mainstream. The albums got better after their sales peak - Dog Eat Dog, and especially Ultraphobic. Honestly, its not easy stepping into the shoes of a Guitar God, at the height of a bands fame, in the middle of a hysterical wave of Hair Metal mania, but thats exactly what Kee Marcello did. The Nelson brothers could write a hell of a song, because every one on this album is catchy and loaded with hooks. It was produced by Andy Johns (who had worked with everyone from The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin to Cinderella and Van Halen). This is easily their greatest album. Kind of the Silverchair of hair metal, you'd be surprised at how mature these youngins sound on this, their only album. Metallica reveal details of special 72 Seasons global album listening event, Rob Halford on Ozzy Osbourne's retirement from touring: "he made the right call", Every issue delivered direct to your door. Im sure I can get my hands on recordings for you if youd like. From there, Warner Brothers gave Rough Cutt one last shot, and the group recorded their next record in 1986, called Want You!, which also completely stalled. Q5s first album is a classic but the second one was tragic. You probably remember them for their platinum and multiplatinum albums One Bitten and its 1989 follow-up Twice Shy, and with good reason, as these albums are classic but certainly are not underrated. Not a year after their formation, their debut BulletBoys was climbing the charts, and by 1989, it had gone gold. Their No Rules album (produced by Dana Strum!) Then others like RAZORMAID, PHANTOM BLUE, COLD SWEAT, GREAT KING RAT, 220 VOLT, SKAGARACK, TRASH, MASS, AMERICAN ANGEL etc. 09. The album that gave "hair" to the hair metal genre. Mick parlayed the cache he had built up into a major label deal, with Warner Brothers Records, and with Marq Torien (vocals), Lonnie Vincent (bass), and Jimmy DAnda (drums), the BulletBoys were born. They had Michael Angelo Batio on guitar. So, that does itI think. Steeler Steeler (1983) Sign up below to get the latest from Metal Hammer, plus exclusive special offers, direct to your inbox! Of course, I had no idea this album existed in 1990, which is a damn shame, as I would've been an enormous fan from day one. It was at this moment that I realized the proverbial writing was on the wall for the band. In the end, Columbia didnt bother to support the record, but that doesnt mean you shouldnt. I was introduced to Chicago's Joker by Matt Rudzinski from Divebomb Records, and I don't know much about them, so I can only assume they were another absolutely incredible band that got rolling just a little too late to capitalize on their talents. 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. Lets go twirl some drumsticks. There are albums by Bon Jovi which frequently pop up, such as Slippery When Wet and New Jersey, or if youre trying to be different, you may pick the bands self-titled debut, Because it started it all, or because, It has Runaway on it. I know that comes off as presumptuous, but its true, and you know it. Aside from the Ozzy connections with the Rough Cutt and Britny Fox albums, heres anotherAside from being the original guitarist in Ratt(! Warrant Dog Eat Dog (1992) Heres how it works. Man could Nuno shred! Real Steel opened for the Bulletboys, Bang Tango, and Gorky Park in their day, and apparently had interest from several labels (almost signing with Warner Bros.). Q5 are now called Nightshade and still play out every once in a while. So, what did they do? You come up with fun lists. Slik Toxic - Doin the Nasty This album should be the focal point for Jani Lane's legacy, NOT Cherry Pie. Michael Kelly Smiths guitar work was inspired, and as usual, Johnny Dee and Billy Childs were ever the capable rhythm section. A little funky, a little southern rock, Rat Race is catchy as hell . Trixter were a bunch of teenagers when they released this, their debut,coming in at the end of the hair metal wave. Love em, Leave emAs long as their breathin! -Love on the Run. Be warned! As for their debut record, massive commercial and financial failures aside, this was an excellent record. I wasnt a fan at all. [Disclaimer: There's simply no good term for this style of music. White Lion Fight To Survive (1985). If he doesnt belong at the top of this list, I dont know who does. SPREAD EAGLE (SELF TITLED) Start to finish is frigging beast mode appetite for destruction part 2, Hell yeahhhhhhhh cant wait for that to wake people up to the best or atleast 2nd best album of that era!!! Alice Cooper's pop metal album, loaded with great players and great songs. They filmed a music video for the lead track, "Hang on Lucy," but the above "So Far Away" is my personal favoriteit's got a darker edge and those riffs during the chorus just kill me for some reason. (side note, i am not including any 70's albums of Kiss because they would take up too much of this list). 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. The Road to The Roxy: 10 Underrated Glam & Hair Metal-Era Albums Part II Hair metal with real bad attitude. "Don't Close Your Eyes" is one of the best ballads ever written. Other bands just because I am biased, but from Divebomb - SARGANT FURY, DIMAGE and CASANOVA. The most underrated albums by 20 major metal bands | Louder - loudersound The vocals are really an obstacle moreso on the second album. 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. Britny Foxs record company (Columbia Records) seemed to agree and unceremoniously dropped Britny Fox, effectively leaving them for dead. Go ask Axl Rose, who nicked frontman Richard Blacks back-alley sneer and sideways shuffle and spun it into gold. Of course, it turned out to be a put-on Stanley was really a rich kid called Chris Stann, and the whole thing was somewhere between performance art, social commentary and plain bad taste. Janet Gardner was the quintessential frontwoman, and Jan Kuehnemund played her ass off on this record. I am not anticipating a part three to this thing, but Ill never say never. 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. yeah, that thing is always priced so high! Here is where people will start screaming. Sure, John Norum is tough to replace, but you could do a whole lot worse than the wonderfully talented Kee Marcello. No makeup, no hairspray, just a t shirt and jeans band, a "working man's" band. Present-day, Ace is having one of the most fruitful and creative periods of his career. 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! And yeah, anyone unfamiliar, Divebomb has reissued some GOLD in this realm, so pick them up while you still can: As grunge became all the rage during the early '90s, these albums never got the attention they really deserved. SPREAD EAGLE, GREAT ALBUM = TO APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION. Europe Out of This World (1988) Page 1 of 3 1 2 3 Next > R79 Forum Resident Thread Starter. With a much harder edge than the previous release, the second album was produced in Los Angeles by renowned Keith Olsen. A dud. But their debut is way more fun: a rough-arsed glam-punk gem that came on like Poison, if Brett Michaels had grown up in Cardiff and spent every Saturday night getting in a fight down Bogiez. Thank you for your article. All rights reserved. I totally agree with Q5 and Heavy Pettin for sure! You can read Dalys comments for each album of his Part II at Vinyl Writer Musics website. Well, they did. As you might expect, it's extremely hard to find Joker's CDs, and even if you do, the prices will almost certainly be total bullshit. 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. Ill have to dig it out and give it another chance. 7800 Fahrenheit really pulls no punches, and it played a huge role in shaping the shaping of the sound that was to come for Bon Jovi. Throwback pic of Warrant was this band underrated or not? Guitarist Michael Angelo Batio is well known for his guitar instructional videos Speed Kills and he also played guitar in the band Nitro (The Double Headed Guitar!) I prefer Pump over this one, but this is filled with killer cuts. Well, I stand by it. 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). A couple of other amazing and underrated glam albums that didnt make this list (but easily could have)- Tracks like "Let Go," "Dead Inside," and "Painting The White To Grey" absolutely crush. He has written for Metal Hammer, Louder, Prog, the Observer, Select, Mojo, the Evening Standard and the totally legendary Ultrakill. Blackout in the Red Room has a couple of classics, too, though some of the lyrics get questionable for sure. It's also worth noting that their early tracks as Young Gunns were equally awesome, and the B-sides from Under the Influence are pretty incredible (to the point of being significantly better than some of the album tracks, not that it would've made a difference in the end, sadly). 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. Harem Scarem - Mood Swings (1993) *this one is particularly good! 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). If you see it, definitely pick it up and enjoy. They sound like Toto, Journey or Asia. The 25 top-selling rock albums of all time | Yardbarker and Classic Rock, Associate Editor on Q magazine and staff writer/tea boy on Raw, not necessarily in that order.