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Heavy Metal Thunder Glam Metal / Hair Metal

Genres Heavy Metal NWOBHM Glam Metal / Hair Metal

Glam Metal / Hair Metal

Metal that wanted to be on the radio and got there. Enormous choruses, enormous hair, and no interest at all in being taken seriously.

Peak years
1981 – 1995
Origin
USA (Los Angeles)
Family
Glam / Hair Metal
Bands here
15

Before you press play

Explicit content

Graphic lyrics and artwork are a defining feature of this genre rather than an occasional accident — which of violence, gore or sex depends on the band. Worth knowing before you put it on in a room with other people in it.

Start here

Four records in order of how easy they are to get into — which is not the same as best first.

  1. Shout at the Devil Mötley Crüe, 1983 The landmark

    The genre arriving fully formed: pentagrams, leather, and choruses built for a stadium. Nobody in Mötley Crüe could play especially well and it turns out not to have mattered in the slightest.

    Listen to Shout at the Devil

  2. Stay Hungry Twisted Sister, 1984

    The most fun record in the genre and the least concerned with looking cool. Dee Snider writes choruses for people at the back of the room, and two of these songs are still played at football matches.

    Listen to Stay Hungry

  3. Out of the Cellar Ratt, 1984

    Where the guitar playing is. Warren DeMartini and Robbin Crosby are far better than the genre gets credit for, and "Round and Round" is a genuinely great riff wearing terrible trousers.

    Listen to Out of the Cellar

  4. Skid Row Skid Row, 1989

    The end of the line, and the hardest-hitting of the lot. By the time the follow-up arrived the band had stopped wanting to be this and Nirvana had made the decision for everyone.

    Listen to Skid Row

What it sounds like

Choruses first, and everything else in service of them. Guitars are bright and treble-heavy rather than crushing, the drums are big and simple, and the production is glossy in a way that dates it instantly to the mid-eighties. Vocals are sung high and clean with stacked harmonies behind them. There is a guitar solo in every song and it is short. Nothing here is heavy by the standards of anything else on this site, and nothing is trying to be — this is pop music with distorted guitars, written for radio and for arenas, and it is very good at being exactly that.

  • Heaviness 2 out of 5
  • Speed 3 out of 5
  • Aggression 1 out of 5
  • Technicality 2 out of 5
  • Darkness 1 out of 5
  • Melody 5 out of 5

Where the name came from

'Glam' derives from 'glamour,' referencing the elaborate, glittery visual style borrowed from 1970s glam rock (Bowie, T. Rex, Sweet). 'Hair metal' is a derogatory nickname coined by critics mocking the bands' teased, lacquered hairstyles — a label the bands themselves largely rejected and resented.

The bands

Hear these first

  • Mötley Crüe USA
  • Twisted Sister USA
  • Ratt USA
  • Poison USA
  • Skid Row USA

And 10 more

  • Warrant USA
  • Cinderella USA
  • Dokken USA
  • Winger USA
  • Quiet Riot USA
  • White Lion USA
  • Europe Sweden
  • Great White USA
  • Britny Fox USA
  • Vixen USA

Where it happened

Counting this genre and everything descended from it.

  • Los Angeles Glam / Hair Metal — Sunset Strip 6 bands

What it led to

If you liked this

Closest in sound outside this family, leaning towards the similar or the gentler rather than straight into the deep end.