Hair metal

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Heavy metal music
Stylistic origins:	Psychedelic rock, European classical music and British blues
Cultural origins:	Late 1960s United Kingdom
Typical instruments:	Guitar - Bass - Drums
Mainstream popularity:	Extensively followed by dedicated fans throughout the world.
Derivative forms:
Subgenres
Avant garde metal - Black metal - Celtic metal - Christian metal - Classic metal - Death metal - Doom metal - Folk metal - Funk metal - Goth metal - Groove metal - Hair metal - Melodic death metal - Neo-Classical metal - NSBM - Oriental metal - Power metal - Progressive metal - Speed metal - Tech metal - Thrash metal - Vedic metal - Viking metal
Fusion genres
Alternative metal - Blackened death metal - Grindcore - Grunge metal - Industrial metal - Metalcore - Nu metal - Rap metal - Stoner metal - Thrashcore
Regional scenes
Gothenburg metal - New Wave of American Heavy Metal - New Wave of British Heavy Metal - Bay Area thrash metal - Norwegian black metal
Other topics
Fashion - History - Bands - Musicians - Umlaut

Hair metal is a term used to describe a type of heavy metal music, and its associated fashion, that arose in the late 1970s in the United States. It was a strong force in popular music throughout the 1980s and very early 1990s. Such bands are frequently called hair bands. Pejorative terms for hair metal include poodle rock, due to the teased, bushy hair of many performers, or other derogatory terms, such as cock rock reflect a fixation on sexual lyrics and deeds and the lack of respect afforded by some music critics.

Fans of the genre usually refer to it as glam metal, referencing the earlier British glam rock movement, and consider hair metal to be a borderline insult. During its heyday the genre was generally referred to as heavy metal or simply metal; the fixation on the outrageous clothing and hairstyles of its most popular bands arose during the 1990s, after hair metal had been overshadowed by the simpler, back-to-basics appeal of grunge.

1 Origins
2 Hair metal in the 1980s
3 Decline of hair metal
4 List of hair metal bands
5 Related genres

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Origins

Throughout the 1970s, several heavy metal bands maintained large cult followings, such as Alice Cooper, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, KISS, Queen, , Aerosmith, Thin Lizzy, the Scorpions, Uriah Heep, AC/DC, and Ted Nugent, and there were occasional mainstream hits, such as Blue Öyster Cult’s “Don’t Fear the Reaper.” Less commercially popular bands from the period such as Angel, Starz, Montrose, and Legs Diamond, combined the heavy metal and glam rock styles and have been cited as probable origins of what later came to be called hair metal. Music critics overwhelmingly hated the genre, and it remained apart from the mainstream.

This changed in 1978, with the release of the hard rock band Van Halen’s ground-breaking debut. Guitarist Eddie Van Halen’s innovative tapping technique, and vocalist David Lee Roth’s mock-carnal presence brought hair metal into mainstream music. Countless bands relocated to Los Angeles to follow their example, and formed a colorful scene centering around the Sunset Strip.

Most hair metal bands also cite Finnish rock & roll band Hanoi Rocks as a major influence. Hanoi Rocks are therefore often cited as a hair metal band, although their sound more closely resembles that of mainstream rock bands such as the Rolling Stones and Mott the Hoople. A big musical and visual influence on Hanoi Rocks, and thus a big (and often unrecognized) influence on hair metal generally, was the New York Dolls, whose sleazy feminine look set the template for the hair metal era.

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Hair metal in the 1980s

In the early 1980s, heavy metal spawned several sub-genres, including thrash metal and black metal; however, hair metal became its most popular manifestation. Drawing inspiration from earlier bands like T. Rex, New York Dolls, Judas Priest and Alice Cooper, early hair metal bands included Mötley Crüe, W.A.S.P., Quiet Riot, and Fastway. Their music was less melodic than their younger contemporaries, like Ratt, and Cinderella, whose music and image ultimately became synonymous with the genre.

Hair metal was aggressive, with lyrics often focusing on girls, drinking, drug use, and the occult. Musically, hair metal songs often featured distorted guitar riffs, “hammer-on” solos, anthemic choruses, frenzied drumming, and complimentary bass. Hair metal performers became infamous for their debauched lifestyles, their long, teased hair, and effeminate use of make-up, clothing, and accessories, (traits somewhat reminiscent of glam rock). Following Def Leppard’s wildly popular Pyromania, and Van Halen’s seminal 1984, hair metal became ubiquitous on radio and television. Many other hair metal bands were one-hit wonders, or as David Lee Roth once said of them, “here today, gone later today” (for example, Europe and Autograph).

By the mid-1980s, hair metal was drawing inspiration from other sources, such as the romantic rock of the late 1970s. Bands like Boston, Journey, and Foreigner, influenced Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, and Poison, among others, to record power ballads. Despite hair metal’s popularity at the time, many began to consider it unimportant or derisory, due to a common perception that the bands were more focused on their make-up, clothing (usually spandex), lyrics, and stage shows, than on their music. By the mid-1980s, a discernible formula developed in which a hair band had two hits--one a power ballad, one a hard-rocking anthem.

In 1987, Guns N' Roses completly changed the meaning of hair metal. They incorporated sound of thrash metal, blues and punk to the music, while keeping some of the images of glam rock. However, Guns N' Roses’ next releases went into other musical directions. Therefore, many music critics do not consider Guns N' Roses a hair metal band.

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Decline of hair metal

By the early 1990s, hair metal had become widely ridiculed (the 1984 film This Is Spinal Tap is a satire of the genre), and increasingly formulaic, (for example, the music of Firehouse, Vixen, and Slaughter.) In 1991, the surge in popularity of grunge music, such as that performed by Alice In Chains, Nirvana, and Pearl Jam, led to a decline in hair metal’s popularity. Ironically, while many grunge and alternative music bands signed contracts with major record labels, many hair-metal bands, once considered proponents of “corporate rock,” signed with small, independent labels, and found niches; for example, CMC International released the music of Slaughter, Warrant, and others. New hair metal bands are coming into the fold such as Bittersuite, and Cherry Bang. Other unsigned bands (such as Blanc Faces, Secret Smile) that formed in the hey-day of hair metal, are now being signed, to smaller labels.

Several hair metal bands, most notably Mötley Crüe, have stayed commercially viable throughout the 1990s and into the 2000s. The British band The Darkness has attempted to revive the hair-metal style, albeit in a more tongue-in-cheek style, somewhat reminiscent of early Van Halen and Queen.

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