What killed Hair Metal?

[Dreamland_Rebel]

i think more had to do with the fact that a whole new genre of bands (like Nirvana) started coming out that looked and dressed like normal everyday people... shattering the Rock Star illusion, that "we're larger than life", image that almost all rock and metal bands had going on. this had an almost overnight effect on the whole scene. now the kids were making fun of how feminine the bands were dressing which drove the die hard fans to heavier music and the fickle fans followed the new grunge movement cause it said to them, hey anyone can do it, you can be a rock star too.



some may think this was for the better. but i feel the oposite. i want my metal bands to look like metal bands. i want them to seem larger than life. i don't want them to look like every other kid at the coffee shop. that isn't metal to me.

[Frigo89]

I never understood why Dokken was considered hair metal, I always felt Tooth and Nail (the song its self) was atleast as metal as anything of Slayer's Reign in Blood, and DEFINATELY a LOT more listenable (this coming from an Old Slayer Die-hard!)

I'd say the Image was alot of it, and it became too much about that, and once it was over, even the bands who didnt wanna be part of it got tossed in.

Enuff Z'Nuff was called the hottest band by Rolling Stone in 1991, and they have released great album after great album, and still get shut down for at one point looking like complete fags

[yard dawg]

Smells Like Teen Spirit killed hair bands. Warrant was the top band being promoted at there label right before SLTS hit. Janie Lane said the day after it hit every poster of theres at the labels office was torn down and replaced. You can say Nirvana sucked but the kids bought it like crazy. Grunge killed hair metal. It gave the public another choice in music as hair metal was getting to be nothing but copy cat bands. Now all the has beens from the hair band days are in Nashville pumping out country cds now. Bon Jovi and The Eagles are country now hahahahaha.......

[Special-K]

Aids... (had to do it.. sorry bad joke..)

The next generation of heterosexual men...
And of course good old THRASH METAL!

[ABSOLUT CHARVEL]

the bottom line is music changes. you cant point the finger on what killed what. too easy to say it was grunge because it was the next hot music to come out. if there was no grunge, it would have been something else and we would be saying "damm that Justin Timberlake, or Dr. Dre, etc...!" the truth is Hair Bands was a weak trend. it didn't take much to kick it to the curb. not many bands managed to survive from that period. there is a reason for it. it was a fad.

few bands can or have endure the test of time. Stones, U2, AC/DC are a few that have been around 20 + years that can still sell out the big shows and have gained a multi generation fan base. Hair bands fall way short of this.

AC/DC is the band that defies the indrustry. Angus once said he gets pissed when people say all 22 their album sound the same, when they have 23 albums that all sound alike!

[Venomboy]

A shitty band like Nirvana can't do much of anything, especially kill a whole style of music.

Record companies stopped promoting hair metal. Hair metal bands became even lamer. End of story.

[Szostak]

folks don't expect hip-hop and contemporary r'n'b to dissapear anytime soon, yes there will be a time when it fades away but unlike all the previous periods there isn't any new musical genres coming... everything has been done... so the next big thing is going to be something old and it will not have the same impact like as Sgt. Peppers Lonely Heart's Club Band or Van Halen 1 had

I'm pretty sure the new wave of music is slowly appearing... look at bands like Priestess and Wolfmother, these guys are great and are only influencing more and more kids to pick up and start writing (with many thanks to Guitar Hero for including them ) ... It's new music with that bite, you know? Great lyrics too.

[Firebird V]

Dude, if Prince is gay then you are the whole gay pride parade.

Aside from being a brilliant musician, amazing composer, and kick ass guitarist, Prince is a SERIOUS ladies man.

You, on the other hand, post pictures of men in makeup on the Internet.

ROTF... Timmy just made me pis my pants... lol.

[442w30]

folks don't expect hip-hop and contemporary r'n'b to dissapear anytime soon, yes there will be a time when it fades away but unlike all the previous periods there isn't any new musical genres coming... everything has been done... so the next big thing is going to be something old and it will not have the same impact like as Sgt. Peppers Lonely Heart's Club Band or Van Halen 1 had

I agree to everything you said - hip hop/contrmporary are here to stay.

I don't agree that everything has been done. There will always be something new to come along that to the old folks "isn't musical" etc. When you can't see it and you think everything has been done that's worth doing, you are getting old.....I am getting old

[Endrik]

folks don't expect hip-hop and contemporary r'n'b to dissapear anytime soon, yes there will be a time when it fades away but unlike all the previous periods there isn't any new musical genres coming... everything has been done... so the next big thing is going to be something old and it will not have the same impact like as Sgt. Peppers Lonely Heart's Club Band or Van Halen 1 had

[CharvelRocker]

B) The industry needed their change again, just as they'll phase out the urban heavy R&B / Hip Hop movement of today in favor of a new style of music which opens a new market to replace the old.

Agreed. Rap has been around in force for like what, 10 years maybe? 80's glam and hair was around for near that long too. No musical style can sustain itself forever as time and tastes change, and the longer its around, the more bloated and weighed down with crap it becomes. It all goes in cycles when you look at it...

Genre A comes along
Genre B forms in response to nature of Genre A and its sound
Genre B grows, even exploding in popularity, genre A dies out
Genre B implodes on itself with a loss of a critical band or two
Genre B starts to die out
Genre C and D come along, influenced by Genre B
Genre C and D continue along until they start to break down due to age and lack of originality
Wash rinse repeat

[Endrik]

Prince has a GREAT taste in women and guitars (well lately, not those weird 80's designs)

[hippietim]

Gayness killed hair metal. Wearing girls clothes, wearing high heels and makeup.... too many love ballads... homosexual girly men killed hair metal.

Look how well all the pictures fit together.


GAY

Dude, if Prince is gay then you are the whole gay pride parade.

Aside from being a brilliant musician, amazing composer, and kick ass guitarist, Prince is a SERIOUS ladies man.

You, on the other hand, post pictures of men in makeup on the Internet.

[Rsmacker]

Hey, I'm an ugly fucker and I slyly decided that being told to fuck off by the hottest chicks wasn't really the way to go, so I'd go for the Grade B flange (um, well, OK, Grade X sometimes). It's true, the mooses are grateful of the attention, try harder, and don't sweat that much.
And you don't have to walk to the bus stop dressed like Danny La Rue in the morning with old ladies laughing at you.


Anyway many of those hot chicks turned into fat ugly knackers, I was just saving time and effort and doing the ones that were already "noted for their personality".

[jacksoncsplayer]

Having just sat down with a coffee and pondered the question, I conclude that the real reason that "Hair Metal" died was because all the record-buying losers were jealous of us good-looking and talented guitar players who were getting all the hottest chicks.