What killed Hair Metal?

[LastInLine]

I loved the 80s. But hair metal killed hair metal. As the decade wore on, the bands got less and less talented, and more and more lame.

The most plausible explanation IMO. It got to the point where anyone with big hair, makeup and a ballad got signed and put out a record. The record companies milked 'Hair Metal" for every dime it was worth and then Nirvana showed up, "grunge" was born and every band with a flannel shirt was signed and put out a record, the record companies milked it for every dime it was worth and then Limp Bizkit showed up, "Rap Metal" was born etc.........

[Nuclear Vampire]

hair metal killed hair metal

Exactly what I was gonna say!

[toddstaples]

:ROTF: Beavis and Butthead Killed Hair Metal...:ROTF:

[Roidster]

that is simply not true - there were some aweosme bands -i just mentioned a few who i'd put higher up my list that motely crue for example (actually i put motley fairly low down my list of best glam bands). slaughter were great too - stick it to ya is an aweosme album. badlands and extreme rocked too, as did vixen ans skid row. tigertailz were also pretty good. so thats 9 bands just off the top of my head that don't fit ur description. they possessed great looks, talent, great guitarists good hooks and strong songs.

bands like slaughter,warrent,winger,white lion,europe,extreme,really ruined it for me,
but thats just me,and i feel those were the bands to contribute to the death of hair metal
bands i really listen to in the 80s,judas priest,ac/dc ,scorpions,iron maiden,van halen,the who,led zep,accept,quiet riot,armored saint,motley crue, wierd al ,zz top that was pretty much my tape collection and LP's,i came from a small town with a limited selection of music

[Cygnus X1]

Marketing killed it. Over-marketing and the band's agents buying into it.
VH1 Classic has been showing "Heavy:The History of Metal" for the zillionth time this last weekend, and the artists pretty much tell it like it is. Some more than others. Another good one to watch is "Decline of Western Civilization, Part 2", sometimes it shows up on IFC, but worth renting. Both give an indication of what exactly happened.
Disco died the same death, people got bored with grunge, and other genres have been exploited beyond their usefulness. Look forward to the same for modern country. When everything sounds the same, look forward for it to die.
The best thing is, what is built from the ashes? Some teens now are hooking up with the old metal, including hair bands, and using today's chops to make it better. Someone will come along and blend it all together, the stunning chops of death metal connected with the addictive hooks of hair metal,and life will be good.

[sonicsamurai]

I loved the 80s. But hair metal killed hair metal. As the decade wore on, the bands got less and less talented, and more and more lame.

that is simply not true - there were some aweosme bands -i just mentioned a few who i'd put higher up my list that motely crue for example (actually i put motley fairly low down my list of best glam bands). slaughter were great too - stick it to ya is an aweosme album. badlands and extreme rocked too, as did vixen ans skid row. tigertailz were also pretty good. so thats 9 bands just off the top of my head that don't fit ur description. they possessed great looks, talent, great guitarists good hooks and strong songs.

[sonicsamurai]

a few thoughts:

record companies pushed the ballads for some reason, and the public continued to lap it up, which worsened the rot,

xyz, britny fox and firehouse rocked more than most hair metal bands so it wasn't all the power ballads fault. but record companies suddnley stopped promoting them - so people stopped hearing about them and the music

grunge was kind of a reaction to the highly technical vamped metal - it was the complete opposie - unclassy unrefined - it made itself fresh in an old music industry

attitudes to drugs, sex etc were changing and the scene was notorious for both, in asense ppl got bored and discovered there was more to life than this 20 yr old cliche

[LastInLine]

This comes up all the time, and I don't buy that Nirvana killed anything. It's a huge over-simplification and an easy excuse. Hair Metal killed itself & grunge was one of the things there to fill the void. IMO, Guns & Roses also played a role by raising peoples' expectations and making a lot of the vapid, crappy late '80s hair bands look pathetic by comparison. Too bad they self-destructed. I think G & R could've dominated well into the '90s & maybe beyond.

Been here a little over a year now and have never seen it discussed before.

I don't buy it either. There's no way you can tell me that one song ("Smells Like Teen Spirit") was responsible for killing off a whole genre of music. The only problem I have with the G & R thing is that "Appetite for Destruction" was released in '87 and Hair Metal lived on for a few years after that.

[straycat]

Grunge didn't last very long thank God.

[shreddermon]

I loved the 80s. But hair metal killed hair metal. As the decade wore on, the bands got less and less talented, and more and more lame. Nirvana was a breath of fresh air, in comparison. And the kids at the time responded to it.

Whatever you think of them - and I'm not a fan, either - at best, Nirvana was just the broom that swept up the crumbs off the floor. Heck, if you read any interviews of the guys in Nirvana, they were fans of metal, too. But they took their own music in a different direction.

[dg]

This comes up all the time, and I don't buy that Nirvana killed anything. It's a huge over-simplification and an easy excuse. Hair Metal killed itself & grunge was one of the things there to fill the void. IMO, Guns & Roses also played a role by raising peoples' expectations and making a lot of the vapid, crappy late '80s hair bands look pathetic by comparison. Too bad they self-destructed. I think G & R could've dominated well into the '90s & maybe beyond.

[Roidster]

hip hop, rap music,and cheesy hair metal bands killed it

[Frigo89]

to many ballads with the G and C chords ! lmao

there was some PHENOMENAL bands of that era though

[jacksoncsplayer]

It might have the banning of Quaaludes that did metal in :ROTF:

[MikeStrat]

Not sure exactly what killed it but I wish it would come back. That was much better music, players and all around more exciting time in rock music than what we've seen the past 15 years. I know that makes me sound old but that's the way I see it.