Grunge VS Hair Metal

[Fireproof]

Some of the grunge bands were great (Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Sound Garden), but my first love I think was Hair Metal! I mean - the list goes on and on:
Motley Crue, Def Leppard, Ratt, Skid Row, Bullet Boys, Whitesnake, Warrant, Cinderella, Great White. Scorpions and Guns ’n Roses for sure (would they be considered hair metal?? I dunno, but they aren’t grunge…)

 

[Fireproof]

I like music that moves me regardless of genre .
What say you ?
Is this
1) Hair Metal
2) Grunge
3) Neither lol

I would say neither, but they are GREAT!

 

[Alex Kenivel]

I was born in '86 so by the time I reached the age of reason, anything remotely '80s was deemed cornball by my peer group and I followed suit until my late teenage years.

I guess I'd side with grunge but if punk were on the bill that would take my vote.

 

[HotRats]

Some of the grunge bands were great (Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Sound Garden), but my first love I think was Hair Metal! I mean - the list goes on and on:
Motley Crue, Def Leppard, Ratt, Skid Row, Bullet Boys, Whitesnake, Warrant, Cinderella, Great White. Scorpions and Guns ’n Roses for sure (would they be considered hair metal?? I dunno, but they aren’t grunge…)

In my opinion guns and roses are the opposite of hair metal even it they might had a bit of that look.

I won't put scorpions under that umbrella either.

 

[Fireproof]

In my opinion guns and roses are the opposite of hair metal even it they might had a bit of that look.

I won't put scorpions under that umbrella either.

I hear ya. Some lists had them categorized as such. I’m not sure. But they assure aren’t grunge.

I was barely arsed to tag all my MP3’s with artist, album, song title meta data, let alone genre. In many cases I winged it. So I barely know the “official” genres, let alone sub-genres. Especially Metal lol.

 

[spawnofthesith]

Reggaeton by a long shot

 

[la szum]

I think there were a lot of cool bands that came out on the cusp of the fade of LA-style Metal
and before the dirge of dank Seattle grunge set in. Bands like King's X, Dream Theater, Extreme,
White Zombie, Pantera, and Rage Against the Machine. None of those fit into either of those
genres, and yet they were all positively massive and influential.

 

[spawnofthesith]

Fr tho, I actually have nothing against reggaeton…

I think hair metal had a ton of amazing guitar players in a terrible musical/aesthetic context. That said, I’m 30 and I can see that it was probably a “you had to be there” sort of thing

I’m not a huge grunge fan but I like it a lot more than hair metal.

I do take umbrage to “grunge killed metal” statements… it killed a very specific style that could only loosely be called meta and needed to stay in the 80….

In terms of the expansion of metal and all the explosion of sub genres I’d say the 90s were probably the most important and influential decade for metal

 

[texhex]

And the winner is….

 

[Lopp]

And the winner is….

That reminds me, I gotta check out Anthrax when they come to Chicago in January.

No, not to see Scott's chest hair.

 

[Justincase]

 

[metropolis_4]

As a kid in the early '90s I loved grunge and related to it a lot more than hair metal.

Once I started getting more into guitar I started to get into hair metal because it was more fun to play.

After that I liked both. I enjoy the fun and not-taking-itself-too-seriously nature of hair metal. I enjoy the raw emotion and real-ness of grunge (before it became too commercial).

 

[Bruce]

You definitely had to be there to fully appreciate the arms race that hair band guitar playing was. It was an amazing time for music and music tech, too. I really wish the world was that way again sometimes, even if just for a day here and there.

 

[KHAAAAAAANNNNNNN!!!!!!!!]

Boy bands weren't "bands".

And Hair Metal wasn't "metal".

Marketing.

 

[Jarick]

I like music that moves me regardless of genre .
What say you ?
Is this
1) Hair Metal
2) Grunge
3) Neither lol

I love Candlebox, especially that first album. It's a really cool blend of alternative/grunge with some bluesy jams and some 80's guitar tones.

I got to see Candlebox back in 1995 when they came through town with Sponge, another underrated 90's alt/grunge band. Speaking of, I put this album on yesterday and spent some time learning the guitar part, which is moody and watery and cool.

 

[Jarick]

I think there were a lot of cool bands that came out on the cusp of the fade of LA-style Metal
and before the dirge of dank Seattle grunge set in. Bands like King's X, Dream Theater, Extreme,
White Zombie, Pantera, and Rage Against the Machine. None of those fit into either of those
genres, and yet they were all positively massive and influential.

Also in that era, Faith No More, Living Colour, Jane's Addiction.

I also really love the bands in that same era that were in between the college rock indie stuff and what eventually blew up in the mainstream as alternative.

 

[Mooselake]

Need a none-of-the-above choice maybe. There was some cool stuff that would fall under 'hair' and some that would fall under 'grunge'. Not sure I know what reggaeton is.

At a different location on the interwebs there's a small debate about whether it's fair to call Van Halen hair metal (even though they and AC/DC seem to be the godfathers of it). If the answer is 'yes' then I'll take hair metal all day. If the answer is 'no', then it's close to a wash but I'd probably give the edge to grunge/alt rock, simply because it's a little more diverse, although the prevalence of altered tunings combined with my only guitar at the time having a Floyd Rose meant that I never tried playing much of it.

 

[Bruce]

I think it’s a little unfair to say the 90s were more diverse than the 80s. Aside from the topic of grunge which IMO is better produced classic rock, the 90s did see a resurgence of acoustic pop (matchbox 20, goo goo dolls etc). The 80s however had a huge help thanks to early digital tech. Gone were the e piano and organ sounds in favor of some very cool early fm synthesis keys. Simmons drums, guitars getting sleeker and faster, the Floyd rose and locking trems, EVH saving rock and roll single handedly all lead to quite innovative and interesting music which by the end of the decade, people had enough of.

 

[la szum]

I love Candlebox, especially that first album. It's a really cool blend of alternative/grunge with some bluesy jams and some 80's guitar tones.

I got to see Candlebox back in 1995 when they came through town with Sponge, another underrated 90's alt/grunge band. Speaking of, I put this album on yesterday and spent some time learning the guitar part, which is moody and watery and cool.

"Say a prayer for me!"

Cool band, that doesn't get much notice when looking back. Nice shout.

Vinnie, the singer, had a brief "supergroup" (Spys4Darwin) with Sean Kinney
and Mike Inez from AIC, and Chris Degarmo from Queensryche. Quite the
unusual pairing.

 

[Jarick]

"Say a prayer for me!"

Cool band, that doesn't get much notice when looking back. Nice shout.

Vinnie, the singer, had a brief "supergroup" (Spys4Darwin) with Sean Kinney
and Mike Inez from AIC, and Chris Degarmo from Queensryche. Quite the
unusual pairing.

Candlebox has still been drawing decent crowds. I saw them at a pretty packed club of close to 1,000 people in 2019. Although I believe Kevin Martin said he's going to retire the band. Their followup album Lucy was kind of a letdown, but their third album Happy Pills was pretty good, and they've released some good music since they reunited in the mid 2000's.

Sponge on the other hand does not appear to have done as well over the years. Most of the video clips I see of them appear to be playing to some really small venues without a lot of fans. After their second mainstream album (Wax Ecstatic), their music dropped off significantly.