Top 20 Hair Metal Albums of All Time: The Complete List

thesmashbro

It upsets me when people call Twisted Sister hair metal. They've clearly never listened to "Under the Blade" "Burn in Hell" or "The Beast"

thesmashbro

It upsets me when people call Twisted Sister hair metal. They've clearly never listened to "Under the Blade" "Burn in Hell" or "The Beast"

thesmashbro

It upsets me when people call Twisted Sister hair metal. They've clearly never listened to "Under the Blade" "Burn in Hell" or "The Beast"

rebel_leather

The list is pretty decent. However, Faster Pussycat and Spinal Tap definitely don't earn a spot on this list. I think the condescending media term "Hair Metal" is outdated and should not be the lasting name of the genre. Glam Metal would be more appropriate term. Of course, media bias continues to attack the genre till this day. This article details all of the media/rock community's bias towards Glam Metal:

http://leatherrebelblog.com/the-hypocrisy-and-political-correctness-of-the-rock-and-roll-world-part-1.html

Quiet Riot, WASP and Kix should have all been part of this list. Oh, and for all of those claiming GNR aren't "Hair Metal" you are in complete denial. Axl was wearing more makeup in the early days and had more teased hair than a majority of the "hair" bands. The reviewer of Night Songs was probably the only serious and intriguing read.

tski1972

Queensryche "Hair Metal?" You obviously don't know the genre.

Bc_1976

1 Like

GNR and Queensryche were never 'hair' metal bands. Just because GNR played the same clubs doesn't make them a hair band.

vvkillings

1 Like

But... Operation:Mindcrimes not Hair Metal.

Wcemt1605

What about Autograph

Frettedlove98

KISS is not on here?? They invented big hair!! This list sucks balls, the kind of balls where when you're going out with someone hot and she sucks the balls really passionately but they're not you're balls.

Tyson Adams

No Steel Panther!?!?! For Shame.

Erik

1 Like

"Hair Metal" is not a term that was EVER used in the 80's.Pop Metal, Glam Metal, L.A. Metal, Sunset Strip Metal, Melodic Metal - all of those were used, but, "Hair Metal," was a tag that those in the media who got all caught up in the then new Grunge and guitar driven Alternative scene came up with to discredit ALL Metal. All Metal bands of the 80's had long hair, so that became a catch-all for them to lump everyone together and thus equate Pretty Boy Floyd with Iron Maiden and vice versa.The tag stuck.There is no such thing as, "Hair Metal," Is Motorhead, "Hair Metal?" They played Metal in the 80's and had long hair! Was Metallica, "Hair Metal," up until Load? And here's an even more interesting question - was Whitesnake, the band of perfect hair, "Hair Metal?" I'd argue that they were alternately Blues Rock, Blues Metal, Hard Rock, and Pop Metal, depending on the album or even on the song. (Their 1987 album really covers 3 of those descriptions alone.)Now, if L.A. Weekly is trying to list the 20 greatest POP Metal albums of all time, then they've failed miserably as GNR and a couple others don't fit that description. They use the term too broadly. And even using their broad definition, Junkyard sucked, Faster Pussycat REALLY sucked (horrible live band, too), and Spinal Tap was a parody BEFORE the, "Hair Metal," era as usually defined ever started. So that list is one colossal joke.

Webbew1

I can name four Power Metal bands from the 80's right off the top of my head who put out much better records than most anyone on this list did: Savatage, Iron Maiden, King Diamond and The New York Dolls. Just because three million idiots went out and bought whatever the record company shoved under their noses doesn't mean the music was any good. And why exactly is this list limited to the 80's? There are a ton of awesome Power Metal bands who formed after 1990. Why are artists like Kamelot, Avantasia and Darkwater being ignored?

This list is a trick there is no good, best or top hair metal. It all sucks. Now Metal, Heavy Metal, Doom Metal, Thrash Metal, Black Metal, Industrial Metal, Extreme Metal, Death Metal, now those have great bands and great albums

Ping1972

what the hell bon jovi is the king of hair metal more albums sells more number one hits . they are a true hair band. jon started the mall hair style. you might not like it but when you ask somebody the hair band of the 80's guess what they will say BON JOVI...... 130 million records world wide. gnr are great but more hard rock. motley is a glam /hair good but not in the top 10. so guys when you make a top hair metal bands look at the facts... number one singles from the billboard top 40. not some web chart. number one albums. and 130 MILLION ALBUMS WORLDWIDE...............hey g this is not a reply to u, but to the list...

Fleursluiter

Hair metal. Hmm maybe for 90% of these bands. To me the connotation of hair metal means men who spend more time spraying than playing!!! Thats sure as hell not Def Leppard, Bon Jovi, or Guns n Roses!!!Anyone agree??

Jeff Walsh

The obvious albums are there... but there are a few ridiculous ones... like Spinal Tap, Junkyard, Faster Pussycat, and including one of the worst Warrant albums instead of one of the great ones. Faster Pussycat was mildly listenable back in the day, but utterly sucks to listen to now. Warrant's album was more bad than good, Cherry Pie was when they first started putting out a respectable album start to finish. Spinal Tap is, was, and always has been a joke, period. Junkyard was one of the least memorable of the lower tier bands... absolutely, bands like Keel, WASP, or Black N Blue or Metal Health by Quiet Riot could have taken some spots used by the head scratching inclusions on this list.

Edward Ignatius Cieplinski

1 Like

Queensryche is hair metal? Someone didn't do extensive research

Roundtrip

With the exception of the fantastic Junkyard record, these choices are, for the most part, hit records and while many are deserving of being on the list, other lesser successful bands are ignored - likely because they didn't make the impact on the contributors or on the charts that they did with the "hair metal" fans in the know. One listen to Kix's "Midnight Dynamite" with Beau Hill's crisp production and the unusually clever riffs and one would add it to the list. Another spin of "Cool From The Wire" by Dirty Looks reveals the simple AC/DC snarl of Henrik Ostergaard and the brilliant guitar work of Paul Lidel. And revisiting D:A:D's "No Fuel Left for the Pilgrims" would lead one to wonder how this Danish band (that's still going VERY strong in their home country) didn't become a worldwide hit with their thoughtful American-Western-twang guitar riffs and their brilliant tongue in cheek lyrics and vocals.

Adz

What? No Steel Panther?

Ashcraft

I was big fan of Hair Metal in the 80's, but I would think you'd have to include Steel Panther's Feel the Steel in any Hair Metal all time list. I know its parody, but musically, its stands up against anything from the 80's.

Ron Fox

This list is SOOOOOO WRONG ! But every retard is allowed their own opinion !

Everhart_r

This genre is not dead, it is alive and well...the torch is now in the hands of bands like Crashdiet, hardcore superstar and sister sin. Not to mention that a lot of the bands like Prettty Boy Floyd, Lita Ford, Whitesnake, Cinderella and Stryper are still vibrant today and touring regularly.

Everhart_r

Pretty crappy list, and that says a lot coming from a major fan of the era. Where are the Scorpions and why is DL on the list twice? No Stryper either.

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Ed Guidry

1 Like

No Van Halen? Seriously? Van Halen and Quiet Riot (with Randy Rhoads) basically owned the Sunset Strip rock scene in the late 70s. Guitarists dropped their Les Pauls and went to hot-rodded Stratocasters with humbuckers because of one man ... Eddie Van Halen. They tried to copy his chops but never copied his style. And David Lee Roth's swagger ...

WilbyDaniels

Van Halen is not, I repeat, NOT, a hair band by ANY stretch of the imagination. Were the influential to hair metal bands? Absolutely, but they weren't even close to hair.

PanurgeATL

1 Like

I can hardly imagine the scene existing without them. And they were from L.A., after all. Had they not come along when they did, in '78, to show that listeners still wanted new, non-punk hard rock, the industry might not have paid attention to the New Wave of British Heavy Metal the way they did. As C.C. put it once, "Eddie saved rock'n'roll."

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ZongVoo

Wow, I long the days of big hair. Big hair bands totally rocked dude.

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ZongVoo

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bill

PANTERA-Cowboys from Hell-blows ALL OF THESE OUT OF THE WATER!!!!

Ramses

Pantera is not hair metal though.

Danatoogo

1 Like

Oh ok so no Quiet Riot!!! Who happens to be the first heavy metal band to ever hit number 1 on the billboard charts with there Metal Health album! Please whoever was the person who chose these bands is a moron!

Ed Guidry

1 Like

Quiet Riot (with Randy Rhoads) and Van Halen were THE bands of the Sunset Strip. All others followed. I don't know why these two were left out.

Fabrizio Alceo

@Ed Van Halen (that I love) ere the Kings of the Sunset earlier than the other bands of the Hair Scene. Van halen 1 is 1978. Also Quiet Riot (that I like too) were a little bit earlier that the hair guys. When Metal health explodes they already had made 2 albums for japan market. But I have the suspect that qhen we talk about Hair scene we should make a difference. If you remember there were lipstick bands but, even - earlier - denim and leather heavy metal bands that took the tradition of NWBHM (Quiet Riot, Keel, Armored Saints, Twisted Sister - that are rock glam sleaze but not hair imho - and many more )

Roundtrip

The list wasn't who was first to number 1 or who were THE bands of the Sunset Strip. It was best albums. And while Quiet Riot scored a huge hit and broke ground, their album wasn't all that great, in my opinion. I respect their contribution but their songwriting left a lot to be desired. I figure that Van Halen was omitted because they are considered a precursor to hair metal as opposed to a band that emerged during the height of the scene.

Ramses

My only problem with leaving VH out is that they tend to get left out of all metal categories. Granted many of their songs aren't 100% metal but hair metal in general isn't 100% metal.