I remember the 80’s music fondly, and often call it a Cambrian Explosion of music. Oh, there are things we regret, or mock, or that didn’t age well, but there was just a lot of creative ferment. There was also a lot of fun stuff, and last night I just went on an 80’s jam and remembered.
I was speculating on Hair Metal after going through some music, that kind of pop-metal prettyboy music that was at times mocked, and I think unfairly. I loved Def Leppard, for instance, and they’re still making great fun jams all these years laters. C’mon, how many of us will hear the beat and go “Gunter glieben glauchen globen” automatically?
More technically called Glam Metal, as I understand, and frankly, I think that’s a far more accurate name for it.
When I tried to describe what the typical “Hair Metal” band looks like, I ended up saying “Sex Pirates” because theres’s a mix of pretty, leather, and a bit of danger. Really, just take a look at Ratt for instance, it’s like a critical explosion of Johnny Depp (I frankly think of Krokus as having glam elements as well).
I think really when you look at “Glam Metal” It’s a very appropriate term because you can see a lot of glam influence, and frankly a bit of boyband in it – tight pants and guys with great hair is not just there to appeal to the closeted males in the audience. It’s also just a hell of a lot of fun.
I’m glad to hear lately there’s a revival of the style. I like a good hard metal sound, but also like good riffs and some fun spectacle. I still fondly remember some of the crazy videos, and like the idea of bands not taking themselves too damn seriously.
Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach. He blogs on careers at http://www.musehack.com/, nerd and geek culture at http://www.nerdcaliber.com/, and does a site of creative tools at http://www.seventhsanctum.com/. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/.