Top Pop Metal Artists on Rhapsody Online

Guns N' Roses

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 09:28:11 -0800

Not since the Sex Pistols, has a band generated more grist for gossip column mills than Guns N' Roses. The sexual exploits of the band's members and their persistent problems with drugs have led to relentless badgering from the music press. As with the Pistols, it is difficult to objectively comment on the merits of GN'R's music, because of the tower of hype obscuring it from view. Suffice it to say that the 1987 album Appetite for Destruction is a benchmark against which few albums in the genre of Heavy Metal (including subsequent GN'R records) can be measured and not deemed inferior. Axl Rose's vitriolic songwriting electrified a generation, and the enigmatic Slash will no doubt continue to be the subject of fawning guitar magazine profiles for decades to come. Though they've taken a beating over the course of their career, few would write off at least the possibility for Guns N' Roses to rise, phoenix-like, from the ashes and reassert their claim to the Heavy Metal throne. - Chad Driscoll

Van Halen

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 09:28:14 -0800

In the late 1970s and on into the '80s, Eddie Van Halen's virtual re-invention of the guitar and David Lee Roth's horny circus performer stage presence were the core of one of Hard Rock's most enduring bands. Eddie's older brother Alex's shimmering hi-hat attack has always been as much a trademark of their shiny, sexy sound as Eddie's hammer-on-crazy solos -- solos that essentially introduced the phrases "ribboning leads" and "guitar pyrotechnics" into the rock vernacular. From their self-titled 1978 debut to the chart-smashing, band-wrecking 1984, each of their records with Roth contains at least one Classic Rock gem, if not an entire side of them. The band's early era was topped off with Fair Warning (1981) -- an uncharacteristically dark record that, through blazing songs of pure, unyielding rock power, reflects the growing tensions between Eddie and Roth at the time. Those same tensions eventually led to a much-debated switch to frizzy-haired "Red Rocker" Sammy Hagar in 1985. While the Hagar years still featured dynamic playing, the dreaded power ballad became a staple of their new, more mature demeanor. Nevertheless, VH continued to sell an unholy number of records on through the mid-1990s, and you practically had to kill yourself in order to avoid hearing their cloying soft drink anthem "Right Now." After further upheaval led to the departure of even Hagar's replacement Gary Cherone, rumors flew that the unfortunately named Bruce Cockburn would take over next. - Mike McGuirk

Motley Crue

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 09:28:11 -0800

The poster boys for Eighties hair metal, Mötley Crüe parlayed whip-lash hard-rock songs, melodic power ballads and a hedonistic image into platinum-level heavy-metal superstardom, topping the charts with Dr. Feelgood (Number One, 1989) and coming close with Theatre of Pain (Number Six, 1985), Girls, Girls Girls (Number Two, 1987) and a greatest-hits collection, Decade of Decadence — '81-'91 (Number 2, 1991).

Nikki Sixx was a member of a successful L.A. metal band called London when he decided to form his own band. Tommy Lee came aboard as drummer, and they decided to call themselves Christmas. Guitarist Mick Mars was discovered through a classified ad reading, "Loud Rude Aggressive Guitarist Available." Vocalist Vince Neil was plucked from a Cheap Trick cover band. Mars came up with the new, strangely umlauted name. Their eponymous, independently released debut was picked up by Elektra Records and retitled Too Fast for Love (Number 77, 1983).

Shout at the Devil (Number 17, 1983), with its canny hints of Satanism, followed, but the band did not catch on in a big way until Theatre of Pain. Fueled by a cover of Brownsville Station's 1974 hit "Smokin' in the Boy's Room" (Number 16, 1985) and the power ballad "Home Sweet Home" (Number 89, 1985), the album sold more than two million copies.

For all the album sales, Crüe also was known as an extravagant live band, a scrappier Van Halen doing a rock version of a Vegas review, with elaborate sets and lighting, revolving drum platforms, pyrotechnics and dancing girls. Still, subsequent albums Girls, Girls, Girls and Dr. Feelgood continued the band's streak of platinum discs, selling two million and four million copies, respectively. In addition to its selection of greatest hits, Decade of Decadence included new material, such as a hard-rock cover version of the Sex Pistols' "Anarchy in the U.K."

Off stage, Mötley Crüe lived the rock & roll lifestyle to its fullest, with celebrity marriages — Tommy Lee to actress Heather Locklear, from 1986 to 1994, then to Baywatch bombshell Pamela Anderson from 1995 to 1998; Nikki Sixx to former Prince protégée Vanity in 1987 — substance abuse and scrapes with the law. Sixx spent more than a year addicted to heroin. In 1986 Neil was convicted of vehicular manslaughter after a drunken car accident two years earlier resulted in the death of Hanoi Rocks drummer Nicholas "Razzle" Dingley. Neil served twenty days in jail, performed 200 hours of community service and was assessed $2.6 million in damages.

After the band replaced Neil with singer John Corabi in 1992, Neil filed a $5 million wrongful termination suit and released a couple of solo albums, Exposed (Number 13, 1993) and the weak-selling Carved in Stone (1995). Mötley Crüe (Number Seven, 1994), the band's first album without Neil, produced two songs that charted on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks, "Hooligan's Holiday" (Number Ten, 1994) and Misunderstood (Number 24, 1994). The band fired Corabi two years later to bring Neil back on for a reunion of the original lineup. The resulting album, Generation Swine (Number Four, 1997) attempted to cash in on the alternative-rock craze, with songs exploring grunge and industrial metal, but despite the band's carbon-copy re-recording of an old hit, re-titled "Shout at the Devil '97," the album quickly fell off the chart.

Greatest Hits (Number 20, 1998) and Live Entertainment or Death (Number 33, 1999) continued the Crüe's commercial skid. Shortly after completing the subsequent tour, drummer Lee spent four months in jail for assaulting his then-wife, Anderson. Upon being released, Lee left the band and formed the rap-metal band Methods of Mayhem, in which he played guitar and sang. Mötley Crüe replaced Lee with former Ozzy Osbourne drummer Randy Castillo and returned to its original hard rock formula for its final album, New Tattoo (Number 41, 2000). Castillo died of cancer two years later. The band went on a recording hiatus for five years but its members, appearing on reality shows and in gossip columns, never left the public eye. In 2005, the Cr ü e hit the road for a reunion tour that coincided with another greatest-hits compilation, Red, White & Crüe (Number Six, 2005), that included three new tracks, "If I Die Tomorrow" – penned by pop-punkers Simple Plan - (Number Four, Mainstream Rock, 2005), "Sick Love Song" and a cover of The Rolling Stones' "Street Fighting Man."

All four members of Mötley Cr üe convened in 2008 to record Saints of Los Angeles, a musical autobiographical companion to the band's 2001 tell-all book, The Dirt. A planned movie stalled in the production stages. The title track holds the honor of being the first single to be debuted in the influential Rock Band video game series, and the album debuted at Number Four.

KISS

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 09:28:10 -0800

Scene: interior of house. Dad reading newspaper on recliner. Mother crocheting on couch. Television is on, Mary Tyler Moore is heard dimly in the background. A young man of about fifteen walks through front door carrying a plastic bag. He says nothing to his parents, walks down the hall into his bedroom. Posters of rock stars like KISS, Alice Cooper and Queen are on his wall. He shuts the door, sits on his bed, takes a record out of the bag. It is KISS Alive!. He removes vinyl from the sleeve, puts record on turntable and stares in awe at the maniacal, rapturous, cartoonish hard rockers on the cover. "Deuce" blasts out of the speakers, and the boy is transported to an arena where it's all happening.

Scene: Concert stage. Paul, Gene, Ace and Peter are there, bashing away at their instruments, the crowd is screaming with delight, smoke is pouring from the stage, explosions are going off. The boy finds himself with a guitar around his neck and in makeup similar to the others; he is called the Hawk. He finds he can play his guitar like a champ, and is soon beating out those bar chords while Paul sings, Ace plays lead, and Gene and Peter hold down the rhythm section. The teenager feels warm liquid hit his torso; he realizes that Gene has just spit blood on him. They smile at each other.

Scene: the boy is back in his room, eyes closed, playing air guitar while "Hotter Than Hell" blares from his stereo. His mother is banging on the door. We hear her shout, "Turn it down, godammit!!!" The boy doesn't hear her. He's in hard rock paradise. - Will Lerner

Poison

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 09:38:29 -0800

For many listeners, Poison's music is adequately summed up by the band's name -- pretending to spit out noxious fluids when a Poison song comes over the radio is a timeless gag. But do we actually change the station? Usually not. There is an undeniable magnetism in Poison's music that remains forceful even though the 1980s are so long past. With party anthems like "Nothin' But a Good Time" and "Unskinny Bop," Poison captured the hedonistic sound of Metal before it lost its innocence to aggro-suburbanite Crossover Rap. Back then, it was okay for boy bands to squeeze their asses into spandex, tease their hair, paint their faces and sing a tender ballad like "Every Rose Has Its Thorn." It's time to 'fess up -- we only made fun of Poison to look cool. Secretly we loved them, and today we kind of miss not having them around. - Chad Driscoll

Scorpions

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 09:28:08 -0800

Thirty years strong and still rocking out, this German quintet virtually defined the Pop Metal genre. Their "Wind of Change" provided a fitting soundtrack to the end of the Cold War, and "Rock You Like a Hurricane" remains a fixture at air shows across the country. Between the dueling guitars of Rudolf Schenker and Matthias Jabs, Jurgen Rosenthal's booming drums and Klaus Meine's high-pitched vocals, Scorpions have carved out a Hard Rock niche as distinct as it is bombastic. Anyone who has seen them live will tell you that their concerts always live up to their Monsters of Rock status, and that live is the only way to experience the band. To quote the title of their eleventh epic album, when you hear Scorpions, it's Love at First Sting. - Doug Russell

Tesla

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 09:28:07 -0800

In the mid and late '80s, when seemingly every band on MTV played the same shiny pop metal and looked like toy poodles, Tesla stood apart from the pack. Certainly included in the hair metal dynasty of the era but not quite fitting the bill, the Northern Californian band played a tougher, bluesier music than their peers. Tesla's inspirations were tied to the hard rock of the '70s rather than to the weird Frankenstein monster created by the New York Dolls and Hanoi Rocks that informed the rest of the country's loud bands at the time. They scored hits with a pair of ballads, "Love Song" and "The Way It Is," before going major league when they took over both MTV and the radio with an acoustic cover of Five Man Electrical Band's "Signs," which is probably one of the worst songs of all time. - Mike McGuirk

Joe Satriani

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:55:57 -0700

Modern day guitar master Joe Satriani started out as a teacher with a rather shocking list of students Steve Vai, Charlie Hunter, Metallica's Kirk Hammet, Larry La Londe from Primus -- before he embarked on a recording career. His 1987 album Surfing With the Alien garnered him national acclaim as the burnin'est superguitar axeman of his generation. Since then Satriani has continued to release albums of intricately constructed virtuoso guitar rock, almost all of it instrumental. - Mike McGuirk

Whitesnake

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:50:54 -0800

Whitesnake started out as a hard rock band that boiled down to Led Zeppelin-meets-Free, basically, yet enjoyed success in England in the late 1970s, due in part to the fact that the band was led by former Deep Purple replacement vocalist/Robert Plant clone David Coverdale. By 1984, Coverdale and company had carved out something of their own identity, setting themselves apart from the pack of hard rock/metal bands by taking tried and true "snake = penis" imagery to unheard of extremes. The album Slide It In featured a boa constrictor slithering down a headless woman's cleavage on the cover and songs called "Spit It Out" and "Slow an' Easy" as well as innumerable lyrical instances where Coverdale made it clear that he really liked sex. But it wasn't until 1987 that the group managed to make a name for themselves in the States with the release of a self-titled album that marked a total revision of their sound. Whitesnake's note-perfect take on the then-current wave of pop metal became a smash hit on the strength of a blatant Zeppelin ripoff called "In the Still of the Night" and the power ballad "Here I Go Again." As much a part of that song's success was its accompanying video, which featured Coverdale's then-wife, model Tawny Kitaen, wearing a mini skirt and going all the way with two sports cars. In 1989, Whitesnake released Slip of the Tongue, which was a moderate hit and featured guitar whiz Steve Vai in a newly re-vamped lineup. Since then, Whitesnake has appeared sporadically, with Coverdale assembling different musicians each time out. Their last studio album, Restless Heart (1997), did not even see the light of day in America. - Mike McGuirk

Chickenfoot

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 17:54:23 -0700

Cabo San Lucas is the home of bikinis, babes, beer bongs and tequila. It's also the stomping grounds for one Samuel Roy Hagar, aka the Red Rocker. In addition to overseeing the hugely successful Cabo Wabo brand tequila, Hagar holds all-star jam sessions at his club, the Cabo Wabo Cantina. It was here, in late 2007, that Hagar hooked up with three fellow hard-rock titans: guitar wizard Joe "The Satch" Satriani, Red Hot Chili Peppers' drummer Chad Smith, and legendary Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony, who -- let's face it -- is one of hard rock's coolest dudes. Though this lineup may look odd on paper, the men gelled so well that they reconvened at one of the Red Rocker's glitzy Vegas gigs, where the quartet tore into a pair of classic rock standards: "Rock and Roll" and the brooding "Dear Mr. Fantasy." You'd think these four would be too busy to head straight into the studio, but that's exactly what they did. In June 2009, Chickenfoot dropped its self-titled debut. With crunchy riffage, flashy ax solos, bombastic drums and arena-friendly anthems, Chickenfoot is hard rock the way hard rock used to be played in the 1970s and '80s -- that is, crotch first. - Justin Farrar

Skid Row

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 09:28:07 -0800

Bombastic princes of the hair-metal era, Skid Row found enormous fame and fortune with their first two releases, and then were all but vaporized by Nirvana's spotlight. Hits like "18 and Life" and "Youth Gone Wild" still meet with cheers at parties, their lasting appeal due mostly to vocalist Sebastian Bach's fierce, overheated delivery. Probably tying with Motley Crue's Tommy Lee as being the genre's least tactful star, his off-stage exploits -- like the infamous "AIDS Kills Fags Dead" t-shirt debacle -- have become legends. Admittedly, it's difficult to avoid thinking of Skid Row as a tragic cartoon, but the band's output was some of the most entertaining (and hardest) that popular music tolerated at the time. - Chad Driscoll

Cinderella

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 09:28:07 -0800

Over the span of (their first) three albums, Cinderella evolved from run-of-the-mill hair metal band to a gritty, bluesy, rock band with enough genuine swagger to draw comparisons to Mick Jagger. Unlike their mentor, Cinderella's career had trouble moving beyond the '80s, and the onset of Grunge just about sealed this Pennsylvania band's fate as a product of their time.

Ratt

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:50:55 -0800

This L.A. based quintet was one of the most successful rock/metal acts for the better part of the 1980s. In 1983, Ratt released their self-titled six-song debut on the indie label Time Coast, and made the leap to a major label within that same year. Ratt's first effort for Atlantic, Out of the Cellar (1984), was an out-of-the-box hit, and went on to sell over three million copies. The band's string of platinum selling releases continued throughout the '80s and into the '90s. In 1992, vocalist Steven Pearcy quit to form his own band, effectively breaking Ratt up. Reuniting in 1997, Ratt continues to release albums into the millennium, although to considerably less fanfare. - Linda Ryan

Night Ranger

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 09:38:27 -0800

Night Ranger were big in the early 1980s as their slickly produced arena rock found its way onto the charts. Of those hits, none is more representative of the band than "Sister Christian," the power ballad's power ballad, the Bic-worthiest of all Bic-worthy songs. This song could make both the Journey and the Foreigner fan come together in perfect, tear-filled accord. And for those listeners who tried to forget the pleasure they derived from the song, director Paul Thomas Anderson firmly reminded them with his superb inclusion of the track in his film Boogie Nights. But Night Ranger are not simply one song; actually, they're about four. "Don't Tell Me You Love Me," from their first record Dawn Patrol, was a minor hit which showed that they were not averse to dishing out the hard rock. The same goes for "(You Can Still) Rock in America" (go ahead and smirk). "When You Close Your Eyes" is a wrenching power ballad with a shade more drive than the aforementioned "Sister Christian." By the time they recorded the theme song to the Michael J. Fox film vehicle Secret of My Success, their immense popularity was on the wane. Nevertheless, they soldier on, releasing albums into an uncertain ether. - Will Lerner

Warrant

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 09:28:14 -0800

What did it take to transform mediocrity into lucre in the mid-1980s? A slew of Gerber-ized love lyrics and lots and lots of teased hair. Warrant's formula for success proved irresistible to nubile teenage girls and coming-of-age metalheads in those halcyon days when Pop Metal offered a lusty alternative to New Wave wussiness. By combining sentimental mush in songs such as "Heaven" with coy, soft-smut teasers "Cherry Pie" and "Down Boys," the band satisfied the mainstream's cravings for both naughty and nice. These suave Aqua Net Svengalis knew how to manipulate their listeners' emotions with surgical precision, and a line such as "I don't need to be a superman / As long as you will always be my biggest fan" can still put a crocodile tear in our eyes today. - Chad Driscoll

Sammy Hagar

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 09:28:08 -0800

Forget Van Hagar. Ever since his days in Montrose, the world has known this guy as a smoking hot, golden-tressed singer and guitarist. Even after getting the "Big Snub," he's kept busy with new projects, like a collaboration with Mickey Hart to ring in the millennium, and the testing and re-testing of his new product, Cabo Wabo Tequila. - Jessy Terry

Twisted Sister

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 11:50:03 -0800

Dee Snider is bad-ass. How can you knock a guy with the brass to elbow his band to the front of a mangy pack of hair-metal knock-offs and establish Twisted Sister as one of the rockinest bands of the '80s? Taking their cue from KISS, Snider and his crew vamped out with heavy makeup and a Conan-in-Frederick's wardrobe that made a lasting impression on the devotees of early MTV. With ex-Dictators bassist Mark "The Animal" Mendoza battening down a simple, sturdy rhythm, Snider went wild over anthemic, primitive choruses like "We're Not Gonna Take It' and "I Wanna Rock." Call them cretins, but while Twisted Sister's ability to deposit hooks and choruses directly into the haywire glands of adolescent girls and boys is easy to mock, it's not all that easy to duplicate. After going their separate ways, Snider fired up a second project, Widowmaker, before producing and starring in the B-metal movie Strangeland. - Chad Driscoll

Great White

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 09:28:38 -0800

In the mid to late 1980s it seemed like any Metal band with a blonde-tressed lead singer, spandex and mascara, and some sub-Eddie Van Halen dunderhead on guitar could have a hit record. Veteran L.A. rockers Great White had the blonde singer part down, but blew off the rest and still managed to go multi-platinum on a couple of records. It is instructive that their biggest hit "Once Bitten, Twice Shy" is by Ian Hunter: his former band Mott the Hoople were an obvious model for the kind of meat-and-potatoes rock with Glam veneer that constitutes Great White's work. - Tom Heyman

Dokken

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 09:38:23 -0800

Still doddering on after a decade of obscurity, '80s chart-toppers Dokken hive closely to the formula that originally made them successful: glass-shattering lead vocals with harmonized choruses, flashy, technically sophisticated guitar solos, and an overarching, driving rhythm that still sends fans into involuntary chin dip exercises. For lusty perusers of airbrushed guitar magazine centerfolds, each new Dokken release continues to be a welcome event. - Chad Driscoll

Europe

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:04:14 -0700

In 1986 you would have been hard pressed to go anywhere on the Planet Earth and not hear Europe's perfect storm of high-flying vocals and bargain basement synth lines heralding the coming apocalypse. "The Final Countdown" made it to No. 1 in no less than 26 countries that year. Today you may be hard pressed to identify a guitar anywhere in the song, but no matter. Outside the U.S. (where they disappeared from the charts almost immediately) Europe went onto a long and lucrative career releasing albums and remaining on the international charts into the '00s. They broke up for a time in the '90s but were of course tapped to reunite and play a show for New Year's Eve in 1999 in Stockholm, a no doubt indescribable moment of synchronicity for all in attendance. Beginning in 2003, the band resumed recording and touring. - Mike McGuirk

Extreme

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:50:58 -0800

Best known for the 1991 No. 1 hit, "More Than Words," and for the fact that the band went on hiatus after singer Gary Cherone replaced Sammy Hagar in Van Halen, Extreme formed in Malden, Mass., in 1985. Early incarnations featured fatal dosages of hair spray and spandex, but they were smart enough to tone down their pop metal stylings when grunge broke in 1991 and, along with similar-minded acts Queensryche and Tesla, managed to stay afloat despite a nationwide disinterest in metal for the first half of the 1990s. Their major breakthrough, Pornograffitti, turned up in 1990. A pair of follow-ups came on its heels (III Sides to Every Story in 1992 and Waiting for the Punchline in 1995) before Cherone left for Van Halen and the group went on indefinite hiatus. The classic-era lineup reunited in 2004 for a series of well-received concert appearances. After another impromptu disbanding, they got their heads together in 2007 and released a fifth album, Saudades de Rock in 2008. - Mike McGuirk

Lostprophets

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 10:52:21 -0800

Something about the cruising-with-the-top-down, teen-empowerment anthems of Lostprophets screams all-Americanism, so it's a surprise to learn that the band is actually from a small town outside Cardiff, Wales. Starting in 2000, the good-looking, alt-rock radio-ready six-piece gained notoriety in their home country with their first two albums, eventually playing sold-out arenas and the main stage of the Reading Festival. Album number three, Liberation Transmission, was released in 2006 on Columbia Records, lead by the single "Rooftops (A Liberation Broadcast)." - Jonathan Zwickel

Quiet Riot

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:38:16 -0800

Quiet Riot are distinguished for having the first No. 1 debut album by a metal band when Metal Health took over the charts in 1983. The Sunset Strip faves, who were formed by singer Kevin DuBrow and initially featured future Ozzy guitarist Randy Rhoads, scored a massive hit that same year with a remake of Slade's "Cum On Feel the Noize." Two more albums followed, but aside from another charting Slade cover, "Mama We're All Crazee Now," the band's success was waning. By 1987, they had fired DuBrow and effectively split up due to infighting and lagging sales. DuBrow was brought back into the fold in 1993, though, and Quiet Riot released another five albums before he died suddenly in 2007. The band then officially called it quits. - Tom Heyman

L.A. Guns

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:39:14 -0800

From the outset, L.A. Guns have crafted a hard edge in both their recordings and performances that make most glam metal acts look every bit as airy-fairy as they really are. During the late 1980s, these tattooed, hell-bent-for-leather monarchs reigned over the Sunset Strip metal scene when it served as a spawning ground for a seemingly endless supply of new metal acts. The failure of subsequent releases to duplicate their early success led to a series of lineup changes; throughout each, the band has maintained a loyal core of fans that support the refusal of Tracii Guns and co. to compromise their gutsy, raucous sound. Anyone eager to write L.A. Guns off as has-beens should listen to their 1999 release Shrinking Violet before making such a claim -- though public tastes have changed and the band will never again achieve its former notoriety, this album's material is as fine as they've ever done. - Chad Driscoll

Firehouse

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 09:38:28 -0800

Firehouse's heavy debut managed to withstand the turn-of-the-decade thinning of the pop metal crop on the basis of its MOR appeal to coming-of-age metal kids. When arrayed in the soft lights and mist of power ballads, the band showed chartability. Throughout the 1990s, they smoothed away their metal edges, opting for a clean tunefulness and swaggering sensitivity seemingly lifted from Western romances. - Chad Driscoll

Def Leppard

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 11:04:05 -0800

Def Leppard juiced up the lumbering blooze riffs of Led Zeppelin, put a spit-shine sheen on 'em, and slapped five thousand vocal tracks on the chorus. The result: humongous metal anthems with tongue-flickering axemanship and arenas full of topless teenage girls. Steadfastly working through a number of personal tragedies, the band has managed to keep releasing records right up till 1999 and, maintaining a huge cult fan-base, shows no sign of quitting. - Mike McGuirk

David Lee Roth

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 09:38:32 -0800

Say what you want about Eddie Van Halen's groundbreaking guitar playing, Diamond Dave was the heart and soul of Van Halen (the band). After he left, both suffered, but for a minute there it seemed as if he might surpass his former bandmates. In Van Halen, Roth's big mouth, leering, mock carnal presence and over-the-top macho posturing crossed with a Broadway show tune sensibility to give the band the sexiness and outsized sense of fun that completely disappeared when Van Halen carried on with Sammy Hagar. Roth started his solo career while still in Van Halen, cutting the covers EP Crazy From the Heat (1985), which featured the hit singles "California Girls" and "Just a Gigolo." On Roth's first two post-Van Halen records he had a heavy-hitting core band, featuring budding guitar hero Steve Vai, superbassist Billy Sheehan (later of Mr. Big fame), and Maynard Ferguson alumni, drummer Greg Bissonette. Eat 'Em and Smile (1986) and Skyscraper (1988) were both multiplatinum hits, featuring plenty of heavy guitar bluster and Roth's patented "Ethel Merman of Hard Rock" persona. His subsequent records were not really as popular; his star went into something of a descent, culminating with a bust for buying weed in N.Y.C.'s Washington Square Park. There was also the embarrassing announcement that he was rejoining Van Halen, which proved not to be the case. However stalled his career may seem, he can take pride in knowing that he has never worked with (Hagar's replacement) Gary Cherone. - Tom Heyman

Lita Ford

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:07:21 -0800

Even with all the lipstick floating around, Pop Metal has unfortunately been so male-dominated that women have had better shots snuggling up against stardom as groupies than as guitar heroes. In 1988, though, things shifted a bit and the public noticed women teasing their hair in the MTV dressing rooms too. L.A.'s glossy female foursome Vixen flipped a finger at music critics and sold millions of their debut album. That same year, former Runaways guitarist turned gas station attendant/hairdresser/perfume salesperson Lita Ford broke through the charts with "Kiss Me Deadly." The song rode the silent voice of female rockers in on a Harley, with the lyrics "Went to a party last Saturday Night / Didn't get laid, got in a fight / It ain't no big thing." The wake up call to drooling dudes everywhere that there are women in rock who know what they want came as a counter-revolution to the muzzled bubblegum pop of Tiffany and Debbie Gibson, who had topped the charts a year earlier. Ford was no delicate girl, although her next hit off the same album was a heartbreak duet with Ozzy Ozbourne called "Close My Eyes Forever." After that, the public closed their eyes to Ford's next four CDs and her career, making it clear that her collective ten minutes of fame was over. - Jennifer Maerz

Slaughter

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 09:28:17 -0800

Some said Slaughter's brand of platinum-selling, falsetto scream-enriched Pop Metal died with the rise of Kurt Cobain, but this band is still alive and kicking. The greatest part about buying a Slaughter three-quarter t-shirt is that you can always rip off the sleeves and bare those tattooed guns. - Jessy Terry

Damn Yankees

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 09:38:25 -0800

With unbridled shred power, high harmonies, and wind-blown hair, Damn Yankees are the '80s supergroup who were captained by Styx guitarist Tommy Shaw, Night Ranger bassist Jack Blades, and the one-and-only "Motor City Madman" Ted Nugent (see also: Uncle Tedly Von Nugeburg, the Wackmaster, Terrible Ted, Theodocious Atrocious, Deadly Tedly, the Great Gonzo, etc.). Though the key members knew each other before the collaboration, the group officially came together in the late '80s, using a moniker Nugent used to describe their sound (i.e. like "a bunch of damn Yankees"), not the Broadway war horse. Under the guidance of vet producer Ron Nevison, their self-titled debut scored double platinum in 1990, propelled by the lighter-waving power ballad "High Enough." The band immediately aced soundtrack hits on "Gremlins II: The Next Batch," and the Jean-Claude Van Damme vehicle "No Where to Run," among others. The Yankees' 1992 sophomore LP, Don't Tread, also went platinum, though Nugent left shortly after and 1995's Hallucination enjoyed less commercial success. Nugent rejoined in 1998 to do some tracking on a fourth record, tentatively titled Bravo, but the LP never surfaced due to lack of label interest. - Nate Cavalieri

White Lion

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:51:36 -0800

White Lion hit the junior high slow dance scene in the '80s with their single, "Wait." Unlike their ripped acid-washed jeans, the band is still around two decades later, continuing to bleed their Pop Metal heart on their sleeve. - Jennifer Maerz

Winger

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 09:28:07 -0800

Mr. Big

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 12:39:49 -0700

The fame and fortune that eluded Eric Martin while in San Francisco's 415 was showered upon him, albeit temporarily, as frontman for the hard rocking band Mr. Big. Although initially tagged as a supergroup when their Atlantic Records debut came out in 1989, the only member with a credible, super resume was guitarist Billy Sheehan, who recently quit David Lee Roth's band to join the ranks of Mr. Big. Known for their hard rocking, metal-edged sound, it was the acoustic power ballad, "Be With You," from the band's second album that would take the quartet to the top of the charts in 1992. Later releases such as Hey Man (1996) or Get Over It (2000) failed to follow up on that success. - Linda Ryan

Faster Pussycat

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 09:28:08 -0800

The hokiest "party hearty" band to ever take the Motley Cure. On the strength of the single "House of Pain," the band's second album went gold, but as was the fate of many Glam Metal acts, audiences lost interest in them during the '90s. Androgynous male singers in Hollywood boutique attire no longer held the appeal they once had for us. Except for Marilyn Manson, of course. - Chad Driscoll

W.A.S.P.

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 13:43:07 -0800

Fervent in their embrace of debauchery and wanton sexual excess, WASP's albums are too often mere tirades of lewd potty humor set to glitzy metal riffs and cock-rock heroics. Nonetheless, these binge and purge musical miscreants know how to rub rock's sordid underbelly with one hand while giving the bird with the other to anyone who doesn't approve. Acting as if he could channel the ghosts of W.C. Fields and Nero, guitarist Chris Holmes earned his election into the pantheon of alcoholic saints by his consuming mind-boggling amounts of vodka in Penelope Spheeris' Decline of Western Civilization Part II - The Metal Years . The brilliance of that one performance nearly eclipses WASP's Spinal Tap-meets-Poison musical output. - Chad Driscoll

Kix

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:51:00 -0800

With Ratt's Out of the Cellar opening the door, Kix were part of an early '80s pop/glam metal scene that eventually led to the iron-fisted grip hair bands assumed on MTV and the radio in the later part of the decade. Their third record, Midnight Dynamite, appeared at the right time and featured all the right moves, yet it didn't achieve the massive commercial success albums by peers Poison, Motley Crue and Ratt were enjoying. Some speculated that Kix were simply victims of market saturation, although band members claimed much of their L.A. strip stage act was stolen by Poison. In 1988, the band finally broke the charts when Blow My Fuse produced a No. 11 hit ballad, "Don't Close Your Eyes," a warning against suicide. Their popularity was short-lived, however. Amid legal troubles with Atlantic, their next album, Hot Wire (East West), did not appear until 1991, at the height of the grunge explosion, when glam and hair metal had plummeted out of fashion. Despite bearing forth perhaps the band's best single yet, "Girl Money," the album went nowhere. A live album and last gasp $how Bu$ine$$ followed to no fanfare, and the band called it quits in 1995. - Mike McGuirk

Autograph

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:39:21 -0800

Autograph's short-lived time in the limelight came in 1984 on the merit of "Turn Up the Radio," the hit single off their debut album. The vocal harmonies were as slickly produced as Def Leppard, the guitars as tough as a tiger (on a leash), the pants as tight as tourniquets. And the hair, the hair -- so meticulously kinked and permed! Rapunzel, eat your heart out! - Chad Driscoll

Bad English

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:55:27 -0800

Ace Frehley

Sat, 5 Sep 2009 11:20:38 -0700

The KISS years without Ace were dark, sad times for fans of Hard Rock: the band suffered severely without his powerhouse rock guitar. With the exceptions of Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix and Eddie Van Halen, Frehley has inspired more air-guitar sessions than just about anyone. After departing from KISS in '82, Frehley took his time to make a solo album, presumably coasting by on his fame. His solo albums debuted in the second half of the '80s (not including his '78 KISS cash-in/solo debut), and Frehley jumped right in with the Pop Metal and Hard Rock bands so prevalent at the time, with mixed results. But no other guitarist had the resume and meaty blues grit Frehley had developed with KISS -- not to mention dolls, a series of comics in their honor, and Frehley's penchant for flammables inside his guitar while he played (Spinal Tap and Hendrix excepted). Thankfully for everyone involved, KISS and Frehley were reunited on MTV Unplugged in '95, with a world tour and Pepsi commercials to follow. - Jessy Terry

Nelson

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 11:04:03 -0800

Bret Michaels

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:51:10 -0800

Y&T

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 10:31:14 -0700

San Francisco's Y&T never achieved mainstream fame with a breakout album or single, but it wasn't for a lack of talent or effort. Since 1976, they've released more than ten albums of technically masterful Metal. All the high-end guitar soloing can be off-putting unless you're a guitarist yourself, but if that's the case, Yesterday & Today Live (1990) is required listening. - Chad Driscoll

Ugly Kid Joe

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 09:38:23 -0800

Kingdom Come

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 09:38:28 -0800

Saigon Kick

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 12:08:47 -0700

Steelheart

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 09:28:09 -0800

Bulletboys

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:51:37 -0800

These shaggy, shirtless Pop Metal peacocks eked out a couple of MTV hits just before the final bell sounded for glam metal. Singer Marq Torien was almost better known for his David Lee Roth stage act than his raspy, sleazy singing style. This is for anyone looking to relive their days of Sunset Strip squalor. - Chad Driscoll

Britny Fox

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:38:53 -0800

Despite some of the dumbest lyrics in human history (see: "Save the Weak"), this ridiculously tarted-up Pennsylvania glam-metal foursome made consistently rip-roaring music in the late '80s and beyond. Fun fact: Rob Sheffield once suggested they might be hiding Kajagoogoo in their hair. Recommended: Britny Fox, Bite Down Hard, The Best of - Chuck Eddy

Steel Panther

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 11:03:40 -0800

T.N.T.

Fri, 23 Jan 2009 13:51:20 -0800