Tired Of 80's metal

[SATAN]

I grew up in the 80's along with a bunch of my friends and we listened to stuff like Motley Crue, Skid Row, Guns' n Roses, Poison, Ratt, and so many others. But lately I can't stand to listen to it. Granted my band plays some 80's material which is fine but to do a whole night of it would bore me to no end. As I grew older my taste for different styles grew as well. My question is to all of you, who is sick of hearing 80's metal. I for one am but if I had to listen any 80's metal, I would listen to bands like Salty Dog, LSD, Dangerous Toys, Killer Dwarfs, Johnny Crash or stuff that wasn't overplayed and overhyped. Please give me your input.

[Mistress_DB]

I hang out with the wrong group of guys to be tired of 80's rock. Although if I didn't have to hear Sweet Child O Mine for the next year I'd be a happy person!

[tonefight]

I think too much of anything and you tend to get tired of it, We do a variety from cheesy pop, newer pop, disco, classic punk, newer punk and yes a few '80's hair metal so we don't get burnt on a particular genre. We were avoiding classic rock for a while but we pulled some out saturday and I enjoyed it again!!!!!!

[bassist4life2004]

80s music has its ups and downs for me. The vocalists are good, but some are ear piercing. The shredding is nice tho, and its good to escape to that in a world of 4 chord supermen that are coming out.

[wiskerbisket]

man i been recording metal mania on fuse tv w/ my TVO for like a yr now waiting for The killer Dwarfs video...

[Daxman]

Wow...Well, I play in HF1 let me tell ya, the music gets old...I do like it though, but it does get old, I know what you mean...But when something pays the bills as well as this does and brings in the people like we do, it makes it worth while.

[Banned]

Wow...Well, I play in HF1 let me tell ya, the music gets old...I do like it though, but it does get old, I know what you mean.

Think you've got it bad, Daxmeister? I've got three words for you:

SWEET

HOME

ALABAMA

[Daxman]

LOL!

[bassist4life2004]

Wow...Well, I play in HF1 let me tell ya, the music gets old...I do like it though, but it does get old, I know what you mean.

Think you've got it bad, Daxmeister? I've got three words for you:

SWEET

HOME

ALABAMA

A-fuckin-MEN brother. People think that just because you are doing acoustics, that you automatically have to know that or freebird, or die. I for one choose death...

[f.sciarrillo]

Understandable. I been on a quest to find 80's groups I never heard of. I been finding quite a few, but the old Dokken, Queensryche, and Def Leppard still end up being played.

[Bert|Evil]

Like most of you, I grew up in that era. Unlike most, I was way to wrapped up in the technical bands (Queensryche, Fates Warning, etc.) and really heavy bands (Slayer, pre-Black Album Metallica, etc.). So, the common hair metal bands at the time had a tendency to annoy me, except for having a sample in my glove compartment when a chick would be there or the hair metal bands that I was in (and they were very long nights). A LOT of us had to pretend to like it for those reasons.

Circa 1997, I became disgusted with the boring music that was coming out, and started to notice that the "popular" hair metal bands weren't so bad after all. Hell, Crue is a group of ingenues compared to today's norm. So, while I never stopped liking my Queensryche and Slayer, I've made plenty of room for Slaughter and Skid Row.

And yes, I'd agree that those lesser known hair metal bands are absolutely priceless. Celtic Frost, Killer Dwarfs, Shotgun Messiah, Tora Tora, Bang Tango, Tyketto, Lillian Axe, Love/ Hate... all bad ass and I never get enough of them.

[Jim Price]

I tend to agree with the consensus here, the overplayed 80's stuff gets old with me, I'm pretty burned out on Bon Jovi, Poison and Guns'N'Roses.

I still very much like a lot of the deeper 80's stuff that didn't get overplayed, like Saxon, deeper Accept (Russian Roulette and Restless and Wild), deeper Krokus, Metal Church, Trust, Helix, Icon, Q5, Anvil, Kickaxe, Adam Bomb, and of course, Queensryche. Also any of the more obscure NWOBHM (Marseilles, Heavy Pettin, Diamond Head, etc.) still appeals to me.

By the way, I'm listening to the new Saxon and Metal Church albums currently. Both smoke!

[Victor Synn]

Wow...ok. Controversial topic as far as I'm concerned. First of all, anyone that knows me knows I love the music we play. It runs in my blood. And as such, I love ALL of the music, not just the obscure or the overplayed. I'm a fan of the big hair movement as a whole. As a musician, do I get tired of PLAYING some of the songs we do? Sure, who doesn't get tired of playing some songs? Do I get tired of LISTENING to those songs? No, not at all. Here's where I get myself in trouble...my opinion is that if you can't say you don't like it all, then you can't say you're a true fan of 80's big hair stuff as a whole. I'm hardcore like that in my love for the music. But again, being a musician and playing in the markets we do, you are going to have those people that only like the best of the best from that era. That's the nature of the beast, but we do have as many people that approach us about doing obscure stuff as well. Ask Daxman how many times we've been asked to do WASP or Dangerous Toys. Countless times. We just now put Toys in our set and I'm working on the rest of the band to get some WASP in there soon. I'd love to do a night of half well-known stuff and half off-the-beaten-path stuff, but unfortunately, that formula won't work. You need to play Jovi, Poison, G 'n' R, and Def Leppard if you do the type of music we do. To answer the question, though, am I tired of hearing the overplayed stuff? No. Because all it shows me is that those songs have staying power even after 20+ years of play. That should mean something.

[tornandfrayed]

Vic, I saw the video for "Blind in Texas" from WASP the other night. Cool song, great hook, stay away from the video though. I think that the 80's bands were better then people give them credit for. I am tired of "Stairway to Heaven" and "Sunshine of your Love" but that does not mean that I don't like them. If you listen to the CD's from that time you can find some priceless gems, like "The Pina Coloda Song" (kidding).

I also agree with HF1 guys about people still being attracted to that style and those songs, I have seen their crowds!

[orangekick]

I tend to agree with the consensus here, the overplayed 80's stuff gets old with me, I'm pretty burned out on Bon Jovi, Poison and Guns'N'Roses.

I still very much like a lot of the deeper 80's stuff that didn't get overplayed, like Saxon, deeper Accept (Russian Roulette and Restless and Wild), deeper Krokus, Metal Church, Trust, Helix, Icon, Q5, Anvil, Kickaxe, Adam Bomb, and of course, Queensryche. Also any of the more obscure NWOBHM (Marseilles, Heavy Pettin, Diamond Head, etc.) still appeals to me.

By the way, I'm listening to the new Saxon and Metal Church albums currently. Both smoke!

Damn JP, I think I might have a heart attack if I ever heard anybody launch into some Metal Church!! I tried talking some guys into doing something off Blessing In Disguise, but I was shot down...

[ZappasXWife]

ZW sick of hair metal too, and I will probably get bashed for this but the only thing from that era I still enjoy is the Judas Priest album Sad Wings of Destiny. Esp. Victim of Changes...also getting very tired of Lynyrd Skynyrd. One worse than Sweet Home Ala: Gimme 3 Steps!

[Staceman]

Circa 1997, I became disgusted with the boring music that was coming out, and started to notice that the "popular" hair metal bands weren't so bad after all. Hell, Crue is a group of ingenues compared to today's norm. So, while I never stopped liking my Queensryche and Slayer, I've made plenty of room for Slaughter and Skid Row.

That's pretty much what happened to me, but on a much grander level. Not only did I originally avoid the hair bands in the 80's, but I was also against what we termed "speed metal" back in the day. There were various reasons, among which was the fact that my favorite band, Black Sabbath, never got the respect it deserved. People were always bashing Sabbath, even clueless Ozzy fans that had no idea that that's where he came from. Even the thrash bands of the era would never cite Sabbath as an influence, and especially the speed metal heads themselves were anti-Sabbath. It wasn't until the mid 90's that it became cool to be a Sabbath fan again. So I guess you could say that I held a grudge against anything that was popular.

Then in the late 90's, I finally opened my mind up, started listening to the stuff that I avoided in the past, and was actually kinda pissed that I was such a closed-minded prick in the 80's!

[Bag]

"That's pretty much what happened to me, but on a much grander level. Not only did I originally avoid the hair bands in the 80's, but I was also against what we termed "speed metal" back in the day. There were various reasons, among which was the fact that my favorite band, Black Sabbath, never got the respect it deserved. People were always bashing Sabbath, even clueless Ozzy fans that had no idea that that's where he came from. Even the thrash bands of the era would never cite Sabbath as an influence, and especially the speed metal heads themselves were anti-Sabbath. "

Overkill LOVES Sabbath and has always freely admitted it. They used to play a part of "War Pigs" in the middle of their closer "Fuck You" all the time. Also on their album of cover songs, "Coverkill" they do "Never Say Die" and "Changes." That's right,"Changes!" With a bass replacing the keyboards, it's pretty cool!

I've always loved Sabbath and I liked the heavier "hair" bands. But Poison & Bon Jovi and that type stuff I just couldn't get into. I was more into the Priest, Maiden, Dio, type stuff. BTW, anyone else of hear of a band called "Spread Eagle?" That was a kickass band that I freakin couldn't believe didn't make it big.

[ToonaRockGuy]

Wow...Well, I play in HF1 let me tell ya, the music gets old...I do like it though, but it does get old, I know what you mean.

Think you've got it bad, Daxmeister? I've got three words for you:

SWEET

HOME

ALABAMA

I'll go ya one more, G-Funk: Three Words:

FREE

FUCKING

BIRD.

There ya go. I have to disagree personally with the point of the post. One thing that I think a lot of people miss out on is that most of the bands that are popular today (Staind, Nickelback, Three Doors Down, Three Days Grace, etc.) absolutely SUCK. The list of good modern bands (in my opinion) is short: Black Label Society, System Of A Down. Yep, that's it. Most other bands are just formulaic and weak. Here's the breakdown of most of today's modern rock:

1. Guitarists and Bassist tune down to at least C, preferably B.
2. Singer writes totally depressed and suicidal lyrics (ie Aaron Lewis)
3. Band records dark, haunting song, has #1 hit, goes on tour, sells millions and becomes rich. Meanwhile, Brett Michaels is playing bars.

Guys in the 80's could PLAY. There were so many good bands back then that were so instrumentally talented!

Here's an example: Everyone raves about Dream Theater now, and rightfully so. They are totally a bad-ass band with some MONSTER players. But nobody ever talks about one of the best "pound-for-pound" bands ever assembled: David Lee Roth circa 1985-1989:

Vocals: DLR
Guitars: Steve Vai
Bass: Billy Sheehan
Drums: Gregg Bissonette

If you are a musician, you know that there was nobody around instrumentally who could dream about touching that band. It took a band like DT to come around to rival it.

I guess in my own rambling, needing-some-more-coffee way, I'm saying HELL YEAH, give me GNR, VH, Danger Danger, Poison, RATT, and all of it. It's just more FUN than today's music.

[DMFJ03]

Yeah!!

Don't forget Hanson!! Those chicks rocked!

Er...wait....they're guys? You don't say. Hmm.

Oh well. Hanson 4 Life!!

[ToonaRockGuy]

Yeah!!

Don't forget Hanson!!

You are SUCH a dork.

[DMFJ03]

Even I have to have some fun.

[Staceman]

Overkill LOVES Sabbath and has always freely admitted it. They used to play a part of "War Pigs" in the middle of their closer "Fuck You" all the time. Also on their album of cover songs, "Coverkill" they do "Never Say Die" and "Changes." That's right,"Changes!" With a bass replacing the keyboards, it's pretty cool!

I've gotta check that album out!

Since I didn't listen to much speed/thrash, the only thing I went by as far as thrash metal musician's views toward Sabbath, was the metal magazines of the time. They'd have interviews with various people, always asking who their influences were, and they never mentioned Sabbath. Nowadays, they always mention them. I sometimes think Sabbath was a bad word in the 80's due to all the lineup changes, and thus no one wanted to be associated with them in any way.

Anyway... I agree with what most here are saying, in that there sure aren't many bands nowadays that have the level of talent as older bands. As far as metal goes, I do want to mention Iced Earth, they're a good example of a 90's-era metal band, that keeps the traditional sound, and talent.

Another thing that is mostly ignored, is newer material by older bands. For example, Deep Purple is still putting out great albums. I'm sure there are others that I can't remember at the moment. But since they're no longer promoted very well, hardly anyone gets the chance to hear about their new releases.

Getting back on topic... the song Jenny. Man, isn't that just played to death? I think every single band I've seen in the past 3 months has played it. Hell, my band even plays it! LOL. At least there are a few that put their own twist on it.

[bassist_25]

*shrugs*

With the exception of some prog stuff like Rush, Dream Theater, Spock's Beard, ect., Rock in general is a rather simplistic form of music. It's based on simple meter, simple harmony, and simple melody. Many musicians have built careers on the pentatonic scale, while a few have been as so bold to be inovaters by venturing into mixoloydian and dorian territory . Hell, most of it's based on the tried and true power chord, a set of intervals with no other harmonic content than a root and perfect 5th (not even a 3rd to delineate whether if it's major or minor). Rock's limited by its own musical vocabulary, so it only stands to reason that its only a matter of time until a certain genre of it becomes bland and formulatic.

Personally, I'm always amazed at, for being musicians, how ineclectic people are at this site. I couldn't stand to listen to one genre of music for a long time. I'm always searching for something new that excites me.

Edit: Damn, after reading this post, I sound all self-important and elitist.

[songsmith]

Oh, man. Appetite For Destruction was a brilliant meld of punk sensibility, blues-rock guitar, and metal excess... truly groundbreaking, truly pissed-off, a magnum opus. From there it was a quick ride to Crappytown. I absolutely HATE everything GnR did after AFD, and most especially, the worst crime they ever perpetrated, Patience. By the time the cheesy exercise in self-flattering masturbation, Use Your Illusion, came out, Slash had emerged as the only guy in the band who hadn't started JO'ing in front of a mirror. I realize that's a rather strong critique for a laid-back kinda dude like me, but I think history will bear it out.

Black Sabbath in the 80's really was kind of a cartoon show... there were bright spots, of course, but from the time Dio left until they reunited for Ozzfest, the band was a revolving door, with Iommi as the only true fulltime member. It was all very Spinal Tap-ish, and to this day, everybody looks at their output during the 70's almost exclusively, which, of course, was amazing in it's simplicity, yet also in it's depth and power.

I believe what killed "hair bands" is also what made them so popular: Girls.
Teenage girls did not buy many early-80s hard rock... they dug Prince, Madonna, and Micheal Jackson, and dancey-poppy stuff that teenage girls dig. Then a really cute guy named Bon Jovi sold a buttload of records, and record company weasels saw a profit-machine in the making. Now don't get me wrong, this teenybopper hysteria that had young chicks taking off their tops had it's good points, too. Local clubs were maxed out with crowds of young hotties, and therefore, young guys. Anyway, it got so you couldn't get the brass-ring (a recording contract) unless you had a dreamy lead singer, a stylist, and choreographed stage moves. Guys still bought records, but it was driven by girls, who demanded fashion with their crunchy guitars. Poison wore more makeup than most of their audience, and had top designers make their clothes. (I myself did the makeup thing, like many local metal bands, but it was more based on Motley and Teeze than on Boy George. That lasted about 6 months.) Anyway, girls buy lots of records, but.... they are also extremely fickle. They move on to the next big thing very quickly, and without mercy. Remember Trixter? Big, big hit, then gone.
Hair had it's time, like grunge, numetal, rap metal, and boy bands. I listen for nostalgia reasons... I still listen to Priest, AC/DC, Saxon, Accept, Metal Church, and Riot with my fist in the air! To the Power and the Glory, Raise Your Glasses High!!!----->JMS