The Birth, Death & Rebirth of Hair Metal
Posted: January 1st, 2012 | Author: admin | Filed under: Feature story | Tags: cinderella, def leppard, george lynch, guns 'n roses, hair metal, l.a. guns, ratt, slash, the darkness | No Comments »
Round And Round
Background note: This originally ran as a cover story for “Guitar One,” in 2004. My inner 13-year-old was totally stoked to interview the era’s guitar heroes.
“Round and round! What comes around goes around! I’ll tell you why… why….” –Ratt’s Stephen Pearcy
Dig. Many thought it was dead and buried. Many even danced on its grave and packed on a few extra shovelfuls of soil by way of coolness-affirming jokes (e.g., What do you call a hair-metal guitarist without a girlfriend? Homeless). Hair metal… poodle metal… glam metal… cock rock… party rock… the names alone are pejorative enough, describing everything about the ‘80s pop-metal sensation except the music itself. What was so wrong about a musical movement that incited us all to have nothin’ but a good time, preferably while soloing along on air guitar, wasted? Read the rest of this entry »