Are These HAIR METAL's Heaviest RIFFS?

-Sometimes Hair Metal takes me by surprise and kicks my butt. A few of these bands aren't considered "Hair Metal" to everyone but they all appeared on a list somewhere. ;)
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[@danieldrfeelgood9243]

And that's why "Glam Metal" is actually my favourite Metal Subgenre. Glam Metal had a lot of very popular and extremely comercial songs and that's why many people, from metal community, can't stand anything about this genre but when you listen to the whole albums instead of only comercial songs, you realize that these bands really had virtuous musicians that created a lot of heavy songs and awesome and fast riffs.

[@MetalShopSteve]

The entire Slave to the Grind album is one of the era's heaviest. Should be considered a metal classic.

[@Gamevet]

Monkey Business was pretty hard and heavy.

[@darrellgrant7615]

I listen to Monkey Business at least once per week.

[@BlaspheBeast]

That riff sounded like thrash metal.

[@davidparavati9201]

SKID ROW!!!

[@micway71]

Slave to the grind was not even the best from that album, either. However, it is/ was one of their best! In a darkened room, wasted time and quicksand Jesus solid AF! Let me add Pyromania is arguably one of the best albums of all time!

[@LanceCorporalHawk30]

W.A.S.P is another band some people regard as ‘just hair metal’ that had some absolutely savage songs and riffs

[@DerrickthePinecone]

Agreed. Underrated band, ever there ever was one!

[@sophiabranam6875]

Their first album was the epitome of heavy metal.

[@Nissardpertugiu]

They never were Hair metal. It was too heavy and Too dark. Some early stuff if you go back even to Demos and look from Sister era and Pre 1984 Wasp.., musically, vocal screech , Look . You can see a lot of things that influenced some extreme metal. In fact there s a lot of death and black metal bands that were influenced by Wasp

[@kalebthornsberry870]

You can't be Hair Metal and also have an album called "The Headless Children"

[@DragonboltBlastter]

First 3 wasp albums hair/glam as f8ck! Take a look at the production... Then compare tharmt with headless children which is a heavymetal masterpiece

[@GuitarSlinger2112]

I've got a soft spot in my nostalgia for that Uncle Tom's Cabin riff. Heavy and melodic. Great combination.

[@qtheband751]

I love everything about that song. The vocal melody. The subject matter. It wasn’t just another song about getting laid.

[@Sithspit_Rogue]

That was my top choice from this list; when I listen to "Uncle Tom's Cabin", so do the neighbors.....and theirs.

[@StevenEveral]

So many people sleep on Whitesnake. John Sykes's version of Still of the Night is filled with badass guitar playing.

[@alexandrebegin5099]

fool for your loving has such good guitar playing on it too!! white snake is the least cheesy hair metal band in my opinion

[@m3m3sis]

people forget that it started as a supergroup of that time.

[@duanevigue1603]

John Sykes is one of the best "unknown" guitarists that ever lived. Blue Murder, Valley of the Kinds? Come on.

[@RalphWBrunner]

@@duanevigue1603 Yep, plus Tygers of Pan Tang, Thin Lizzy. Killer player.

[@cango5679]

@@duanevigue1603 thunder and lightning - Cold sweat :-) Lizzy

[@buzzcrushtrendkill]

I love 80's metal just for the riffs. Loudness - Crazy Nights, is worth mentioning.

[@StevenEveral]

MZA!

[@Aven_Andersen]

@@StevenEveral MZA

[@jimmyvonesh3188]

That Shotgun Messiah album "Second Coming" has TONS of great heavy rock guitar riffs. The album kinda got forgotten over the years but it's all killer, no filler.

[@doggystylez10]

Harry K Cody was an unbelievable shredder!

[@donosborn9899]

Their first album wasn't a slouch in the riff department either.

[@alexs8202]

Dude you aren't kidding! One of the best hair metal bands to be honest. How do you feel about the band Wildside and also XYZ Hungry album? Those tones were killer!

[@rubicon-oh9km]

Kip Winger is ridiculously unknown apart from the few hits with Winger. The man is so incredibly talented as a player, singer, writer and producer.

[@Cincinnatus1869]

He's a good bass player too

[@deadNdivine12]

Station!

[@scottwallace1]

Tragically underrated, totally agree. And I would have gone with ‘Time to Surrender’ myself for this list.

[@brycepagey888]

It Helps that he has Reb Beach with him though. That man is no slouch

[@joemartucci4786]

Played with Alice Cooper for a while. Very good bass player.

[@robbnasinovish]

Slave to the Grind is a sneaky heavy album and start to finish is a super underrated album. Keep the great videos going, you rock 🪨!!

[@kevin2400]

That’s my brother’s favorite skid row album

[@Edgeof666]

That album transcends hair-metal and glam rock. It's just a great Metal record.

[@ChristianCMC]

Yes. The title track is heavy as fuck. Also Monkey on My Back.

[@ryanbwags]

Skid Row got lumped into hair metal because of the ballads they had on their first album. Almost everything after that was much heavier and would have fit fine in any metal show.

[@HurtCow]

@@ChristianCMC Monkey Business.

[@drew3865]

The whole Slave To The Grind album from Skid Row was an ass kicker.

[@kenwilliams9539]

I was living in Ft.Lauderdale at the time of them recording this album and met them through friends..but ya..STTG still stands up today.

[@justinroberts7291]

First time ever saw Pantera was opening for Skid Row on that tour. Dime was wasted and had his pants down around his half the set, mooning the audience. Good times.😂

[@drew3865]

@@kenwilliams9539 my buddies band used to close their last set at last call with Get The F*ck Out. LOL

[@davegordon6943]

That's a heavy album. I was blown away when I heard it.

[@scottkretsch4887]

Yep. Skid Row for the win.

[@WessStewart]

That whole Winger album had tons of badass riffs. Also, Ratt is awesome.

[@fishnpitstaknnames4699]

Micheal Sweet has some of the best metal riffs of the 80s. Gonna have to do a part 2.

[@cathykushner8903]

I'll second that motion.

[@houstonradford3519]

Yeah man for sure disappointed to not see any Stryper in there!!

[@lukegamer5328]

Stryper kicks ass for 37 years, they are amazing musicians, my favorite band too.

[@AudaciousAce1989]

“The way” is one of my favorite songs. Killer guitar and actually relatable lyrics both unlike nirvana, IMO. Emphasis on OPINION

[@dsmith9626]

"Crying In The Rain" by Whitesnake is a slow burner heavy ass riff Iommi probably loves when he hears it. John Sykes is so criminally underrated.

[@sevenmarbles]

Yeah yeah all good, but John S. has never been underrated. Everyone agrees his work with WS is crazy good. We all know he got screwed over the release of 1987. Unfortunately Blue Murder was abysmal.

[@chrisman3965]

Go watch Ben Eller's video he made a couple days ago about Sykes. Good stuff. 👍 kzbin.info/www/bejne/qXjEaYx_rr9-gbM

[@DillonBerkley]

@@sevenmarbles Blue Murder was abysmal? I fucking love the debut album. Valley of the Kings is an amazing song that showcases that John could play AND sing.

[@lionchamp29]

blue murder was awsome

[@Nissardpertugiu]

Well John sykes never wrote that riff as he wasn't in the band yet

[@MetalJesusRocks]

Wingers Pull album is so good! Also surprised to see the Bon Jovi deep cut!

[@baphometazrael1892]

Hun I miss the cooking videos you did years ago those were SO fun! With drunken master paul!

[@travisspaulding2222]

Winger had some pretty heavy riffs Madeline, believe it or not, is a heavy song if you listen to the guitars. Beavis and Butthead kind of gave them a bad rap, lol.

[@joshbhargava1042]

Winger was an awful cheesy band , but you can’t deny the guitar skills of Reb Beach. Dude is ridiculously good.

[@markbunton9919]

Love that you have tunes represented from some of these bands albums that came out after their peak sales but are excellent albums. Cinderella’s Still Climbing, Slaughter’s Back To Reality, & Winger’s Pull are all excellent listens full of top notch tunes. They just get overlooked because the were released during the grunge years

[@guyvizard549]

One of my favorite Winger jams is "Battle Stations," from the Bill and Ted 2 soundtrack. ...and I'm sure everyone here knows Nuno Bettencort from Extreme. Great guitarist.

[@RJRonquillo]

Love this, I haven't heard that Shotgun Messiah riff in forever. I would have chosen Whitesnake's Judgement Day - it just gives me stank face every time .

[@ryant3600]

There's heavier riffs on that Second Coming album than Heartbreak, but still cool that you even did Heartbreak.. Shotgun gets over looked when Harry Cody was and is an incredible guitarist

[@echtigren8188]

R.J. you're a brilliant guitarist, I always try to catch your live streams to learn from you, keep goin dude!

[@OgamiItto70]

You get stankface every time you play the guitar...

[@nahnotsomuch2292]

@@ryant3600 I think they get overlooked mostly because they basically changed styles with every disc they put out, lol. First album was full on glam. Second was just raw & dirty. The E.P. was more punk than anything and Violent New Breed, as much of a shock to the system as it was, was straight up industrial. But, every album was damn good.

[@Rikrik1138]

For Whitesnake I might have also gone with Bad Boys. There’s some great speed riffing on that one.

[@leothered5732]

Mr. Scary is one of my favorite instrumentals 🎸🔥 BTW all the songs you played are some of my favorites, especially: Still of the Night, Dr. Feelgood and Slave to the Grind

[@JoeGator23]

George Lynch was and is a metal bad ass shredder... kzbin.info/www/bejne/j6LMmqSqmaijqqc What's cool is that he now has YT video tuts so you can learn this one for yourself. Good luck, though.

[@raysugarbelly258]

You should check out Forever Never’s cover of Still Of The Night ;)

[@StevieDamnit]

Shout at the Devil is one of Mötley Crüe's heaviest songs...and my personal favorite.

[@bigmike2149]

Live Wire 🤘🔥🔥🔥

[@michaelshultz1590]

The looks that Kill, Kickstart my Heart.

[@sophiabranam6875]

Bastard was always really heavy to me.

[@celica49]

@@bigmike2149 thats the direction I would have gone.

[@davidgann3251]

Ten seconds to love

[@robread-jones3698]

What a trip down memory lane - pretty much the soundtrack to my youth. I absolutely loved Cinderella, great band who didn't get the recognition they deserved. Same for Ratt too (it was nice they got a mention in season 1 of Cobra Kai).

[@doggystylez10]

That last Cinderella album Still Climbing is fantastic but the timing of its release was unfortunate

[@piercingimmortality4907]

That entire Shotgun Messiah album is nothing short of amazing Harry Cody was a very underrated guitarist.

[@ChristianF15cher]

All three SM albums were awesome.

[@tima6549]

Harry Cody was no joke! I remember when I first saw them on MTV when Shout it Out video was released. Me and my buddy are like holy sh!# who in the hell is the guitar player? He was incredible.

[@trendmassacre8423]

The Violent New Breed album is so over looked, and my favorite one from them at that!

[@but-why.]

fun fact: Tim Skold went on to play with Marilyn Manson

[@machupikachu1085]

@@but-why. And KMFDM

[@joshdoesstuff763]

The recent content you’ve been making is a breath of fresh air!

[@TheArtofGuitar]

Some people keep asking me why I'm putting out so many. It's because I'm all set up for it, loving the process, and I keep getting ideas for more. :)

[@rifaif7119]

Yes I am really getting back into the new content from this channel.

[@TazerGames]

@@rifaif7119 how exactly you do this ?

[@m3m3sis]

couldn't have said it better.

[@m3m3sis]

@@TheArtofGuitar keep pushing mate, even tho I'm into modern tech deth, these bring me back to my initial inspirations to grab an axe.

[@The1nsane1]

The riff in Poisons Looked What the Cat Dragged In is very similar to the main riff in Sabbath's Megalomania, very similar.

[@clintonjames8322]

Megalomania has plenty of cowbell too!

[@glenkepic3208]

Pretty rad. Uncle Tom's Cabin was a great track and Slave To The Grind was a good disc. Great playing and guitar switches,,,,the V was especially cool.

[@Metallian81]

The record company screwed over Jani Lane so bad with Uncle Tom's Cabin. Forcing Jani to come up with a hit, which was Cherry Pie, ruined him. Just search out Jani's reaction to writing Cherry Pie if you haven't seen it. I felt horrible for the guy, likely a big reason he died. He was such an amazing talent, Dog Eat Dog is a killer album!

[@njldst2007]

I am a Thrash metal guy by heart, beyond the obvious Big 4, love me some Testament, Overkill, Exodus, etc. And one of my most favorite bands period is Winger. I once asked Alex Skolnick on a post of his that he'd taken along with Reb Beach at a guitar based event about whether a lot of metalheads found it weird that they hung out and he said yes but he didn't care because he thought Beach was a great guitarist regardless. Also, as great a song as Junkyard Dog is, a lot of songs in their 21st century output (yes, Winger continue to make music into the 2020's) have heavier riffs I feel, even off the album right after Pull, their opening track Right up Ahead is an example of one of them.

[@muzikman40]

fuck yea overkill is one of my favs bands from back in the day to present.. so many heavy riffs.. one of my favs of top my head.. is gasoline dream...

[@MichaelMartin-eh6wl]

Slayer and Skid Row, or at least Sebastian, hung out quite a bit when both bands found themselves at the same festivals. The whacky tobacky being their bond.

[@tima6549]

Reb Beach is a phenomenal guitarist and so very underrated! He's played in Winger, Whitesnake, Dokken, and his own band Black Swan. He's one of the goats for sure!

[@roguelead72]

Gary Holt has said that not only would they go to hair band shows to pick up women(makes sense, women generally didn't go to Exodus shows), but they would secretly listen to Lynch and DiMartini.

[@roguelead72]

@@MichaelMartin-eh6wl Same with Dave Sabo and Scott Ian.

[@georgebanks4360]

This is a great list. I might have chosen “Kiss of Death” from Dokken and “Lay It Down” from Ratt but that’s just my opinion. I love when a hair metal band goes heavy. I still remember being surprised y how heavy “Solution” from Tesla’s “Bust a Nut” album was when I first heard it. Ahh … memories of the good old days.

[@tima6549]

Bust a Nut was a great album. Action talks was a pretty heavy song too!

[@thedakotahurley]

Tesla!! 🤘🏻🤘🏻

[@JesusManera]

I love "Never Use Love" by Ratt. That riff is in Balls To The Wall territory, but with perfectly placed pinch harmonics!

[@ColtraneTaylor]

You're in Love comes first for me.

[@RB-ey5se]

I'd have picked She's Got Everything by White Lion, IMO their most pulverizing riff over Slave to the Grind which was not really a hair metal album at all.

[@partydeer1640]

Personally I think Wild Side by Motley Crue is also one worth mentioning

[@DeadShred9]

Yuck dude ?? Try Shout at the Devil , Red Hot , Bastard , Too Young To Fall In Love ect. all better Riffage the Wildside IMPO ...

[@MrStkrdknmibalz9799]

When I found out Rod Morgenstein played drums in Winger, I figured they must be a legit talented band. Rod was the original drummer in Dixie Dregs with Steve Morse...an absolute guitar monster. The whole band were virtuosos really. It didn't mean I was gonna go out and buy a Winger album, not really my cup of tea musically...but still. You're not gonna see Terry Bozzio playing with Smash Mouth, ya know?

[@katskillz]

Well Terry Bozzio played with Missing Persons before then ; )

[@OIP_1]

check out some reb beach videos! guy is an incredible guitarist

[@mysocalledknife07]

@@katskillzMissing Persons was awesome! Their first album, at least, expertly captured the new wave sound of its era (ca. 1982) and threw a little hard rock in there, for good measure.

[@zw_ncfc]

Hair metal gets so much unnecessary disrespect. Some of the greatest musicians of all time have been in hair metal

[@nckhed]

True, but it was their collective girly image that warranted all the criticism. They all lived in excess, anyway, and ended up burning themselves out. They had their time like anyone else.

[@SelectCircle]

That's true. Talent is about the same across the board of genres. Just depends on what kind of lifestyle you want to lead.

[@itookallthenames]

Every genre has good and bad bands

[@occams_chainsaw]

I think the reason why is because metal purists, then and now, saw hair metal as a commercialization of metal, which goes against metal's whole "mantra" of being an insular, anti-consumerist music intended to be unsavoury for those who can't handle it.

[@crissfelix95]

TRUTH!

[@alistairclifton1286]

Dude...Winger is so damn good...Pull came out just little too late...also Beavis and Butth4ead screwed them. Reb is a beast of player. This is what I grew up listening...was 12 in 89 lol

[@nckhed]

Wow. KZbin actually deletes posts containing the word "butthead" (unless you use quotation marks). See... first they wanted to ban racial slurs. Now look where it's going. This is why freedom of speech should not be regulated. Gotta take the good with the bad.

[@barrygerenski6259]

WINGER IS LAME!!

[@nckhed]

Someone else referenced "Beavis and Butthead" (without quotations) and their post wasn't removed by KZbin. They really pick and choose who can say what. 🤦‍♂️

[@robertcross5794]

yeah, I was thinking the same thing about B&B and Winger. B&B wore Metallica and AC/DC t's while the uncool fat kid Stewart was wearing Winger.

[@guitarhero01234]

@@nckhed or perhaps everyone knows at this point knows that KZbin is run by a bot that doesn't know what it's doing, but sure, complain about how you can't use the N word on a guitar video

[@shane2613]

Great stuff. For Dokken I would have gone with "Don't Close Your Eyes" and with Ratt I would have chosen "The Morning After".

[@thejeffrandallproject6470]

That Warren solo on The Morning After is just ear piercing awesomeness!

[@stricknine8623]

@@thejeffrandallproject6470 Warren is easily the best player of this type of music in my opinion. He could do the Lynch style (that is saying a lot) and also do the more swaggering style lead play. He was VERY slippery player and unique.

[@Lymbe06]

The riff of “If I was your mother” by Bon Jovi better be in here! I always have fun playing it for people who have no idea and then watch them lose their minds that it’s Richie Sambora lol.

[@standepain]

Winger's Battle Stations off of the Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey is pretty badass. Was so shocked when I saw them listed in the credits when I first heard the song. Maybe Beavis and Butthead were a little too har on Stewart.

[@johncrafton8319]

Uhhh...heh-heh. "Hard-on". Heh.

[@kwantoon]

Kip Winger's image was a little on the cheesy side, but. Winger's lineup in the 80's was a powerhouse of musicians, Reb Beach is one of the best rock guitarists that ever lived. His writing and playing sets him very much apart from 99% of the guitar players of that era.

[@ByTorSnowDog65098]

I have always been a Winger fan. I highly recommend checking out their "Demo Anthology" 2 cd set. All of the working versions of their songs without all the glossy production sound like different songs. Even the poppiest, fluffiest stuff has a certain amount of grit.

[@ghigboss3612]

Winger is awesome!! Great live band too!

[@JesusManera]

Yep even a song like "Seventeen" - rightly criticized for its cringeworthy lyrics - you can find the instrumental version on here and musically it's amazing. The subtle prog flourishes throughout all their songs, even including their most commercial hits like that one, are often just disguised by the commercial songwriting. But that's a sign of good musicianship - it's much harder to make something difficult sound simple, than it is to make something sound difficult.

[@andjustjizzforall]

@@JesusManera yeah the lyrics of Seventeen are pretty stupid (and kind of creepy) but the instrumentals are awesome

[@endlesstwisties]

I know most of their songs since they were left in disgrace but not those demo CDs . I will try to listen those songs

[@seansutube5791]

Clint Spencer, I agree. Great double set. These guys still play circles around most.

[@crazyman8472]

A quick track list, for future reference… Heartbreak Blvd. - Shotgun Messiah Mr. Scary - Dokken Roulette- Bon Jovi Foolin’ - Def Leppard Still of the Night - Whitesnake Dr. Feelgood - Motley Crue Slave to the Grind - Skid Row Easy Come Easy Go - Cinderella Lack of Communication- Ratt Look What the Cat Dragged In - Poison Take Me Away - Slaughter Uncle Tom’s Cabin - Warrant Junkyard Dog - Winger 😎

[@97VobraOwner]

When you have someone that is as talented as you who can reproduce and isolate these tracks so accurately, one can really get a sense of how awesome some of the music from this genre truly was. Excellent job !!

[@xziolpsyxe9573]

You need to make a follow-up vid called "The Softest Thrash Riffs" for sh*ts and giggles lol

[@TheArtofGuitar]

Testament The Ballad haha

[@nathanielzuranski]

"Heartbreak Blvd" is such a good riff, especially that intro scrape.

[@MichaelMartin-eh6wl]

True, but I wouldn't peg Shotgun Messiah as "hair metal". Their third album, (maybe second?", was pretty industrial actually.

[@xdreampcs8554]

Harry Cody was a beast

[@brandonarnett3860]

Tim Skold is their guitarist, he went on to Marilyn Manson and a GREAT solo project.

[@MotleyDan]

@@brandonarnett3860 Skold was the bass player on the 1st and 3rd albums and sang lead vocals on the 2nd and 3rd also. :)

[@Robbie28]

Ya can NEVER go wrong with Hair Metal Riffs. We all love the music we grew up on, but Hair Metal really hits home with me.

[@JK-nd1oo]

Awesome vid and great picks! The only thing I'd do differently is going with almost anything from Cinderella's first album for anything 'heavy' - particularly Nothin' for Nothin', which is my fav deep track from them.

[@XxXAceGXxX]

Kid ego's intro riff is my fav riff ever. Has it all. That heaviness, the slowness to give you that metal frown, pinch squeals for the "weeenow" every riff needs. Perfect

[@gusgiesel]

Glad to see Dokken in there -- George Lynch has so many powerful riffs in the early albums. Great video, thank you.

[@cheby56]

Check out Lynch Mob. George was on his game.

[@TheLucidDreamer12]

George Lynch, Twisted Sister, and Pantera are some of the few hair metal musicians that managed to not get sucked into the excesses of their genre

[@tristramcoffin926]

The biggest one missing is The Way by Stryper. You can laugh at them for being a christian band if you are still 13 but that riff is as much of a face melter as anything from the period. I was really glad to see Roulette recognized. I have long said that is the heaviest song Bon Jovi ever did.

[@zZWolfyZz]

Youve effectively picked some of the best songs off my cassette collection from when I was a kid lol thanks for the flash back I might have to dig out my walkman and all my tapes now

[@HannahCope88]

🔥🤘🏻🔥🤘🏻LOVE these riffs! Pink Jackson and Crackle Charvel making another appearance! 🤘🏻 Would love to see a video like this for Heavy Glam Rock Riffs, 'Set Me Free' from Sweet is pretty awesome. Usually considered one of their heavier tunes. Congrats on 689k Subscribers!

[@roguelead72]

Set Me Free was covered by the Thrash Band Heathen, it qualifies.

[@vajohnaldischarge]

Sweet rules

[@eddierayvanlynch6133]

"Action" is still my favorite 🤘😎

[@corporalclegg914]

the Osmonds ‘Crazy Horses’ & Winger tunes introduced by Mike have opened ears & eyes. I never saw or heard those coming. Thanks, Dude. Nice Work

[@keithbartholomew9433]

I thought I was the only person that had ever heard of " crazy horses" by the Osmonds lol.... So much different than their usual stuff... But it's still the Osmonds lol

[@dkp2112]

The entire Pull album by Winger rocks. They were much heavier after they ditched the keyboard player and went on as a three piece.

[@NikkiNexo777]

I was in high school from 83-87. Although I was into Rush, Motley Crue, and most other hair metal bands, My friends would bust my chops because I liked Winger. As a drummer I loved Rod Morgenstein. All of the musicians in that band are extremely talented and Reb Beach had one of the heaviest guitar tones back then. Kip knew what he was doing when he chose the musicians for that band.

[@doublestrokeroll]

I saw Rod give a clinic back in the day with a handful of people. Was pretty fun. He prepared handouts for everyone and showed us some modulating time feel stuff. It was cool.

[@stoneagedjp]

Great to hear Shotgun Messiah. Was obsessed with that opening riff and had to wait to hear it again on the radio before I found out who it was. Second Coming saw a lot of time in my car's CD player.

[@cc_1983]

Good to hear Winger getting a shout out - the stuff they did from pull onwards is like progressive hard rocks They never get enough credit and still rock these days

[@monkeyzuul7808]

Blame Beavis & Butthead.

[@MagnumMuscle1000]

Kip is a fantastic singer and a really good bass player. He's a phenomenal all around musician.

[@doug1929]

I agree Charlie. Also Reb Beach the lead guitar player is a great great player, very underrated and has played with Dokken, Whitesnake and many other projects.

[@larrmad7919]

@@monkeyzuul7808they need to sue fargin Mike Judge! Seriously

[@thortz]

Love the riffs the list! Those my fav bands in the 80'and 90's! Nice compilation sir!

[@troystaunton254]

Uncle toms cabin is an absolute monster, the album was supposed to be called uncle Tim’s cabin, the single was uncle toms cabin. But a record executive said he wanted a single like love in an elevator. So jani lane went home, wrote cherry pie in 5minutes flat and in his words “turned his career into a joke” it’s a shame that cherry pie defines an amazing song writer like jani lane.

[@kingbrutusxxvi]

Def Leppard should have been "Wasted", "Me And My Wine" or literally ANYTHING before Mutt Lange took over the band and they released the "Pyromania" album. The first two albums were awesome. Pete Willis was such an overlooked, underappreciated gift to early '80s guitar playing. Cheers.

[@robertovalenzuelapickrodt8615]

Lady Strange

[@somedaysometime]

me and my wine was a lange produced track but i know what you mean. the breakdown riff of “On Through the Night” is one of their heaviest moments, or “When The Walls Came Tumbling Down,” but at that point they weren’t hair metal, just normal hard rock/heavy metal

[@ct-ys3mo]

No No No would be my pick

[@soundhealer6043]

100%.

[@atranfanatic]

@@somedaysometime Dude such an underrated track and album in general! And On Through The Night is my favorite Def Leppard album! Just check out Answer To The Master's awesome guitar solo! And the album closure "Overture"

[@MikeDijital]

That winger and Slaughter album really surprised me in how low down heavy they were when I first got them, and both are must haves if you can find them cheap.

[@peck-oo5kr]

I know the guitar player personally that’s on the slaughter album his name is Jeff Blando

[@drew3865]

Opening riff to Electric Boys All Lips and Hips after the sitar part is another great heavy hair metal riff.

[@CarnivorousMower]

Despite what a lot of people will try to tell you, the word "metal" definitely belonged in hair metal.

[@Kommander_Rahnn]

I've never heard anyone say that.

[@FUCKINGENIOUS]

@@Kommander_Rahnn I have

[@plack_benis382]

Well then it would just be hair. Which is on your head, wouldnt really work as a genre name

[@MathiasSteenJensen]

Yeaup, hair metal always was "metal" no matter if people argue otherwise. The thing that confuses people is that compared to modern standards of "metal" hair metal wouldn't qualify. However, this shouldn't disqualify hair metal from being considered metal. Heck even Metallica would be considered very soft metal compared to modern standards.

[@TheRockinDonkey]

Back in the '80s, every band on this list were classified and marketed as "Heavy Metal". The Overton Window moved over the years to the point where most of these bands are no longer considered as such. I had an amusing conversation with someone about 5 years younger than me and I had to explain this to him. He didn't get it, but he didn't live through the era. This likely stems from the fact that there were guys in the '80s that didn't consider anything lighter than Metallica as "metal". But, back then, Metallica and Megadeth were considered "Thrash Metal" or "Speed Metal".

[@giladbaruch147]

Heaviest Glam Metal songs: Burn In Hell - Twisted Sister The Tourture Never Stops - W.A.S.P The latter was even covered by death metal bands

[@siddharthdeshmukh8118]

Great picks! Another band that comes to mind is Spread Eagle, especially their song 'Broken City'. Keep rockin'!

[@KenMagee]

Spread Eagle, Sweet F.A., And Every Mothers Nightmare!

[@EyesoreJr]

Switchblade serenade.

[@kevinsiegel]

Only 2 misses on the video... 1. Warrant's "Hole In My Wall" off the Dog Eat Dog album is way heavier than "Uncle Tom's Cabin". 2. You should listen to the opening riff of Motley's "Power To The Music" from the self-titled CD intead of "Dr. Feelgood". That entire record is WAY heavier than anything they did before or after. It was just rejected by the fans because John Corabi was on vocals.

[@slickRhythm13]

Came here to see if anyone else would recommend anything from the Crue’s Corabi album. Sounds like an entirely different band. Was going to say “Power to the Music” or “Uncle Jack” but that whole album is sick.

[@StephanReed1]

So happy Look What The Cat Dragged In was on here! I always found it to be oddly (& satisfyingly) heavy.

[@smdeluca603]

Def Leppard’s first album has got some of their heaviest riffs

[@tobins6800]

WASP would be a hard band to pull their heaviest riffs from.

[@joshweinberg6321]

I'd suggest "Mean Man" or "King of Sodom and Gomorrah"

[@glammetalhardrock8286]

Here some more for the list: Tesla - Don't de rock me White Lion - Hungry Dokken - Tooth and Nail Wasp - Inside the electric circus Stryper - The Way Loudness - In the mirror Def Leppard - Desert Song Skid Row - Riot Act Yngwie Malmsteen - You Don't Remember I"ll never forget

[@andiusrex]

Dude, I don’t have anything to add other than your drums sound fantastic. Good job!

[@johncrafton8319]

For the Grunge set, I think you missed STP's "Wicked Garden". That riff really got my attention when I was turning up my nose at "those dirty hippies" in grunge.

[@DocRaunchy]

Good call. I thought the same.

[@rjc7289]

I was pleasantly surprised at how heavy the riffs on Winger's 3rd album were, considering how slick-sounding and keyboard-laden their 1st 2 records were. It almost sounds like a different band.

[@bernieconatser1028]

Awesome video. I love the rapid fire switching of songs, but especially guitars! Some serious eye and ear candy there. That red V 😍😍😍!!

[@wadestipp1833]

Lay it down by RATT has an absolutely killer intro riff and chorus. Also agree with someone who mentioned Stryper had some pretty heavy sounding stuff, like to hell with the devil and soldiers under command. Simple to play but sounded really heavy.

[@masoncarlisle363]

Finally, a shout out to Slaughter's Back To Reality album! "Dangerous", featured on the film The Wrestler, is literally one of their best songs.

[@BrianWood74]

Always been a fan of Do Ya Know, so much fun to play on drums.

[@linesinthesand97]

Lots of great songs on that album

[@chuckbowie5833]

Great selection! I do think WASP was criminally missing though (Harder faster, Shoot from the Hip, A.N.I.M.A.L.)

[@michaeldoerksen2841]

Ya WASP was arguably the heaviest of the 80's hair metal scene

[@vgaportauthority9932]

@@ozzzy3z946 By the internet's reckoning it was a glam metal band. Kinda don't feel like that works for WASP either. They were kinda doing their own thing. Midway between Alice Cooper and glam rock.

[@nickrustyson8124]

Look What The Cat Dragged In is my favorite for 2 reasons, one the beat has good pace, and two the lryics are just mood

[@joew2512]

Love this video!!! Some of these are my favourite songs from the respective bands featured!!

[@Shafferhead]

I do still believe Winger is the most complete band of musicians of all time. Their stuff is and was always so intricate.

[@lobsterwhisperer7932]

The hair-metal years produced some of the finest riffs in rock music...extremely underrated rock-era.

[@ricopaxton]

What a great first sunday morning (Vienna) with these! Thx, man! Suggestion for a video: Most Jazz Riffs and Solos of Metal bands

[@michaelaviel62]

Nice to see you standing up and rocking out a bit ⚡

[@gmoulder4567]

That Winger riff is killer! Too bad that album didn't get the recognition it deserved.

[@TWISSTR]

Yes! Ratt is the best hair metal band ever imo! Lack of Communication is a great choice!

[@Matt-tw3oz]

great picks in there. i have always thought that particular Winger tune was monstrously heavy... and i agree with the other comments that they never got their due. it was unfortunate. Reb wrote some really crafty riffs and leads.

[@kevinotoole885]

Ive been into heavy metal since I was in my early teens towards the end of the 90’s and slave to the grind had its place in my collection, great album!!!! I know it’s not a riff but I used to love the guitar solo in get the funk out by Extreme !!!! Final note, that poison album cover that popped up had me howling!!! Great vid!!!

[@WAFFLEMAN38]

I've been looking for more bands like these since watching Peacemaker. Definitely gonna check out the ones I hadn't heard of from this!

[@rocketblooom]

Leppard and Dokken definitely. RATT and Cinderella ad well. I was going to say Mötley but everyone and their mother knows who they are

[@LlorracTN]

I’m glad to see you know Bon Jovi’s first album. His first 2 albums are so unheard of but they’re both classics in 80’s rock to me

[@robertguy6220]

Funny you say that, those are the only good albums imo. Everything else sucked.

[@Lurch3553]

@@robertguy6220 they went to shit without Richie Sambora

[@doublestrokeroll]

@@robertguy6220 Totally disagree....In my opinion, aside from Runaway, (which none of the band even recorded) and maybe in and out of love, most of the songs on the first two are mediocre at best. Slippery is when they actually figured out how to write decent songs with solid structures and unique hooks. Plus the production was light years better. Different strokes I guess.

[@isaacleedrums]

This video is pretty much my most favorite thing to listen to these days.

[@nacho5828]

Maaaaan your mix´s sounding KILLER! Great Job!

[@EastyyBlogspot]

To be honest i like a lot of Glam metal bands, the more commerical stuff got the air play (and i like quite a lot of them) but on the albums there were a fair amount of metal

[@patstuker]

I'll never forget when I met Rod Morgenstein 😤 He is such a chill and cool dude

[@hitekrednek66]

Man, you just killed alot of my fav 80's music on two instruments! GREAT job sir! 👏 man give me some more please!

[@johnprescott1764]

That Winger Pull album is sooo underrated and unknown. Played that riff for a friend years ago and he had no idea.

[@jeffs4760]

You have much to learn about Winger my friend. Their music will grow on you as well as the riffs. Kip and Reb are outstanding musicians.

[@JesusManera]

Winger are the most unfairly criticized hard rock band of all time. I get it - Kip's ballet moves, cheesy videos, the TV Hits pin-ups, and some awful lyrics on the first album. But beneath all that, they were pretty much a progressive hard rock band (yes even the first album!) packaged up for MTV. Incredibly talented, amazing riffs, subtle time changes and progressive flourishes all over the place. Kip is a classical composer, Reb is one of the best guitarists in hard rock, and Rod is a prog drummer who does side projects with guys from Dream Theater and Steve Morse. I feel like when metal fans rip on Winger, they are usually just jumping on the bandwagon because they were cool to hate. "Pull" wasn't a diversion for them, that was the real Winger without the influence of the record company molding them for MTV.

[@doublestrokeroll]

yeah....but that cheesyness was the point! They were a great band with talented musicians but they were also a group who came later on in the scene and basically followed a record company marketing formula for their image. And we as fans knew it. I personally didn't really care that much but had my limits with Warrant and, in my opinion, their generic song writing, being a personal example. Other people viewed Winger the same way. Unfair or not much of that blow back from metal audiences was rooted in feeling like we were being SOLD something "manufactured" and it was to a large degree. I mean shit....when you have, (hate to pick on warrant again but it is what it is), bands like warrant pulling out synchronized boy band dance moves in their videos, it all became a bit much. The hate wasn't all "just because it was cool". There were reasons....lol.

[@endlesstwisties]

Most rock&metal fans are just some brainwashed vegetables. Ignorants talking about things they don't know and repeating the bs is poured in their brain without having a clue about the facts, musical education, personality or any taste at all .

[@tubehound69]

When it got to the late 80s it was just as much if not more about image as it was the music for a lot of bands. I thought of the bands like Warrant, Winger, and Poison as Poser Rock. They had some catchy tunes, but they were all at the end of era. Winger tries to say that Stewart from Beavis and Butthead wearing a Winger shirt didn't help their image any, but that image was fading by that time anyway. Warrant's Cherry Pie was the epitome of that overall image in my opinion. I hated everything about that song and the video, and it opened my eyes to how silly the hair metal genre had become. If not for the late 80s hair metal bands, I wonder if the Grunge scene would have became what it did. Grunge didn't kowtow to the image the record companies thought they could sell, and instead put their efforts into their music and not the image, and I think that is what the fans went searching for when the hair bands reached epic silliness and predictability.

[@dday07]

The beginning and end of ''Madalaine'' still gives me chills

[@deadmaninc9864]

I still love heavy metal & thrash metal, but lately i kinda mellowed out & start blasting a Hair Metal/Glam Metal with incredible Ballads in it...and i love it

[@BrianABowlin]

Man, you nailed it! Love all of these songs!

[@TheLostSquadron]

Slave To The Grind immediately came to mind when I saw the title. Skid Row really trying to break out of their stereotype and is was pretty awesome.

[@slayerfern]

Many people believe that the term hair metal has prevented any kind of resurgence for this type of music. It is such a damaging term. Can't we just call it 80's hard rock?

[@masterofpuppets777]

no

[@SelectCircle]

Own it. Call it what it damn well is and stop being a puss. THAT is rock attitude.

[@markbranch682]

That would be cool. Especially since so much of it isn't metal.

[@nileshnagare3114]

Glad you pulled winger, this band is one that best bands out there.. especially those mixed by Mike shipley

[@captaincapitalism264]

Awesome choices, thanks for posting. "Lack of Communication" by Ratt is my personal favorite from these choices, stellar riff.

[@EastyyBlogspot]

Recently heard Scorpions :China white I thought that was very heavy and I always thought scorpions as a rock band

[@evandavies2536]

Wow man! You mixing is insanely cool! Could you please do tutorial on how you mix the drums or just the songs in general?? Thanks! 😄

[@TheArtofGuitar]

Thanks for noticing. Things just seem to be coming together here. Just a lot of trying over and over and making little changes.

[@eddieespx]

Still of the Nights breakdown section is so damn good

[@Swanlord05]

Your playing has gotten worlds better.... Congrats... Your learning your notes and scales!

[@TheArtofGuitar]

What are you talking about???? haha

[@Swanlord05]

@@TheArtofGuitar u sound good man