The MOST Underrated 80s Hair Bands That Could Have Been HUGE!

[@alexmbrenner]

Badlands and Shotgun Messiah are so underrated. Incredible guitar playing!

[@seanxduffy]

Jake E Lee.... awesome, I absolutely love shotgun Messiah, but they changed so much from album to album, that they had no consistency. As a fan of Harry K it wasn't an issue. What. Was their pet name " bandwagen Messiah"

[@jaysonraphaelmurdock8812]

That just shows that they didn't need to conform to what people thought they should do and they still put out three killer albums.

[@Rib13Bass]

Badlands was more than just Jake E Lee......everybody in that band was a superb player....

[@stevenxowens792]

They are but Tim Skold went on to be legendary with Manson and KMFDM.

[@BloomingBriars]

@@Rib13Bass one of the best concerts I have been to. Jake is in my top 5 guitarist.

[@Trevor5tone]

Steelheart was an 80s band that didn’t come out till the 90s really. One of the best collective groups from then in skill and writing. The guitar player wrote some of the best solos and riffs ever in the genre and the singer could be argued as the greatest rock singer of all time.

[@cmyrho]

This. And don't discount Frank DiCostanzo.

[@mrstrypes]

Oh, yeah! Steelheart was one of my favorites, for sure! 🔥🔥🔥 (That voice!!!)

[@GrantSabo_jj]

Steelheart vocals are unparalleled!

[@conorknott2683]

The vocalist from the band did the vocal parts for Mark Wahlberg in the movie Rockstar

[@citadel9611]

@Trevor5tone, Agreed.

[@watcherzero000]

Yeah I loved Dangerous Toys - Junkyard - LA Guns - Faster Pussycat - Circus of Power, Saigon Saloon, RattleSnake Shake, Zodiac Mindwarp and the Love Reaction - Raging Slab - Hanoi Rocks -The Dogs D'Amour - D'Molls - Vain - Kix - Tigertailz - Jetboy - Bango Tango . There are so many I could keep going but man I miss those days that was the happiest time in my life living in LA from 1986 to 1992.

[@walterwhite4366]

KIX!!!

[@dariobusetto751]

Giant and Dann Huff were One of the most underrated bands and musicians... Really liked them!❤

[@ndog5150]

Dann Huff was and is a monster player!!!

[@ForrestAguirre]

Fastway and Zebra are a couple that come to mind as extremely under-rated.

[@814Taylor]

I like Junkyard song Simple Man also

[@Tat2Dragons]

@@814Taylor, you will 😁

[@Rocknrollmaxxx]

Fastway is insane ! Crazy good singer and Fast Eddie Clarke, what's not to love ?

[@garmisra7841]

"Say What You Will" by Fastway was the cassette of choice blasting through the T-Top of car owned by Mulleted guys in Zebra Stripe workout pants and high-tops, usually named Tino Martino! What blows my mind is that the singer in that band (Dave King) eventually went on to form Celtic Punk Rockers, Flogging Molly! Talk about a left turn!

[@travismiles5885]

I saw that Zebra is still doing some shows.

[@KeithDouglasAmplified]

Whoa! I wrote & recorded #5!! Thx so much for the Tora Tora love, Robert!! 🙏🤘🎸⚡️

[@bennyF52]

Love your band , Tora Tora…. Definitely underrated… still in my gym jam rotation. Phantom Rider was easily the best song you guys did, and btw…. Why doesn’t your band get mentioned when people talk about Dirty Honey???? They definitely have some Tora Tora DNA in their sound.

[@typedeaf]

Awesome. Tora Tora had some great songs.

[@robcny74]

Bulletboys for sure was so underrated... that groove on smooth up in ya .. and thc groove are so fire..

[@jasoncraft2135]

Spread Eagle. Another band that just caught the tail end of the hair band Era. Awesome album.

[@frankhughes5702]

The Jake e Lee band Badlands didn't make a big footprint in the 80s but they were good! Got to see them live in 1989 and Jake was outstanding!

[@BloomingBriars]

One of my favorite concerts

[@tonyfrench2700]

I saw them in Atlanta and they were opening up for The Moody Blues (if you could imagine that) they were awesome in my opinion, but all of those snooty people with their wine and cheese baskets didn't care about the music and they were talking as LOUD AS THEY COULD 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

[@frankhughes5702]

@@tonyfrench2700 Yeah the Moody blues is a odd match. I saw them open for Tesla and Great White. Tesla was the middle performers but most people came to see them.

[@tonyfrench2700]

@@frankhughes5702 I saw David Lee Roth, Cinderella, and Giant Giant blew both of them out of the water, Cinderella blew DLR away and Steve Vai was with Dave then too 😱😱

[@nomarty]

Saw them at Cardis in Houston. Great concert! Life Sex and Death opened for them. If you haven't heard of LSD, treat yourself. They blew our minds. Stanley!!!

[@toddvinson634]

Robert Mason was the singer for that 2nd Lynch Mob album, he is currently singing with Warrant. You touched on many of my favorites! I'm gonna add a baker's dozen (see what I did there lol please don't block me lol) 1 XYZ 2 Cold Sweat 3 Spread Eagle 4 Babylon AD 5 Cry Wolf 6 Every Mother's Nightmare 7 Leatherwolf 8 Saigon Kick 9 Lillian Axe 10 Shotgun Messiah 11 Blue Murder 12 Keel 13 Badlands

[@rodhamm8484]

Leatherwolf, Lilian Axe, Shotgun Messiah, and Keel are the ones I know from that list. All great bands that need exposure to anyone who loves 80's metal.

[@adamkane7513]

Great list. I owned albums by every artist mentioned apart from *Cold Sweat.*

[@rontheguitarcollector]

Giant was one that never really got their due. Very cool band. Also, Blue Murder was a John Sykes project after he left Whitesnake. Killer band!!

[@jsedbe0624]

Giant…definitely!

[@appalachianpatriot1796]

The Believer intro……dude. Last of the Runaways was the only album I bought in another country.

[@rticle15]

I dont remember hearing Giant on the east coast until 1990. I think that was the issue with a lot of these. Great bands, late break.

[@d05wtt]

Giant, to this day is still one of my favorites out of the ‘80s. The 2nd album was good too. I still listen to both.

[@eric050232]

Babylon A. D. Is always near the top of my list for overlooked 80s hard rock. The production, the songs, the playing. Their debut is great top to bottom

[@shaneomack5018]

Bang go the bells

[@waltercohee9946]

Good call brother

[@bobyeager6104]

Bullseye 🎯!

[@howardrice8533]

That’s the band I was gonna mention. The debut is great.

[@Overlorde79]

And their work before the first record is even better

[@bobbradley12101962]

So many underrated bands from the 80's. Steel Heart, Britny Fox, Kix, LA Guns, Fastway.... The list goes on and on.

[@thomasshelton3889]

I'm guessing you're about 50-52 years old like me because you picked the exact band's that I would

[@baronhelius4596]

Loved Kix back in the day.

[@iowareddneck]

I cant go very long with out playing Kix Girl Money

[@jredder2004]

Kix was great! Britney Fox… sorry, wouldn’t include them

[@GregHallArt]

@@baronhelius4596 the singer formed a band called Funny Money, They're pretty good! I really like the 'Stick it!' album.

[@rftc500]

Lynch Mob is absolutely one of those rare gems of a band that would have been HUGE if they hit the scene 4 years earlier. I am jealous of everyone who does not own the first two records and is checking them out right now because of this video.

[@planetcorey]

Great list! I would add Badlands to this list too. First two albums are excellent. Great vocals and Jake E. Lee on guitar.

[@jaysonraphaelmurdock8812]

Voodoo Highway blew my mind.

[@planetcorey]

@@jaysonraphaelmurdock8812 Yeah, for sure. Seems to get better as I get older too.

[@chrisconnelly5538]

Heaven’s Edge is very underrated, check out their 1989 debut album. Another great band that arrived late to the party. Reggie Wu does some killer guitar work on that. They also recently released a new album too.

[@gerardan2]

Sadly people never even heard of them unless they're from the Philly area. I got to watch them open for Kiss and I believe Slaughter at the spectrum. They were and still are awesome!

[@dkmcbigsley]

That debut album! I darn near wore out the cassette

[@Jfulcher357]

Dirty Looks is one of my favorites. The guitar tone is awesome.

[@diegor4404]

Hardline was a pretty cool band as well with Neal schon in guitars. And of course XYZ had killer guitar riffs

[@MrSpeed-lt8gr]

Enuff Z’nuff got a raw deal in my opinion. The record company packaged them as your typical late 80’s rock band but they had more in common with Cheap Trick than with Poison. They were great band with great songs.

[@davidlambert3892]

I really like their first album.

[@tatoler38]

STRENGTH

[@presmasterflash7555]

I used to do some volunteer stuff at some festivals with Eric Gast. Great guy, great charity work. Hope he’s doing well.

[@treybennett35]

My band just opened up for Enuff Z' Nuff and last year. Love those guys, Chip was great.

[@thekitowl]

10 is probably my favourite.

[@keithbond9423]

Lillian Axe. Their second album, Love+War from 89 is still one of my top all-time 80's albums. To my ears, their music was more sophisticated than much of the more popular stuff. I do think they were also victims of coming late to the scene. Psychoschizophrenia is a killer album, but it came out in 93 after grunge had taken over. Bonfire is a German band virtually unknown in the USA. Their first 2 albums are the only ones commercially released in the USA back in the mid 80s, but they never gained traction here. But I fell in love with them. Their third album was also great. 4th not so much, and after the guitarist and singer left, I didn't keep up with their music, though I think they are still active. Ready 4 Reaction is to this day what I consider one of the best opening songs for an album. It was on their second album Fireworks. Check it out. Gotthard is a Swiss band that has killer chops. Never heard or seen anything by them here in the US, but I happened to be in Switzerland in the early 90's and discovered them. I bought their debut album and still love it. I guess they're a 90s band, but the music sounded like 80s. I think they might be still active, but I only know that first album.

[@Mokesio]

blue murder is so underrated

[@antoniopavicevac-ortiz8886]

So true. Considering John Sykes wrote Whitesnake 87's album.

[@lowenbad]

I just heard “Jelly Roll” a couple days ago. That song is so good. It should be a classic rock staple.

[@brokl26]

No band is underrated or under appreciated. It’s simply not happening. Each band is right where they deserve to be because of songs or effort. Bands can try to write songs that appeal to a larger audience or tour more to the point they force themselves into the social consciousness. Bands like Rush and KISS did just that. Also don’t blame the labels either. It’s the band’s responsibility to promote themselves. I believe a band can put the effort in and become bigger than they are. Another point would be to not ride on another bands coattails or jump into a genre that’s already over saturated. Come out strong and original. Underrated is an overrated word. Calling something underrated is a simple way to show a person’s lack of originality and critical thinking ability. Under appreciated is the same. Underrated is the most used comment on KZbin.

[@treff9226]

True to some degree, but there are artists who are victims of abysmal promotion and bad timing, these are the two main reasons for music that would have been much more popular, not being heard by the numbers of music fans great music deserves! You said promotion is the bands responsibility, but these bands under the radar, simply don't have the money or resources to put that together. It's a story that's been told time and again, label drops band or label folds and another artist is left twisting in the wind.

[@treff9226]

Gotta say, you're damn straight about the over use of word "underrated" on KZbin and elsewhere.Folks get too excited or passionate about musicians they love and then seem to think that their own fondness for artist isn't shared by anyone else, or isn't shared by enough people. I've seen artists like Metallica, U2, The Clash, New Order mentioned as underrated! Peeps are loco, living in a vacuum!

[@villageofbettsvilleohio2023]

I absolutly love Giant. They are still producing albums. The last one was incredible and still staying true to their original sound.

[@michaelp.4811]

The guitar riff to Slaughter's "Wild Life" is more complicated to play then it sounds. Tim Kelly is very under rated. That song sounds great even without vocals.

[@am777creative]

Tim Kelly was fantastic! RIP Just saw Blas Elias with Transiberian.

[@stoicscorpio3838]

The song probably sounds BETTER without the vocals. 😂

[@AudaciousAce1989]

Great list. I knew most of these but now I have a few more to know! Im surprised XYZ wasnt on here for firehouse. Firehouse was pretty big in the early 90's. XYZ's 2 albums can go head to head with any of these bands on the list. Marc Diglio had guitar playing that were bluesey, heavy, poppy, flashy and swingin all at the same time

[@GrantSabo_jj]

I was coming here to say this! Especially that second album when they got into that bluey groove!

[@AudaciousAce1989]

@@GrantSabo_jj Oh yeah!!! Marc is back in action now. Im super excited for the upcoming album they are working on

[@terrencemonahan4630]

One band that was way underrated was Lillian Axe. Stevie Blaze was a hell of a songwriter! Check 'em out if you haven't yet.

[@ripper2087]

Lillian Axe has some amazing songs. Truly underrated.

[@Fleghorn504]

Steve Blaze has an Iron Maiden Tribute band (Maiden La), saw them a few times. Great Music.

[@gogokrista]

I got to see Tora Tora and Dangerous Toys open for LA Guns. Love them both and love that I was a teenager in the late '80s and got to see so many bands live. It was a good time all of the time.

[@Katrina-xl1fb]

Tora Tora is still doing a few shows and sound great and they have put out some new songs on the streaming platforms the last few years and are working on a new CD. Don't overlook their last two albums, Revolution Day and Bastards of Beale too. Oh and Anthony Corder their singer, I found out has put some acoustic stuff on the streaming platforms that sound really good and started a You Tube page @AnthonyCorderOfficial I joined and found some new stuff. Love Dangerous Toys too!

[@kevinfoster6383]

Stryper, Michael Sweet and Oz Fox have some killer riffs and solos, both guitarist are underrated.

[@christopherharris3229]

And Stryper just keeps getting better with the newer releases also. Fantastic band altogether!

[@Part-Time-Pope]

Agreed, but they probably got too big for this list.

[@BneiAnusim]

Yes, they are! My favorite Stryper record is AGAINST THE LAW!

[@jugalo_deathcock7317]

Saw them earlier this year, and they absolutely destroyed!

[@ebalmes]

Ya. Stryper was huge, so they can’t be on this list. And they’re my favorite band.

[@Shadowwolf7774]

Krokus was very underrated! Screaming in the night and Our love. Vandenburg Back on my feet again and Burning heart are great songs from a great band.

[@oldskolacura9798]

Back on my feet again was the baby's with John Waite

[@Shadowwolf7774]

@@oldskolacura9798 same song title different song look it up!

[@Shadowwolf7774]

@@oldskolacura9798 don't argue with the 80' music God. Lol

[@fredwolfmusic]

for me its Cinderella , long cold winter is a flawless album with killer riffs and solos

[@MrSpeed-lt8gr]

Another one of those great bands who I think weren’t marketed properly. They had more in common with 70’s blues rock as opposed to glossy and polished 80’s hard rock.

[@Plexi417]

Hands down the best band of the genre, I put them above even G’n’R (who were obviously great). Hard to call them underrated though, they were huge.

[@JuliusMas-bz6my]

Cinderella were never underrated.

[@GLHS592]

Cinderella wasn't underrated in the 80s. They were very popular on MTV. I feel like they may be now. People have forgotten about Cinderella. Tom Keifer was super talented as a singer, songwriter, and riff player. He isn't your typical 80s shredder on the guitar, but he has a great style, while singing. Cinderella is one of my favorite bands.

[@uhill74]

I would say Cinderella has some underrated albums after their popularity faded…Still Climbing is awesome

[@DCMcNeilJr]

great list brother. I think I saw every band open for a major headliner back in the day. It got under my skin that Y&T never got as big as some of their contemporaries.

[@TennesseeFrank]

Armored Saint and Loudness were both pretty good. Also, had to edit to add Metal Church and Testament. 😊

[@jimmywilliams794]

Yeah Giant ! I first heard them on Arsenio Hall and loved them immediately. Great stuff

[@fflat5150]

I don’t know if White Lion was technically underrated by definition, but I can’t help feel that at least Vito Bratta deserved more recognition than he got. Amazing guitarist. 🎸

[@MrSpeed-lt8gr]

I think Vito was the absolute best guitarist to come out of that decade. Just an amazingly fluid player.

[@Mojo19692]

Yes they had a few hits , but for most of White Lions career they were over looked for way to long .

[@chrishartzler9877]

​@@Mojo19692formed in '83 debut album in '85 .. I can't agree they were "late" .. I'm not dissin Vito bratta tho .. he n Jake E Lee n George Lynch all had such smoothness and incredible tone

[@rodhamm8484]

Pride is great album for air guitar!

[@Mojo19692]

White Lion wasn't underrated they had 2 hits with wait and when the children cry ???

[@jodibainbridge2343]

Fastway, MSG(with Robin McCauley), Killer Dwarfs, Helix, Cats in Boots, Icon, Harem Scarem, Leatherwolf, Obsession

[@mikeivey8471]

I gotta say one of my favorite underated 80's bands has got to be Bullet Boys !!! Such a cool groove based Rock Band !!! I'd love to see you do a video on them at some point ?!

[@ajbrown5247]

Yes!!! That first Bullet Boys album was a personal favorite!

[@adrianlay8505]

Bullet Boys hugely underated.

[@travismiles5885]

Hang On St. Christopher is a cool jam. Great groove.

[@garyskadra5236]

I like every song off "Za Za".

[@jeffouellette9946]

​@@adrianlay8505 What killed them is like they only had one album I remember when the MTV awards.

[@jaymccoy3915]

Dude, back in the day when I lived in Denton Andy Timmons would set up at the Fry Street Fair with a coffee can. If you put a dollar in you could request any tune. If he didn't know it he'd give up all the cash in it. Never saw it happen. Steppenwolf, Michael Jackson, Beatles... and he was just a super cool dude that would just talk music with you when he was just checking out the fair. Love that dude!

[@MrSpeed-lt8gr]

Another band that I loved was Sleeze Beez. Screwed, Blued and Tattooed was a great album.

[@itscoolhesmybrother.6701]

Sleeze beez yessss

[@rodhamm8484]

Powertool was my favorite album of theirs. It should be standard on anyone's playlist for 80's style metal.

[@chrisr6710]

Vicious Rumors - Digital Dicator is one of my favourite 80’s albums, still listen to that now, awesome shredding. Crimson Glory were also good, but they kind fizzled out after a couple of albums.

[@chiba131]

Glad to see TNT made the list. They should have been huge. Good call on Electric Boys! That whole album is fantastic. King’s X remains the most underrated ‘80s band of all time. And the ‘90s too.

[@ajbrown5247]

Kings X came out in the 80s, but they weren't an 80s band at all. They had their own sound, and to me still can't be classified other than just absolute greatness.

[@larrysmith580]

I fully agree with you regarding KingsX💎🌟

[@hinduismwithpremananddasbhagat]

The first time I heard Firehouse I fell in love. Their sound is ultra sheen 80's today, but underneath the gloss their first albums are great power ballads. They would change their sound dramatically later on, but still rock.

[@g_man2177]

Love your choices, especially Y & T. I would include Bonfire, Lillian Axe, Blue Murder, Badlands, Lord Tracy and King's X. One more I would like to add...Scatterbrain.

[@chuck672]

Props to Kings X

[@iwilrage]

Nice list

[@boqueronsocarrao696]

Thank God, at last someone mentions Lillian Axe.

[@MrBluesMessiah]

Lord Tracy I can't get behind. Their first (maybe only) album was incredibly fun with a few filler tracks but mostly solid. They definitely had something different going on, but Ugly Kid Joe kinda took that humor rock thing and I don't think Lord Tracy did enough to get off the ground. Blue Murder though - my God John Sykes defined guitar in that period.

[@DookyShoes1]

Scatterbrain was the shit! They get no love but were awesome. I still don't let people call me dude!

[@outlawbladesandleather]

TESLA! Oh and glad you mentioned Firehouse. Great picks man, I’ll be updating my Spotify playlists for sure 🤘

[@themojoman]

I enjoyed Tyketto a lot and Badlands was really killer!

[@corybryan4434]

Great list! KIX is my top underated band. They had a few hits but i think they should have been much bigger. Im glad you added Dangerous toys. Another great i loved in the 80s

[@low_e_music]

Icon and Leatherwolf immediately come to mind, both are fantastic. Madison is another one you don't hear much about.

[@laudanum669]

I always liked Leatherwolf they had some great songs.

[@low_e_music]

@@laudanum669 They definitely do. Some killer solos as well.

[@ellisonlowrimore7751]

Leatherwolf! 🤘🏽🤘🏽🤘🏽🤘🏽

[@am777creative]

Loooooved Leatherwolf!❤

[@pacman3908]

Yea tnt ,dangerous toys ,helix,armored Saint were kool also

[@glennaldosf]

LA Guns too big for this list?

[@billlee9754]

Saw Dangerous Toys and Tora Tora on their 1st tour with L.A. Guns. Fantastic bands!

[@JoeStanek-vu7rl]

All 3 were absolutely fantastic.

[@MrBluesMessiah]

TNT is to this day one of my favorite bands, because of Ronnie LeTekro. You're correct - he didn't really play solos. He was/is extremely percussive. I'd call him the King of Stacatto. At the time I was developing a similar style and wondered how it would go over. Hearing Ronnie make it work in TNT was validating in a sense. Tell No Tales defined my freshman year at University of Michigan and was constantly playing through my purple walkman, in between DLR Skyskraper and White Lion's Pride. LeTekro was also one of those guys you'd frequently see mentioned as an influence in Guitar for the Practicing Musician, although I never saw him actually featured. I could just rap with you for hours about this list. Tora Tora - used to love playing Walking Shoes and Amnesia (2nd album) with my band at the time. Second singer in Lynch Mob was Robert Mason. He was with them until it dissolved. Funny enough, opened for Warrant with Lynch Mob and now is the lead vocalist in Warrant. And GIANT. Wow. But see, I never think of Giant as a "guitar band" like the others. As great a guitarist as Dan is (and was on the Giant stuff), they are just great songs. I put them in the vein of Journey, Foreigner, Toto. Great guitars for sure, but the songs are more than the sum of the individual parts. I think that might be partially why they didn't get huge. The bands that did, fans really got to be fans of the individual musicians and would get excited about guitar riffs or solos, or specific keyboard lines (I'm looking at you Europe), and I think that drives fandom. You hear really great songs where the song is greater than the individual performances and you don't get that. Bad English and perhaps Badlands could have made the list for similar reasons.

[@dpault]

Two bands right at the end of the era (1990?), Steelheart and Thunder. Steelheart had the big ballad "Never Let You Go", and I love that song "Dirty Love" by Thunder.

[@lisafrazier197]

The entire Backstreet Symphony album by Thunder is great!

[@Mcfly0856]

I always liked and thought Mark Kendall's playing in Great White was fairly underrated, I think you could've added them for sure!

[@craigmatthews5716]

For me 2 of the best bands of the whole hard rock/ hair metal scene that deserved to be huge but just came out a bit too late are XYZ and Babylon A.D. Both criminally underrated.

[@travismiles5885]

I dig both bands. I hadn't thought about Babylon A.D. in a long time though. My buddy on high school had an old beat-up Plymouth Duster that he put a booming system in, and we would crank that tape. Sam Kinison doing that voice over on The Kid Goes Wild was awesome!

[@erichunt8570]

LOVED Babylon AD. Still have them on my playlists.

[@AudaciousAce1989]

XYZ's Marc Diglio is what made me start playing guitar. Not Eddie, not Randy, not Vai, not Lynch. Marc Diglio. Is he the best ever? No, but he's one of them and my personal favorite.

[@virtualscouser]

I still have the cassette single of "Lips 'n' Hips", I was running late to my guitar lesson from school and went without my guitar or my music but had that single buried in my backpack. My teacher and I sat around with a couple of fluorescent ASI Sustainiac guitars from the guitar store he worked out of and figured that song out for the lesson that day. 😁

[@jasongoad1084]

Kik Tracee, Stryper, Kings X, Blue Murder, the Scream, Shotgun Messiah, Bang Tango, Cats N Boots, Badlands, Britny Fox, Babylon AD, Hericane Alice, so many great bands.

[@brandonedmonson5578]

Giuffria, XYZ and Loudness come to mind for underrated 80's Hair Metal bands.

[@boqueronsocarrao696]

One the greatest discoveries I made in these last 4-5 years are Lillian Axe. Love and war, Poetic Justice and Psychoschizophrenia should be metal classics and Steve Blaze is a top tier guitar hero and composer. Please hurry up and listen to the aforementioned albums, you'll never regret.

[@nomarty]

Still one of my go to bands.

[@dkmcbigsley]

Criminally underrated.

[@jeffmruth]

Great list! Robert Mason (currently in Warrant) was the other singer in Lynch Mob. Blue Murder needs to be on this list. Nice call out to Hurricane! Love all of their albums! Singer is in Foreigner now, but Slave to the Thrill Rocks!!

[@sebastiansachs8187]

Roxy Blue with their only album „Want some?“ from 1992. Not really 80s but one of my favourites from that time. 🤘

[@electricwarlock6406]

I put hem on my list too. They are from my home town. Glad to see them back in action and performing after a lengthy hiatus.

[@JasonTerry9294]

A truly fantastic list! I totally agree with Hurricane & Tors Tora, but I would also add XYZ, Blue Murder, & Enuff-Z-Nuff … 😎

[@BrentMatsumoto]

Love Dangerous Toys and Danger Danger. I remember buying the cassette tapes at Sam Goody's and Tower Records. One band that I started getting into way late was Vain. That No Respect album is soooo good!

[@whereyougoiwillgorving4492]

Can't believe you didn't mention Spread Eagle and Paul Di Bartolo! Some down right awesome riffs ! Intro to Switchblade Serenade is one of the best intro solos of that time. Vocals were awesome too... Then there's Steelheart ( technically 1990 ) but the guitar player was great and Vocals were unmatched by anyone including Bach !

[@tcollier5460]

That guy was an awesome guitarist

[@canyoncarver]

Also could have gone in this list... Blue Murder (criminally underrated) Badlands Steelheart Great White (talk about memorable riffs!)

[@TheStrumminCanuck]

Thanks for the list. I always thought ICON was underrted. I remember cranking in the car songs like Shot At My Heart and Danger Calling.

[@AlexThorn]

Firehouse debut album is damn near perfection. One of the few albums I can listen to every track and not skip. (The other being skid row debut)

[@Brooke80srockstarlet]

@alexthorn agreed for sure and the 2nd firehouse album is same way for me 🤟🤘🔥❤️‍🔥🎸🎵👍😇😎💖💕🩷❤️

[@travismiles5885]

I had the cassette single(remember those?) of Don't Treat Me Bad. I think Overnight Sensation was the B-side.

[@oldschoolrockmetal1631]

Lover's Lane.... I especially enjoy the live version. I can't recall his name but one hell of a guitarist.

[@Brooke80srockstarlet]

@@oldschoolrockmetal1631 he is

[@jeffouellette9946]

Absolutely was perfection

[@greenechri]

Great list. Dangerous Toys, Tora Tora, Lynch Mob, and Badlands are all in my top 5. All the rest you listed are great too. My 5th is Junkyard.

[@frujoxp]

One of the most underrated bands of the hair metal era got to be Wildside. Man that Under The Influence Album is one of the best albums ever imo!✌🏼

[@seniscram7958]

Cool. I saw Wikdside at The Roxy in Hollywood when I was 19. Their song Senorita has always stuck in my head.

[@TerryPierce]

I was just gonna mention Wildside. I saw them twice in Appleton, WI and they were amazing live! If they would have came out just a couple years earlier they would have been one of the biggest bands ever.

[@MrBluesMessiah]

That sits in my brain right next to Hurricane Alice.

[@frujoxp]

@@MrBluesMessiah I just got their debut album for Christmas 😍. Awesome taste man 💪🏽

[@frujoxp]

@@seniscram7958 Wildside is just CRAZY😍

[@robertobuatti7226]

Definitely the 1980's is my all time favorite era of music, especially hard rock/heavy metal, though being only a little kid back then I really learned about these bands as I got older around 2000 when I first got into hard rock/heavy metal, some more underated bands from back then are Spread Eagle, Every Mother's Nightmare, Harem Scarem, Swedish Erotica, Barren Cross, Bloodgood, Recon, XYZ, Babylon A.D., Chastain, Vicious Rumors and many many more fantastic bands that I love.

[@GTars-1975]

Not sure if anybody else mentioned these...but I would definitely add Lillian Axe and Saigon Kick to this list.. Old Savatage is good too. Chris Oliva was amazing. Lost him way too soon!! Really newer Savatage is good too :)

[@mtrofa447]

Lillian Axe! One of my favorites from the era!

[@davidnesbit1576]

Lillian Axe is still putting out some great albums

[@lpass1]

Didn't Savatage essentially become Trans Siberian Orchestra?

[@seanharrison933]

@@lpass1 TSO is more like an alter-ego; however, Savatage hasn't released a new album under that name in almost 22 years. They are supposedly working on a new one though.

[@lpass1]

@@seanharrison933 I think they made a fortune with TSO. Still I love Edge of Thorns!

[@shistr8967]

Wild side was a band that didn't get the recognition they deserved. A little late just before grunge I think. Bret Woods the guitar player took lessons from Randy Rhodes I believe. And the singer was awesome had a cool high falsetto voice. Robert Mason was the 2nd Lunch Mob singer. Great video man!! 🤘😎

[@Jackie_Rosewood]

Awesome video! I loved Junkyard, Tuff & Everymothers Nightmare also Trixter

[@cmshootbilliards]

Great list bud! Two that I would add is Loudness and Icon.

[@deanbibb3680]

Nice call on the #1 spot! I always liked Shotgun Messiah, especially once they changed singers. Then when they released the album Violent New Breed my life was changed forever.

[@brokennose2681]

I listen to a lot of stuff and undoubtedly, Violent New Breed is in a class all its own. I stumbled onto it during the grunge phase and that album blew me away.

[@bradchristy8429]

I personally preferred the first album. 🤷‍♀️

[@bradchristy8429]

@@Marco-vw3mv “Don’t Care About Nuthin’” was freakin’ awesome.

[@bradchristy8429]

@@Marco-vw3mv And Harry Cody was a machine. Easily one of the best guitar players I’ve ever seen.

[@kitoyobeni1]

I prefer the debut, but love all 3. There was a partial reunion live cd a few years back under the name Shotgun which is cool, but only Zinny and Stix are in that lineup.

[@phantomf4747]

I grew up in NorCal. Home of Tesla. We ran in the same circles in high school. Y&T was a staple no question. My buddy and I drank beers in the parking lot of the Shire Road Pub with Dave and Phil Kennemore before a gig. Just talking music and hanging out. They were humble and just really cool dudes.

[@phswildcatsfan]

Good List. I was not familiar with Giant... For me the most underrated band was KIX. Other bands I would say were underrated would be Jetboy and another late to the party band Child's Play Their album Rat Race was fantastic

[@raider2927]

I’ve read through the comments and have seen a lot of really good recommendations. Two that I haven’t seen are Rough Cutt and Helix. Both only had a few albums, but I really liked their stuff. If any are unfamiliar with them, go check them out.

[@joshuaH75]

Giant and Winger are my top underrated 80s bands. I am so glad to see someone give props to Giant and Dann Huff’s guitar work! Awesome music. Most have never even heard of Giant. I felt like I was the only person that even knew of them. And I have been a fan since day one when “I’ll See You In My Dreams” debuted as their very first single from the duvet album Last of The Runaways.

[@onlyfromadistance7326]

You and Stuart.. Huh huh huh huh huh huh. Yeah Stuart. Heh heh heh...

[@craigdraper3653]

Always thought the same! Dan is off the rails, truly one of the best! Classy, melodic, theory monster and just a ‘choice’ player! Been listening to him forever…try and find some old old Whiteheart stuff.

[@robertshelton8285]

Don’t ever forget his vocals were amazing, too!

[@moderndaysalvage3976]

Love that you mentiioned Tora Tora Phantom Riuder is an all time favorite of mine

[@Katrina-xl1fb]

They are working on some new stuff and have put out a few singles on the streaming sites the last couple of years. Also Anthony Corder, their lead singer has put out some cool Acoustic tunes on the streaming sites. I like those songs. He started his own page, I found out on You Tube @AnthonyCorderOfficial that I found some new stuff, you should check it out.

[@eddiejr540]

Good call with Giant…the first 2 albums are absolutely incredible 👍

[@woodch]

1:55 - I loved "Scared" by Dangerous Toys! Playing that is a trip because it starts in F, but eventually switched to E, and it happens so organically in the song that it took me forever to figure out what I was doing wrong trying to learn it by ear. Edit: Not F sharp, F

[@connorcasey1714]

XYZ are one of my favorite hair metal bands. Inside Out has got to be one of the best riffs ever

[@jaysonraphaelmurdock8812]

YES,YES,YES,YES,YES!!!

[@shanepowers7566]

Didn’t they play Destroyer?

[@rishz7857]

XYZ "Face Down in the Gutter"

[@bluelivesmatter719]

Their guitarist was unreal

[@AudaciousAce1989]

THIS IS THE COMMENT I WAS LOOKING FOR!! Marc Diglio went CRAZY on the 2nd album and the first one was really good too. Terry Louis can still sing as good as he could back then, Pat Fontaine had the looks and the groove, and Paul Monroe is awesome too.

[@richvolfan]

Nailed it!! Great list and video!!

[@thepatriotgames2641]

Harem Scarem is some the most polished and incredible music I somehow missed during the 80S. Insane guitar work and the vocals were out of this world. Under rated is huge understatement for these guys.

[@danjohnston5005]

I was hoping someone would mention this!

[@eddiemitts1884]

As a Teenager in the 80's. I was into hard Rock and Metal. These are some of the bands I had on Either 8 track or Cassette. Black n Blue, Great white, Keel, Girls School, Warrant, Bang Tango, Lillian Axe, Trixter, JunkYard, and Faster PussyCat. And Yes all the other bands mentioned here too. Now I just Stream all Music. So Keep on Rockin, you old Metal Heads.

[@Mr.Goldbar]

My favorite definitely underrated band gotta be Mr. Big! We all know Gilbert and Sheehan are absolute virtuosos, but we forget how Eric Martin is still such a good singer and Pat Torpey was such a sick drummer (rip legend). Good thing they were huge stars in Japan! Gotta check out Addicted To That Rush, Daddy Brother Lover Little Boy, Lucky This Time, Colorado Bulldog, Trapped In Toyland and even the stuff they did with Richie Kotzen. Other bands I'd put there are Slaughter, Hardline (Neal Schon's attempt at glam metal), Bonfire (Germany's biggest glam band after Scorpions), and both David Lee Roth and Vince Neil's solo albums!

[@ItsVictoriaG]

I LOVE Mr. Big so much! Other songs I would include are Merciless and Big Love. Eric Martin’s voice was amazing and so unrestrained on their debut album! Green Tinted 60s Mind, Just Take My Heart, and Goin’ Where the Wind Blows are some “softer” tracks I adore.

[@middleagedguycommentingonstuff]

I love Dangerous Toys, always reminded me of early GnR. What about Tyketto? They fell into the same realm as Hurricane for me.

[@lowdz68]

The first Vain album is essential listening. Love all these bands you've mentioned. What a time to be alive. I'd contribute Babylon AD and House of Lords (more Doug Aldridge) to the pile.

[@philstone3859]

BLUE MURDER’S first record is absolutely Slamming! I saw them live and even met their keyboardist Nik Green. Very cool band. John Sykes is a badass gunslinger!

[@markydkiehl]

Came to drop a comment about Blue Murder, but I see you got it covered. They should have been much bigger.

[@bkmeahan]

Hard to think of Y & T as underrated. They were huge in the bay area. Personally I always felt Phantom Rocker and Slick were underrated. Just crazy rock-a-billy spin on their music. Earl Slick is a beast.

[@blebhan8213]

Hmm, they sound more Mellencamp since they were branching out from their Stray Cats roots. Bryan Setzer pretty much went Mellencamp as well before going big band swing.

[@LeiYuanHong]

That's what I was thinking when Y&T popped up on his list. I thought they were a big band and very popular.

[@arthurcohen9390]

Y&T was big in the Bay Area because they are from there and always played there. But rest of country and world really wasn’t.

[@LeiYuanHong]

Not true, big in Oregon in the 80's @@arthurcohen9390

[@godfreymccammon4531]

As a bass player, George Lynch was the guitarist I most wanted to be in a band with...Lynch Mob is badass...great songs. Lynch was so far under the rock and roll radar, he was clipping the tops of trees...my favorite. Check out his recent work with dUg Pinnick...stellar!!!

[@MrDrew12]

Roxy Blue is my favorite underrated band. Their first album rocks! Unfortunately it came out in 1992. I think they got back together a few years ago.

[@Katrina-xl1fb]

They did get back together. They put out an album about four or five years ago and is putting out a new one. All those southern bands were good. Roxy Blue, Tora Tora, Every Mothers Nightmare.

[@thejeffrandallproject6470]

Saxon got some popularity in the late 70’s and through late 80’s then declined through the mid 90’s. But you’ve GOTTA listen to their last 12 albums over the past 24 years, they are amazing! I can’t believe they aren’t HUGE!!! They have a new album coming out 1-19-2024 Hell, Fire and Damnation. Listen to the title song you will be blown away! Lead singer is about to turn 73!

[@Jackc8201]

One of my favorites was XYZ. They only had that one song on Headbangers Ball, "Inside Out", but man it was terrific.

[@showservices1]

they also had "Maggie" and "Face Down in the Gutter" on Headbangers Ball

[@ModernMountainLiving]

"Nice Day to Die" is greatness.

[@rishz7857]

"Face down in the gutter" was XYZ at its best

[@ripper2087]

Y & T was (is) phenomenal. So many great songs and very few people know about them. Lillian Axe is another great band that most people have no idea who they are. Black 'N Blue, Helix and Icon are some of my favorites that mostly fly in under the radar.

[@kennethreed8888]

Great list! I’d have to add Tyketto and Babylon AD to the list for sure.

[@timbunker4061]

Exactly the two bands I thought of! It’s a shame they didn’t get more recognition.

[@kristenloveridge]

Great list! Some of my favourites on here. I still listen to Danger Danger, Y&T, TNT, Lynch Mob and Giant. On my list would also be the Riverdogs debut (with Vivian Campbell) and some Winger.

[@seniscram7958]

TNT was so amazing. Tony Harnell was definitely my favorite vocalist.

[@robsmackhead]

Giant is a good choice. Definitely underrated. The opening guitar riff on the first album was amazing

[@constantinranis]

Blue Murder man , John Sykes such an amazing guitar player, and also the bands loudness and anthem from Japan, great stuff

[@alexmalmstrom7299]

A couple of underrated bands are Harem Scarem.. awesome singer amazing guitarist. House of Lords all round amazing band. Jaded Heart … the albums with Michael Bormann… the perfect singer with perfect intonation.

[@c.johnhildebrand7309]

Good call on House of Lords.👍

[@motoguzzigriso]

I LOVED Dangerous Toys! They actually got a lot of video rotation on MTV back in the 80’s. I remember three different videos in particular, Teasn’n Please’n, Scared and Give me no Lip. All rockers!

[@fredlandry6170]

These bands definitely should have had more recognition.