Where Did Glam Metal Go & What Really Killed It?

[@michaelhenderson5946]

Where did glam metal go? It went to Japan and Europe! Fair Warning, Jaded Heart, Talisman, Frontline, Gotthard, and Shakra were just a few of the amazing overseas bands that emerged during this era!

[@BrendonSnyder]

Hi Michael! You’re right too! That’s a really good point i forgot to mention. So many bands who were dropped by labels in the states still got contracts in other controls. There are so many bands who made a second or third album but it only came out overseas. Great point!!

[@alexkx8599]

@@BrendonSnyderOne of Whitesnake's best studio long players in my opinion, "Restless Heart", has still never been released in the U.S....though I resent Whitesnake being called glam...though I guess they had their phase. Dude! The truth is slowly being told! Just don't stop and tell others to tell of it all too! The young in particular! We must find them with a passion and enthusiasm and encourage them to continue to do the same throughout all of time! Amen! Lol. :)

[@jimmycampbell78]

I think the underground/alternative rock scene from the late 1980s went mainstream in the 1990s. A blond guy from Seattle and his trio band spearheaded that. That was suddenly what was ‘cool’. Long curtains hair and flannel shirts. You look at say the Warrant “Cherry Pie” video. Suddenly all of that and everything that represented was not cool. You had a younger group of kids, teenagers coming up and they were into the alternative scene and all of that. Suddenly 80s bands were ‘lame’. It wasn’t just the glam metal/grunge division either. It was also in metal generally. I remember a kid at school in 1992 sneering at me and saying “oh do you still listen to Iron Maiden, Def Leppard and Guns n Roses?” He was listening to Fear Factory, White Zombie, Pantera and Sepultura. And obviously he thought I was lame and he was very cool. That sort of nonsense had a lot to do with it.

[@BrendonSnyder]

Yes Jimmy you’re so right! I well remember getting those looks and comments too. Fortunately I stuck to what I liked and even though I too enjoyed Grunge I still listened and supported my original love of Glam Metal and all Metal. But you’re right all of Metal fell out of favor. I also don’t think it helped that a number of big bands changed members too like Bruce leaving Iron Maiden, Vince being fired form Motley Crue, CC Deville out of Poison. With big major bands not around with classic lineups to help bouy the sinking ship. It doomed it as well.

[@dimitriosmetalos]

Iron Maiden are still here, greater than ever, GnR are alive and kicking and Def Leppard still big at least in their live performances. Where are all the grunge/ alternative bands of the 90s today, apart from Alice in Change wich they transformed to a modern metal band and they target mostly to metal audience...

[@BrendonSnyder]

And I think that also had to do with 80’s rock and Metal having more than a decade to build a fan base. Whereas Grunge barely got 5 years in popularity. Unfortunately lost of the Grunge artists are dead too....Kurt Cobain, Shannon Hoon, Lane Staley, Scott Weiland, Chris Cornell....all the big major singers are gone. Sure some of the bands are still hear with replacements singers but that lessens their notoriety and impact.

[@somethingsomething9008]

What glam metal band is still revelant besides mountley cruel and bon Jovi gnr isn't really a glam metal band

[@Too-Odd]

@@somethingsomething9008 Since all radio is controlled by a few corporations now, none of those 1980s metal bands even get airplay for new material. It is hard to be relevant when only a few old songs are played on "classic radio" from time to time.

[@TheChadTI]

You nailed this, expertly done. Crue started the glam rebirth trend and also ended it just a few years later. The D tier became so crowded we almost had to make an E level.

[@BrendonSnyder]

Thank you JJ, I appreciate it. Yeah I could have easily made an E-level and an F-level of bands there were so many.

[@qdaveq6597]

This is also geographically specific. Mr. Big were outselling Pearl Jam forty to one in Japan.

[@BrendonSnyder]

Yeah lots of bands were able to continue and make albums in Japan and Europe when they couldn’t get arrested in the states. I thank those labels for some of these albums that never would have happened without them.

[@Too-Odd]

Check out Finland and other Nordic countries. Metal rules ... especially symphonic metal.

[@pablobendixiii5536]

I think a fourth important and often overlooked factor in glam's commercial demise was that the core audience was aging. When the sunset scene exploded in 83 I was 11-12. That's the age when you're trying to find an identity, a "subculture" to join. By the time 1991 rolls around, those same kids who loved Crue, Ratt etc were graduating HS and moving on with life and other things.

[@BrendonSnyder]

Hi Pablo! That’s a good point too. That’s often what kills a lot of musical genres as they market towards the kids who have expendable money. But then kids grow up and tastes change.

[@marcbeil8342]

You're 100% right. But to me, it never went anywhere, because in my heart and in my stereo you'll always find a hair metal album on rotation. I got a bit unlucky to not see the bands in their heights, mainly because I'm about five years late. Born and raised 1976 in germany. When I got finally the age where my parents allowed me to go, all the tours were cancelled overseas in 1991 because of the war w/ Saddam, damn! And right after Seattle took over and no promoter was willing to pay for the US bands anymore. About 2000 it changed a bit and I was able to catch then the touring again bands in much smaller venues, which I was even more happier about so you could catch some of the musicians for a picture or a small talk. My little band was honoured to open up for the likes of L.A. Guns, Rhino Bucket, Little Caesar and Kip Winger. Now my final question is why the bands weren't selling that much records anymore with the beginning of grunge - if their fans would be that loyal like us metalheads meeting right here, they would have still followed their favourite bands. Probably our generation grew up a bit too and got married with children and they wouldn't be able to pay for every release anymore, too. Every generation got their "disease" - we got ours and we still do! It went underground but that's okay with me. Rock'n'roll's a bit of an outsider/outlaw thing to me. But it will never die... Cheers to that!

[@BrendonSnyder]

Each genre always has its hardcore fans. We are the hardcore fans of this genre. But when Glam and Metal was at its peak everyone listened to it including just casual listeners. Those are the ones that drop away and move on. The diehard fans never leave. It just slims down to the real fans after the genre dies...or goes underground. Luckily things go in cycles and it’s make a comeback to be popular enough for them bands to reunite and keep playing.

[@jonathonholm8737]

Your channel has become one of my go to channels thanks for the great content dude! I am 28 and I absolutely love glam/hair metal I can't get enough of it

[@samhouston1979]

i. think that’s why Nu Metal took off in the late 90s...it coupled the angst with some theatrics (like Slipknot)

[@Too-Odd]

And most of it was crap.

[@Original_Lurke_fromthe_Unknown]

I never really thought of it as individual types of music (glam metal etc) I always just thought of it as Music. And I’ve heard a lot of it. If it sounded good I’d listen to it. Some of my favorite bands are all over the place. Mostly European groups in particular UK groups. Bros, Johnny hates Jazz to name a few. I never thought of it as individual groups of music. But that’s my opinion. In music you have to remember everything can change on the drop of the dime. Popular today gone tomorrow. You can have the best song in the world but tomorrow you’re in the 2.99 bin. Brendon,great topic.

[@BrendonSnyder]

At the time when all things were rock, I didn’t either. It wasn’t until lines were drawn in the sand about certain bands and styles being uncool when Grunge and Alternative were the biggest thing. I’ve always just thought of it as good music is good music no matter what.

[@alexkx8599]

@@BrendonSnyder Same!

[@SeanMorrisonRocks]

Glam still exists just not mainstream

[@BrendonSnyder]

Yes Sean, so true. It could never fully die off as we love it too much and keep buying and seeing our favorite bands from that era. Long Live Glam!!

[@axlh.1827]

So glad you mentioned animal bag. Like the perfect transition album from glam metal to alternative, like GnR had a baby with Pearl Jam

[@BrendonSnyder]

Yeah that is a great way to describe them. I wish their long shelved 2nd album would finally get a release and see the light of day.

[@axlh.1827]

@@BrendonSnyder oh didn’t even know they had one. Would love to hear it

[@YoStabbaStabba]

Great video. There is a great book entitled "Nuthin But a Good Time" and is an oral history told by all the major (and minor) artists. Basically the rise and fall and hits on a lot of points you discuss.

[@briankeller4480]

I just finished reading Nothin' But A Good Time by Tom Beaujour & Richard Bienstock that talks about the rise and decline of 80s Hard Rock explosion. You should read it. Great read.

[@BrendonSnyder]

I’ll check it out, thanks for the tip!

[@RobNY5150]

Really interesting video here. You’ve kinda changed my perspective a bit on this topic. I agree that the 80s music that I grew up with evolved as opposed to being replaced. You make a good point about the marketing of these bands. When I was a freshman in college in 1991, although I still loved my 80s hair bands, I became a massive fan of bands like Alice In Chains, Metallica (initially the Black Album and then the earlier albums) and Pantera. I also started listening to Led Zeppelin and Rush.

[@russdavies9686]

Completely agree. There is a tremendous amount of glam being released. Seems like most of the best stuff is coming out of Europe, particularly the Scandinavian countries.

[@BrendonSnyder]

That’s true, lots of great stuff still to be enjoyed. We just have to look harder for it now.

[@vakzide9465]

Can you name a few to check them out? thx

[@joeyeagleton6597]

You forgot WASP completely! They were with Motley Crue and others from the beginning. In 1989 they moved on to Headless Children, and 1992 they sold over a million with Crimson Idol. I think that the 80s generation grew up. We started looking at more important social issues, and Headless Children and Metallica grew with us. We kept our Glam albums, but became more aware of the world. It was a great video. Thanks! FYI WASP is still going strong in Europe and has over a quarter million followers just on WASPNATION. Blackie never stopped putting out music 😁👍 He's still rocking 🎶🎵

[@BrendonSnyder]

Hi Joey! No I didn’t forget them I just don’t consider them Glam Metal. To me they were always just Metal. Yes they started at the same time but the style never fit in with Glam Metal IMO. That being said, I’m a huge WASP fan and wish Blackie would record a new album. It’s been far too long since their last.

[@phrankzinatra]

I agree with your reason about the over-saturation of the market, and a lot of newer bands that were going into a blues rock/metal direction didn't exactly sound very original, such as Sister Whiskey and Tattoo Rodeo (hard to believe their members used to be in White Sister, a favorite under-the-radar melodic hard rock band). Also interesting to note that bands like Cry of Love, Brother Cane, and Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies had songs chart on mainstream rock radio, but their albums never cracked the Billboard 200.

[@BrendonSnyder]

Yeah a lot of these bands had bug radio hits but barely sold any albums. Which is shocking to me. But I think it shows that radio and fans still liked the music but the labels and media didn’t promote it so it went no where. Real missed opportunities.

[@JimB-xh7yw]

You made great points and I love that you mentioned gnr, people argue they weren’t bout look at axl in the first couple videos, tell me he’s not wearing a ton of hairspray lol

[@BrendonSnyder]

OMG Axl in Welcome To The Jungle video is full on glam metal with all that teased hair!! It was gone by their next video which I think helped them immensely. But they were right there with the best of them. Plus his vocal style alone will make it part of that movement.

[@lrn_news9171]

I always argued that GNR was glam People just want to say they weren't glam because it's uncool to like anything glam metal. Of course the glam band they like isn't possibly glam right? lmao

[@Fritha71]

Thank you for not calling it "hair metal". An insightful take on the topic 👏 I turned twenty in September 1991 so remember it all very well - even though the change was a bit less abrupt here in Europe.

[@BrendonSnyder]

I know Glam Metal doesn’t quite cover it all either but at least it was a term used at the time and not a new made up one like hair metal.

[@Too-Odd]

@@BrendonSnyder Glam metal was not used for most of these bands at the time. It was hard rock or heavy metal. Glam metal was Sweet, T-Rex, Gary Glitter, and stuff like that - mostly from the 1970s. The NWOBHM was not the NWOBGM.

[@BrendonSnyder]

Tod you’re still incorrect as I mentioned in your other comments. Glam Rock and Glam Metal are two different genres separated by a decade and complete different style of music. And yes bands like Motley Crue, Great White, Warrant, Cinderella, Def Leppard, GNR, we’re all Glam Metal and referred to as such. I lived through it, followed it, and kept up with it to know what was going on which is why I refer to it as Glam Metal.

[@Too-Odd]

@@BrendonSnyder If you lived through it, you should know better. It was not called Glam Metal back in the day. Glam Metal was the bombastic look and style of Glam Rock with metal guitars and pedals. That was exclusive to bands that did that like Motley Crue, Twisted Sister, KISS, Poison, and Lizzy Borden. Def Leppard came from the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. Heavy Metal ... not Glam Metal. Until recently, I had stacks of Hit Parader and Guitar Player magazines from that era, and it was heavy metal and hard rock.

[@BrendonSnyder]

Well then I feel bad for the people who read your stuff because you don’t know your genres. By 1987 and 1988 it was being called Glam Metal in the magazines like Circus, Metal Edge, and Rip. Maybe you didn’t catch onto the the term or you wrote before the term was big enough for you to use, IDK. But today, all of those bands are commonly referred to as Glam Metal. And anyone who knows what they’re talking about knows the difference between Glam Rock and Glam Metal. The term Glam Metal was coined because they knew the sound was different than Glam Rock but since the bands had a “glam” appearance they wanted to use the word “glam” but added Metal, which like you stated is the over arching category for which all these bands come from. Their is Metal and then sub-genres like Glam Metal, Heavy Metal, Thrash Metal, Speed Metal, Power Metal, and it goes on and on. So you’re not wrong if you’re calling them “Metal”, don’t don’t refer to them as Glam Rock because they’re not.

[@mrdjproductions3070]

this was a great video and I enjoyed some of your mentions of a few bands/albums that did not receive the recognition they deserve. The Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies are a really good band and I believe that 1996 Night Ranger album you mentioned is called "Neverland" and the radio single was "Forever All Over Again". I remember going to Sam Goody and buying the CD single before the album came out. Haven't heard that in ages. Another band that I think went unnoticed was Tuff and their song "I Hate Kissing You Goodbye". There was actually a music video for it and the CD itself isn't particularly easy to find. Saigon Kick's "I Love You" from their "Water" album is another example (IMO) of a song that should have been bigger.

[@BrendonSnyder]

Regarding Night Ranger, I was referencing them reuniting in 1996 and touring because their album Neverland didn’t come out until 1997.

[@SO-ym3zs]

There's a good discussion of this topic in the book Nothin' But a Good Time, which is an outstanding oral history of glam. It gives an interesting view of what people in the industry/scene feel about the tail end of glam metal's decade in the sun. And to your point about Winger getting mocked, Kip vents in the book about those incidents and still sounds burnt by them. (And the Metallica connection is back in music news recently with Hetfield supposedly calling to apologize to Winger after all these years.)

[@BrendonSnyder]

Yeah I was glad to hear that James did that for Kip. I’m sure it meant a lot to Kip. It may sound minor but sometimes just the acknowledgement of something like that can make it all less hurtful. He went through undeserved and unnecessary ridicule, mocking, and hatred for no reason. Then people jumped on the band wagon not even knowing their music which made it worse. As we know the guys in Winger are all extremely accomplished musicians. This never should have been dumped on them. I’ve always been glad they reunited and came back despite the way certain people and the industry treated them. More power to Kip!

[@SO-ym3zs]

​@@BrendonSnyder Amen. Even at the time, as a Metallica fan and metalhead who also liked Winger and glam metal in general, I thought it was really in bad character for them to do that in a video. I know the thrash metal guys all liked to hate on the glam metal guys, and that was part of their subculture and identity, but to me that just sounds like juvenile sour grapes: the glam guys had been getting more attention and money and girls than the metal "purists."

[@martinbgelundarvidsen6261]

I dig your perspective on the sleaze genre., They morphed into a rougher but more blues based rock n’ roll - which I personally preferred. Back to the basics. Also the southern influences did good in the early 90’s - e.g. with Tangier and Cry of love - the coolest attitude driven genre with deep seventy influences. Unfortunately the love was gone. No exposure from MTV - just the introverted and negative driven Seattle movement..... and everything became underground and we had to rely on MTM, Now & Then and Escape Music in the mid nineties, but most of the killer productions were gone 🥲 BUT we’re still ready to be entertained, you said it!! 👊🏻

[@BrendonSnyder]

Yeah that was my biggest issues and still is on some albums is the lack of production value. I’m glad those bands managed to find labels to stay alive with but some of the albums needed more development and better production for sure.

[@captainbeyond7469]

Love/Hate is a great call out. IMO their “Wasted in America “ album is a masterpiece. Excellent discussion topic.

[@BrendonSnyder]

Yeah very different than the other Glam Bands of the day. It’s what attracted me to them at the time. Looking back now I see why.

[@captainbeyond7469]

@@BrendonSnyder Agree, checking out Steelheart now on your recommendation excellent great singer missed them back in the day.

[@BrendonSnyder]

What really? Wow, not too many people missed Steelheart back then with their big hit off the first albums I’ll Never Let You Go. They were everywhere for a while with that song. But that second album just flew under the radar. Glad you’re checking them out now.

[@hartmutpeter215]

From the 1970s on, Classic Rock has continued through the decades, sometimes more sometimes less. Grunge only had a short half-time of about 5 years. That's a really short period in music history. There were and are so many excellent Classic Rock bands in the past and present. That's absolute amazing. The Scandinavian countries in particular have made a huge step forward .IT's unbelievable. In my opinion Classic Rock is absolute timeless and will be always a term like Hard Rock, Heavy Rock, Prog Rock, Heavy Metal and so on. The contours and boundaries are often blurred, but that gives the food its excellent taste. Also Glam Rock is a game variation of Classic Rock. The british band Mott The Hoople was a huge name of awesome Glam Rock in the seventies. They released with Ian Hunter outstanding albums. Their greatest hit was All The Young Dudes written by David Bowie. Terrific songwriting.

[@BrendonSnyder]

You’re right too Hartmut! All of the “rock” genres and styles are really just continuation and development from the original rock and now classic rock bands.

[@holspa]

Cool video, nice things you said and so right. You named so many great albums that did well back then. I hope people that watch this video they will stop saying that in the 90s hard rock was dead and nothing came out after 1990 or so thats good. THESE DAYS by BON JOVI was also a important album back then.

[@BrendonSnyder]

You’re right about Bon Jovi, I could have mentioned them for both Keep The Faith in 1993 and 1995 which both did well for them. I think it was Jon moving into modeling and acting that kept the band in the spot light even without MTV that helped them. He’s a shrewd businessman.

[@billyaltavator5425]

You make some good points and your right Glam Metal never died it was still around but to a lesser extent and some Glam bands ditched the sound and image for a new one to stay in the game. I used to believe that Grunge music was the killer of Glam Metal but after watching this video i think differently now. Plus even if Glam Metal did die the music would always live on in the hearts of fans.

[@BrendonSnyder]

Hi Billy, you’re so right! Glam Metal could never fully die simply because we love and listen to it still. And all the bands that were part of the movement who are still around continue to make great albums keeping it alive. And then you have those new festivals that have popped up focusing on hair bands which make it bigger. Plus movies like The Dirt about Motley Crue showing how cool the scene actually was. There is nothing like it today. It was mythical!

[@BabosanTV]

A very interesting perspective expertly suported with great examples. In a way what happened to glam / hair bands in the nineties, was similar to what occurred to the progressive rock movement with the rise of punk, on the mid to late setenties. Great video. Keep up the good work.

[@BrendonSnyder]

Thank you Nuno, much appreciated! I’m glad you found it enjoyable.

[@BabosanTV]

@@BrendonSnyder Keep up the good work! Congrats!

[@siddharthdeshmukh8118]

Good insights, Sir! That Love/Hate album cover is giving some major Ed, Edd & Eddy vibes haha... I'd like to mention Electric Boys, Spread Eagle and even Enuff Z'Nuff as a part of the later wave that kept themselves unique, for that matter. I believe every genre has its own peak time period with either further evolution or giving path to a new movement altogether. The late 80s/early 90s glam bands moved towards a more sleaze rock sound with a stripped-down image (with a few exceptions of course) and honestly, I look upon the Grunge wave and even its contemporary acts like Kyuss, Fu Manchu, RHCP, Faith No More, Corrosion Of Conformity more as a classic rock revival, if you look into it. Anyway, all these bands still continue to be influence for the later period bands, members of band like Slipknot cite Nirvana as well as Motley Crue as their influence, so there you go!

[@BrendonSnyder]

Yeah there certainly was a number of metal bands that brought that retro 70’s vibe to their music like Monster Magnet and later era COC. The 70’s became cool again while the 80’s were on the outs. But it all cycles back and once again the 80’s are cool. I think it will remain that way....at least I hope.

[@holspa]

The song WINGS OF CHANGE by SCORPIONS sold 14.000.000 times between 1990 and 1993. Big and classic hard rock ballad.

[@BrendonSnyder]

Exactly!! It was huge!

[@alexkx8599]

@@BrendonSnyder ...and "Send Me An Angel" is an infinitely better song. Ooops! Did I say that out loud?! Sorry! Not sorry! :)

[@BrendonSnyder]

Hey Alex, personally I agree with you. But it may also be that Wind Of Change is so overplayed. I liked it at the time when it was a single, but now I have to skip it.

[@leevee2658]

Smells Like Teen Spirit reached #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. That was the "singularity" moment. People forget just how big that song was. But grunge wasn't as big on the top 40 charts as most think it was. You're right, like punk, it burned out quickly, it just isn't commercial, so it only survives by being mixed with classic rock, rap, metal, or melodic rock/pop.

[@michellerosebrown]

Like journalist Lonn Friend once said in the VH1 documentary ‘When Metal Ruled the World’ ‘it was the good time era, good times ran it’s course’.

[@BrendonSnyder]

Yeah and then everyone was cranky and depressed….why? 😂😂😂😂 I’m glad the music made its way back eventually.

[@michellerosebrown]

@@BrendonSnyderTrue that. 🤘🏾

[@dimitriosmetalos]

Great vlog Brendon. It has a journalistic approach that I like. Off course we have to mention Scorpions that actually never went off radar and were always an A League band. Other examples are Ozzy Osbourne and Mr Big.

[@BrendonSnyder]

For the most part the Scorpions have remained a solid band but they did make one misstep in the late 90’s with Eye II Eye with samples and drum beats added. It was cool at the time but the album is so dated now I can’t listen to it.

[@dimitriosmetalos]

@@BrendonSnyder I know. I didn't mentioned that, because it is a small mistake in a sensational career that can not damage the fans' overall perception on the band.

[@BrendonSnyder]

True they made a good recovery from it on the next album. And have continued a stellar career ever since.

[@alexkx8599]

@@BrendonSnyder That sounds awful! Lol. It's on my list of things to check out in life but the VERY long one! :)

[@steveverboom]

Nice summary. Good point that many bands were already changing their sound to blues rock and southern rock when the 90's hit. Keep in mind that the Metallica guys always hated the bands like RATT and Motley Crue and got into it with them early on. Along with that, Beavis and Butthead liked Metallica and AC/DC but Winger was condidered too soft. I do like to always point out that grunge didn't even last the full decade.

[@BrendonSnyder]

Thanks Steven! I just hate the negative reputation the genre got for no reason at all. One day it was cool and the next it was uncool. It took the bands 10 plus years before they were able to climb out of the hole in the early 2000’s. Grunge never had to go through that. But then most grunge bands don’t have the longevity and fan base the glam metal bands do.

[@johncrutchfieldjr]

I like your channel. You listen to stuff I like. I do wish you were more vinyl. Do a show on Babylon AD! I think you would like a band called Electric Angels. I subscribed!

[@BrendonSnyder]

Thanks for subscribing and yes I own the Electric Angels as well and I’m a fan of Babylon AD.

[@chrisjp69]

great topic and good discussion Brendon

[@darrendcunha4667]

Hi Brendon, I have been watching your glam metal videos again, and it has made me want to go back in time to add some bands to my collection I may have missed out the first time round, some well known and perhaps others that didn't hit the big time. Kik Tracee, Y&T, Tonto Tonto, Shy, Blackeyed Susan, Hericane Alice, Silent Rage, Keel, Rox Gang, Tall Stories, Lion. The list is endless. Do you recommend any of the bands I mentioned or a recommended album for them?

[@cezarmaatubang8236]

That's what was interesting about living in that time.. Every 5 to 6 years something new came along. I felt the glam thing was just reproducing the same sound and I lost interest in that for awhile. It started with hearing Red Hot Chili Peppers mothers milk(1989) and from there on I just started getting into straight ahead rock bands (aternative,whatever you want to call it) that classic sound which was just 70's rock when you listen to it. Whether it's The Black Crowes or even Oasis. But I did still buy the 80's bands i grew up with because i always wanted to hear what they were doing.

[@bennyF52]

Great video and analysis. When I read the title, my 1st reaction was GNR really killed glam. I consider Appetite as the greatest album of all time. But it also set the bar so high that the late decade glam bands just could not clear with their depth on their albums. Sure, some great glam bands put some decent albums with good singles but nothing of that Era could compare with the depth of Appetite. Adding the illusion albums which were released simultaneously during the peak of grunge...... I don’t really know anyone who shut glam metal off to turn on Nirvana , but lots of us did maybe bridge through genres with the Pearl Jam, STP, Sound garden albums.

[@BrendonSnyder]

Hi Ben, that’s not a wrong assessment. Certainly things like the massive sales and chart success of GNR and Def Leppard had a huge impact on the market which every label trying to find the next big band. And then when none of them scaled those heights, they were dropped too quickly and moved to the next thing not giving a band enough time to grow. In all many things affected the fall of glam metal and I’d say certainly this was one of them too.

[@charleswilson4526]

Great video.. the “Hair metal” genre was just a lot of rock bands that had good looking young men with long hair. Some were bluesy, some had a little funk, some were shred oriented, popish… you had different tiers but still, a lot bands were successful.. also, I’d consider Warrant B level personally. 2 platinum records and hit singles! I still find these low tier bands to have some great stuff personally.. The MTV and Radio shows had a lot of influence. Shows were still doing well and then grunge came along and the powers to be just smashed the deck. GNR, Def Lep and Bon Jovi were able to do pretty well despite that. All in all, a lot of good young bands suffered

[@alexkx8599]

It's because Grunge is a scam!!! I also love Winger...and HATE Beavis and Butt Head. Not a bad summery! I wasn't expecting it to be done as well as it was/is done here! I have heard so much propaganda throughout the decades I just assumed it was going to be awful but you did a good job explaining certain details! Rawk! :)

[@BrendonSnyder]

Thanks Alex, I appreciate hearing that! I’m glad you found it interesting and better than expected.

[@BrownsForeverFan]

Great show as always!!!

[@soldier7778]

I found in North America around 1991-1993 it seems that for Hard Rock Grunge was the popular music in some circles. However, in other regions like Latin America, Europe and the South Pacific and Japan it seems that the Classic Hard Rock and other styles like Grunge was popular. So it was a so called melting pot in other regions. Everything was popular and accepted. Then around the 2000s after Grunge and Alternative burned itself out, ratio stations started to play Classic Rock and Hard Rock. I remember in the 90s in my area Steele Communications had Magic 97.5 that played only top 40. Then they changed in early 2002 when it was Changed to K-Rock 97.5 and they played Classic Rock and Hard Rock from the 60s to the 90s and the top 40 modern music was added on another station called Hits 99.1.

[@michaelperillo6616]

Great work thank.

[@BrendonSnyder]

Thank you Michael.

[@AdamLB]

Do you have any cds in fatbox cases and do you like those cases?

[@BrendonSnyder]

Hi Adam, do you mean the “long box” cardboard that CD’s used to come in? Yes I have a few.

[@AdamLB]

@@BrendonSnyder no, I mean those big bulky cases that most doubles and all triple cds came in.

[@jackstepro5368]

I agree Enuff Z Nuff had gone too glam at the wrong moment. However they stopped glam and released a catalog of great hard rock melodic albums full of hits. Hits everyone missed out on. They became my favorite. Donnie Vie's solo albums are incredible masterpieces. Plus he does John Lennon better than anyone.

[@BrendonSnyder]

They are one of the biggest mysteries of the music business. How a band that good could have gone under the radar never fully breaking through yet managing to have a lone storied career for the last 30+ years. It’s a testament to how great the band really is and should have been huge.

[@clarkmatteson6767]

American fans follow trends which irritates me to no end....another good show

[@BrendonSnyder]

Thanks Clark!

[@aaronbelle1105]

I think "The Scream" "Let It Scream" is one of the best hard rock records ever... It came out in like early 90's, but the record fell into the cracks... Check it out if you haven't already..

[@BrendonSnyder]

Hi Aaron, you must be new to my channel as I’m constantly referencing my love for John Corabi. Yes it’s a great album. Check out my video for Top 5 Glam Metal Albums of 1991 kzbin.info/www/bejne/jmGZqXR5l5yll6M

[@matthewg666]

Aside from a few quibbles, I think you pretty much covered the bases. Some bands like GN'R or Skid Row, I wouldn't consider glam but that's splitting hairs. Overall, it boils down to two things - oversaturation and lack of exposure. As you pointed out, it had become oversaturated by generic cookie cutter bands. It was so saturated that legitimately great new bands were falling through the cracks and not getting the proper recognition. By the time grunge came in, MTV pretty much dropped the hair bands. I tend to put more emphasis on the lack of exposure in radio format. To this day radio stations have their cycle of the same songs that get played over and over. Honestly, though, there was no reason why grunge and hair bands couldn't cohabitate.

[@BrendonSnyder]

Absolutely lack of exposure was huge. No record label support, no MTV support, only minimal radio support. Most people just follow trends and moved to whatever they were being told was the next cool thing. I did it as well and love a lot of Grunge bands but by 1994 I was really missing Glam and went looking for it. There was so much great music that barely got any attention. Still finding great bands from that era today that I’ve never heard of but are worth my attention. And they were worth my attention back then but I had zero exposure to it.

[@lrn_news9171]

Early Skid Row had every element of glam lol Second album you'd have a point maybe

[@leevee2658]

Every other genre went through turnovers like this. Similar shifts were happening with dance, R&B, hip-hop, country and the more straightforward pop music of the time. Yet all we hear about is how grunge killed glam rock, supposedly. By 1990/91, there were just too many bands with a similar sound and they were all cannibalizing each other's success. New glam acts continued to find success in this era but it came at the expense of the existing acts. Sales were down for most of the established bands during this era. We had more and more popular glam bands, yet the overall growth of the audience for this genre had slowed. When Nirvana broke big, the record companies only started hiring hard rock acts that had the grunge sound. Rinse and repeat. This is what always happened. A couple acts break through with a new sound, and everyone copies it. There was still an audience for more mainstream melodic rock. Bon Jovi continued to have long term success. Def Leppard hung in there for a while. New acts like Hootie and Alanis were huge. Many 70s era bands gained new fans.

[@jayeshwadhwa9643]

here's why hair metal died out. it became formulaic. by the early 1990s, all la bands were releasing predictable albums, the same themes of romance, having a good time, drugs, drinking whatever whatever and those 4-5 minute power ballads that mtv never stopped playing. no one was doing anything experimental in the genre (expect for a few bands like enuff z nuff and saigon kick) and people were getting bored of going to the record store and seeing another album cover of a band with poofy hair doing weird gestures or some girl doing poses and which is why those fans moved on onto grunge but like a lot of people said in the comments, hair metal is still alive and well in scandinavia and some parts of asia. some bands you can check out are Santa Cruz, Reckless Love, Crashdiet and ofc Steel Panther and just remember this famous quote "Nothing Lasts Forever"- Axl Rose, November Rain, 1991 ;)

[@BrendonSnyder]

In the end I don’t think it’s just one thing. There were lots of things building that all came to a head. But like typical, when the industry finds a new cash cow they will all jump ship to find the next big thing.

[@jayeshwadhwa9643]

@@BrendonSnyder i agree to you, it's not only one thing that caused it's end. rock and metal have a lot of subgenres from pop punk to glam metal to brutal death metal and unfortunately, these subgenres tend to appeal to a niche audience, have a lesser market value and will likely expire quicker as compared to a bigger genres (such as rock, jazz, pop, hip hop etc.) so even that also caused it's end. not only that, the entertainment industry is always about the next big thing since consumers tend to be very impatient and because of this even the spotlights diverts towards the new thing and that becomes the buzz of the town whereas the old thing just keeps going down and down and down

[@robertshoemaker1324]

It sucks that you don't hear about Cinderella no more Cinderella doing stuff together Brandon

[@BrendonSnyder]

Cinderella is not together anymore. There is a particular band member having substance abuse issues and needs to get his act together before Tom will consider reuniting the band. He says he doesn’t want to do it with replacement members which is why he is currently solo. But he has two great albums that are very close to the band sound and worth exploring. I did a review video of his two solo albums if you’re interested, see link kzbin.info/www/bejne/jWq8f2uLgtN2is0

[@parishofrock2963]

I hold a view that musical tastes changes circa every 5 years because (a) what starts as new & exciting runs out of steam & (b) the next generation of kids come along who want their own thing, something different to their elder siblings. Every time the best normally survive & evolve. For instance Bon Jovi survived the end of Glam Metal to become one of the biggest rock bands in the World.

[@BrendonSnyder]

Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, and others have constantly reinvented themselves in order to remain relevant. Some do it well and others not so much. I agree music tastes change but there are list of trends that lasted longer then 5 years such as 70’s classic rock was a near decade long, the NWOBHM was 12 years, and glam metal started in 1981 with Motley Crue and other but took off in 1986 with the market making it a priority and the hey day lasted until 1991 but it continued until 1994 or 1995. So glam metal could be said to have lasted for 14 years. But this is just my opinion and how I look at it.

[@metzikof]

I believe that people got tired from the image, solos, sex drugs rock n roll party themes. They wanted just simple songs in structure, lyrics concerning depression and other similar issues. Brendon do you think the term hard rock fits better for these glam acts or not? Keep rocking!

[@BrendonSnyder]

To me hard rock is a catch all term. Van Halen is hard rock. And certainly they joined in on the glam metal or hair band sound but not all hard rock is glam metal. Really I’m using the term because it existed at the time of the genre. Hair band and hair metal did not. So while glam can be an over simplification it lets people know we are taking about a period from 1986 to 1991 as its hey day. It’s a term that lets the uninformed music fan know specifically what we are talking about and a time period. If I said we are going to talk about “hard rock” it would be too vast of a time period. But if I say we are going to talk about “glam metal” even if you don’t agree with the title exactly, you know what we are going to talk about. That’s really why I use it.

[@alexkx8599]

@@BrendonSnyder Hmmm, I'm not sure glam started in 1986 but before...I don't know...I'd have to think about it and do research. I mean if Whitesnake were some how considered glam while on Geffen Records would that not include 1984's, "Slide It In"?

[@mikebehrend3152]

Glam became a parody of itself, the more street looking and sounding bands began to catch on until they started to become a parody of themselves. That was when the Seattle look and feel took off... That look though was real short lived in comparison

[@BrendonSnyder]

Yeah all of these trends usually are and looking back become very dated.

[@0neInTheWorld]

If you ask me it had a lot to do with the so called power ballad. And i don´t want to make the point that power ballads are bad generally. But this was the only song that was promoted from any album these days. If you watched MTV you saw Extrem with "More Than Words" or Mr. Big with "To Be With You" and you got the impression these bands were melow acoustic wannabes. A lot of germans think Scorpion´s "Wind Of Change" perfectly represents there musical repertoire and when you go to one of there shows you have a happy whistling sit-in. There was nothing on air that recruited new rock members. The only rock that kidsters heard came from grunge. And as a kid, that i was at the time, that´s how i felt!

[@BrendonSnyder]

True that was all most bands could get played. I knew there was an issue when bands started releasing the ballad as the first single to guarantee they got radio play. I always hated that. If you have to rely on your ballad there is a problem. Most bands who never even recorded ballads before started doing them like Iron Maiden with Wasted Love. And while a good track it was just so wrong for them to do one just for radio play.

[@emmanuelwolf6568]

glam is slowly coming back , because people are tired of rubbish quality music, all the god stuff always comes back around, I just wanna be there for the ride.

[@BrendonSnyder]

I’d love it if it would make a full come back but unfortunately I don’t think it ever will. But at least it is looked at more fondly today then when it was ending in 1992 and beyond.

[@timholt9948]

Hard to believe thirty plus years ago was in my twenty but I'm still rocking and so is mccartney love that e on remix of sldi n I'll be buying some of these glam rockers again this year next time I go to Walmart I don't think steve miller is glam it's never to late steve well gotta charge me phone

[@BrendonSnyder]

The crazy thing is, did you think 30 years later you’d only be able to buy music from a Walmart or online and virtually all the music stores would be gone? And yes it blows my mind that 32 years ago in 1989 I was buying my first cassette and kicking off this love of music...I just got chills thinking of that!

[@timholt9948]

@@BrendonSnyder sad thing is walmart doesn't feature music very good and not great selection I hope the elton john metallica album and beatles get back gives trick music a boost they treat it like it's toxic on tv now

[@BrendonSnyder]

Same is true for me here in NYC and Barns & Nobel. The sections keep getting smaller and smaller and they only stick with major names and new artists. Barely any of the classic stuff.

[@timholt9948]

@@BrendonSnyder they don't straighten them at all don't put vinyl in alpha order they just throw them there garage sale is more organized

[@JimB-xh7yw]

Love glam metal

[@BrendonSnyder]

You and me both and it seems like a whole bunch of other people as well by the reaction I get from these type of videos.

[@paulh6673]

Good stuff. I think a lot of 'movements' or sub genres of rock had a similar life-cycle when it comes to big commercial appeal. Glam metal 'ruled' for approximately the same amount of time as grunge, from, what, about 84-89, give or take? There are always the (A list) bands that transcend the genre that'll carry on selling, at least for a while. It's the saturation point that becomes the issue. It's when you start to hear those bands whose roots go no further back than 3 or 4 years - that's when you realise the whole movement is on borrowed time. The older glam metal bands would cite Led Zep, New York Dolls, Alice Cooper, Bowie, Aerosmith or Sex Pistols or whoever as influences; but those later ones were almost certainly just drawing from Motley Crue and Ratt, or whatever was selling. No real depth. Same thing with grunge - the 'original' big grunge players would be citing Sabbath, Hendrix, Stooges, Neil Young, punk and hardcore, but by the time we reached Bush, Candlebox, Silverchair etc..we're just talking Nirvana as influence, pretty much. And quite often the 'copycat' bands would outsell the originals for a while, as they would be perfectly marketed, lab-created, focus-grouped to death. But it's all on life-support by then...people start to see through it, it becomes more and more of a pastiche...then bang, on to the next thing.

[@lrn_news9171]

Glam metal ruled from 1984-1991 imo

[@WillowRedDog]

I’m going to be an Enuff Z’Nuff apologist here and point out that the overly Glammed up image and sound was foisted upon them by their record label, who told them it was the only way they were going to get Radio and MTV air time unless they did, so they went along with it. Donnie Vie had stated that had the band gone with the more stripped back look they wanted (more like The Black Crowes, still fashionable, but not so over the top), than they would have been taken far more seriously than they were. (He’s not wrong , either.) Unfortunately, while the look/sound of the first album did initially get them success, it ultimately hurt them, yet at least gave them a bit more freedom when it came to making the second album how they wanted it to be. Just look at the differences between the debut and Strength. They really pulled the image back, and the growth in songwriting is very noticeable, as well. Can you imagine how differently things could have gone for them had they come out with that sound/look instead of what they did end up with on their debut? Don’t get me wrong, I love the debut, too, but what a stronger statement/impression they could have made. Also, Foreigner - Mr. Moonlight, terrific, underrated album. Should have been a huge return for them, but unfortunately they were signed to a label (the ironically titled Priority Records) who didn’t have the budget to promote the album properly, and were more known for Rap albums and Dance music. It’s kind of sad that was the only deal the band could get at the time, because that album, and the band, truly deserved better.

[@BrendonSnyder]

I’ve not heard anything along this line regarding Enuff Z’Nuff not wanting a glam image. But that’s not to say it isn’t true or wasn’t said by them at some point. What I will say is that I’ve seen images of the band from before they were signed and they already had the glam look. Plus if it was pushed on them, they had 3 albums to drop it like other bands at the time. When they left Atco and signed to Arista for their 3rd album...if Atco had pushed it then Arista I’m sure did not take the same stance. However in all of this they never dropped it. Plus over the years and presently Chip Z’Nuff has kept it. Maybe Donnie didn’t want it but Chip certainly has made a career of it. Anyway, it did find them a niche and for me at least it drew me in seeing how over the top they were and I bought their first 3 albums as they came out and still buy new ones today. So life long fan here.

[@WillowRedDog]

@@BrendonSnyder - Oh it’s out there in interviews, plus Donnie has told me, himself. Look at the difference between how they look on the in the artwork of Strength and Animals With Human Intelligence compared to the debut. The Glam image is way toned down in comparison. What you would look see for those albums and after is more of the image they wanted, but they really went over the top with then first came out. How did you feel about the Foreigner album, though?

[@leevee2658]

Top 40 radio and MTV killed it, then dug it's corpse up and raped it and burned it's dead body with R&B, hip-hop, jangle pop/rock, EDM, euro- dance, dance pop, Celine Dion, new jack swing, ska, teen pop, boy bands, country pop, pop punk, nu-metal, post-grunge, Michael Bolton, and the various forms of alt-rock.

[@gellargod]

I agree for the most part. And then Creed and Nickelback killed the grunge movement lol

[@BrendonSnyder]

I was never into the bands that came after Grunge but at least they added production and performance back to the routine.

[@gellargod]

@@BrendonSnyder I saw Creed live once when I lived in Las Vegas. Was a hell of a show. Lots of pyro!!

[@scotty666tt]

Actually bands like Korn and Deftones brought in the demise of the Seattle bands

[@Too-Odd]

No one is to blame more than the bands themselves because they put out substandard albums and fell apart when times were tough. What killed "Hair Metal" and "Glam Metal" were one hit wonders that had bad albums, heavy rock turned into bluesy rock and ballads, and too many outside writers trying to make "Slippery When Wet" and "Hysteria" for everyone else. When heavy metal became light weight foil it killed the genre. "Rag Doll," "Way Cool Jr," and "One for Rock and Roll" killed 1980s hard rock and hair metal just as much as "Smells like Teen Spirit," "Alive," and ""Man in the Box." It did not help that many high profile bands lost singers, guitarists, and songwriters, so they could not produce the great music they had in the past. The death knell was hair metal bands trying to do grunge albums. Dokken, Ratt, and Warrant all tried it, and all face planted into failsville. Metal bands that stayed true and stayed hard weathered the storm, as did bands that tried new things like Bon Jovi but did not try to copy the grunge sound.

[@BrendonSnyder]

Dokken Ratt and Warrant are all still around. Also Ratt never made a grunge album. But I don’t think it was the bands fault. I think it falls more on record labels and management thinking they know better and forcing these bands to record songs and albums that were not true to who they were and fans saw right through it.

[@Too-Odd]

@@BrendonSnyder RATT 1999 was an attempt by Ratt to have the grunge sound. It sucked. The only good song on the album is "So Good, So Fine." It is also the only song without outside collaborators.

[@SlavomirG]

Let's remember there was no grunge as far as genre of music. It was only a marketing/media term. Basically a fashion trend to sell clothes and magazines. The first Pearl Jam album was a blues-rock/hard-rock album. Nirvana was punk/alternative/pop-rock. Alice in Chains and Soundgarden albums of the time were metal/hard rock. Some of these bands later went into classic 60s/70s rock. I consider "grunge killed xyz" conversation non-sense. Same with metal. Thrash bands recorded solid albums all throughout the 90s and sold out stadiums. The "grunge" thing was basically us watching MTV = to this day talking about it like it was actually a real thing (it wasn't).

[@BrendonSnyder]

The term grunge existed before Pearl Jam and Nirvana. It wasn’t invented when they broke big. It had been around for a while. In fact the movement had been around a decade before. Sub Pop actually encouraged and marketed the term asking journalists to use it.

[@patriottex4813]

You didn't mention Danger Danger or Trixter. Love Ted Pobhely and his new band Gokyo Motor Fist. Glam sound for. the modern era.

[@angryagain3801]

It did not help that the record companies signed too many bands and the quality of the glam metal bands really declined at the end of the 80's - stuff like Steelheart, Roxy Blue,. Trixter, Pretty Boy Floyd, this music was generic and forgettable so it's easy to see why kids veered towards the alternative and grunge scene. Also, some of the bigger selling bands that got a big promotional push from the record companies were releasing albums that just weren't very good - I am speaking about Great White (Twice Shy & Hooked) and that 3rd Poison album. I stuck by the bands that carried on in the 90's releasing good music. I bought the mid 90's albums by Crue, Warrant, Extreme and Tesla The point about the media is right . If corporate radio and Mtv doesn't give it even a little bit of airplay nobody is going to know it exists.

[@BrendonSnyder]

I agree with you premise but have to disagree that bands like Steelheart were forgettable or bands like Great White and Poison released albums that weren’t good. I love the Steelheart album and it has the classic song “I’ll Never Let You Go” which reached #23 on the Billboard Hot 100. And bands like Great White and Poison released some of their biggest and highest charting albums. Flesh & Blood and Hooked are both my favorite albums by the respective bands. Of course this is just my opinion.

[@angryagain3801]

@@BrendonSnyder Hooked bombed. They followed up a two million seller with an album that barely went gold and Nirvana had not happened yet. In my city my Great White with Bulletboys and Steel Heart sold so bad they moved it from a 3500 seat venue to an 1800 seat venue. I was there. I knew the scene was in trouble then .

[@BrendonSnyder]

Well I don’t want to argue this with you but a Gold album is still successful and in no way is a bomb. Plus is was 1991 and you tour and support an album for a year at a time so it was during Nirvana. But it’s fine if you don’t like the album. I’m just of a different opinion and you’re entitled to yours.

[@lrn_news9171]

Steelheart was low quality? They had one of the best vocalists to ever walk the earth.

[@angryagain3801]

@@lrn_news9171 I don't deny that guy's talent but their songwriting was bland generic and predictable. They were repeating the formula already established by the bands before them and offering nothing really distinctive or new. What Steelheart was doing had been done better by Jovi, Winger, Night Ranger, Ratt, Dokken.

[@salamwati9281]

Publicity number 1 enemy.. Bands panicking and losing identity.. Record labels greed..

[@BrendonSnyder]

Yep all those things contributed and hurt the genre.

[@lrn_news9171]

I've made the argument that grunge didn't kill Glam for a a long time

[@Too-Odd]

I don't know how old you are, but back in the day, what we now call "hair metal" was not called "glam metal." Glam was Gary Glitter, Sweet, and T-Rex. Most metal bands in the 1980s did not consider themselves "glam rock" bands, and using that term now confuses the genres. Yes, Mötley Crüe and Poison certainly started as "Glam Metal," but I would not put Dokken, Ratt, Krokus, Warrant, Winger, or even Cinderella in that category.

[@BrendonSnyder]

Thats incorrect. The term Glam Metal is clearly different than Glam Rock. And the term Glam Metal was used back in the day for every one of these bands. That is the era and style and attitude of their playing. You don’t have call them Glam Metal if you don’t want to be they absolutely without a doubt are in fact Glam Metal bands. So are Def Leppard and Guns N’ Roses. 🤷‍♂️

[@Too-Odd]

@@BrendonSnyder I wrote music reviews back in the mid-1980s, and that genre was not called Glam Metal back then. Bands like Twisted Sister, Motley Crue, and Poison were Glam Metal.

[@nelsonmaud1]

i think mtv vh1 fuse all the music channels taking away video music specials and rap started in mid 90s playing more rap /soul the hairstyles got tammed slick hair nurded up looked different making fun of it myself was so so on 80s glam rock depends on group was overkilled i think on mtv

[@BrendonSnyder]

Yeah there were a lot of factors that contributed. Bottom line is that it wasn’t only one thing.

[@lucasbeer353]

Look at the Poison's debut album cover then look again. And if it's not enough take a look at those antics in Unskinny Bop video. Remember it was 1990. No, it wasn't grunge that killed glam. It was self annihilation. Grunge was just another fad and trend that replaced hair metal craze.

[@Eric-qx1kx]

Was never really a fan of Grunge, nothing but baritone junkies mumbling into microphones. I'll take GLAM metal any day, many of those bands had amazingly talented musicians and singers with very melodic 5 octave vocal ranges...... but never got any respect because of the way they looked.

[@jamesfisher3684]

Entertain yourself with the Minneapolis band FLIPP for some of best glam rock!!!

[@BrendonSnyder]

Where they a nationally signed band? I’ve not heard of them but I’m always looking for bands from the era.

[@jamesfisher3684]

@@BrendonSnyder Flipp was signed by Hollywood Records in 1997. They are best unheard of band around!!!

[@russdavies9686]

Best I could do was find one song off their Volume album called Freaks on a European compilation from 2002. Cool song. Obviously hard to find but I'll add it to my list of wants. Sometimes these really obscure albums turn up in Russia, don't really know if they're legit releases or not.

[@mcharris321]

I have to disagree with you on this one. I place a large piece of the blame on MTV - they changed the whole game when suddenly bands not only had to sell the audience on their music but had to sell themselves on their looks as well. Image became everything and all bands were pushed to one-up all the others. The spandex and aquanet arms race was on! Backlash was inevitable (and probably necessary) and when the American industry saw "the next big thing" in grunge they threw the whole genre under the bus. Bullying became common (see: Metallica throwing darts at Kip Winger, Beavis & Butthead, etc.) and acceptable. Derogatory terms like Butt-Rock and Hair Metal came into being to further denigrate the old guard and make them uncool to the listeners. American metal didn't fall off a cliff - it was pushed off by the record labels and MTV. Their greed created the toxic conditions that brought the era to an end and somehow managed to convince people that it was the fault of the bands. But it's important to note that this was largely an American thing. Metal lived on overseas, and it's still thriving to this day. Bands like Pretty Maids, Helloween, Gamma Ray, Blind Guardian, Threshold, Pink Cream 69, Angra kept releasing great albums or formed and began releasing albums during this era. Talisman, Gotthard, Hammerfall, Edguy, Nightwish... There was no shortage of good, new music once we figured out that we could no longer rely on our local radio station to introduce it to us.

[@lrn_news9171]

Well said

[@humanityisdoomed2208]

Things really changed with the election of Clinton in 1993. The democrats declared war on the rock bands of the 80s decreeing them to be misogynist, racist, homophobic and sexist. This was echoed by the statements of the most popular grunge bands, who although were obviously influenced by 70's and 80's degenerate rock bands, did everything they could to ridicule the popular rock bands that just preceded them. The rise of Clinton also came with the pushing of pharmaceutical drugs that all of the grunge bands were openly taking and talking about, Nirvana "Lithium" for example, and the entire grunge scenes preoccupation with depression, suicide and hard core illicit drugs like heroin. Oh sure GnR and Crue were hard core junkies but the music was not centered around these addictions to the extent of the grunge bands. The Clinton era was the great depression for rock music, and sowed the seeds of its destruction by the mid 2000's. Glam metal was also not considered race inclusive enough to the left wing bands and this was also heavily ridiculed by them constantly. The true beginning of the end for rock was the late 90's Nu Metal with it's overt association with rap and the obligatory "gangster" lifestyle. Music at this point was not about having fun anymore, just a depression championing mantra pushing drugs and bad lifestyle choices. Funny how a lot of the glam metal bands are still out touring while most of the big grunge bands are long dead of suicide and drug overdoses.

[@Rabant777]

1979 - Disco was killed. You can see in US music trade papers from the middle of 1979, all of the articles are self fulfilling prophecies predicting a new wave / a new sound for the 80s...... it's marketing ..... create a fad ..... gatekeepers ensuring obsolescence, exactly the same as any other commodity - you're a loser if you have the old make of phone. 1989 - exactly the same - a genre has become over-saturated by MTV and all the labels creating a huge avalanche of similar sounding, similar looking, interchangeable commodities.... and then torching the forest to allow new growth. Those of us that were listening to what you're calling "glam metal" were already incorporating other bands that didn't sound the same in 1988: Jane's Addiction; Kings X etc. We still liked White Lion and Enuff z'Nuff, but we heard Green River and Tad, and Bleach era Nirvana and incorporated those bands into our diet. All of the revisionist history that grunge killed a genre is purely down to the fact that US labels stopped signing pretty boys, and US radio stopped playing guitar solos, but elsewhere in the world (I live in the UK) we weren't fooled. We knew that Alice in Chains; Soundgarden etc. was still rock 'n roll and we liked it....... and throughout Europe we still do.

[@BrendonSnyder]

Yes I think that’s a lot of it and as you say there is so much rewriting of history that I hear all the time I wanted to do my own account of it. Plus I’m a fan of early 90’s alternative and grunge bands and it was never that I hated them but I always wondered how the bands of the 80’s could just disappear and seemingly stop getting play overnight. Of course it wasn’t overnight and at the time I didn’t know what was occurring but looking back we can see what was really going on that brought the genre down.

[@mrt77wv]

I never really considered Enuff Z Nuff glam. Not musically. They certainly looked it, but their music was closer to Cheap Trick than any of the glam bands. New Thing is a power pop classic. Shame the video is so cringey.

[@BrendonSnyder]

I hear what you’re saying but they were completely glam. Just because a band was glam doesn’t mean they couldn’t write catchy power pop classics. They video wasn’t cringey back in the day. That’s what rockers looked like.

[@damiankarras]

Poison killed glam at the MTV Awards

[@stevenhilderbrandt3463]

Nirvana never mind came out it put nail in the coffin for hair metal music Bands like winger. Posion. Warrant. Started getting ridiculous. Hairspray. I’m 43 years old. Never like. Bon Jovi. Posion. Nirvana Pearl Jam sound garden Alice In Chains. More my music

[@lrn_news9171]

Many things. wrong with. this comment.

[@canaldoadelton6614]

Easy: Glam metal (named hair metal) is boring and sucks....

[@BrendonSnyder]

Then why did you watch the video? Seems to me you just wasted your time.

[@canaldoadelton6614]

@@BrendonSnyder Sorry man Just my opinion, but I like some glam metal bands: Whitesnake, Def Leppard, Europe, Ratts...

[@lrn_news9171]

@@canaldoadelton6614 So then you do like glam metal wtf? Just think it was cool to bash it?

[@stevenhilderbrandt3463]

Like any movement in music burns self out. Disagree with you. I was excited when grunge rock. Came out in 91 breath of fresh air. People were getting tired of. Goofy hair metal bands. Britney Fox posion. Bang tango. Kip winger getting ridiculous. When I heard that open riff smells like teen spirt. Blown away. Grunge took roots of punk rock 70s hard rock. Created its own genre I was 13 years old when grunge was popular finally music for me my generation. I never connected to glam metal music

[@BrendonSnyder]

If you’re not a fan of Glam Metal then why are you watching content album Glam Metal? Clearly you’re a fan of Grunge which is cool. So am I. I loved it too the same way I love lots of other styles and genres.