There has never been a genre of music at once more popular and at the same time more maligned than the Hair Metal of the late 80's and 90's. These enormously popular bands sold millions of records and sold-out arenas all over the world. While particularly popular with the female teenage audience, there were more males into these bands than they'd ever care to admit. At the same time, the hardcore metal fans vilified these bands as commercial pop-metal and trashed them for their often androgynous appearances. Perhaps no form of music, with the exception of Disco, was more shallow than Hair Metal and yet the bands relished this status. They left it to other bands to sing their message of anti-war or anti-government. The Hair Metal bands stood for sex, drugs, and Rock-n-Roll and didn't pretense to anything else. Still, there's no disputing the fact that 15 - 20 years later, these bands remain very popular and many continue to tour although perhaps with different members.
Steven Blush's book isn't an expose` on Hair Metal nor a history of the music. Rather, this is a collection of 160 outrageous photos from those glory days accompanied by period comments from the band members. Some of these bands like Motley Crue, Poison, Ratt, and Cinderella became household names and the biggest acts of the era. But the book also features lesser-known groups such as female metal bands Vixen and Poison Dollies.
You'll read as these members openly talk about their lives, drug and alcohol use, and their promiscuous sex lives. Sebastian Bach comments, "We come into towns, make friends, get welcomed with open arms and hopefully open legs!" Mick Brown of Dokken said in 1987, " We've already screwed every girl in L.A...I did a lot of social work!"
On the other side of the coin, you had some guys whose moral gauge went quite a bit higher. Ron Keel laments about the young teenage girls, only to willing to do anything to meet the members of the band no matter how degrading. There are also some hilarious comments about the clothes and hair styles of the day. C.C. DeVille of Poison says, "We're not gay or anything--we just think we look better with make-up."
The rivalries among these bands became the stuff of legends. While many were on friendly terms, when it turned ugly, it turned VERY ugly. Slash (Guns N' Roses) said, "We really hate Poison. They totally emphasize everything we hate in a bad!" Nikki Sixx would comment, "Bon Jovi is everything corporate about rock & roll that we don't respect." The bands also share their feelings on the death of Hair Metal in the 90's which clearly too many of them off guard.
The last third of the book is a alphabetical listing of the major Hair Metal bands which includes their birthplace, band members, best known songs, and fascinating facts. The book stands as a testament to one of the most intriguing eras of American rock music. Love or hate the music, no one who lived through that era can deny the good times had by all from stars to their fans.
Reviewed By Tim Janson
