20 Hair Metal & Hard Rock Albums That FLOPPED... And Why: Part II 

Thank you for having me on, Guru. I had a blast doing this show! When talking about John Sykes, I forgot he was originally in The Winery Dogs. He is methodical when making music and the band wanted to get the album out faster and they parted ways, with Kotzen replacing him.

III Sides To Every Story is a masterpiece. Not just a great hard rock album but truly one of greatest albums of all time.

Blue Murder may not have been a big seller but that album and band were fire, I saw them live, they tore up the stage! Great album, worth a listen.

Thank you for the show guys!!! Loved it!!! Shared it with my metal head buddy’s!!!

I just looked up the Britny Fox debut LP on Wikipedia. The band's self-titled debut album, released in 1988, was one of the most successful debuts of the 1988-1989 season, achieving RIAA gold status (500,000 + copies).

Shocked that Badlands wasn't successful, back in the day Jake was in my top 5 guitar players, and I couldn't wait for it to come out, I guess that the average rock fan wasn't that into Lee's playing, and most of the people that got the record were probably musicians, and guitar nerds, in fact I heard it was coming out by reading about it Guitar magazines at the time. For me it's the perfect balance of great playing in the context of great songs, and it sounds killer too

Generation Swine flopped because it was horrible , I have tried to revisit it over the years, still bad . I dug Freakshow , still listen to Hang On St Christopher cover . Badlands Voodoo Highway , I listen to constantly..

Not many places that discuss this Era with so much knowledge. It was a weird time.. it literally felt like overnight somebody changed the rules.i was in the same boat with you guys. I was glad to check out grunge, punk, but I still wondered what Motley and Ratt were going to do next.there was plenty of room in my CD case for both 🤘

Remember the band Vain’s -No Respect album? So good 🤜🏽🎸🤛🏽

La guns Hollywood vampires album for me is their masterpiece. Love that record. Not crazy about really anything else they’ve done.

Extreme's first 2 albums were brilliant because of the combination of both musical talent, and some tongue-in-cheek or humorous lyrics. They'd developed their reputation based on those two things. III Sides lost the plot, or rather, it lost the humor. And they haven't regained it on any album since. I can't listen to anything beyond the first 2 albums because of that. They sound like any generic band after those.

Yes queensryche fell off the face of the earth. Empire was such a great album it ruined the band. I can’t name one album or song after empire.

Great video, great discussions. I'll be sure to check out Hair Metal Basement, sounds like it's right up my alley. If I may be so bold, I'd like to throw in a couple suggestions for the inevitable 3rd installment of this video series--- Enuff Znuff- Strength. EZ's debut was pretty successful with "New Thing" and "Fly High Michelle" making some waves but the follow up pretty much came and went without much fanfare. It's a very solid album but that rarely seems to matter when it comes to sales. Side note, last weekend I saw former Enuff Znuff singer Donnie Vie opening for Zebra. He was in great form. Steve Stevens' Atomic Playboys----Steve Stevens was one of the most well known guitarists in the 80's with 3 huge albums with Billy Idol, a Grammy for the Top Gun Anthem, "Dirty Diana" with Michael Jackson, and much more. Atomic Playboys kinda killed that hot streak, despite being an excellent album. Interestingly, 5 years after the album came out, the second song off the album, "Power of Suggestion"', was used for the opening credits of Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. Didn't help the album sales, though. I know it's not technically hair metal, but who had bigger hair than Steve Stevens? And since you were talking about Hanoi Rocks and Michael Monroe: in between Atomic Playboys and his stint with Vince Neil, Steve had a side project with Michael Monroe called Jerusalem Slim. Their album never got past the demo stage but most of the songs ended up being used on "Exposed". Think about that, songs at least partially written by the singer of Hanoi Rocks ended up on the solo album of the guy who killed the drummer of Hanoi Rocks!

There's only one way to go after Back in Black. I loved FTATR. But I find Guns for Hire the only memorable song from Flick. I really like Fly, but not many seem to.

When I talked to Michael Kelly smith , they said they hated the name “boys in heat” but execs called the shot . The debut did go gold but boys in heat was about the go gold but with the fallout during the tour had no chance . BiH and bite down hard are great albums but for different reasons 🤘

With Britny Fox, the big hit was Long Way to Love, which made it to #33. Girlschool didn't even chart. It was played a lot on MTV but didn't actually chart. If you think VH didn't click with Gary in the band, you should have seen them live. Gary killed it live.

A few suggestions for a part 3! Melidian - Lost In The Wild Harem Scarem - S/T Marchello - Destiny Smashed Gladys - Social Intercourse White Wolf - Endangered Species

Agree with the Ryche album,wasn't bad but it's not previous Queensryche, Afterwards was really bad

The first two CD's I ever bought were Badlands debut and Michael Monroe's Not Fakin' It. I still listen to Badlands regularly to this day and is one of my favorites (I'm a big Jake E. Lee fan). I don't really listen to Michael Monroe anymore though, lol.

A lot of these bands did not have as good of record company backing, management, promotions etc. as other bands did. A producer could make or break a band.

Badlands was a musicians band . Too heavy for the pop metal fans

Screw It! is a really fun, well-written album with some fantastic playing by Andy Timmons. Great sounding production too 🤘🏼

I loathe the version of "Tear It Down" that is on Adrenalize. I had the original version of that song on the B-side of the "Women" single years before that, and it was a ball-busting headbanger. The Adrenalize re-recording is watered down to fit the album, and it's just such a disappointment in comparison. The original Tear It Down can easily be found these days as one of the bonus tracks on Hysteria re-releases and the Box set that includes Hysteria.

You know what i like about you guys,? Is that you know and have loved music as much as i have and im sure i might know 1 or 2 things that you (might) not know as you have for me. But great conversation and vibe yall got ..

I was never that into Europe in the 80s for some reason. But their albums from Secret Society (2006) on have been among my favorites. "Last Look at Eden" is their most experimental, even some 70s vibes, and definitely my favorite. The only Europe album where I don't skip a single track. It includes probably their heaviest rockin' track they've ever done as well, "The Beast". ( ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-lP2clrkvn9Q.html ) Live these days they're also amazing. Most recently saw them co-headlining a show with Whitesnake (on Snake's final tour).

I love Danger Danger Screw it! Also love the flick maximum overdrive.. haha III sides to every story is soooo under rated...great vid guys

Danger Danger were great. Saw them support KISS on the 'Revenge' tour. Only went to see them play. KISS were secondary. 😬 'Find your way back home' was the best ballad on 'Screw It!' Andy Timmons was an amazing guitarist. Too good for the band, really.

Love Europe Motley Crue Poison and all Eighties music always and forever Love the Hair Metal Guru episodes on hair bands from eighties it Rocked

Twisted Sister Come Out & Play was dead on arrival unfortunately because the two singles were the worst choices and songs on the album

Queensryche was one of my favorite bands at one point but The Promised Land was a big disappointment (not just in sales). It had some interesting aspects to it but on the whole it just fell flat. I don't think it was the "grunge killing hair metal" argument, since Queensryche were not really hair metal. The album just wasn't that special or memorable. Looking back, it seemed like Queensryche were destined for greatness but they just fizzled out and turned into a debacle with their falling out with Geoff Tate.

I get your point about less sales. But Skid Row could not have been surprised. The debut was very slick pop, radio, MTV hard rock. Slave to the Grind was a more intense album, touring with Pantera definitely influenced them and STTG was borderline metal. They did it on purpose and HAD TO know it wasn't gonna sell the same.

Since 2001, I've seen Hanoi Rocks (Revisited lineup) live for every of the 3 albums they did, and seen Michael live touring for every album he's done since that point. The benefits of living in Sweden. Michael these days is a powerhouse on stage despite his age. If you miss seeing him live, you're missing what may be one of the best live shows you'll see by an 80s artist in the modern day.

The Badlands album was terrific but unfortunately with it being a little more bluesy, I think it sort of hurt it from being a huge album. It did okay, but was just different enough that the masses didn't take to it. It is a shame because it is amazing record.

Saw L.A. Guns twice back in the day... Opening for AC/DC (Blow Up tour) for their debut album, then later for Cocked and Loaded tour... sandwiched in a triple bill with headliner Billy Squier and King's X opening before them. Not sure their touring really helped them at that point. I love Billy Squier (being one of the five people who bought and loved his Tell the Truth album around 1993 that the label did absolutely nothing to promote), but by the time of that show he was nowhere near the powerhouse he was in the early 80s. And a different audience... I don't think L.A. Guns was finding new fans touring with him (or King's X for that matter). Was definitely the oddest tour lineup I saw, ever. I liked all three, I just thought they didn't work together.

The most consistently great 'hair band', even up to now, has been W.A.S.P. From the 90s through the 00s they're records have been stellar. Okay, 'Helldorado' is kind of mid. But I get the feeling it was supposed to.

I LOVE Promised Land. The tour was great too. But, I totally see how an old school QR fan would hate it. I didn't love them before that. I like Mindcrime and empire. But PL is my favorite QR.

Love anyone that plays the deep tracks. Nation is way too repetitive and “hits”. Good stuff boys.

Bust a Nut is fantastic, I think it's the last one that's on par with the first 3. It came out when the death of that style was coming.

Dude, i had that Badlands album in 1990. Every track is great. The Riffs, the vocals man you can tell he put alot of effort into those vox

If you do a Part III, I'd recommend Winger's "Pull".

Mindstorm debut. Killer hard rock hair metal album. Maybe it was because they were Canadian but that album did nothing. Shame as it's absolutely awesome.

Promised Land is enjoyable but its no Empire, its the next album Hear in the Now Frontier which is a flop, a sign of the times.

Europe- Out of This World is such an excellent melodic hard rock AOR metal album. Superstitious is brilliance on all levels, especially the solo! So is Just the Beginning great heavy riff and solo

LA Guns debut album wa/is absolute fire...Cocked and Loaded was great!..Hollywood Vampires, on initial listen was trash...Approaching 52 years of age now, so maybe I need to give it another try...

I see underrated and polarising hair metal albums in the thumbnail - I click! Great video and discussion

I like these reviews, a lot of good and some not so good albums in the 90s .

Ratt wrote much better songs on their follow albums than Twisted and Quiet Riot. Leader of the Pack was a BAD call. QR leading the second album with another cover, from the same band? I think it made people feel like they couldn't write their own shit. The song Metal Health is an all time classic for me. But how many more do they have that they wrote? Not much at all.

First four Bon Jovi albums definitely metal, not "heavy" metal, but definitely hard rock metal, riffs and solos. Keep the Faith was an obvious change in the guitars and style

This is another great episode! The only albums I’ve listened to all the way through are Out Of This World, Adrenalize, Psycho Circus, and Van Halen 3. With that being said, Out Of This World and Adrenalize are 2 albums in my top 10 albums of all time. Out Of This World was much better than The Final Countdown, but Adrenalize wasn’t better than Hysteria. Psycho Circus is overrated, but don’t dislike it. Van Halen 3 belongs in the garbage, it blows. Not one song off that album can I say it’s remotely decent.

The only albums on the thumbnail im not into is Danger Danger and Bon Jovi. I had every other one shown. 🤙

Am I ever gonna change is a Great tune from Extreme 3, one of my favorite songs from them. But it's NOT a single.!

Well in that case from a record execs POV Poison's Flesh & Blood was a flop, it "only" sold 3 million to Open Up and say ahh's 5 million

faster pussycat's whipped is a great record that couldn't have come out at a worst time. the comment the reviewer made about a level of maturity they had achieved while still retaining their sleaze, is something many other artists of their genre failed to do. most of the artists were so tired of being told they couldn't write serious material, and tried to write commentary they had no business singing about. but pussycat went and wrote a great record, despite drug problems taking their drummer away, and having issues from their label. there is a great article in metal edge from them joining the kiss revenge tour, and talking about testing new material by playing 30 minutes for kiss, and then playing a full show hours later in the same town in clubs. they were a band that loved playing, and really wanted to make it work. the worst part was the band getting dumped by elektra while playing arena's opening for kiss, and trying to find a new label at the same time.

I bought 3 Sides and to be honest it put me to sleep. I wanted another Porno graffiti because that was such a fun album. I got the feeling 3 Sides was Extreme trying to pull a Queen. The whole album is sort of a downer lyrically but the musicianship is stellar

Def Leppard. Adrenalize. Reasons it did not sell close to Pyromania or Hysteria. 1 death of Steve Clark 2 record companies wanted Seattle 90s rock more than 80s rock 3 Mutt Lange wanted a Guns and Roses type album instead of continuing the Hysteria type of album.

Joe Elliott did say that Adrenalize came out 2 years too late but obviously the band was having trouble with Steve Clarke hence it coming out much later

I think Bulletboys are Cape Verdean descent, not PR. I could be wrong, but I thought that was the case. My lifelong best pal (and his family, who were just about my second set of parents) is CV, and I could swear we've talked about BB being CV. If that was any factor in their (lack of) success..... then people just suck. Is the music good, nothing else should matter.

I think this shows that cranking out hit albums is not as easy at it seems. Being a fan of this kind of music in the 80's, I was just aware of the sophomore slump and just found that if I band had a huge record, they were under so much pressure to meet or exceed it, that they tried too hard and it just blew up in their face. Also, I think there was oversaturation of the market and a lot of it just became generic and helped move the grunge era in. Disappointing albums were leading to lower sales overall. But regular rock music also got caught up in that and was replaced by hip-hop and rap...so a lot was going on. I do find it funny though, that when grunge was becoming huge in the US, the complete opposite (Power metal) was growing huge in Europe. That's where I gravitated to, as the generic alternative market just continues to get more and more shallow and no bands last or can even be distinguished. I'm surprised more 80's metal fans are not into bands like Sabaton or Battle Beast...it's just 80's metal worship. And if you are a fan of The Final Countdown, listen to a song called Land of Light by Freedom Call and tell me what you think...

Bon Jovi Keep The Faith may have flopped in the US, but it was a big album across selling over £10m around the world. So I’m sure the record company was happy.

I never got into Hollywood Vampires. I should revisit it. Cuz I LOVE Cocked & Loaded.

These topic choices agreed, and a few are just turds like Generation Swine, VH III.

Funny thing is, I remember at the time where two of the acts in question were concerned (Bulletboys and Badlands) for months they had their videos in what seemed like almost constant rotation on the Power 30 (Canada's Headbangers Ball). I always got the impression they must have had a pretty big and growing following. Goes to show what an illusion that was! LOL!

Speaking of Quiet Riot's "Condition Critical" and how bad it flopped... there was a well-known music critic that wrote, I think, for Rolling Stone (I can't remember his name). He was known for long detailed reviews of albums. Taking inspiration from Spinal Tap, he only wrote a two-word review of that album: Condition terminal.

The singer of Europe wrote the keyboard opening on The Final Countdown.....

1997-98 were the years of 80s bands doing the absolute shittiest albums. 3 albums I refuse to listen to again came out during that time, the mentioned Generation Swine, and the equally vomit-inducing Shadowlife by Dokken. Don blamed that shitshow on George Lynch, who was out of the band after that. And considering what Dokken has done since without him, he may be right. And of course, Van Halen III in '98.

Listen to Greg Chaison's Full Bloom interview and you will hear exactly why Badlands was never more than a blip on the radar. Bad management was the root of all of their short comings

Nuno is soooo underrated

Adrenalinez was not even close in quality to anything Def Leppard had put out previously....Not even close...

I think Europe came back even stronger in the 2000s. Maybe Extreme and Skid Row are still doing it well also.

Hair Nation Deep cuts at least plays many non hits and bands not on the flagship channel

I would say 3 sides was pretty big at the time if you were into extreme. It was their NEXT album that flopped so bad.

I loved New Tattoo by Motley Crue. Tour was awesome as well Megadeth opened. Danger Danger was great. Was definitely slipping her the big one in the 90s. Now that i am almost 60 I still think about them.

Promised Land was difficult for me. They were my favourite band but I really struggled with most of it. Now, I love it - except for Disconnected - that is a steaming pile.

I saw Bon Jovi live on the slippery when wet and then on the New Jersey tour and it was exciting but when I saw them on the keep the faith tour they had it together. They sounded amazing

Hollywood Vampires was the ONLY LA Guns CD I had! Great album!

Bullet Boys did get back togethet for a short time. They performed at the M3 festival

The Europe album was poor. Prisoners In Paradise was a great return to form though. Maybe an idea for another discussion great albums that followed the albums that flopped! Wake Me When It's Over only had one decent song on it - House of Pain.

Two Steps From The Move is an amazing record. I got it the day it came out (I was already a Hanoi Fan) and still play it once a week. I believe 100% that if Vince doesn't murder Razzle than not only is Motley's career different but so is Hanoi's and I'll even go as far as to say that we don't even see a Guns N Roses...at least not how we know them. BTW out of those 3 bands I mentioned only ONE is still putting out great music and is amazing live...Michael Monroe. and when Hanoi did an original lineup reunion for Michael's 60th they were EXACTLY like they were back in the day.

Roxy blue want some should have been huge along with asphalt ballet debut albums that got no promotion at all

Gen swine was sooo bad. And after such a gem with the Corabi album.

Love the tesla album! Some of these albums are decent! I bought 9 of these cds! God bless all the ratt n rollers! Jesus saves sinners!

Motley always was ripping their image off from others. Too Fast for Love they stole the look from London/ Wasp, Shout was Judas Priest, Theater of Pain, they went for the Hanoi Rock look, for Girls it was the Sunset Strip look that the Guns bands (LA and Roses) were making famous. Dr Feelgood they went for the Seattle meets Bon Jovi thing

High n Dry is my favorite Def Lep Album by far. And the only album I choose to listen to. Sure Pyromania has a few good songs as does Hysteria but the radio overplays most of those. Put on High n Dry and call it a day.

These Days is better than Keep The Faith. All the songs are mature, instrumentally superior, lyrics are great.

For all the cult- following love for Badlands and Blue Murder, neither of those bands had the all-important "it" factor that was critical for the time. And truthfully, neither album has a catchy song or hook for radio, which explains the poor sales.

Q5 was a real cool band. Actually they released an album not too long a go. So, maybe they are still together.

Great show, boys. Some takeaways... Badlands-I remember being excited about this before the release. Then it came out and exceeded my expectations. Loved it and thought this band was going to be huge. And should've been. Bust a Nut- very solid record but I probably rank it last from their first four albums. Screw It- LOVED this record and it should've been as big as Cherry Pie. Hell, DD should have been as big as Poison. Europe- a rarity that arguably put out their best music in the last 10 years. Walk the Earth and War of Kings are SOLID Generation Swine- agree that was a steaming pile of dog shit Promised Land- I actually still love this record. Hear in the Now Frontier was the one that was a dud to me Boys in Heat- disappointing from the debut but did produce Stevie which is my favorite BF song ever Blue Murder- as good if not better than Whitesnake's self titled record. Fight me Van Halen III- This record was terrible but did see them on this tour and will say they sounded amazing. Cherrone bridged the Roth and Hagar material flawlessly

17:02 - The reason why they don't acknowledge that era is because it's been disparaged for decades by the term "Hair band" which is something that wasn't used until years later as an attempt to smear the music...and not for nothin' but you're not helping by continuing to use the term. :P It's like if someone called you an insult & you started referring to yourself as that insult.

How did Def leppards album flop. Went to number 1

I saw KISS on that "Farewell" tour in 2000, in Mansfield, Massachusetts. The venue was known as the Tweeter Center back then (It's now the Xfinity Center). Tweeter was a chain of stores that sold musical instruments. I happened to hear on the radio that you could pick up free tickets for the KISS show in Mansfield, so I went to my closest Tweeter store. I ask the clerk about the free KISS tickets, and he pulls out a stack of tickets at least three inches thick and asks me how many I wanted! I think I ended up taking eight, giving a few to co-workers. I was just shocked at how many free tickets were being given out, and this was just one store! There was a good crowd at the show, but who knows how many people were there due to the free tickets. KISS was absolutely terrible that night. Ace was drunk, or high, or both. Ted Nugent opened, and he was outstanding, so at least I got one good performance that night. As for 'Psycho Circus', I think it's one of KISS' best, despite Ace and Peter appearing on only a handful of songs. The title track sounds very Def Leppard-esque. I also liked the closer, "Journey Of 1,000 Years", a lot. Probably didn't sell well because radio stations were being paid to play grunge crap.

Screw It is one of the best hair metal albums period. The rap song is clearly meant to be a joke!

Nobody ever bring up Roxx Gang , King Kobra or Rough Cutt's Wants you debut albums

I love extreme but more than words is a good song but it is over played but I loved extreme

I love danger danger but the rap song put a rock song or a Glam metal song of the album but still a great album

No. Cocked and loaded did go platinum.

Blow up your video was 88 not 89.

Out of this world by Europe did not flop. 3x platinum album US Billboard charts.

thyco thircus

By including non Hair Metal you broke the rules and everyone knows that Rock N Roll is all about rules. 😅

I find Tesla's Bust A Gut half a good album. Too much filler though.