In this video, my buddy Trevor and I go over 10 Hard rock/hair metal albums in which bands changed their sound. We discuss the change and decide... did the change work or not? Come along for the ride!
I’m born and raised in Seattle and so the 90s Grunge movement is dear to my heart…but I still genuinely enjoy KISS’s Carnival of Souls because Paul Stanley is such a good songwriter. Is it the best in their catalog? No. But if you sit down and listen to the songs, they are very good and way better than what people give them credit for.
Hey, I'm a KISS fanatic. I've done a couple videos strictly on the band. That being said, I just can't get into Carnival of Souls... and trust me, I tried. I would've loved to have seen them continue in the vein of Revenge--one of my favorite Kiss albums of all time. Hey, man, appreciate you watching and supporting the channel, seriously.
Another great episode. I actually like your discourse on the type of Hair Metal you prefer. While I love the sleaze bands, I also branch out into the European AOR. Von Groove, Gotthard, House of Shakira, L.R.S. and Art Nation, etc. So much more to Hair Metal than people realize! Keep up the great work. I'm approaching 50 and still love finding about bands that I had missed growing up. Because of your channel I now own Sleeze Beaz, Electric Angels, and many others. Keep it up!
Awesome vid, just subscribed to Trevor's channel! Roxx Gang's The Voodoo You Love is one of my favorite mid 90s albums. A couple of albums I have to mention are Tigertailz - Wazbones!, TNT's Firefly and Transistor, Love/Hate-Let's Rumble, and Phantom Blue - Built To Perform. With Tigertailz, Love/Hate, and Phantom Blue, they definitely went with a much heavier sound on those albums. With TNT's late 90s albums , they went more alternative, but I really enjoy those albums. However, I was glad when they returned to form with My Religion. On a similar note, it would be cool if one of you did a video on metal bands that went hair metal, like Celtic Frost, Accept, Judas Priest, Tokyo Blade, Raven etc.
Cheers matt , let rumble is great but I still think is sounds like love/hate , not much sounds really different imo . But yes that’s a good list of bands that went hair metal 🤘
@krashkoursemetalshow I can agree, Let's Rumble is probably a major stretch for this. I just love how that album is even more raw than the first two, though.
Matt, you added a bunch of albums to my revisit list, like Tokyo Blade and Let's Rumble. I'm all about Wazbones, Phantom Blue, and I fuckin' LOVE Roxx Gang. Why couldn't they have released their followup earlier?
WASP's KFD is one of, if not THE darkest albums I've heard. Another album you have to be in right headspace to listen to. I love it! Another album comes to mind is Extreme's Waiting for the Punchline(1995). A tad bit grungy, and the guitars are downtuned some, but Gary and Nuno can write great rock songs, and this album is no exception. Fantastic video, Guru!!
Great selection, guys ! To me Ultraphobic is truly an underrated gem, Warrant's most accomplished album with Dog Eat Dog. It's a shame Warrant doesn't play any song of this record in concert... There was some great stuff at that time, I think of Mike Tramp's Freak Of Nature albums, Dee Snider's Widowmaker second record (Stand By For Pain), Vince Neil second solo album (Carved In Stone). And, of course, THE masterpiece : Mötley Crüe '94 album.
Gonna throw 1995s 'Change' from Pink Cream 69 out there as an album that went grungy and featured a new singer as one that I really like. Light of Day has some crunchy, pitchy guitar riffs that I think are really cool. New Control has some really cool hard hitting riffs and vocals. And Only the Good is a great mellow tune that shouldn't work as well as it does on an album like this. This is by far PC69's least revered album but one I always go back to. Their next album Food for Thought was great too and if you only listen to one song from that one make it Until I Wake, just an epic song that grows and hits hard at the end and is about the struggles with alcohol addiction.
Pantera’s shift from glam to heavy awesomeness with Cowboys From Hell. Love/Hate’s Let’s Rumble was darker and heavier than their 1st 2 albums. And definitely Whitesnake changing from a blues/rock band on Slide It In (there were 2 versions.) Or the total change from the ‘87 album.
My Top 5 1 Native Tongue- Poison 2 Chinese Democracy- Guns N Roses 3 Slave To The Grind- Skid Row 4 Motley Crue 94 5 Generation Swine- Motley Crue Generation Swine and Chinese Democracy are two albums i used to hate with a burning passion but grew to love them more and more as i got older. Native Tongue is my favorite Poison album.
From a sales perspective these are mostly misses but I still really like them: Dokken "Shadowlife", Winger "Pull", Van Halen 3 with Gary Cherone, Shotgun Messiah "Violent New Breed", Warrant "Dog Eat Dog", Fastway "Waiting for the Roar". I'm sure there are more but that is all I can think of at the moment.
Danger danger was on the turntable today. I love their debut. I live in the hood in the Bronx. Its all rap till you hit my building and its constant hard rock/ hair metal. I still have hair down to almost my waist. I'm looking to start a glam band. I play guitar, bass guitar and drums
Here´s a thought experiment: Young people today having to choose between hair metal and grunge, how many of them will feel compelled to go for the dark and depressing, even suicidal, ethos of grunge over the bubbly and fun mentality of the hair bands? Not a rhetorical question, by the way.
I just listened to Crue 94 for the first time last week. I was amazed. If it was the same album but Soundgarden had thier named slapped on the front of it, i think 3 to 5 of those songs would be in rotation with with the top grunge songs that are still being played today. Its that good.
I think some bands have pulled off a change in sound better than others. When it works, it works well but when it doesn't it mostly come off as desperation to stay relevant. In most cases tho i tend to prefer the early work from bands. Albums like Too Fast For Love to me are the most honest and true genuine No influence from a record label or a to stay relevant.
I loved KFD!! W.A.S.P. always had a harder sound so I didn't think adding a little Industrial feel was too far from what they were. I put it up there with Alice's Brutal Planet as successful changes in sound, for at least one album.
With Poison- Native Tongue, I did not care for it back then as well to where it felt like a wasted purchase when I first got it on release. I just recently decided to listen to the album again after digging through Ritchie Kotzen's discography (I love his Winery Dogs stuff). It's actually a decent album; just very different than their other albums and too long (as mentioned). As for a band that feels like they changed their sound and I stopped listening to, it was Bon Jovi post the New Jersey album. I loved the early stuff up to Slippery and thought New Jersey was kind of a weak album; but still fit with their other stuff. With Keep the Faith, it felt like an absolute snoozefest. 7800 fahrenheit was peak Bon Jovi imo.
Hey Anthony digging the channel so far.I haven’t seen you do a head to head in a while so I have a killer idea but it’ll be a tough one.How about comparing Wildside UTI against GNR Appetite for Destruction.2 of the best debuts in hair metal history!
I love the Native Tounge record, and I am a huge Poison and Kotzen fan. Yet, that was not a Poison album, it was a Richie Kotzen featuring the members of Poison album.
Definitely a good description of the album. I love the Winery Dogs stuff and gave Native Tongue a second listen (outside when I got it on release) due to digging through Kotzen's discography. It's a lot better than I originally thought; albeit a bit too long.
I agree with everything you said about stryper I am a huge fan since to hell with the devil and I must say reborn is a great album I bought it around the time it came out. Michael sweets vocals you are rite,he sounds great and he can sing just as great as he did back in the 80s an even though Timothy gains is not in the band anymore replaced by firehouse,their bass player left that band and joined stryper
This is James great episode my favorite album from Warrent is Dog Eat Dog my seconed favorite Warrent is Ultraphobic Jani sounded killier like he always has one of my favorite singers of all time great video Anthony as always
I grew up with an awesome glam Rock/hair metal band called Ambush from Millville and Vineland NJ. I would send links of their RU-vid videos but I don’t think RU-vid will let me. RU-vid the following if you want to check them out. Ambush - on your knees Ambush - Play Ruff Ambush - still in love with you Ambush - I’m on fire Ambush - sos Ambush - Nowhere in Site Ambush - dreams They had the look, the songs, moved to LA too late and they never caught the rad wave. Curious to hear your thoughts. Can’t wait to watch this video. Love your content!!!!
Hey, thank you, Brother! I do have a Hair Metal Guru Facebook page--people message me there with links and stuff. But I will definitely check out these songs soon. And thank you for your support, seriously, I really appreciate it.
@@HairMetalGuru419absolutely! Keep posting. Your channel is my new fav. I grew up worshipping hair metal and rock. My mom supported me in my quest for all things music and would go with me to all the concerts. She swooned over Brett Michaels lol. I played guitar in punk bands and was a trained classical guitarist. I wasn’t pretty enough to be in a rock group Lol. But anyway I love all music….my love for Warrant matched my love for death metal and thrash and doom and punk rock. I was someone who welcomed grunge and still love grunge. BUT….I openly loved it all. I still think it’s stupid that the genres couldn’t co-exist. Why couldn’t someone love Nirvana AND Enuff Z Nuff? Oh well. I happily listened to Obituary then popped on Poison and Tigertailz and then threw on some Morbid Angel and then some grunge and indie college rock bands. I love music not genres. The media made fans draw a line in the sand and it made bands do the same. I’ve been to over 700 concerts. Got to hang with so many groups and have enjoyed every second of it all. Curious what you think of Ambush. AND since you love like punk…check out the band Hagfish. Their album, “Rocks your lame ass” is all killer and no filler. It’s pop punk anthems. Anyway. Thanks for the content. Can’t wait for the next upload.
$60 for a t-shirt that is outrageous even at a concert no way would I pay that amount ,that's why I didn't go see motley crue, Def Leppard, and poison I thought the tickets were too high, I had my friend pick me up a t-shirt from motley crue and I should have gave him a limit because that shit was $50 and I think that was high
W.A.S.P. KFD is one their best. If you don't like heavier music you won't like it. It's simple as that. But that album truly rocks. And at the time they were out to prove to rip offs like Marilyn Manson that they were the most extreme band in the world. And if you look into what they did on that tour. You'll see that they proved it. That tour, they only came to a couple venues in the states. Because they weren't allowed to bring their stage show with them here
after year of living with native tongue in 1993, it became my 2nd favorite poison album next to crack a smile. i love the great songwriting on native tongue.
Chris Van Dahl just put out a new record with Angels in Vain called "Long Time Coming". And put your "American Hardcore" bias aside because it's a SOLID rock album. It surprised me big time.
One band that comes to mind is a Canadian band called Sven Gali. First album from them is killer hand band. in the vein of Skid row. their second album 'In wire' is horrible, totally changed their sound.
With lead singers aside for the obvious , CC Deville is one of those guitarist that was his bands sound . Kotzen is some kind of special talent , followed his solo and the Winery dogs , but way way too roots for Poison. With that said , Theatre of My Soul and Fire and Ice are great on their own .
Icon had a sweet debut album, then it was downhill. Lillian axe early stuff was great then they changed for the worse. Shotgun messiah debut was amazing, second album good, then went industrial and sucked. Loudness was a badass heavy metal band that went pop for a bit in the 80s and sucked. Got better after thought, same with Dead End. Enuff z nuff evolved but I like all iterations
So, does the shirt no longer fit the man, or the man no longer fit the shirt? Wildside's self-titled second album is definitely not Under the Influence, but if you separate them, it's pretty good. You can't expect anything resembling UTI when you take Benny and Brent out of the picture. I think the responsibility for the sound of that album falls harder on Tony Nicole Tony Records than it does on the band. You're both pretty aware of my Wildside bias though, so there's that. Very much like separating the Wildside albums, if you throw out the band name (and the previously established expectations that come with it) and just listen, Chinese Democracy is actually pretty good.
As for as dokken goes shadowlife if you get thru it puppets on a strin,hard to believe, and bitter regret are really good in My opinion the rest not good I am a huge dokken fan I seen them 7-29-23 and I knew what to expect with Don's vocals and you are rite his voice is not very good but the music is great Jon Levin is an amazing guitarist,and the rhythm section of Chris and DJ is great and like you said anyone can look their recent concerts and people should know what to expect and yet they do get a decent size crowd and I would go again,I did see them in 2000 with poison,Cinderella,and that was great they had reb Beach at that time and donns voice was fantastic
Detonator rules. American Hardcore is an embarrassment to the genre. Any genre really. Love Native Tongue, as well as Crack a Smile. Poison evolved in a natural way that made sense. It didn't feel forced or fake like so many others at the time. Plus they stepped up their game musically. Obviously the original chemistry with C.C. wasn't going to be the same, but they did such a killer job of not letting it drag them down in my opinion. Few bands can pull that off as well as Poison did at the time. They really don't get enough credit for it.
for a band like la guns...tracii had no business doing that record under the name. CMC only would release the record under that name, and Tracii knew he also wouldn't be able to get people to come see them if he didn't use the name. riley did it because there was no other gig for him to do. that album was terrible, and chris van dahl trying to act like a phil anelmo at the concerts was hilarious. he is not a tough guy, and he tried to be one. it failed.
Its the LA Gunns on the shit show. What a crock. Its funny you mentioned pantera there glam stuff was great. There is a video on here called all over tonight. Its like van Halen, early def leopard and Judas priest had a baby. Its killer
Thank you for the props guys! Krash- Time Bomb was actually the first single and video. That’s a trip you live by Roby! We chat ever so often, we had a shit ton of fun together when he was still in the band Love that guy! I wrote Time Bomb as I was trying to steer the band in a more modern direction at that time Kevin’s vocal is very cool on that track! Worked perfect Cheers guys
I am the actual Grunge Guru now that I think about it lol as well as the evil Ricky Rachtman ..The REAL grunge isnt Ntrvana ot PJ 1991+92..ITS their Sub Pop demos..TAD. SKIN YARD. MELVINS.L7.
I am not a Ritchie fan for poison I rather hear CC DID NOT LIKE native tongue not my cup of tea now dysfunctional By dokken I like alot,shadowlife is different their are about 4 songs I really like the rest don't care for that wasmore a lynch and pilson project ,Don said in an interview he would not even put his dokken name the way it is on the rest of the albums
that 2nd wildside came out my senior year of high school. my buddy and i cut school that day and drove all over portland, oregon in search of that album. finally found it after travelling all over, and popped it in the discman (the kind with the cassette tape that went in the tape player). good god that album was terrible.
tnt - firefly .....great cd !!................bruce Dickinson - skunkworks !!.....great cd !!,,,,,,,,,,,kiss - Carnival Of Souls.....dark and heavy .....i like it !!......Lynch Mob - smoke this .......everyone hates this cd and yes it is bad !!.......
tnt - firefly was an album i bought off the cuff, and didn't expect much from back in 1997. from the first notes of angels ride, i was shocked and blown away. tripping is a fantastic song.
