BY MIKEY MIGO
It's a time honored debate. It's the fun loving, party hard, make up wearing hair metal freaks of the 1980's against the down to Earth, socially and emotionally conscious flannel crew of grunge. I had MTV when I was younger and I did get to see and experience all of the hair metal madness. I was a bit too young to fully be able to join the scene, but for a five or six year old it appeared to be really fun. My younger aunts and uncles were big into these bands and that did wear off on me. My cassette collection would become a CD collection over time and the one thing that's never changed is that there's always a place for a little hair metal to get a party going.
Then came the 1990's. Things quickly changed as the over the top partying and fun faded and was replaced by the more serious and emotive grunge. Again, my age was my enemy with this. I was a preteen and while I did get on board with Nirvana, Soundgarden, and other grunge icons I was still too young to fully appreciate it. While a flannel over my Catholic school uniform wasn't really an option I did grow with this music. By the time I got to high school it was time for Eminem, Limp Bizkit, and the TRL generation to take control. What was I and my non-tone deaf friends supposed to do? We stuck with our 90's bands. We rocked the Nirvana, Rage, Radiohead, NIN, and the like.
Music is art and like all art, it evolves. The issue that's often debated is sort of like the egg and the rooster. Is Hair Metal the victim? Is grunge the savior? In the movie, "The Wrestler", Rourke's "character" goes on a small rant about how grunge music ruined rock and roll. But at the same time, couldn't of hair metal fizzed out? Couldn't the fans of been bored? Maybe they grew up? Who knows? Maybe it was a generation of younger brothers being annoyed by their older brother's hair metal and wanted to do something completely different. That's what is so interesting. In most cases, music evolves into something similar, but with a new twist or outlook. Hair Metal to Grunge is like going from getting drunk at a dirty party to drinking a cappuccino at a protest rally. Both are just as important if you ask me.
I went with the top five bands of each era. Of course it's subjective and others might like other bands more than who I chose to represent the genre. Hell, there's others that I personally might like more, but I'm trying to be objective. These five hair metal bands and these five grunge rock bands are who I think were the most notable of the times. Can we really consider Van Halen or Guns'N Roses as "Hair Metal"? I don't. Sure, Van Halen went through that phase, but it was more "glam" than "hair" to me. And yeah, Axl Rose's hair was big, but I consider GNR to be the band to bridge hair metal to grunge. GNR was jocking on Neil Young way before Eddie Veddar became his junior. On the flip side, the early to mid 90's also had bands like The Smashing Pumpkins, Nine Inch Nails, and Rage Against The Machine. Again, this is not glam rock vs. alt-rock. It's Hair Metal vs. Grunge. Let's take a look at the match-ups.
Warrant vs. SoundgardenThe Match-Up: Warrant's big hit was "Cherry Pie", but "Heaven" was their highest charting single. They did have a few more to break out, yet when it comes down to it I don't think they'll be as remembered as the other hair/glam bands from the era. On the other hand, Soundgarden is by far my favorite grunge band. We got "Spoonman", "Black Hole Sun", "Fell On Black Days" and a slew of other hits. The thing that makes Soundgarden stand out to me is Chris Cornell's vocals. It was for sure grunge, but Cornell had that "Robert Plant-it is" that made him a bad ass front man.
The Winner: This one is easy for me. I go with Soundgarden without any hesitation.
Bon Jovi vs. Alice In ChainsThe Match-Up: To me this is the battle of the "maybes". Bon Jovi wasn't your typical hair metal band and Alice In Chains were not your normal grunge band. Bon Jovi wasn't the party animal type that most would associate with its genre. Meanwhile, Alice In Chains was more "grunge metal" than the normal down-tone grunge style. With Alice In Chains we get tracks like "Man In The Box", "Got Me Wrong", "Angry Chair", and "Rooser". Even if you're not a fan of the band, you can't deny those are some great tracks. Bon Jovi provides a plethora of hits from "You Give Love A Bad Name", "Livin' On A Prayer", "Wanted Dead Or Alive", "Bad Medince" to all the recent not-so-classic ones. Both had easily made their mark in music history and both are fairly respected.
The Winner: With a lowered head of shame, I give the duke to Bon Jovi. I love Alice In Chains and listen to them way more than Bon Jovi. It's just if we're going to be fair, Alice In Chains was only able to make three albums. Bon Jovi has eleven. If Layne Staley hadn't of passed away, I'm 100% sure this decision would be different.
RATT vs. Stone Temple PilotsThe Match-Up: "Round and Round" vs. "Wicked Garden", "Creep", "Plush", "Vasoline" and about a dozen more hits. I saw RATT open up for Poison a few years ago and while the crowd around me loved the hell out of them, I was lost. The only song I knew was "Round and Round". I think I must have missed the boat with RATT, because they're often considered to be "one of the best hair metal bands EVER". I know they had other singles, but even at gun point I wouldn't be able to pick them out of a hair metal line up. With STP, I can rattle off a dozen singles and a dozen B-Sides in about a dozen seconds. The interesting thing with this match-up is that Scott Weiland of STP was probably the most "glam" of all the grunge rockers. He wasn't so angry and depressed, but more so about having a good time sharing his life experiences in an artistic manner.
The Winner: You could of guessed this one. I'm going with Stone Temple Pilots. They're one of my favorite bands of all time. Surely, they're not going to lose to the "Round and Round" guys.
Motley Crue vs. Pearl JamThe Match-Up: To me this an even match up. With the bad ass legacy of the Crue and their hit singles like "Looks That Kill", "Smokin' In The Boys Room", "Home Sweet Home", "Girls, Girls, Girls", "Dr. Feelgood", "Wild Side", "Live Wire", and many more it's hard to deny that Pearl Jam is one of the most successful hair bands and just flat out one of the most successful bands period of the 1980s. Pearl Jam is no slouch either. When you toss around song titles like "Alive", "Even Flow", "Jeremy", "Daughter", "Yellow Ledbetter", and "Do the Evolution" you're not playing around. I've never been a huge Pearl Jam fan. They have my respect and I do enjoy their music from time to time. It seems they've gone from being playful and fun to being colder and more and more like "Neil Young clones". That doesn't mean I'm going to turn off their music in the car or even NOT buy their CDs, but it doesn't call to me personally.
The Winner: This one is rough for me. I like both bands pretty much the same. A normal music snob would pick Pearl Jam and be done with it. But The Crue's story, along with their music, makes me enjoy their presence in music history a tad bit more. So yeah, I'm going with Motley Crue. Send all hate mail to Mitch Michaels.
Poison vs. NirvanaThe Match-Up: A lot of people debate over who was better, Poison or Motley Crue. To me, it's all about Poison. They had "Talk Dirty to Me", "Nothin' but a Good Time", "Every Rose Has Its Thorn", "Unskinny Bop", and "Something to Believe In". Of course those are great songs. But when comparing the best vs. best, it's not really fair. Nirvana is Nirvana. Many people put that name up there with Zeppelin, The Doors, The Beatles, and the greatest of the great. What would the 90's be without "Smells Like Teen Spirit", "In Bloom", "Come As You Are", "Polly", and the other hits. To say that Nirvana made an impact would be an understatement.
The Winner: Nirvana. Poison was a great band with great hits, but Nirvana captured the eyes and souls of a generation. Nirvana wasn't just a trend; it was a new way of thinking. It's comparing one of the greatest bands of an era vs. one of the greatest of all time.
What era do you prefer?
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