The Actually/Legitimately/Truly New Hair Metal Thread

So, maybe this will just be me talking to myself about what is usually playing anywhere I’m near, but there’s always a chance Engineer or Iron Maiden pops in once in awhile.

Current playlist is tuned up for some Slaughter as I head out to gas up the cars at Costco.  Very underrated band, and their debut album is good from beginning to end (with maybe one song that should be punted).

I think this is my favorite Ratt song:

Next weekend I will be attending the 80's Hard Rock Festival M3 in Columbia MD. I will be more than happy to post about when I get home. Find me on Instagram at Chaz Rock City if will want to see pics from this year's festival.

Here is a video of Kix from last year's M3

Never been a super huge Ratt fan, but always happy to give a non-hit a spin to see if I like it. I’ll check it out on the way to some grocery shopping this morning.

For some reason I always got Kix and Killer Dwarfs mixed up back in the day. In college though, I bought KD’s Dirty Weapons album, and finally figured out which band was which. I like Blow My Fuse by Kix, but found most of their other early stuff fairly goofy. In fact, now that I think of it, I think my hair metal playlist has more songs from that Hot Wire album than any of their other albums. Absolutely love Girl Money, Luv-A-Holic, and Bump The LaLa!

I hear you on the Kix front. This cheesy gem is never not my jam...

Yeah Cold Blood is at least less cheesy than some of their earlier stuff. I like it, but the song Blow My Fuse from that album is the type of stuff I wish they did all the time. I guess it’s a little cheesy also, but it feels more like straight ahead 70s/80s rock.

Been on a Babylon AD kick the last couple days. I highly recommend the songs Take The Dog Off The Chain, and Bang Go The Bells for anyone looking for heavier stuff. And So Savage The Heart and Desperate for fans of more ballad-like songs from that era.

The M3 Rock Festival was a blast! I didn't let the shitty weather get in the way of a good time. No one on the bill was too old to rock. I'm going to give my two cents on every band on the bill.

Friday night

Lizzy Borden: His set was only 30 minutes, but in was an intense 30 minutes! He did do an awesome cover of Pet Sematary. A woman in my row was quite amused by me flipping out when he played it.

Doro Persch: She is still an amazing singer!

Kix: They always a deliver an energetic live show. Steve Whitman's front man style is Mick Jagger like and just as entertaining.

Saturday

Enuff Z Nuff: It was a good set of Beatles like pop meets 80's hard rock

Lillian Axe: They played well and put on a good performance, but the songs didn't do anything for me.

Vain: Hearing No Respect live was one of the highlights of the weekend for me.

Heaven's Edge: They have showmanship, but the tunes were so so.

Tony Harnell (The voice of TnT) He is 60 and is still an amazing singer!

Stephen Percy: While never technically a good singer, he sounded just like he did in the 80's. I was happy I'm Insane and Back for More were the set list. He was so good that I hope the surviving members Ratt can fix their issues and tour again.

Blue Oyster Cult: Seeing them play Godzilla was anything but dull! The footsteps and roar that were played over the PA were taken from the film Gojira.

Tom Kiefer: He is such an insanely unrated musician! He still has that killer if Janis Joplin was a dude and sang hard rock voice. He plays lead and rhythm guitar; as well as piano.

Sunday

Burning Witches: A newer all woman power metal band from Switzerland. I was impressed by their chops, as well as their intense live show.

Leatherwolf: Heavier their most of the bands on the bill, but they didn't do anything for me. Good performance though.

The Quireboys (formerly know as The London Quireboys) I'm bummed they parted ways with original singer Spike, but they were still a lot of fun.  

XYZ: It was cool to hear Inside Out live. In the middle of their set there was an onstage proposal from one fan to another. She said yes.

Zebra: I would recommend them to people who prefer the hard rock side of Rush.

Yngwie Malmsteen: They say music is a form of self expression. Well then Malmsteen did a good job of expressing he is a pretentious tool and the only person he impress with all his guitar noodling was himself. I'm sure he run circles around the dudes in The Quireboys, but he didn't play a song as cool as 7 O'Clock.

Stryper: I'm not religious man, but I'm a fan of 80's metal and Stryper are still a great 80's metal band.  Musically those dudes are outstanding! They have vocal harmonies that fit perfectly with their guitar harmonies. Micheal Sweet is a top notch singer. While they're not going to make me start going to church I do like the positivity of their music. Finally, yes they still toss Bibles into the crowd.

Skid Row: If they didn't deliver the best performance of the weekend, only Kix was better! Erik Gronwall from the Swedish band HEAT is their new singer and he blew me away. His vocal range was impressive and he sure as Hell knows how to work a crowd.

Tesla: Good, but a bit of a let down after Skid Row; they didn't match their energy. Love Song was fun to sing along too though.

How was Randy Jackson's voice in the Zebra set? Videos I've seen seem to indicate he's almost unlistenable now...pitchy as hell.

Lots of fun bands in that concert. BOC in particular is amazing live.

Great reviews, and glad that Skid sounded good with that new guy. So many people were excited when he joined recently, and Sleaze Roxx has been all over his stuff since the beginning I think.

Haven’t thought about Doro in a long time, but I may have to dig that Warlock CD out of the closet and give it a spin tomorrow morning.

Doro was so good I ordered a best of her's on Amazon a couple of days ago.

Jackson sounded just as good as he does on CD.

I told you the new singer for Skid Row kicks ass!

I feel like I watched that guy grow up, with all the videos of him that SleazeRoxx posted throughout the years.  I’m glad for him, and he’s clearly talented, but for some reason he’s just never really clicked with me.  And it’s weird, because he posted so many covers over the years, and that’s usually an easy way to my heart

Chaz Rock City wrote:

Doro was so good I ordered a best of her's on Amazon a couple of days ago.

Jackson sounded just as good as he does on CD.

So I finally threw in that Warlock Triumph & Agony CD, and she really did sound great. A lot of pretty good songs on there, but I swear back in the day that all I really liked was “All We Are”. To be fair, I was always more into the not so heavy metal, and maybe I thought that stuff was a little harder than the Motley, Warrant, Slaughter, etc that I usually listened to.

Chaz Rock City wrote:

I told you the new singer for Skid Row kicks ass!

Having been out of the loop with Skid Row for a long time, I have to say - I like this guy. Tons of presence, knows how to work the crowd, voice is on point. I do respect those guys for never succumbing to the pressure to reunite with Sebitchian.

Sebastian may or may not be a nice guy, but that is one reunion concert I would 100% be attending. Love me some Skid Row, and it just wouldn’t be the same without him.

Enuff Z Nuff Hardrock Nite: I do recommend Enuff Z Nuff's latest CD of Beatles/Paul McCartley and Wings/ John Lennon covers. They stick close the the originals, but the guitars are more hard rock sounding. One very minor criticism, I think since there are already two 80's hard rock covers of Live and Let Die*, it would have been cool of they did Band on the Run instead. It's already an arena rock tune, so it would still work as a hard rock anthem.

*Lizzy Borden and Guns N Roses.

I tried that new Enuff Z’nuff album, and it just wasn’t for me. I usually love cover songs, but The Beatles just aren’t my thing. I respect that they were good, because clearly that is the case, but I just don’t really like any of their songs all that much.

I have spent the last few days listening exclusively to Faster Pussycat though, and man those first three albums are all pretty great.  I’d have to say “Where There’s A Whip There’s A Way”, “Cryin’ Shame”, and “Nonstop To Nowhere” are probably my three favorite songs by them, but they have a ton of good ones all over those albums. (edited for spelling)

Tattoo and Slip of the Tongue are a couple of my favorite Faster Pussycat tunes.

Chaz Rock City wrote:

Tattoo and Slip of the Tongue are a couple of my favorite Faster Pussycat tunes.

I know most people say they love FP’s first album the most, but I’m way more a fan of that second album. I like that it’s more polished, and there’s not a filler song on the whole thing, with maybe the exception of Please Dear.

IMO Please Dear works as a good album closer. While I do enjoy how sleazy Wake Me When It's Over is, I buy into Please Dear's sentimentality. The title track is another good change up with it's Doors like darkness. Hey Morrison was friends with Alice Cooper, maybe he would have dug Faster Pussycat.

I hadn’t thought of it before, but I do feel like Morrison would have appreciated some FP

Been on a Dokken kick the last couple days, and I’m starting to really enjoy the Tooth & Nail album. I’ve never been a fan of that album all these years, and I always assumed it was just because I didn’t really discover Dokken until Unchain The Night came out. Glad I decided to give it a delisted though, and the whole band is really working well together already at that point, and the production seems to be way better than on their first album.

Hot take: "Kiss of Death", from Back for the Attack, is one of Dokken's best songs and a severely under-heard great metal song from the 80s.