Under rated/Miscategorized bands of the 80s/early 90s

[The Dog]

Hey dudes,
What bands would you say got unfairly lumped in with the hair bands or the 80s and if they were allowed to have their own style and were put into their own category might still be rocking today or at the very least have reached a wider audience.

Off the top of my head I'd say:

Extreme - 1st album really was awesome for its time.  They had a hard rock sound, but weren't as cookie cutter as most of the bands at the time.  I think more then words kinda lumped them in with the wuss rock/ballads at the time, when that song isn't really indicitive of their catalouge of songs

Bang Tango - Amazing sound...I love the bass/funk vibe they had going.  I think they got tossed in with the LA sleaze rock scene and really sounded more like  RHCP type band.  Their live discs are simply amazing.

Saigon Kick - I loved their harmonies and wierd sounds.  They had some 80s rocker type songs but you could tell they were trying to venture out and do their own thing.  I remember reading how their label wouldn't let them put their "different" sounding songs on the CDs.  Listen to the first track on their first LP you'll know what I mean.  Anything from their 3rd album on is the sound I think they always wanted to have.

Queensryche

[Walk]

Queensryche is progressive metal. They had a single MTV hit and a few guys called them a hair band, but most fans know their history.

Motley Crue (at least their first 2 albums), Skid Row (first 2, again), Quiet Riot, and Twisted Sister are heavy metal. Dokken is hard rock. Def Leppard was metal, then turned to hard rock. None of these bands were ever cock rock.

[Izzy]

Queensryche is progressive metal.

Nah, they are an Iron Maiden tribute act playing songs surely stolen from Maiden's b-side and demo reels

[The Dog]

Queensryche is progressive metal. They had a single MTV hit and a few guys called them a hair band, but most fans know their history.

Motley Crue (at least their first 2 albums), Skid Row (first 2, again), Quiet Riot, and Twisted Sister are heavy metal. Dokken is hard rock. Def Leppard was metal, then turned to hard rock. None of these bands were ever cock rock.

Dude, you're nuts....NONE of those bands are metal.

Slayer, Testament, Exodus...that is metal. 

As for Queensryche, that is my point...REAL fans of them would know better, but the average joe is going to lump them in with the other bands at the time.  I'm looking for other bands like that for an answer.

[art vandalay]

whats wrong with being lumped into the hair metal category. hair metal rocks 

[Walk]

Dude, you're nuts....NONE of those bands are metal.

Motley Crue: Shout At The Devil is absolutely metal. Danger (that chorus riff slays), Looks That Kill, title track, everything. This album is 100% metal, and the debut is close enough. Everything after SatD is worthless.

Twisted Sister: BURN. IN. HELL. This one song makes them more metal than 99% of bands out there. They have a lot of rock songs, but they know how to make metal.

Skid Row: Unlike most glam bands, their second album is actually heavier than their first, just like Motley Crue. Their first is borderline (I think it's metal), but their second is metal.

Def Leppard: Their debut is Judas Priest worship. If you've only heard Pyromania and afterwords, you don't know what Def Leppard was all about!

Quiet Riot: Um, you did know this is where Randy Rhoads came from, right? This band was always metal.

Queensryche: Where are the galloping riffs and happy drum beats? I don't hear any Maiden. Maiden would never make a song like Eyes Of A Stranger or I Don't Believe In Love; the bands are completely different.

Slayer: First 3 albums, well, slay. Next 2 are good pop speed metal, and everything else is trash. I'd say they're on par with most bands I mentioned.

Testament: 2nd rate Metallica rip-off. Always was, always will be. Worthless.

Exodus: Metal's one album wonder. They have their moments, but none of their albums are even close to Bonded By Blood.

The only bands I have a hard time classifying are Scorpions, Rush, and Kiss. Well, toss Deep Purple and Budgie in there too. They have rock songs, but a lot of their stuff was very metallic by 70's standards. By the 80's, though, the genres were well defined.

[The Dog]

Slave to the grind just isn't metal compared to any of the metal bands I named.  yes, the examples you gave of the hard rock bands first few discs are their heaviest work, but one song or album doesn't classify a band as metal.  Its their entire catalouge.  Def Leopard is NOT metal....sorry, I just can't hear/see it.  Same with crue and Twisted Sister....the majority of their work was hard rock and aimed at the mainstream, something metal never has been interested in.

Metallica from Justice for all and back = Metal
From black album to today = hard rock

to me that sums up whats metal and what isn't.

[Walk]

Add WASP and Thin Lizzy to the list. WASP is definitely metal. Listen to The Headless Children, The Crimson Idol, or The Neon God. Thin Lizzy is metal for Thunder And Lightning (this album has an NWOBHM vibe), even though they were hard rock for 90% of their career. One or two metal albums (or songs, if they're really good) are enough to classify a band as metal to me, even if they later turn to rock, like Metallica.

Listen to the album On Through The Night by Def Leppard and then British Steel by Judas Priest. Hell, just listen to the songs Wasted and Rocks Off! That sounds like metal to me. Def Leppard was a good NWOBHM band before they turned into an excellent pop band with their third album, Pyromania.

Twisted Sister can go either way, but songs like Burn In Hell, Horror-Teria, and SMF show that they're just as good at metal as rock, if not better. They made some mainstream songs for the radio, but their albums always had some heavy moments. They were only commercial much later into their career.

As for Crue and Skid Row, I don't see how I can argue with you on it. If you can't hear the metal in Shout At The Devil or Slave To The Grind, you probably listen to too much kvlt black metal (I can't believe I'm saying this).

Generally speaking, if a band makes it into www.metal-archives.com then they're considered metal by most. Def Leppard is there because of their first album alone. Every band I've mentioned is considered metal (at least some time in their careers), except Thin Lizzy is usually contested.

[Gunner80]

Dude, you're nuts....NONE of those bands are metal.

Motley Crue: Shout At The Devil is absolutely metal. Danger (that chorus riff slays), Looks That Kill, title track, everything. This album is 100% metal, and the debut is close enough. Everything after SatD is worthless.

Twisted Sister: BURN. IN. HELL. This one song makes them more metal than 99% of bands out there. They have a lot of rock songs, but they know how to make metal.

Skid Row: Unlike most glam bands, their second album is actually heavier than their first, just like Motley Crue. Their first is borderline (I think it's metal), but their second is metal.

Def Leppard: Their debut is Judas Priest worship. If you've only heard Pyromania and afterwords, you don't know what Def Leppard was all about!

Quiet Riot: Um, you did know this is where Randy Rhoads came from, right? This band was always metal.

Queensryche: Where are the galloping riffs and happy drum beats? I don't hear any Maiden. Maiden would never make a song like Eyes Of A Stranger or I Don't Believe In Love; the bands are completely different.

Slayer: First 3 albums, well, slay. Next 2 are good pop speed metal, and everything else is trash. I'd say they're on par with most bands I mentioned.

Testament: 2nd rate Metallica rip-off. Always was, always will be. Worthless.

Exodus: Metal's one album wonder. They have their moments, but none of their albums are even close to Bonded By Blood.

The only bands I have a hard time classifying are Scorpions, Rush, and Kiss. Well, toss Deep Purple and Budgie in there too. They have rock songs, but a lot of their stuff was very metallic by 70's standards. By the 80's, though, the genres were well defined.

Have you ever listened to Motley's Self titled album? Now that's Metal. 

[Thorned Rose]

Yeah... Hell yeah!

Def Leppard's High N' Dry was classic hard rock...

I love that album!

[Kujo]

Queensryche: Where are the galloping riffs and happy drum beats? I don't hear any Maiden. Maiden would never make a song like Eyes Of A Stranger or I Don't Believe In Love; the bands are completely different.

I love Queensryche, but go back and listen to "The Warning" and the "Queensryche" E.P. there were alot of Iron Maiden similarities. Not knocking either though. Love Maiden. Love Queensryche. Mindcrime 2 April 4

On topic:
Raging Slab - Dynamite Monster Boogie Concert was one of the best/ least publicized releases in the 90's

[Sakib]

Thin Lizzy-according to one site theyre heavy metal
The Who- (same as above)
Pearl Jam- apparently Glam punk according to what i read 

sad thing is i aint even joking.

[Kujo]

Thin Lizzy-according to one site theyre heavy metal
The Who- (same as above)
Pearl Jam- apparently Glam punk according to what i read?

sad thing is i aint even joking.

All of those are pretty bad, but I've got to know, who classified The Who as Heavy Metal?

[Hammy]

Thin Lizzy-according to one site theyre heavy metal
The Who- (same as above)
Pearl Jam- apparently Glam punk according to what i read?

sad thing is i aint even joking.

You really need to start reading somewhere else....

[mrlee]

Queensryche is progressive metal. They had a single MTV hit and a few guys called them a hair band, but most fans know their history.

Motley Crue (at least their first 2 albums), Skid Row (first 2, again), Quiet Riot, and Twisted Sister are heavy metal. Dokken is hard rock. Def Leppard was metal, then turned to hard rock. None of these bands were ever cock rock.

Dude, you're nuts....NONE of those bands are metal.

Slayer, Testament, Exodus...that is metal. 

As for Queensryche, that is my point...REAL fans of them would know better, but the average joe is going to lump them in with the other bands at the time.  I'm looking for other bands like that for an answer.

No thats thrash metal.

[The Dog]

Wow, this thread has really gotten off topic - thanks to Kujo for TRYING to bring it back on track...and yes, the bands you mentioned are great examples.

You guys are totally insane if you think anyone is going to define Motley, Queensryche, Def Leppard, Skid Row etc...as METAL.  WALK, that site you posted has so many different categories of metal, its almost laughable.  Let me clear it up for you as to what the general topic of this thread was SUPPOSED to be:  Lets simplify things for a minute here:

In the 80s/early 90s you had:

Rock - John Mellencamp, Bruce Springsteen
Hair/Pop rock - Bon Jovi, Poison, Warrant, Motley (put motley here b/c they got very popular and were pioneers of the glam look - looking back NOW, i'd prob put them in the Hard Rock category, but at the time they were thought of as glam/hair rock by most people - infact, the avg joe would still lump them in with the poisons and warrants)
Hard Rock - GNR, Maiden, Ozzy
Heavy Metal - Metallica, Slayer

Now do you know any bands who were put into those categories kinda unfairly.   Extreme and Bang Tango were lumped in with the hair metal when they really weren't at all.  One dude mentioned raging slab who wouldn't fit in any of those categories either but were lumped in with the pop/hard rock bands.

[Walk]

You think Motley Crue pioneered the glam look!?! 

Twisted Sister was around before Motley Crue, and glam (the original style) bands like T Rex, Styx, New York Dolls, and of course David Bowie were around before Twisted Sister. Motley Crue just borrowed from these bands. Their image wasn't original at all; just mix leather wearing Judas Priest (Killing Machine era) and effeminate Twisted Sister and you get Motley Crue.

Iron Maiden and Ozzy Osbourne (hell, he helped create it) are metal. Every band listed in the metal archives is metal. Why do you ignore the NWOBHM style? Early thrash bands like Metallica and Slayer were inspired by those bands. Ever heard of Diamond Head, Witchfinder General, Demon, or Angel Witch? OTTN era Def Leppard fits among them just fine as a NWOBHM band.

I'd like to add some bands that are miscategorized as metal. Here goes...

Led Zeppelin- Hard/blues rock
Rage Against The Machine- Alternative rock
Slipknot- Hard rock
Disturbed- Hard rock
Mudvayne- Hard rock
Body Count- Hardcore
Limp Bizkit- Rap rock
Linkin Park- Rap rock
Rammstein- Industrial rock
Marilyn Manson- Industrial rock

[Gunner80]

You think Motley Crue pioneered the glam look!?! 

Twisted Sister was around before Motley Crue, and glam (the original style) bands like T Rex, Styx, New York Dolls, and of course David Bowie were around before Twisted Sister. Motley Crue just borrowed from these bands. Their image wasn't original at all; just mix leather wearing Judas Priest (Killing Machine era) and effeminate Twisted Sister and you get Motley Crue.

Iron Maiden and Ozzy Osbourne (hell, he helped create it) are metal. Every band listed in the metal archives is metal. Why do you ignore the NWOBHM style? Early thrash bands like Metallica and Slayer were inspired by those bands. Ever heard of Diamond Head, Witchfinder General, Demon, or Angel Witch? OTTN era Def Leppard fits among them just fine as a NWOBHM band.

I'd like to add some bands that are miscategorized as metal. Here goes...

Led Zeppelin- Hard/blues rock
Rage Against The Machine- Alternative rock
Slipknot- Hard rock
Disturbed- Hard rock
Mudvayne- Hard rock
Body Count- Hardcore
Limp Bizkit- Rap rock
Linkin Park- Rap rock
Rammstein- Industrial rock
Marilyn Manson- Industrial rock

The first glam rocker was Alice Cooper.  Plus Motley never claimed to have started any fashion trend.

P.S. Don't listen to anything Walk has to say about Rock history! You'll end up with an I.Q of 12.

[Walk]

P.S. Don't listen to anything Walk has to say about Rock history! You'll end up with an I.Q of 12.

You're probably right. But you can trust me on metal. 

[Sakib]

P.S. Don't listen to anything Walk has to say about Rock history! You'll end up with an I.Q of 12.

You're probably right. But you can trust me on metal.?

oooooooh! Some1 think they now it all