10 Reasons Why Glam Metal (aka Hair Metal) Is Superior To Grunge

[Anonymous]

We all know more or less what happened in 1991. Grunge's popularity was extremely increased, and Glam Metal's popularity was extremely decreased. Blame Nirvana for it, who brought Grunge to the masses. But anyway, here are the 10 reasons why Glam Metal is superior (objectively) than Grunge, and Grunge will always eat the dust and the dirt it deserves to eat as a genre.

(In alphabetical order)

1) Better looks

They knew how to rock this big hair look gracefully wearing leather, unlike Grunge kids who were like lumberjacks.

2) Female musicians were hotter

There are not many female musicians who got involved with the Glam Metal genre, but those who did were hot stuff. Like Lita Ford (in her Lita album from 1988 mostly) or the all-female Glam Metal band Vixen. And of course the girls who were starring in those music videos from Glam Metal bands. Grunge chicks were really really poserish to the core and totally fake. See here .

3) It was the music of the bad boys of that era.

Yeah. The term "bad boys" is common in Glam Metal genre's lyrics. In 1987 Glam Metal musicians were getting all the chicks, and the (then) underground Grunge musicians were writing depressing lyrics, sitting all alone by themselves.

4) Melody

Grunge stripped down any form of Melody in their songs. Keyboards and melodic vocals didn't exist on their songs. They were just raw and totally undeveloped. Grunge lacked melody unlike Glam Metal.

5) Not depressing lyrics/song titles.

I Hate Myself And Want To Die. The quintessential song title of depression. Not to mention those lyrics, which is a showcase of how pathetic this genre is:

I would never bother you
I would never promise to
I will never follow you
I will never bother you
Never say a word again
I will crawl away for good

I will move away from here
You won't be afraid of fear
No thought was put into this
I always knew it would come to this
Things have never been so swell
And I have never failed to fail

Pain
Pain
Pain
You know you're right
You know you're right
You know you're right

It's so warm and calm inside
I no longer have to hide
There's talk about someone else
Sterling silver begins to melt
Nothin' really bothers her
She just wants to love herself

I will move away from here
You won't be afraid of fear
No thought was put into this
I always knew it'd come to this
Things have never been so swell
And I have never failed to fail

Pain
Pain
Pain
Pain
Pain
You know you're right
You know you're right
You know you're right
You know you're right
You know you're right
You know you're right
You know you're right
You know you're right
You know you're right
You know you're right
You know you're right
You know you're right
You know your rights
You know your rights
You know your rights
Pain

6) Power Ballads

Oh those Power Ballads are awesome. And obviously, if you were at a party you could slow-dance to those ballads with some chick. You couldn't do that with a Grunge song right? But can they play any guitar solos or right any lyrics that can fit into a Power Ballad anyway?

7) Rockstar behavior

Glam Metal musicians had this Rockstar behavior, as you can notice in their music videos or in their live concerts. Grunge musicians didn't. In fact they were saying this themselves. They hated this Rockstar behavior. So even themselves admit, they are not Rock artists.

8. Their fans are not posers

Look this girl how she lacks taste in her dressing code. This is a typical Grunge fangirl. Her shoes don't fit her overall style. Wearing an unflattering coat, and this damned beanie that makes her lose at least 3 points from her overall appearance. And she's not the only one unfortunately, but most Grunge fans try to imitate this gross Grunge dressing code.

9) They could handle fame unlike Grunge stars

The article here speaks on its own. They became heroin addicts because they couldn't handle fame, they were weak people and most Grunge musicians were suffering from depression. Remember any Glam Metal musician being dead at a young age? Most of them are alive and well at their 50s or 60s by now.

10) They could play guitar solos

Do you remember any guitar solos in Grunge? Nobody remembers any. Because they just couldn't do a guitar solo.

[Anonymous]

As a fan of both glam metal and grunge (to an extent) I will say this; its all in the timing. 80s is glam plain and simple. Ask anyone what is the first thing they think when they think of the 80s and that is glam, bright crazy colors, an overall happy go lucky attitude (aside from some things). Grunge is the opposite. Grunge is depressing (then again who hasn't felt depressed the past two decades) look around at whats going on. The 90s was in fact the last great decade but it was depressing, a new millennium was coming and a lot of people thought it was the end of the world (no pun intended to R. E. M.) Look what we have now, fake music. Auto tune, fake personas, fake hair, you name it its fake lol. Music changes with the times. I personally like anyone with talent from the 1960s-2000s. Everyone from The Beatles and Johnny Cash to Marilyn Manson and Rob Zombie and everyone in between. Its music so enjoy it or if you dont turn off the radio!

[fauchelevent]

Glam metal is obviously much better :P

[Anonymous]

Grunge is just so whiny and depressing. And the thing is, this isn't like emo, where most of the artists were teenagers. At least then you could say "oh they're just immature, they'll grow out of it". No, this was GROWN MEN whining about how much their life sucks and how they hate everyone and how they want to kill themselves. I just can't support music like that. Admittedly, I'm not really into "glam metal" either, but I'm somewhere in the middle, melodic rock / AOR. 80s forever baby 😎

[myTake Owner]

Yeah I love AOR too.

[Anonymous]

I love both but I disagree with everything except when you said Metal women were hotter that's true

[Multics]

Alright, I'm gonna take this piece by piece:

Better Looks?

I'm sorry, but have you taken a look at the grunge frontmen? They were fucking beautiful, each and every one of them was gorgeous, and the point is none of them tried to look gorgeous, not a single one of them gave a shit about their looks and dressed as normal as they could, unlike the clowns of the hair metal era, who were more vested in the way they looked.

Female Musicians were hotter?

I mean, who the hell gave you the right to say that the female musicians of the grunge era were any less hot? Looks are subjective my friend, and as previously mentioned the musicians of the grunge era cared more about their music and what it stood for, rather than how they fucking looked.

Music of the bad boys of the era.

Yes, of course the bad boys, the typical sexist, homophobic toxic males, that's what the glam metal era even was, highlighting women as sex objects, As you said the bad boys were "Getting all the chicks" cause that is what life is all about right?, Our whole life's purpose should be that, partying and scoring chicks, if you did not engage in any of those activities back then, you were considered fucking weird, so in order to be "cool" you had to be a complete pig.

Melody:

Yes, the grunge era did not include melodies or anything fancy like shredding or whatever, so what? Grunge was something any damn kind could play, all he/she/they required was an instrument and microphone and to sing their heart out, to showcase their emotions cause for them music was the way to do that, as for vocal melodies I would suggest you listen to Alice In Chains, to hear the vocal melodies of Layne Staley and Jerry Cantrell, only a very few people like John Lennon and Paul McCartney focused so much on them, Yes, Grunge Wasn't fancy, It wasn't extremely fast shredding or fancy lyrics, they were Raw and Simple, and did not need to do anything fancy in order to put out good music, Glam metal could probably take a page or two.


Not depressing lyrics/song titles

Well, sorry if these people wrote about their abusive and traumatized lives, tried to channel their sadness and anger into art which has provided solace for millions across the world, unlike glam metal which spoke about partying, drugs, and treating women like sex objects.

Grunge Spoke to people because it was real, it was something people could relate in their darkest times, it wasn't some hoard of crap like partying or having sex, It gave us hope to continue with out lives no matter how dark it is.

Power Ballads:

I would suggest you listen to MTV Unplugged performances or Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Alice in Chains, those are what you call ballads.

Rockstar behavior:

Yes, Grunge people were not pigs, This "Rockstar Behaviour" you talk about, refers to Homophobia, sexism, and objectifying, I think we would all be better of without this "Rockstar Behaviour".

And wow, in order to be a rock artist you needed to behave like a rockstar? Did not know that at all.

Their fans are not posers:

Posers? so you are saying that just cause people did not wear leather pants, bandanas, gloves, and sprinkly idiotic stuff, and wore things which were not "glitter", "Beanie makes her lose 3 points" Yes, cause wearing sprinkly stuff enhanced your appearance so much more, and wow a beanie took away points from her appearance? Brilliant.

They could handle fame unlike Grunge stars:

Most of them couldn't handle fame, True.

Unfortunately, they couldn't they had dark lives and resorted to drugs for help, which isn't right, but they gave messages to fans through their music which has saved millions from OD'ing.

They could play guitar solos

I did not know that in order to write good music guitar solos had to be there, I guess all the songs without solos suck then,

To sum it up, I don't hate glam metal music, I do like some of the songs the problem I have is what they stood for and what they showed the world, Grunge gave us the reality.

[Fathoms77]

Well, the biggest difference is obviously thematic. While glam bands were, like most music in the '80s, all about excess and good times, grunge was basically one big temper tantrum.

Looking back on it now, as I'm a Gen Xer (I was in high school when Nirvana was huge), I have to say, it's just dumb. Grunge was supposedly making some sort of statement but all it really did was promote apathy and... well, whining. Problem is, we didn't have anything to whine about. And the problems we did have were almost always self-inflicted.

It was also, in most cases, one big fat lie. Cobain had this "I hate fame and money" image but Courteney Love be the first to tell you it was a big farce. He wanted fame so badly, he'd bring his music to every music label on the planet, begging them to sign him. "He wanted it BAD" is her quote. And everyone sort of knew it, too. The "movement" died because it had no legs; we honestly didn't have anything to whine about and everyone over the age of 20 (especially our parents, who lived through Vietnam) were just rolling their eyes at us. And rightfully so.

[Red88xxx]

Your seriously going to believe her the one who told Kurt to kill himself wow

[Fathoms77]

@Red88xxx Dude, give me a break. EVERYONE in the music industry knew Cobain loved the fame and attention. Everyone. It was all an act, which only impressionable teens bought.

[Red88xxx]

No he didn't and people in their 50s know that Kurt hated fame why do you think in the begging he didn't have a major label Album

[Fathoms77]

@Red88xxx Read up on your music history. It was an act. He brought his music to every music executive on the planet, and every single one of them has confirmed this as fact. They didn't sign him because the band WASN'T VERY GOOD. He got big on the image and image alone, as most grunge bands did.

And people in their 50s don't even know who this guy is. Nor did they care. It's my generation; I was there.

[Red88xxx]

I know so much about Kurt Cobain and you must be something wrong with you if you believe that about him I watched documentaries on Nirvana not once did it say anything you said

[Fathoms77]

@Red88xxx Heh... well, by all means, if you want to believe documentaries designed specifically to glorify the band in question. Go right ahead.

[Red88xxx]

If you want to believe a woman who told Kurt to kill himself go ahead

[Fathoms77]

@Red88xxx I'll believe every music executive in the country, the musicians who were part of Nirvana's world in the 90s, and every industry journalist worth a salt. :)

[myTake Owner]

@Red88xxx You should be ashamed wearing this shirt. REALLY ASHAMED.

[Red88xxx]

Wow you seriously don't know what your talking about

[Red88xxx]

Why I love Nirvana unlike you

[madhatters4]

grunge is ok. didn't like most of it. but like almost no glam metal. i don't care about how the fans dress, how the bands dress, whether they can deal with stardom. it's simply about music. and hair/glam metal doesn't do anything for me

[BCRanger10]

Glam metal was way too flamboyant for me. I've mostly thought of it as "pretty boy rock". They're insanely talented musicians, don't get me wrong. However, I just couldn't get into it all.

[BCRanger10]

I don't really care for grunge thay much either.

[testament87]

i won't lie i love hair metal but compared to more extreme forms of metal like thrash death black and grindcore u just can't beat the brutal sound of that shit!!! \m/

[SleepingSnorlax]

Eh glam is ok
But its shitty compared to most other forms of rock

Nirvana solos the entire glam rock genre

[Thunderthights]

Yes glam metal was better, grunge was music to slit your wrists too.

[Anonymous]

Ratt was considered by some critics to be a Glam rock band but the beats were heavier than other Glam bands. I am a big fan of Grunge.

[sandy343244]

Hell yes! This is what I listen to mostly!

[kingarthas]

nah, grunge is the best

[Eternallylucky]

It's a wig