(Albums in alphabetical order)

81) Blow My Fuse by Kix

This was the biggest selling album for Kix. It’s one of the bands that they were building up their success slowly-slowly till the moment they exploded. Well, Blow My Fuse was their explosion, but unfortunately they remained as one-hit wonders. Don’t Close Your Eyes is their only hit, and one of the classic Power Ballads of the era. Get It While It’s Hot, Cold Blood and the title track were also released as singles, but without any success. All three were classic cuts among the Glam Metal genre. Some other great non-singles from the album are Red Lite, Green Lite, TNT, No Ring Around Rosie, She Dropped Me The Bomb and Boomerang. It’s also one of the rare Glam Metal albums, that is featuring Harmonica in its instrumentation!

82) Destiny by Saxon

This album was heavily criticized by both fans and critics, because they thought Saxon sold out themselves. Truth is, at this point Saxon were kind of desperate for American success. They started to make their sound more Americanized since Innocence Is No Excuse, but here they forgot any NWOBHM roots, and became a fully Glam Metal band, even stylistically. Most notably in their song I Can’t Wait Anymore which is a nice Power Ballad, and in their music video they act more or less like an American Glam Metal band. Another single of the album was Christopher Cross’ cover Ride Like The Wind. Both failed to make it in the UK Top 40. But the rest of the album had also some nice catchy tunes as well. For example Calm Before The Storm and S.O.S.. Both could easily be singles, and also make it into the American charts. As for the B-Side, I would say it leans towards a more AORish direction, except the last track Red Alert which leans towards a more traditional Hard Rockish sound. Generally, it was the most underrated album by Saxon by far.

83) L.A. Guns by L.A. Guns

Surprisingly the debut from L.A. Guns didn’t include any singles. Yet there are many songs that could easily be possible singles here. Perfect examples are, One More Reason and Electric Gypsy. And of course the Power Ballad One Way Ticket. Other great cuts here are the fast paced No Mercy and Hollywood Tease, with the former having perhaps the best guitar solo in the album, Nothing To Lose which features some saxophone part, which is a pretty unique trait for a Glam Metal group, and of course the epic Shoot For Thrills. A good Hard-Rocking number, coupled with super awesome siren sounds!

84) Lita by Lita Ford

Lita Ford is one of the few women who got involved with the Glam Metal genre. And not only that, but she could easily compete the male artists face-to-face. Lita was her most Glam Metalish, and also her most successful album. Particularly the Power Ballad If I Close My Eyes Forever (a duet with Ozzy Osbourne), was her biggest solo hit making it into the US Top 10. Another big hit of hers was also Kiss Me Deadly from the same album which was a US Top 20 hit. Back To The Cave and Falling In And Out Of Love were also released as singles, yet they weren’t as successful as the other two. Still both were pretty upbeat and had this sexy vibe thanks to Lita Ford’s vocals. As for the non-singles, the best would be Blueberry. It has a very catchy melody, and it’s another one of those sexy songs among the album. Can’t Catch Me and Fatal Passion are leaning towards a more traditional Hard Rock direction on the other hand, and Broken Dreams is another nice Melodic Ballad, almost like Close My Eyes Forever.

85) Long Cold Winter by Cinderella

This one was the breakthrough album for Cinderella, in Europe. Four singles were released for this album, the Glam Metal classic Gypsy Road, the great Power Ballad Don’t Know What You Got (Till It’s Gone) (their biggest hit along with Nobody’s Fool from the first album), the more Hard Rockish The Last Mile, and also Coming Home which was kinda Countryish. Unlike the first album –which had great singles, but weak non-singles-, the non-singles are equally good with the singles. Bad Seamstress Blues/Fallin’ Apart At The Seams, Second Wind and the title track are featuring Blues influences, whilst If You Don’t Like It and Fire And Ice are underrated Glam Metal cuts from their discography!

86) Open Up And Say Aah… by Poison

This was their most successful album for sure, and also one of the few Glam Metal albums that managed to make it at a pretty decent spot in the UK charts, where Glam Metal was never a big thing. This album featured four successful singles where three of them became US Top 10 hits, and most notably the Power Ballad Every Rose Has Its Thorn, was a #1 hit and obviously, the biggest hit in their career! The other two US Top 10 hits were the upbeat Nothin’ But A Good Time and Your Mama Don’t Dance, which was a Loggins and Messina cover. Fallen Angel was almost a US Top 10 hit, reaching #12, and it’s a nice and catchy Melodic Rock tune, and my personal favorite among the singles. As for the non-singles, the A-Side had upbeat party-Rock cuts , with Love On The Rocks and Back To The Rocking Horse being the best. From the B-Side the best among the two non-singles would be Look But You Can’t Touch, with the best guitar solo in the album.

87) Out Of This World by Europe

Europe’s successful follow-up album, after the tremendous success of The Final Countdown, that turned them into international superstars (already known in Sweden, before The Final Countdown though). Superstitious was the lead single and the most successful song from this album, reaching the #1 in Sweden, and also making it into the US and the UK Top 40! Another single from this album was a re-make of Open Your Heart, originally released in 1984 from the album Wings Of Tomorrow. Apart from those two, other four singles were released from here! The catchy Let The Good Times Rock, which was only a minor hit in UK and didn’t meet any success unfortunately. More Than Meets The Eye was also another good cut, with a lengthy guitar solo in the middle –perhaps the best among the album-. Sign Of The Times and Tomorrow were the last singles from here. Sign Of the Times was the weakest single in my opinion. Best non-singles here would be the great Power Ballad Coast To Coast (this should have been released as a single, instead of Sign Of The Times), Ready Or Not and Tower’s Callin.

88) Second Sighting by Frehley's Comet

In this album, Ace Frehley with his band, followed an even more Glam Metalish sound than their debut. Yet it was a commercial failure, unfortunately, as well as the singles lifted from the album, Insane and It’s Over Now. But the non-singles are more interesting actually. Time Ain’t Runnin’ Out is an awesome Party-Rock cut of the era, whilst Dancin’ With Danger is an excellent cover of the song from Streetheart (see the MyTake I posted with the albums from 1983). From the B-Side of the album, it starts with Juvenille Delinquent which is the best cut from the whole album. Fallen Angel and New Kind Of Lover are pretty catchy as well, and they could easily be hits, and as for The Acorn Is Spinning, I bet it would sound even better when performed live.

89) Vixen by Vixen

Vixen were pretty unique for a Glam Metal band, since they were the only all-female Glam Metal band. Or perhaps just the one who gained some degree of success. Anyway, from their debut album three singles were lifted. Edge Of A Broken Heart, Cryin’ and Love Made Me. Edge Of A Broken Heart and Cryin almost made it into the US Top 20, but Love Made Me didn’t chart unfortunately, whilst it was better than the other two in my opinion. Cryin’ was actually a Jeff Paris song (see my last MyTake with albums from 1987 ) and there were also two other songs from Jeff Paris here, One Night Alone and Charmed Life. The rest of the album has also good cuts too. The Dance-Rock anthem I Want You To Rock Me, is definitely the best non-single from the album, also the Hardish Desperate and Cruisin’ and of course the Power Ballad Waitin’.

90) Winger by Winger

What was most unique about Winger, was the fact that the lead singer was…unshaved! Unlike the other Glam Metal band singers who followed the clean-shaven style, he chose to go unshaved instead. Anyway, this album spawned four singles, Madalaine, Hungry, Seventeen and Headed For A Heartbreak. All of them Glam Metal classics, with the latter being their most successful song making it into the US Top 20. My personal favorite among the singles would be Hungry. Despite being an upbeat song, it has a very touching video, surprisingly. As for the non-singles, Winger did an excellent cover of Jimi Hendrix’s Purple Haze. Without The Night is also a great Melodic Ballad and Hangin’ On has the strongest guitar riffs in the whole album. But the coolest cut here would be Time To Surrender.