This one comes from Winter 2012/2013 and I think it's a disc I made to back-up some of the 80s rock songs I'd gathered on my iTunes. We're definitely going to be looking back to my glam metal phase today.
1. The Bangles - Hazy Shade Of Winter 💜
The fade-in, slow intro that fools you into thinking you're about to listen to something calm, before hitting you with the guitars and drums that properly start this song, is genius. I first heard this when I saw Less Than Zero (terrible movie, decent book, amazing soundtrack) and this song is a stand-out. Straight away I found myself comparing them to Bananarama who I wrote about in my last entry and I can confirm that The Bangles have much better harmonies. I love the feeling of urgency in this song, like everything is slipping out of control. I'm not sure whether it's the speed, the key or a combination of all of the elements that make it feel that way but it really feels like an adventure.
2. Suzi Quatro - Can The Can 🟢
I didn't immediately recognise this song although I knew it was going to be some glam rock because it has those drums that every glam song has. This isn't as good as The Wild One but I think if I'd been young in the 70s I would have loved this. I can't name another woman from the glam rock era who is as well-known as Suzi Quatro, she really is the queen of the scene and she says fuck boys, turn this song up loud instead. Can The Can sounds so much like 1973 and I can't help but wonder how it would sound if it was re-recorded with more modern production.
3. Skid Row - 18 & Life 🟢
This song is B-tier Skid Row - not as good as Youth Gone Wild or I Remember You, but still pretty good. 18 & Life is a classic 80s hair metal ballad - not particularly special but not a bad example. Sebastian Bach has a great voice for the genre and he sounds good but I can't make out what he's saying half the time.
4. Bon Jovi - Wanted (Dead Or Alive) 🔵
I'm a little bit embarrassed to be rating a Bon Jovi song so highly. It starts with windchimes and then a big 80s synth bottom line for some ambience. I don't particularly get Jon Bon Jovi's Western fantasy but this is another great 80s hair metal ballad. Like 18 & Life, it's not a love song - it's about being a man and a badass and a delinquent or something. This song includes the line "I've seen a million faces - and I've rocked them all" which is possibly the cheesiest line in all of 80s hair metal but it's a fun song to sing along to for sure. The outro is pretty class too. Probably my favourite Bon Jovi song.
5. The Bangles - Walk Like An Egyptian 💜
This is a certified classic - faultless and so much fun. Walk Like An Egyptian is one of those 80s songs that's still known and loved by everyone today and there is good reason for that. I love the lines about "the school kids so sick of books, they like the punk and the metal bands" and "if you wanna find all the cops, they're hanging out in the donut shop". If this song doesn't make you dance, or at least crack a smile, there's something wrong with you.
6. Rainbow - Since You've Been Gone 🟢
This is one of those songs that used to get played on my local radio station's Saturday night rock show a lot. It's got too much of a middle-aged, long hair and unwashed biker jacket rocker vibe for me to be truly into it; it's a good song but there's no danger in it. I'm glad the guitar solo in the middle of the song doesn't go on too long. The one at the end takes the piss a little bit but the main riff is a classic.
7. Steel Panther - Death To All But Metal 🟡
Did I ever truly find Steel Panther funny? Not especially. They were just breaking into the mainstream rock press when I was getting into glam metal so their first album became part of my diet but this is the only song I kept from it, which doesn't say much for the others. It's a fair pastiche of the genre and they've managed to build a career out of the parody - when I saw them they were supporting Def Leppard and Mötley Crüe on tour so that one line in this song asking where those bands were was particularly interesting. I know this song is supposed to be satirical but I don't really like the sexism and homophobia in the lyrics - calling Britney Spears a slut, suggesting we kill and then rape Madonna, and calling all of the rappers mentioned 'gay' or 'f*g'... that doesn't sit well with me even when rappers get away with it.
8. Pat Benatar - Heartbreaker 🟢
Pat Benatar has a great voice for 80s rock but this doesn't have the same punch as some of her other hits. She's kind of got the attitude of Suzi Quatro mixed with that of Bonnie Tyler here. There's some falsetto which I'm not sure about, and the production doesn't sound good although I think that could be the quality of the mp3 I downloaded.
9. Metallica - Fuel 🔵
I wasn't into metal growing up so this is the only Metallica song that I both know and like. It landed on my radar when I was about 10 and heard Avril Lavigne's cover of it, which I think I prefer to the original. It's a thrilling song filled with adrenaline but there's too much guitar solo in it and it would have been perfect as a 2-3 minute hardcore song.
10. Lita Ford - Falling In And Out Of Love 🟡
Another power ballad and one that I couldn't place immediately. I was really into Lita Ford in my glam phase because I was a big fan of The Runaways and I thought it was cool that she went from their guitarist to the number one woman in the 80s glam metal scene. Unfortunately, I don't think that many of her songs are that good. I had this one because Nikki Sixx wrote it and mentioned it in his Heroin Diaries book (they dated a couple of years before he gave her this song). Lita's not a great singer and while I admire her guitar ability, it doesn't really do anything for my musical enjoyment and I got a bit bored listening to this one. I still think she is the coolest though, she can step on me.
11. Simple Minds - Don't You (Forget About Me) 💜
This song is anthemic and if you're not throwing your fist in the air like Judd Nelson when you hear the intro then you and I are very different people. I love The Breakfast Club so this song has an emotional weight for me. Its flaws are that the hushed vocal is quite difficult to sing along to and it drags on a little bit towards the end, but it'll allow it.
12. Mötley Crüe - Come On And Dance 🟢
The early Mötley Crüe sound is so cheap and heavy and glam and poorly recorded but that is part of the charm of their first album. Vince Neil can't sing but Mick Mars has a great guitar part in this. You can tell that they're having a good time making this record even if there is far too much cowbell in it, and it's a good indication of a young band who are going to become big stars in a couple of records' time.
13. Aerosmith - Walk This Way 🟢
The OG. This song is good but the Run-D.M.C. cover is definitely an upgrade - the original Aerosmith chorus is just not as good. This is the second song in a row that abuses the cowbell but the song has a groove and Steven Tyler's fast-paced delivery of the verses is impressive, it's easy to see why it was plucked out to become a huge rap-rock crossover hit. The guitar part at the end is a pisstake solo though, goes on for too long.
14. Pat Benatar - Hit Me With Your Best Shot 🔵
Another song that's great to sing along to. It reminds me of a couple of things - the scene in Rock Of Ages where Catherine Zeta-Jones sings it with her PMRC group, and Guitar Hero; one of the games has this song in its first level. I recently had a go at playing it on guitar for real and it's a really fun song to play. It's better than Heartbreaker and maybe my favourite of her songs.
15. Bon Jovi - You Give Love A Bad Name 🟢
This is one of the cheesiest and most cliché 80s hair metal songs. The woman in the lyrics sounds like an absolute legend and I want to be her friend. Bon Jovi sound so shiny, professional and corporate compared to some of the earlier songs in this mix.
16. Quiet Riot - Cum On Feel The Noize 🟢
A time is going to come where I have to write about Slade in this series and I am dreading that day because I hate them and their stupid misspelled song titles. However, Quiet Riot make this song acceptable to me and makes sense in an 80s glam metal context as a bridge between 70s UK glam rock and 80s US hair metal. I don't know my glam metal history as well as I did when I was 18 but I think this was one of the first songs to bring the Sunset Strip sound to the mainstream. They sound like they're having a good time, but the song is just a bit too long.
17. Nick Gilder - Roxy Roller 🔵
I've always been a bit unsure of this song and Nick Gilder in general. Roxy Roller sounds like a glam rock song written for a fictional glam rock band from a 90s/00s movie about the scene. The sound effects on it are really cool and I love Nick Gilder's androgynous vocals, but he's always been a bit of a mystery to me, A bit of Googling has told me that this song should actually be credited to his band, Sweeney Todd, and that this was a big hit in his native Canada. I feel like it should be one of those songs that's revered by kids on the internet now who are into the glam aesthetic, sitting alongside Bowie and Bolan and Roxy Music, but I don't hear much about it. Anyway it sits firmly in the 'good glam' category - it's fun, doesn't last too long and has a sexy ending.
18. Aerosmith - Dude (Looks Like A Lady) 🟢
Onto a song that does last too long. It's another of the most cliché 80s rock songs, it's Aerosmith adapting to the hair metal scene. The song is is chunky and busy and it's a good time, but it doesn't really go anywhere so it gets a little dull. Steven Tyler does some good yelping towards the end which is almost enough to keep it interesting. Minus points because I bet there are transphobes out there who think this is an acceptable thing to sing at people whose gender doesn't conform to their standards.
19. The B-52s - Rock Lobster 🔵
This mix ends with some new wave. Rock Lobster is featured in some edgelord TV show, probably Family Guy, which ruins its appeal for me, but it is such a bop and I think fondly on it from the Muppets Tonight cover that I watched a lot as a kid. It has a great bass line and a surf rock parody vibe (but in a loving way). I love the sounds of the B-52s' voices and how Fred Schneider kind of speaks his vocals. I think this is a 12" edit because it's almost 7 minutes long, which is a bit too much for me. At around 2:30 the music gives off the impression of sinking into the ocean, which happens a couple more times - every time you think you've sunk to the bottom and drowned that bass line creeps back up on you and drags you back into the madness. It has peril and plot and go-go dancing potential, like a cool version of Under The Sea from The Little Mermaid where everyone has completely lost their minds. The section near the end where they start naming sea creatures and doing impressions is insane. I love it.
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