The Rise, Fall and Rebirth of Hair Metal

Very comprehensive. This is written by a knowledgeable hair metal enthusiast. He left out Rhino Bucket and Autograph, but managed to hit just about everything he needed to hit to make this an excellent read that you can count on for enjoyment. Even the most die hard metal enthusiast will learn something new here.

What a thorough and refreshing read that anyone who grew up loving this era of metal will appreciate. Chris Hilton really gets under the hood to discuss the era—and by breaking down chapters by the year, it allowed him to really laser focus in on the best that each year had to offer.Right out the gate, Chris addresses the elephant in the room—the term ‘hair metal’ and how it’s being used for context-sake, even though he personally has disdain for the phrase (as to most fans of the era). He’s then quick to explain the journey he’s about to take the reader on. I fall into the Category 4 fan of the genre, so a lot of what I read wasn’t new news—but that didn’t make the book any less enjoyable—where the Category 1 or 2 fan would probably learn a lot from this detailed treasure trove.I most-enjoyed the 1989 through mid-90’s era of the book as it was such a unique fall from grace—the record labels getting fat and happy, causing the artists to cannibalize themselves and the formulaic big rock single, followed by the power ballad release—seemingly derailed everything.Many are quick to blame grunge for “killing” hair metal, but Hilton wisely shows this wasn’t the case. If anything, some of the bigger bands from the era arguably put out their best work during the genre’s death rattle (1992-1993)—Extreme with “III Sides To Every Story”, Warrant with “Dog Eat Dog”, Winger with “Pull”, Enuff Z Nuff with “Animals With Human Intelligence” or Trixter with “Hear”.Oversaturation and excess are what did the genre in and had fans looking for something different in the early 90’s, which paved the way for grunge’s short-lived takeover.Hilton guides fans through the quirky mid-to-late 90’s—a wealth of information from a time most stopped paying attention—bringing it all home with the genre’s resurgence by the late 90’s and early 2000’s; ending each chapter with his “best of” albums from that year, giving the reader some homework. (Case in point, I completely missed out on ‘Beautiful Creatures’ in 1999—with Joe Leste of Bang Tango and guitarist DJ Ashba—but learned of them from this book and fast became a fan.)The book takes the reader all the way through 2019 and taps into what many “forgotten” bands are doing present day to carry the torch.An enjoyable, informative book from the era—that serves as a great reminder for those of us who lived through the Sunset Strip 80’s era—that we’re not alone. Others out there loved the genre as much as we did, relish the memories and are still proud torch bearers of the long gone era.Fun read. Great job. Highly recommend.

I rarely review things and it also goes against my grain to review a book before I finish it, but if I'm going to break both of those rules, this is the book to do it for.Simply put, - I LOVE this book.Some might call it a "love letter to hair metal" but, I think it would better be described as a "book of sonnets to hair metal", because it is all here. The meteoric highs and the terrible lows - the amazing accomplishments and terrible tragedies.Fans of the genre will enjoy reading a breakdown of their favorite albums and stories about their favorite bands. Even diehard fans will likely read a story or two they had not heard before about their favorite bands. And I highly encourage readers to explore the albums the author recommends. If you are like me, you will find tons of new music you weren't aware existed and will find new favorites.Is the book perfect? No.But, I'm not sure a book like this CAN be. The sheer amount of material available makes it impossible for any author to cover every band, every song, every album - so edits have to be made based on subjective criteria just to keep the length of the book readable. However, the author is clear about this from the beginning and his justification for the bands he chooses to cover is understandable. The downside is you might have a personal favorite band that didn't make the cut and isn't covered (in my case, Stryper). But, if you have 20 favorite bands from the era and he covers only 19 - it's a rather minor complaint.Stylistically, the book's chapters are broken down by year which is a pretty smart way to handle it and makes it easy for the reader to chart the rise and fall of the bands in the context of the overall musical landscape. The book is well-written and constructed in an entertaining way.TL:DR - A great read and a great book. Hair Metal fans are in for a treat.

As an avid reader of anything related to hard rock and heavy metal, this book was an absolute must-read for me. Although some shy away or bristle from the term, I have always thought that "Hair Metal" was a fine way to describe my favorite style of music. Hilton does a fine job of describing the style and jumping right in.The book is clearly written by someone who lived through this era and truly loved this music (such as myself). I really enjoyed the year-by-year format as it was a great trip through this wildly entertaining and colorful chapter of rock 'n' roll. It was fun reading through the author's opinions on a lot of these albums and artists and comparing them to my own views.I love this stuff from its beginnings in the '80s through its current revitalization in Scandinavia (and elsewhere). This book covers it all. My favorite thing about this book is that it has sent me on a scavenger hunt to track down and find some of these long-lost albums and bands. I've got dozens of leads for new bands to check out and discover. It doesn't skimp on the Crue, Leppard or Warrant, but leaves plenty of room and love for newer bands like Hardcore Superstar and Halestorm.If you love this style of music and want to re-live the history or just want some great ideas to help bolster your collection, this well-written book is the one for you! A must-read for all hair metal fans.

Several thoughts automatically stand out after reading this book.......first, the author is obsessed, lives and breathes Hair Metal, which is a good thing.....for weather you agree or disagree with some of his opinions, one can at least understand that hes passionate about the music he likes and not just a music critic that sort of likes it.......Secondly, this is a great book, very well written, and even if there are zero illustration and scores poorly in that area, the book flows like a journal and more than makes up for any absence of pictures or photographs.....(if your looking for that sort of book, check out Martin Popoffs book on Hair METAL)Thirdly, the author doesnt like Dokken or Wasp (inside the Electric circus is PURE HAIR METAL) (the bands are barely mentioned or giviin credit) but does like Poison and Bon jovi a lot......and to be fair...we all have our favorites....the least of mine being Bon jovi........but to each is there own .........and WASP were more of a Metal band so at least i understand that.....but hell......check out INSIDE THE ELECTRIC CIRCUS.Number four.....As i read, i clearly took note of at least several albums mentioned that stated to be HEAVIER.....which i checked out on youtube and later bought.......bands that i previously dismissed because i just thought they were too whimpy with there earlier material or just not my cup of tea.......so it was nice to rediscover and give these bands a second chance........I missed the whole scene while growing up in that era as a teen ager.......i stuck with ACDC, PRIEST, MAIDEN, SABBATH then progressed with Metallica Slayer,, DOOM METAL , and then STONER ROCK,, cause i didnt get it .....but now that im older, im not so serious, angry and have experienced a lot that i couldnt back then......be it ......a lot of tbe bamds i still dont like but another great part of the book is its division and one can easily skip bands that leave a bad taste in your mouth (Bon jovi).......The author is honest enough to note that even some of HIS favorites have put out out some stinkers and his reviews are detailed enough.........which was one of the key factors of revisiting some of the material and bands i missed..........But on the other side i might add that though hes clear on his dislike for grunge, it wasnt all bleak, gloom and doom......infact a lot of the music had a lot of energy and great riffs that hair metal brought us but with a different image......STP and Motherlovebone were hair metal bands in disguise......but im sure many will argue against that viewpoint.......And it wasnt only grunge that led the way......to a new musical revolution.....but alongside was a wave of bands that could also be argued to have a number of similar traits ......just as they were opposite.....White Zombie, Danzig, Marylyn Manson, Tool, ......great music and i can appreciate and own most of that wave..........which is why it was hard for me to really get too involved in a music scene while growing up as a teenager and into adult hood......my alegiance is to good heavy music .......However, i digress. I stronly reccomend the book......very well written and edited for a self publication.......its too bad it didnt bet picked up by a publishing company...........it would be nice to see this re released in hard cover with more a visual element.......FIVE STARS.......READ IT WHILE LISTENING TO WASP, CRUE, DOKKEN OR WHATEVER CRANKS YOUR ENGINE.......A NICE ADDITION TO MY LIBRARY

What an excellent read! I love getting the opportunity to turn back my clock, to relive my youth, to flashback to easier times and the glory days of music with books and movies about hair metal. The author has a fantastic knowledge of the hair metal genre from the glory days thru to the present. I enjoyed this book so much that I was disappointed when I finished it. The book made me revisit my collection of cds & tapes from the 80’s & 90’s to listen to the ones I loved and to ones I maybe didn’t give enough of a chance at the time. It also inspired me to pursue some of the releases I missed over the years from artists I listened to back then and even some artists that I didn’t like or listen to.I read most of the books relating to 80’s bands that I can and this one ranks up at the top. While it is not a tell all sunset strip scene story filled book like The Dirt, it is full of info about bands, recording of albums, and some backstories you might have heard or not or maybe forgotten about that and I found those just as interesting as anything else I’ve read. I’d love to meet the author to talk about hair metal bands, albums, stories, rumours and growing up in an era that celebrated this genre of music. Like the author, I am thankful for the resurgence of the genre & its bands and hence I am incredibly thankful for this book!!! I can’t say enough good things or recommend this enough!

Es un libro muy interesante, que va desde los comienzos del Hair Metal -aunque es un termino que a mi y al escritor no le gusta nada- hasta su caida casi a morir sobre el 93 hasta que a finales de los noventa vuelve a subir.Habla mucho de BON JOVI, AEROSMITH, VAN HALEN, NELSON, WARRANT y muchos más aunque echo de menos a bandas como DOKKEN, KISS o grupos más pequeños como LONDON, D'MOLLS o DIAMOND REXX.Tambien habla de grupos actuales tipo HARDCORE SUPERSTAR o SHAMELESS algo que se agradece.Muchos de estos libros solo hablan hasta 1992 o algo así, pero este sigue año a año hasta el 2019 -el libro fue publicado en el 2020.Recomendable, facil de leer, se entiendo todo. Fue escrito por alguien que es fan del genero, algo que se nota.

Libro molto interessante, speravo però venisse approfondito di più il revival glam scandinavo degli anni 2000, motivo principale per cui ho effettuato l'acquisto. Questo argomento viene relegato all'ultima decina di pagine e neanche in modo convincente, ad esempio i Crashdiet sono citati solo come nome senza approfondimenti e il nome della band è scritto sbagliato, a discapito dei Reckless Love e Steel Panther a cui l'autore riserva un approfondimento biografico. L'ultima parte quindi parla si degli anni 2000, ma principalmente dell'attività attuale delle band storiche. Se cercate qualcosa sul glam moderno qui troverete ben poco. Se invece cercate approfondimenti solo sulla scena degli anni '80, allora il libro è consigliato.Essendo un libro autoprodotto non sono presenti immagini, probabilmente per motivi di copyright, ma l'argomento viene trattato di anno in anno e per ogni capitolo sono presenti gli ascolti più importanti.Consegna Amazon perfetta e prodotto integro.

Brutal.... me ha encantado. Una explicación increible de la evolución del Hair Metal.El autor se centra especialmente en grupos como Def Leppard, Van Halen, Motley Crue, Warrant... Igualmente trata todos los grupos de este estilo como White Lion, L.A.Guns.... Hecho en falta Stryper aunque se duele catalogar como Chtistian Metal..