Our list of nine great ’80s hard rock bands that weren’t hair metal is a reminder that the decade had plenty of movers and shakers outside of the glammed-up Sunset Strip scene.
As bands such as Motley Crue, Bon Jovi and Poison were moving albums by the truckload and blazing a new trail with their pop-savvy spin on “heavy metal,” tons of other acts ran parallel to them on every rung of the fame ladder.
Some bands initially found their footing in the so-called hair metal scene or frequently mingled with those acts. For example, Guns N’ Roses bore all the markings of a glam metal band when they got their start in Hollywood, although they quickly established themselves as a grittier, harder-rocking alternative to their pretty boy peers.
Likewise, English rockers the Cult borrowed glam metal sonics and aesthetics in the late ’80s, though they reinvented themselves too often to be pegged to one particular scene or subgenre.
Other ’80s rockers were more firmly rooted in the AOR (album-oriented rock) tradition, a strain of hooky, radio-friendly rock that had subtle distinctions from hair metal. Bands like Night Ranger and Bad English had no shortage of blustery riffs, fiery solos and skyscraping choruses (not to mention big hair), but they had a decidedly slicker and more corporate sound than their sleazy Sunset Strip contemporaries.
READ MORE: The Heaviest Song by 11 Big Hair Metal Bands
Important: For the most part, we culled our list from artists whose careers began in the ’80s. That means ’70s holdovers such as KISS, Aerosmith, Journey and Van Halen were exempt.
We did make one major exception, which we’ll explain below.
Read on to see nine great ’80s hard rock bands that weren’t hair metal.
9 ’80s Hard Rock Bands That Weren’t Hair Metal
They still had big hair and bigger riffs.
Gallery Credit: Bryan Rolli
The 10 Best Hair Metal Albums By Non-Hair Metal Bands
Some bands did not fit the hair metal mold, but played along convincingly enough for at least one album.
Gallery Credit: Sydney Taylor
The 9 Best Non-Hair Metal Albums by Hair Metal Bands
As hair metal faded, some bands persevered and changed up their style to something definitively not hair metal.
Gallery Credit: Sydney Taylor
