A Brief History of Glam
Somehow, it just doesn't seem appropriate to build a website about the modern day Glam movement without paying at least a little bit of attention to the stuff that inspired it, and started it all. The genre formed back in the 1970s and 1980s, when groups such as KISS, Alice Cooper, and the New York Dolls burst onto the scene and experimented with a gaudy, outrageous image mixed and heavy music.
They were followed up by the first wave of true "glam metal", a movement that was headed by Hanoi Rocks and Motley Crue, along with such classic glam bands as Ratt, WASP, and Quiet Riot. By mixing street-punk sensibilities and hard-rocking music, and boosting their look with big hair and crazy make-up, these bands introduced heavy metal to the masses. As the 1980's progressed, the styles got more outrageous, culminating in bands such as Poison, who clearly took glam to its most ridiculous limit. Guns N Roses gave the genre a "street-rat" quality, bringing it back down to earth and eliminating the pink feathered boas and eyeliner and replacing them with tattered jeans and more bandannas than any average person would know what to do with.
It is hard to say just what glam metal is...even in the 1980's, there were a lot of different trends going on that all get lumped under the term "glam." For some, it's the shredding guitars that sets it apart from the rest, for others it is all all about leopard print spandex and big hair. I'm not here to judge that. For me, it is a little of all of those things, but mostly, glam metal is about attitude and a lifestyle...having fun and not caring what others think, looking like a rockstar (rather than just some dude on the street) and making good music while doing it. Basically, its just good, old fashioned rock 'n' roll, as it was understood before Grudge changed the face of popular music.
Today, the legacy of the 80's glam bands still stands strong, as hundreds of bands-from Buckcherry to Hinder to Vains of Jenna cite their influence on shaping their music and careers. While it did (and still does) have its detractors, the genre of glam metal defined much of popular music during the 1980's and today remains some of the most enduring and best-loved music ever made.
