Best '80s Hair Metal Songs: A Top 10 List

Hair metal songs provided some of the most memorable moments of '80s music, particularly when it comes to music videos. The big hair, tight leather pants and hot babes of hard rock and metal videos were almost as important as the music itself.

It can be hard to define "hair metal." Most people agree that hard rock acts like Warrant, Motley Crue and Cinderella are hair metal. But what about more mainstream/top 40 rock bands like Def Leppard, Guns N Roses and Bon Jovi? I've chosen to omit those acts because they pretty much transcended the genre - it's hard for me to think of them as hair metal.

Here's one opinion of the 10 best hair metal songs.

10 We're Not Gonna Take It, Twisted Sister (1984)
Dee Snider's makeup-wearing band of crazies cemented their reputation as troublemakers in the "We're Not Gonna Take It" music video, when they tormented a helpless father who questioned his son's desire to play music. The song reached #21 but its cultural impact has been far greater. Snider's testimony before a 1985 Senate committee helped people take him and the group more seriously.

9 Every Rose Has Its Thorn, Poison (1988)
Bret Michaels and Poison made a number of significant contributions to the hair metal canon, including "Nothin' But a Good Time," Fallen Angel" and a remake of "Your Mama Don't Dance." Their #1 ballad "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" is their best hair metal song, a tune nearly everybody knows that is even popular at karaoke. The fact that Michaels kept himself in the spotlight and remains relevant in 2011 is a near-miracle. Well done, Bret.

8 The Final Countdown, Europe (1986)
With perhaps the most notable synth rock riff from the '80s, "The Final Countdown" is still memorable 25 years later. Vocalist Joey Tempest says the song was originally written to be an epic concert opener and that it was never intended to be a single. Despite that, the song shot into the Top 10.

7 High Enough, Damn Yankees (1990)
It's ironic that hard-rocking supergroup Damn Yankees scored their biggest hit with a love song that even featured a string intro. "Can you take me high enough to fly me over yesterday," a chorus of voices asks in the song's memorable hook. The music video is fun to watch because it's cool to see Ted Nugent try to act tough while he plays a song that is rather pop.

6 I Remember You, Skid Row (1989)
The acoustic guitar and the voice of Sebastian Bach made "I Remember You" one of the last great hair metal hits. Bach's powerful vocals and a memorable guitar solo make the song memorable even today. Bach said, " Literally the whole country of America did their prom dance to 'I Remember You' one year, and that's a real heavy memory to beat."

5 Sister Christian, Night Ranger (1984)
Most hair-metal ballads haven't stood the test of time, but "Sister Christian" is a prominent exception. The soft piano builds up to an explosive chorus with drums guitars kicking in and a chorus lyric that still doesn't make much sense - "You're motoring / What's your price for flight?" The power ballad got to #5 on the charts in 1984.

4 Cherry Pie, Warrant (1990)
A lot of hair metal was pop music disguised as hard rock (Ozzy Osbourne once famously referred to Poison as "an out-and-out pop band"). By contrast, Warrant's "Cherry Pie" stands out as one of the heaviest hair metal anthems. The sexually-charged song and its famous music video were all about excess, as good hair metal should be.

3 Once Bitten Twice Shy, Great White (1989)
The bouncy piano beat, southern-rock-ish into riff, sing-along chorus and solid vocals from Jack Russell made this coming-of-age rock n roll remake one of the best of its era. "I didn't know you had a rock n roll record until I saw your picture on another guy's jacket!," Russell sang. Of all the one-hit wonder hair metal bands, Great White's hit stands out as the best.

2 Dr. Feelgood, Motley Crue (1989)
"He's the one they call Feelgood!," screamed singer Vince Neil. Nikki Sixx and Mick Mars co-wrote this hair metal anthem about a drug dealer. With a searing guitar solo, it become the biggest hit of Motley Crue's career, reaching #6, earning a Grammy nomination and helping the album of the same name go six-times platinum.

1 Here I Go Again, Whitesnake (1987)
Topping our list of the Best Hair Metal Songs is this Whitesnake classic from 1987. The sexy music video featuring singer David Coverdale and scantily-clad actress Tawny Kitaen writhing on the hood of a car came to symbolize the entire hair metal era.

"Here I Go Again" hit #1 on Billboard, while VH1 named it the 17th greatest songs of the 1980s. Interestingly, Whitesnake originally recorded the song in 1982 - you can find the video on YouTube. It looks and sounds like an awful, outdated classic rock song from the early '70s. Thank goodness they re-recorded it!

The best Hair metal songs that missed the cut:
Seventeen, Winger
Fly to the Angels, Slaughter
Round and Round, Ratt
Love Song, Tesla
Close My Eyes Forever, Ozzy Osbourne & Lita Ford

Sources:
www.rollingstone.com
http://www.sleazeroxx.com/news07/1128bac.shtml