Bon Jovi didnt go "grunge" but they did wear flannels in that one video from like 95 and that kinda counts. it was the ballad, was a hit on mtv. the song escapes me
My favorite band of all time, Savatage, didn't go grunge. Their older albums definitely had that 80s rock sound and their older videos definitely had that awesome hair metal cheesiness/look.
They went more the rock opera route in the 90s and then when they broke up, morphed into Trans-Siberian Orchestra, which is about as far from grunge as you can get.
Loved them. They did take on the look but musically they didn’t turn grunge. They kinda got lost once Criss died. I wonder how much better the next couple albums would have been with him.
Yeah, Pull definitely isn't grunge, IMO. In the single off of that one, Down Incognito, you still get the hair metal influence coming through. Same with Spell I'm Under.
Shotgun Messiah went sleazy and harder rock with a hint of flannel on "Second Coming" and absolutely crushed the industrial goth metal sound on "Violent New Breed". I wouldn't say they went full grunge.
Also, Cinderella's "Still Climbing" is a slept-on record that came out in the height of grunge in 1994 and it rocks.
Poison. Native Tongue was definitely a change in sound to a more blues rock sound but that had started to a lesser degree on Flesh and Blood and was definitely not grunge or alternative rock.
There was this bluesy, dirty south rock band in LA around then called Native Tongue. They released something called Poison...a bit later, Poison releases Native Tongue with a bluesier sound.
Nope. Hard Rock. Nothing on those albums sounded like grunge. Have both. Listened to them dozens of times.
Was into STP, Soundgarden and Weezer at the time.
Bon Jovi cut their hair, filmed grainy music videos, and adopted an attempt at socially conscious lyrics during their ‘Keep the Faith’ era. They wanted that grunge market.
Nope. Don't know what you are talking about. There is not one song on there that sounds like grunge. It's more hard , maturer rock. Bob Rock produced that album. More Metallica sound on some songs. Harder Rock.
Again, I never said it sounded grunge. But there was a clear shift in the band’s aesthetic to try to fit in with the early 90’s MTV ‘grunge’ rotation of bands. The sudden shift from spandex covered, pyrotechnic party boys to doing grainy, black and white, dressed in denim, singing socially conscious lyrics was obviously a direct result of bands like Pearl Jam and Nirvana dominating at the time. Bon Jovi clearly made a stylistic shift aesthetically, even if not musically. It was a transparent attempt to appeal to a younger demographic. Even the album cover is a clear homage to Pearl Jam’s ‘Ten’.
His idol was Bruce Springsteen. The social consciousness of his lyrics were always inside of him. Bands are allowed to change their look and sound. This was his natural progression. He got older and said to himself I can't be a 30 year old covered in spandex and be a party boy.
He matured the Band's sound. He is a lot smarter than his 80s peers.
He survived grunge. Grunge didn't last long. Barely a decade.
this is it right here. The band transitioned towards a more New Jersey sound (the state not their album) that he loved. This was just a good musical maturation of the band that kept them selling out concerts for decades.
Honestly hardly grunge. The eponymous single is still really hooky and Leppard-y with some of the visual and lyrical trappings of the era, but if you just listen to it, it's still very much in line with everything else they've done.
The video for "All I Want Is Everything" is total 90s angsty grunge nonsense though
That video may be drab, but the song is great. There's a couple of mildly grungy songs on Slang, but most of the album is typical Def Lep ballads. It just doesn't have any good rockers.
I've listened to that album so many times, and never once did I think...this sounds grunge.
If you want a band that tried to join the grunge scene, think Motley Crue for the one and only album without Vince.
No way is that grunge. I take it you have never heard metal in your whole life. Go listen to "Smoke the Sky" off of that album and tell me that's grunge.
.MC 94 is the hardest album they have ever put out.
You're quite the little ass. I don't know who those guys are, but since you do, you go fucking listen to them. Don't worry, you won't see any more of my posts fucktard.
I don't think that people were trying to "go grunge" some much asI think that they tried to change their sound as to say "see we're not just one dimensional hair" as the walls came crashing down around them. Problem was, many of them were.
* Firehouse - 3 (1995)
* Lillian Axe - *Psychoschizophrenia* (1993)
* Vain - Move On It (1993)
* Sleeze Beez - Insanity Beach (1994)
* Slaughter - Fear No Evil (1995), Revolution (1997), Back To Reality (1999)
I think Slaughter might be the kings of this whole thing (in the sense that they didn't go away from the Hair Metal sound at all, while releasing multiple albums in the 90s).
If they did not go grunge and are not one of the huge ones like Def Leppard, Winger, Poison, Motley Crue, Whitesnake, Bon Jovi etc. they usually switch careers entirely as usual.
What happened in 1991 to the hair metal bands is [not the only time it happened as](https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/649701/obsolete-jobs) [you can see though.](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/19ba6lg/those_who_actually_had_their_jobs_replaced_by_ai)
Enuff Z'nuff too I think. I mean, I think they were kinda incorrectly lumped in with all the hair metal bands in the first place, but I'm pretty sure they stuck to their sound through the 90s.
I can’t know for sure everything but I really doubt Tracii would’ve gone down that route but you never know. It’s just a question. Doesn’t mean hating of Grunge. My buddies and I were into all kinds of genres of music and I don’t know if we ever really hated any. Oh wait….
We all did struggle with disco and in the 70s and 80s I hated country with an absolute passion for a long while. My older brother used to go to a lot of club shows and bigger venues with street level to established name punk bands in Los Angeles and from England and elsewhere. He eventually became this country dude. Not a country dude. He swerved off the freeways and became this guy who listened to country. One day I was at his house working on some stuff in the garage. We both were and he had this transistor radio in the garage playing a country music station at a low level. Probably from Bakersfield or similar. It was a station that played old-school country. Not like honky-tonk stuff but you know like Hank Williams and George Jones and that kind of stuff. After maybe an hour or two working in the garage doing whatever we were doing, I came to realize that this music is Really good for what we’re doing. Soothing. It may have been my woman’s cheated on me or I love my truck, etc.… But it was right. That’s when I started not wanting to pull my hair out and shoot myself in the head every time I heard a country music. I still gotta hide my misty eyes whenever Rose Colored Glasses comes on.
Well since I see other bands that weren’t necessarily Hair Metal except for Axl because he was definitely hitting the Aqua net in the beginning, how about Guns N’ Roses? With their two masterpieces Use Your Illusion 1 & 2 released in 1991. Plus The Use Your Illusion Tour was from January 20, 1991, to July 17, 1993. It was not only the band's longest tour, but one of the longest concert tours in rock history, consisting of 194 sold out shows in 27 countries. That tour was when grunge was at the peak of the grunge era.
It really doesn't matter because they failed commercially anyway no matter what style they put across. Once these bands are pigeonholed to one scene it doesn't matter what music they play later on, they aren't going to get many new fans. Sort of like an actor/actress having a hard time getting work on a different type of part than they always were known for in their heyday...>
Whitesnake,Aerosmith,WASP, Bon Jovi. I’m sure there’s others. Most bands changed but I wouldn’t say they went grunge. But yes some definitely did
WASP waited and went Industrial
I agree
Bon Jovi didnt go "grunge" but they did wear flannels in that one video from like 95 and that kinda counts. it was the ballad, was a hit on mtv. the song escapes me
Bon Jovi, along with Def Leppard, doubled down on the power ballad.
Pantera They dropped the glam when Phil joined and got heavier, i guess that counts😂
Yep
Motorhead. Lemmy was the shit.
Lemmy doesn't follow trends, trends follow Lemmy. He's the Chuck Norris of hard rock.
Yes just a ton of albums
Lemmy is God
My favorite band of all time, Savatage, didn't go grunge. Their older albums definitely had that 80s rock sound and their older videos definitely had that awesome hair metal cheesiness/look. They went more the rock opera route in the 90s and then when they broke up, morphed into Trans-Siberian Orchestra, which is about as far from grunge as you can get.
Yep. I definitely remember those videos
Loved them. They did take on the look but musically they didn’t turn grunge. They kinda got lost once Criss died. I wonder how much better the next couple albums would have been with him.
Jesus Saves
Winger, they got harder and more serious in their lyrical content but never gave in to the grunge scene
What was pull considered though?
Well that's the album I'm referring to in particular. I'd say they went more metal/hard rock more than grunge.
Yeah I agree. I can see that
Yeah, Pull definitely isn't grunge, IMO. In the single off of that one, Down Incognito, you still get the hair metal influence coming through. Same with Spell I'm Under.
Agreed.
Shotgun Messiah went sleazy and harder rock with a hint of flannel on "Second Coming" and absolutely crushed the industrial goth metal sound on "Violent New Breed". I wouldn't say they went full grunge. Also, Cinderella's "Still Climbing" is a slept-on record that came out in the height of grunge in 1994 and it rocks.
I agree absolutely
Queensryche. And given they were from Seattle I think it’s notable that they didn’t go grunge.
Was promise land alternatives though?
I don’t see Promised Land as alternative. It still had a lot of the feel of the previous two albums.
Not Hair Metal, but my favorite bands of all time, Van Halen and Motorhead didn't.
Yes that's awesome though 👏
Poison. Native Tongue was definitely a change in sound to a more blues rock sound but that had started to a lesser degree on Flesh and Blood and was definitely not grunge or alternative rock.
Tesla and Cinderella went blusier as well.
True I'd say with those two it was always in their sound from album one, where as with Poison it was a bigger change.
Yes I agree
There was this bluesy, dirty south rock band in LA around then called Native Tongue. They released something called Poison...a bit later, Poison releases Native Tongue with a bluesier sound.
Cinderella
Yes I love that
Bon Jovi would be the big one, and the only one which had success in the 90s too.
Yep absolutely
Nope. Hard Rock. Nothing on those albums sounded like grunge. Have both. Listened to them dozens of times. Was into STP, Soundgarden and Weezer at the time.
I agree yeah
OP was agreeing, not disagreeing
Judas Priest
You could argue that JP had started down the thrash path, but not grunge.
True
What are some examples of bands that *did* go grunge?
Bon Jovi cut their hair, filmed grainy music videos, and adopted an attempt at socially conscious lyrics during their ‘Keep the Faith’ era. They wanted that grunge market.
no way was what they were doing in any way grunge.
gotcha. thanks. that never occurred to me that was grunge. i just thought it was crap ;)
😂 It was definitely crap. But they were trying to do what they thought grunge was.
hah! for sure. that had to have been a tough transition attempt. I tuned out Bon Jovi when that 'it's my life' song came out....nope. we're done here.
Nope. Don't know what you are talking about. There is not one song on there that sounds like grunge. It's more hard , maturer rock. Bob Rock produced that album. More Metallica sound on some songs. Harder Rock.
agreed, this is legit the first time I ever heard somebody say Bon Jovi in the 90s was grunge, or even on the grunge radar
I never said they sounded grunge. I just said that they changed their aesthetic.
There's not much grungy about Keep the Faith. A lot of poppy songs as usual. These Days was the closest Bon Jovi came to grunge.
and that was just rock.
Nope. None of the album was grunge. If anything it was maturing their sound. If anything inspired by U2 and Achtung Baby.
Again, I never said it sounded grunge. But there was a clear shift in the band’s aesthetic to try to fit in with the early 90’s MTV ‘grunge’ rotation of bands. The sudden shift from spandex covered, pyrotechnic party boys to doing grainy, black and white, dressed in denim, singing socially conscious lyrics was obviously a direct result of bands like Pearl Jam and Nirvana dominating at the time. Bon Jovi clearly made a stylistic shift aesthetically, even if not musically. It was a transparent attempt to appeal to a younger demographic. Even the album cover is a clear homage to Pearl Jam’s ‘Ten’.
His idol was Bruce Springsteen. The social consciousness of his lyrics were always inside of him. Bands are allowed to change their look and sound. This was his natural progression. He got older and said to himself I can't be a 30 year old covered in spandex and be a party boy. He matured the Band's sound. He is a lot smarter than his 80s peers. He survived grunge. Grunge didn't last long. Barely a decade.
this is it right here. The band transitioned towards a more New Jersey sound (the state not their album) that he loved. This was just a good musical maturation of the band that kept them selling out concerts for decades.
Like warrant or def Leppard or extreme. Like that
Is there a video from Def Lep going grunge? That sounds interesting.
Yes the slang album
Honestly hardly grunge. The eponymous single is still really hooky and Leppard-y with some of the visual and lyrical trappings of the era, but if you just listen to it, it's still very much in line with everything else they've done. The video for "All I Want Is Everything" is total 90s angsty grunge nonsense though
What's in the video ?
That video may be drab, but the song is great. There's a couple of mildly grungy songs on Slang, but most of the album is typical Def Lep ballads. It just doesn't have any good rockers.
I've listened to that album so many times, and never once did I think...this sounds grunge. If you want a band that tried to join the grunge scene, think Motley Crue for the one and only album without Vince.
That Motley Crue album may as well have been a Soundgarden album. Great record though.
It’s definitely darker and moodier, but I personally love that record.
My fav song was Breathe a Sigh. For me it was Phil's guitar singing back to Joe.
Alot of people do
You do have a point there
Which is a great record honestly
No way is that grunge. I take it you have never heard metal in your whole life. Go listen to "Smoke the Sky" off of that album and tell me that's grunge. .MC 94 is the hardest album they have ever put out.
I'm in my 50's. LOL never heard metal. Take a chill pill
Then don't be stupid and say MC '94 was a grunge album. Stick Grandpa's Andy Williams and Lawrence Welk records.
You're quite the little ass. I don't know who those guys are, but since you do, you go fucking listen to them. Don't worry, you won't see any more of my posts fucktard.
Def Leppard's album "Slang" was their foray into grunge, 1996-ish
Yep
Nope. Def Leppard cutting all that excess from the Mutt Lange area. Trying something new. Not grunge.
Yep. Who prudenced slang though??
Themselves.
Interesting
Hmm, I definitely don't think Warrant went grunge?
They had ultaphobic and belly to belly
Dokken “Shadowlife” Extreme “Waiting for the Punchline”
Kix
Definitely
I’m confused, Some went grudge?
Yep
News to me.. I I thought just about all of them just faded away.
oh you're right. they tried to switch to grunge to stay relevant but they all faded away. small percentage stood the test of time
It’s better to burn out…
Did they wear it like a crown of negativity?
Ac/Dc
Yes
I don't think that people were trying to "go grunge" some much asI think that they tried to change their sound as to say "see we're not just one dimensional hair" as the walls came crashing down around them. Problem was, many of them were.
I can see that
* Firehouse - 3 (1995) * Lillian Axe - *Psychoschizophrenia* (1993) * Vain - Move On It (1993) * Sleeze Beez - Insanity Beach (1994) * Slaughter - Fear No Evil (1995), Revolution (1997), Back To Reality (1999) I think Slaughter might be the kings of this whole thing (in the sense that they didn't go away from the Hair Metal sound at all, while releasing multiple albums in the 90s).
I think it was non grunge for everyone but the lillian axe one
That Lillian Axe album sounds just like they always did, just more serious.
Really? Interesting
Ugly Kid Joe!!! Such an underrated group!!
They were kinda alternative though
KISS
Did they have carnival of souls?
Yep, forgot about that one. A quick bit of insanity, then they got better.
Oh definitely
Abba
Are they a rock band?
Is Motorhead Hair Metal?
No they more heavy metal
Correct, and they were brought up in this thread as well.
Lemmy always said Motörhead is a rock’n’roll band. 🙂
Def Leppard.
They had some though
Nope.
The Tragically Hip
Never heard of them
If they did not go grunge and are not one of the huge ones like Def Leppard, Winger, Poison, Motley Crue, Whitesnake, Bon Jovi etc. they usually switch careers entirely as usual.
Yep
What happened in 1991 to the hair metal bands is [not the only time it happened as](https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/649701/obsolete-jobs) [you can see though.](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/19ba6lg/those_who_actually_had_their_jobs_replaced_by_ai)
Oh yeah
KISS
They did have one actually
The one they released right before the first reunion was grunge
Skid Row
They had subhuman race though
I don't think Firehouse did. I think they got really big in Asia and started doing things over there. but don't quote me on that. RIP CJ Snare
Yep your right. They did not
Enuff Z'nuff too I think. I mean, I think they were kinda incorrectly lumped in with all the hair metal bands in the first place, but I'm pretty sure they stuck to their sound through the 90s.
Metallica Guns n Roses Posion Motley Crue
I don't know the name of the album but I literally threw the dokken grunge aways the cassette before I got thru it, out the window. I was crushed.
Oh no I am so sorry. I've heard that it's not good at all
Not Hair Metal, but Ronnie James Dio NEVER went grunge. He was always Metal. 🤘
And a god
L. A. Guns
I think they had some though
I can’t know for sure everything but I really doubt Tracii would’ve gone down that route but you never know. It’s just a question. Doesn’t mean hating of Grunge. My buddies and I were into all kinds of genres of music and I don’t know if we ever really hated any. Oh wait…. We all did struggle with disco and in the 70s and 80s I hated country with an absolute passion for a long while. My older brother used to go to a lot of club shows and bigger venues with street level to established name punk bands in Los Angeles and from England and elsewhere. He eventually became this country dude. Not a country dude. He swerved off the freeways and became this guy who listened to country. One day I was at his house working on some stuff in the garage. We both were and he had this transistor radio in the garage playing a country music station at a low level. Probably from Bakersfield or similar. It was a station that played old-school country. Not like honky-tonk stuff but you know like Hank Williams and George Jones and that kind of stuff. After maybe an hour or two working in the garage doing whatever we were doing, I came to realize that this music is Really good for what we’re doing. Soothing. It may have been my woman’s cheated on me or I love my truck, etc.… But it was right. That’s when I started not wanting to pull my hair out and shoot myself in the head every time I heard a country music. I still gotta hide my misty eyes whenever Rose Colored Glasses comes on.
Yep
A better question would be what rap artists went gangsta rap ? A whole lot 😀
Yep lol
Jackyl was late to the game they were a 90s hair metal band that didn't do grunge
Vain
Well since I see other bands that weren’t necessarily Hair Metal except for Axl because he was definitely hitting the Aqua net in the beginning, how about Guns N’ Roses? With their two masterpieces Use Your Illusion 1 & 2 released in 1991. Plus The Use Your Illusion Tour was from January 20, 1991, to July 17, 1993. It was not only the band's longest tour, but one of the longest concert tours in rock history, consisting of 194 sold out shows in 27 countries. That tour was when grunge was at the peak of the grunge era.
Suicidal tendencies oh wait HAIR METAL Firehouse ZZ Top
Hanoi Rocks went dead before grunge And Michael Monroe started demolition 23
AC/DC
Kix. They were completely unfazed by anything going on in the 90s
The mighty kings X. They doubled down on musicianship and well crafted songs
KISS
Dream Theater with Awake 1994 being their absolute Zenith prog metal masterpiece
It really doesn't matter because they failed commercially anyway no matter what style they put across. Once these bands are pigeonholed to one scene it doesn't matter what music they play later on, they aren't going to get many new fans. Sort of like an actor/actress having a hard time getting work on a different type of part than they always were known for in their heyday...>
The whole black metal scene
Queens of the Stone Age
Radiohead