The Best Album of the Hair Metal Era
It’s difficult to narrow down all of the great hair metal albums and pick one as the best, but Audio Ink Radio does that in this feature. – Author: Anne Erickson, Photo via Ken Settle
Hair metal is simply a fun genre and one that makes the listener want to get up, dance and get their party on. The genre’s anthems are often packed with high-octane guitars, powerful rhythms and party-happy lyrics about girls, having fun and just experiencing life.
The hair metal genre got its start in the late 1970s, and it really peaked in popularity in the 1980s. The genre was influenced by glam rock from the late 1970s, and it brought together a heavy, wild hard rock sound with a dramatic look, including huge hair and makeup. Some of the earliest hair metal bands on the circuit were Kiss, Alice Cooper and the New York Dolls, even though Cooper could be considered more in the shock rock category.
In the U.S., hair metal became very popular on the Sunset Strip of Los Angeles starting in the early 1980s, and it also got a big boost from commercial radio and MTV playing the genre’s music videos all the time. As Yellowbrook notes, “With its catchy hooks, flamboyant image, and energetic live performances, the genre became a cultural phenomenon that left a lasting impact on the music industry.”
Since the rock and metal music of the 1980s brought so many great albums, it’s difficult to dwindle those down to just one. But, Audio Ink Radio is attempting to do that in this feature, because we’re naming the best album of the hair metal era.
The Greatest Hair Metal Album Ever
This was a really difficult decision. A few contenders at the end were Poison with “Look What the Cat Dragged In,” Def Leppard with “Hysteria,” Motley Crue with “Too Fast for Love” and Skid Row’s self-titled release. For the sake of this tally, we didn’t include Guns N’ Roses as hair metal, by the way. They really don’t fit into the classic definition of the term.
While all of these albums, and more, are important to the legacy of the genre, we’re naming Bon Jovi with 1986’s “Slippery When Wet” as the No. 1 best hair metal album of all time.
For those who don’t think Bon Jovi is really in the genre, remember that Jon Bon Jovi’s work in the 1980s and early 1990s was largely considered among the best hair metal of all time. It wasn’t until later in his career that he started to make a more mainstream, hard rock form of music that was less “hair.”
Bon Jovi’s music was a more family-friendly version of the genre, and that proved a good thing for the band in the long run. It was the kind of music that parents could rock out to with their kids or without, which wasn’t the case with 90% of the genre’s music. On “Slippery When Wet,” Bon Jovi served up some of the greatest, most mainstream hair metal songs of the genre, from “Wanted Dead or Alive” to “Livin’ on a Prayer.” It’s possibly the most well-known hair record of all time, and we believe it’s the best. It came in No. 3 on Rolling Stone’s tally of the best hair metal albums, but it should have been higher.
For more from the ’80s, check out five guilty pleasure songs from the 1980s in this Audio Ink Radio piece.
- The Best Album of the Hair Metal Era - May 21, 2025
- The Greatest Iron Maiden Album of All Time - May 17, 2025
- Best Rock Drummers of the 2000s - May 16, 2025
