Glam Metal Scene - Essay Example

Glam Metal Scene Being a part of art, which has always developed in close connection to social conditions and tendencies, glam metal scene is probably one of the most vivid and bright phenomena in the history of music. The genre that virtually brought rock music to the new level of popularity, glam metal is the distinctive feature of the 1980s’ music landscape. Early eighties were marked by the upsurge of hair metal that became an essential part not only of Western pop culture, but also of the rebellious youth culture existing behind the Curtain, in USSR. One could state that the sources of glam metal lie in the vigorous development of popular culture that penetrated into all domains of the society’s life, strengthening of commercial aspect in the field of music, and influence of glam and hard rock of the seventies (KISS, Slade, Sweet, Van Halen etc.). As MTV appeared, a new instrument became available for music bands seeking popularity and recognition. Sunset Strip in Los Angeles was the place of birth for this music and visual genre, for early 1980s’ populated local clubs and concert halls with a great number of heavy metal bands that desperately sought ways to stand out among others (Batchelor 165). Due to availability of video clips’ rotation, the bands put their stakes on extravagant visual image as a means of being distinguished among others: MTV made glam metal “very much a whole visual and stylistic thing” (Popoff 217). While many heavy metal bands were using rather extravagant elements of visual image like leather, spandex and teased hair, these elements were exaggerated and extreme in glam metal bands, for their members were typically dressed in bright and even womanly clothes, created big teased hairstyles, wore tons of makeup and jewelry. However, their generally androgynous look ran contrary to their image of outstanding males with enormous sexual appetites and their lifestyle involving heavy drinking, multiple sexual contacts and even drug abuse, whereby Nikki Sixx can be mentioned as a heavy heroin addict at the time of hair metal’s extreme popularity. However, androgyny of hair metal bands of eighties was different from that cultivated by the glam rock bands that influenced the discussed genre: glam metal scene used androgyny as the instrument of entertainment rather than irony, being more explicitly heterosexual (Moore 105). The most famous and canonic glam metal bands to be mentioned are Motley Crue (who were the pioneers and the first hair metal musicians to sign a contract with the recording label), Ratt, Poison, Cinderella, Kingdom Come, Dokken, and Def Leppard. In terms of music, glam metal is vivid and similar to traditional heavy metal with their drive and shred guitar solos, yet incorporating punk and hard rock elements. However, as the element of pop culture and the genre aimed at gaining popularity, hair metal arrests listeners’ attention with catchy riffs and hooks. The peculiar feature of glam metal lyrics is glamourizing of rackety life and ‘sex, drugs & rock-n-roll’ idea. These themes including free relationships with women are clearly traced in songs played by Ratt (e.g. Lay It Down, Loving You Is A Dirty Job, Body Talk) and Motley Crue (e.g. Girls, Girls, Girls and Wild Side). At the same time, hair metal bands have a wide range of power ballads in their repertoire, which commonly revolve around the blues-inspired theme of romance, lust and love to a particular female (e.g. Cinderella’s Long Cold Winter, Slaughter’s Real Love, and Kingdom Come’s hit What Love Can Be). Thereby, power ballads as an essential feature of hair metal music were more lyrical and emotional, using harmonies extensively and incorporating the strong sensual element – these features made these songs more intimate and attractive for wider audience, which wouldn’t have been appealed by traditional ‘rough’ heavy metal songs. This appealing music scene promoting free and joyful lifestyle with distinctive flavor of rebelliousness found extensive response in public, especially in youth, who were the typical listener and fans of this genre. It were young people who crowded Sunset Strip clubs such as Whiskey Go Go, the most popular shelter for such bands as Motley Crue and RATT, and enjoyed hair metal. Commercial success was confirmed by the great number of gold and platinum singles and albums opening the genre for wider audience as well as continuous rotation of music videos on MTV. The fact that glam metal scene had proved to be so timely and attractive for the wide audience encouraged bands that were not connected to this genre try to get into mainstream. Many hard rock and heavy metal bands created albums with a distinctive glam metal flavor during 1980’s, and especially during the second wave of hair metal dated 1985-1991. Such monsters of rock as Kiss (Heaven’s On Fire), Twisted Sister (Love Is For Suckers album) and Whitesnake (Is This Love) played and recorded a number of glam metal singles to capture the audience. Moreover, though originally being predominantly male genre, hair metal let women into its domain: such female musicians as Vixen, Lee Aaron and Lita Ford won much attention and recognition during the 1980’s. At the dawn of 1990’s, glam metal experienced dramatic decline, having exhausted its potential and being unable to stand the challenge posed by upsurge of grunge and thrash metal. However, despite far less attention on the part of audience, glam metal scene continued its existence with new bands emerging and trying to revive the genre. The giants of the genre like Motley Crue and RATT have survived until nowadays: they are still engaged in a kind of nostalgic festivals like M3, they still tour around the world though without attracting entire stadiums of fans like it was in 1987. Most musicians, whose golden age was in the eighties, and their fans, who found their music relevant and attractive for the contemporary society, are now middle-aged men and women driven by nostalgic feelings for their youth. Due to considerable changes the society has experienced since that time, glam metal finds rather little response in music listeners, who are young now. Trying to find out, what attracts the modern young fans of glam metal culture, I searched the one among my friends and acquaintances… and found Samantha, a huge fan of hair metal and culture of eighties in general. Samantha often dresses up in the way glam metal fans used to dress at that time: high-waist shorts or leggings, leather or denim jackets, leopard-printed details, a pinch of heavy metal spirit in studded boots, red lipstick (for special occasions). However, she does not tease her hair, for she has is cut short. She told that the main thing making glam metal scene attractive is the peculiar atmosphere of freedom, rebelliousness and ‘special’ aesthetics. Though few of glam metal fans really go wild as it is promoted by hair metal bands, the inspiration and drive remain. My interviewee described typical fans of glam metal as the young and somewhat reckless people, who try to resemble their favorite musicians in their style, dressing in leather and denim with metal accessories, using much hairspray to fix the puffed hair and going to concerts that usually took place in clubs or at stadiums (like it was in Moscow in 1989). Generally, the behavior of glam metal admirers and the way of their interaction with musicians is similar to the general behavior style of hard rock and heavy metal listeners: they scream, sing along, jump, show devil horn gestures, while the most passionate female fans even reveal their breasts as a sign of approval. On the other hand, musicians demonstrate equally extravagant behavior on stage (in addition to extravagant looks): singers scurry around with microphones, jump, sometimes using obscene words and gestures, yet turning the crowd on. Guitarists entertain public with expressive gestures and solos; while such drummers as Tommy Lee of Motley Crue turn their parties into sheer amusement (the drummer played live shows within the construction moving like a merry-go-round). Generally, the musicians elevate the desire to stand out and win public’s attention to the grotesque level. Motley Crue Live Show To my thinking (and my interviewee approved my choice), live shows on Motley Crue and RATT are the most illustrious examples of glam metal scene and aesthetics. Motley Crue’s 1987 live in Tahoma illustrates the most peculiar features of glam metal shows. The show is the concert lasting for 1.5 hours and incorporating the band’s most popular songs to date: Live Wire, Wild Side, Home Sweet Home, Shout At The Devil, Girls Girls Girls and others. Unfortunately, as the golden age of hair metal is gone, we can now watch the shows only in records of rather low quality, but it allows us to identify the key features of the genre. To begin with, the visual aspect of the show is extravagant and bright: the band members are wearing spandex, leather and glittery details in abundance: close-fitting leggings with skulls, leather pants, tons of sparkling glittery elements, loose tank top, studded leather vest, extravagant footwear, teased hair and, of course, makeup. The behavior of Motley Crue members is also very extravagant and provocative – it is aimed to amuse turn the audience on: provocative gestures, rather ‘loose’ expressions used by the vocalist Vince Neil, scurrying around the stage and even revealing of buttocks to the public by the drummer. However, it is obvious that the fans are enraptured by the band’s behavior. On the hits like Wild Side, there are typical glam-metal-style women on backing vocals, who are dancing in appealing manner dressed in denim and bras. The vocalist interacts with the fans actively inviting them to raise hands and sing along, while all the musicians have their solo parts intended to amuse and arrest attention: Mick Mars’ elaborate solo with much distortion won overwhelming reaction of the audience. Generally, the concert is a canonic specimen of glam metal scene, for it incorporates the most outstanding music and visual elements. Glam metal scene is intended to not only please ears of the listeners, but also attract their attention to visual aspect and entertain them with special aesthetics. In conclusion, it should be mentioned that this strategy has been used by the newer bands as well: Crashdiet, Crazy Lixx, Steel Panther and De La Cruz, who either imitate the sound of the eighties or transform it to certain extent, complementing it with extravagant visual and behavioral aspects. Works Cited Batchelor, Bob. Cult Pop Culture: How the Fringe Became Mainstream. ABC-CLIO, 2011. Web. July 13, 2015. . Moore, Ryan. Sells like Teen Spirit: Music, Youth Culture, and Social Crisis. NYU Press, 2009. Web. July 13, 2015. . Motley Crue - Live In Tacoma 10/15/1987 [Full Concert]. 80RockConcerts, YouTube. 22 June 2012. Web. 13 July 2015. . Popoff, Martin. The Big Book of Hair Metal: The Illustrated Oral History of Heavy Metal’s Debauched Decade. Voyageur Press, 2014. Web. July 13, 2015. . Read More