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Other topics. Pop rock. power pop. synth-metal. arena rock. Pop metal (sometimes conflated with or used interchangeably with glam metal) is an umbrella term for commercial heavy metal and hard rock styles which feature prominent pop music elements such as catchy hooks and anthemic choruses.
The least metallic variation of heavy metal, pop-metal became the most popular form of hard rock during the '80s. Some pop-metal bands emphasized metal's most important building block -- the guitar riff -- more than others, but pop-metal's main attraction were the huge, catchy hooks that owed a great deal to the fist-pumping choruses of arena ...
- Rob O'connor
- "Livin' On A Prayer" -- Bon Jovi: Let's hear it for Desmond Child, who sharpened Bon Jovi's pencil and helped them get the lead out. (Jeez, you can see why I hate writing puns.
- "Sweet Child O' Mine" -- Guns N' Roses: The greatest folk-rock band of the 1980s ("Patience," "Knockin' On Heaven's Door," Lies), even better than R.E.M., really nailed it with "Sweet Child O' Mine," which features an opening guitar riff that even grandmothers can identify on first listen.
- "Cum On Feel The Noize" -- Quiet Riot: The members of Quiet Riot did not want to cover this Slade tune. They did it begrudgingly and then it became, according to guitarist Carlos Cavazo, possibly the best thing they ever did.
- "Gypsy Road" -- Cinderella: With a name like Cinderella, these guys were really pushing what metal could withstand. How they made it out of Philly without a name change is beyond me.
- Children of Bodom — “Oops I Did It Again!” (Britney Spears)
- Guns ‘n’ Roses — “Knocking on Heaven’s Door” (Bob Dylan)
- Alien Ant Farm — “Smooth Criminal” (Michael Jackson)
- A Perfect Circle — “Imagine” (John Lennon)
- Enuff Z’Nuff – “Fly High Michelle”
- Poison – “Fallen Angel”
- Faster Pussycat – “Bathroom Wall”
- Europe – “The Final Countdown”
- Black ‘N Blue – “Miss Mystery”
- Love/Hate – “Why Do You Think They Call It Dope?”
- Kiss – “Lick It Up”
- Lita Ford – “Kiss Me Deadly”
- Night Ranger – “When You Close Your Eyes”
- Extreme – “Get The Funk Out”
What a breath of fresh air Enuff Z’Nuff were in 1989. They might have been lumped in with the hair metal trend — and looking at their old videos, you can see why — but they actually had more in common with Big Star and Cheap Trick in how they smartly blended elements of the Beatles and psychedelic rock with flashy hard rock. Arriving at the peak of...
Poison were the nice boys of the Sunset Strip glam scene. Their music was more lightweight, more positive, and more romantic than the rest of their peers, but when it worked, like on 1988’s “Fallen Angel,” it was proof they were far more talented than many gave them credit for. A more compassionate response to the seamy “Welcome To The Jungle,” “Fa...
Faster Pussycat’s 1987 debut album is one of the great joys of the sleaze rock wave, a record that evoked everything from Aerosmith, to the Stones, to Johnny Thunders. “Bathroom Wall” was the big single, and rightfully so, an ebullient New York Dolls homage that’s pure gutter punk from the start. What better premise for a sleaze rock anthem than a ...
Featuring one of the silliest synth intros in rock history, “The Final Countdown” was further proof that silly can go a long, long way in heavy metal. Whether it was Joey Tempest rhyming “Venus” with “seen us” or the song’s bouncy gallop, it proved too irresistible on a global scale to the point where its worldwide ubiquity became truly surreal by ...
Portland band Black ‘N Blue is one of many American metal bands in the 1980s that missed that brass ring despite putting out quality music. After being included on 1982’s epochal Metal Massacre demo compilation alongside Metallica and Ratt, and putting out a very good 1984 debut produced by Gene Simmons, 1985’s Without Lovetook a somewhat softer ap...
Love/Hate was a total anomaly in the LA glam scene in the late ’80s in that they were a little more musically adventurous than the usual sleaze rock crowd. Sure, their 1990 debut album Blackout In The Red Roomdabbled in cock rock (who can forget the genuinely creepy “Rock Queen”) but it was redeemed by a bevy of creative moments, the best of which ...
The mid-’80s were a weird time for KISS as they tried desperately to redefine their image and music, and while their output from this period is largely ignored today, more than a few tracks have stood the test of time. Guitarist Vinnie Vincent was a huge reason 1983’s Lick It Upworked so well and the title track was a perfect example, built around ...
While Joan Jett wasted no time launching a successful solo career in the wake of the breakup of the Runaways, her former bandmate Lita Ford took longer to find her voice. Ford fell in with the Sunset Strip crowd in the early ’80s and her early material reflects that look and sound, albeit a little awkwardly. It took four years for a proper follow-u...
Night Ranger’s 1983 album Midnight Madnesswill always be remembered for the masterful power ballad “Sister Christian,” but “When You Close Your Eyes” is the best distillation of the San Francisco band’s sound. Very much like Journey, they combined pop songwriting, overdriven metal guitar, and sleek synthesizers into a high-gloss sound. What set Nig...
Metal bands had been tinkering with funk as the ’80s went on, and this memorable track from Extreme’s second album remains far and away the best moment. Not only does Nuno Bettencourt’s guitar work effortlessly alternate from ’80s shred and ’70s shred, but “Get The Funk Out” swings hard. It would be nothing without the rhythm section of Pat Badger ...
- Adrien Begrand
Related to: melodic death metal. modern metal. metal. hard rock. metalcore. rock. Pop metal is a catch all term alongside traditional metal, extreme metal and dark metal, each reflecting part of the collective worldwide metal movement. The term is used to reference bands within the heavy metal music subgenres that perform more accessible forms ...
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