Don't Call It Hair Metal

Art in the Excess of '80s Rock

De: Sean Kelly

Narrado por: Sean Kelly

A love letter to the hard-rocking, but often snubbed, music of the era of excess: the 1980s

There may be no more joyous iteration in all of music than 1980s hard rock. It was an era where the musical and cultural ideals of rebellion and freedom of the great rock 'n' roll of the '50s, '60s, and '70s were taken to dizzying heights of neon excess. Attention to songcraft, showmanship, and musical virtuosity (especially in the realm of the electric guitar) were at an all-time high, and radio and MTV were delivering the goods en masse to the corn-fed children of America and beyond.

Time hasn't always been kind to artists of that gold and platinum era, but Don't Call It Hair Metal analyzes the sonic evolution, musical diversity, and artistic intention of '80s commercial hard rock through interviews with members of such hard rock luminaries as Twisted Sister, Def Leppard, Poison, Whitesnake, Ratt, Skid Row, Quiet Riot, Guns N' Roses, Dokken, Mr. Big, and others.

©2023 Sean Kelly (P)2023 Tantor

Very interesting material, super performance

Loved the behind the scenes information and how the industry worked back then. I was a teen into early adult during this time and knew alot of the stories. I appreciated the behind the scenes info with the bands and some of how they actually felt about the time period and transition to grunge.
I’ve listed to several of these books about the time period and the author here has done a great job of capturing our mutual love of the genre. His delivery and cadence were very easy to listen to, very enable!

Great story / life experience

Great story. Great speaker. Very easy to listen to. I wish all authors could read like this.

A Blast if you Love 80s Rock

I really enjoyed this book. I’ve always been a huge fan of the 80s rock scene. The author, being a musician himself, dove deep into the history of 80s rock and pulled out some great behind the scenes stories, commentary on playing styles (notably the guitar), and included cool interview segments from notables of that era.

Hair Metal!

An interesting book but targeted at those in the know. I was hoping this would lead the uninitiated into the whole scene but most of the time it assumes the reader already knows most of the bands, musicians and other players. This is even my time period, or at least the later part of it is, only I wasn’t all that into this type of music so much of the references didn’t hit with me.
Still it was interesting and the real value is in all the interviews and direct quotes, with fun anecdotes and tidbits.

Behind the scenes and more

I love hearing how bands were formed and how people living the times actually felt about them. Not the sex and drugs- just the rock and roll. Must read for all 80s rock fans.

Interesting but...

Interesting perspective, and I enjoyed learning more about bands I didn't know sand bands I love. The storytelling just got obscured by the frequent technical descriptions that I think you need to be a guitarist to understand (I'm musical and played other instruments/studied theory, and I was lost). Also think the author may have benefitted from someone else reading the book.

Great Book which is well researched and Delivered

Shows a great passion for the genre and ups and downs. Highly recommended for anyone who loves music!

Solid history

The writer won't win any converts here. but if you listened to hard rock in the 70s 80s and 90s then this book is a relatable recap. Sometimes he focuses more on his friends, but the stories are ok and there's enough here about big acts to hold interest, as long as you know the bands being discussed.

Must read for any musician or music lover

Fantastic book with great stories and insights. He really did his homework and allows the reader to truly appreciate the industry. I grew up with all of this and was wonderful to experience through real eyes. Highly recommend!!!!!

Excellent understanding of the metal genre and its origins!

The author has a great understanding and appreciation of the metal genre. I grew up in the same time as the author when everything was so new and exciting while nothing seemed to be off limits. I learned more about the bands I was already familiar with and a lot more about bands I wasn’t familiar with at all. The book is perfect for people interested in the 80s metal genre and especially for those of us raised with it! Rock on!