10 Most Important Hard Rock Bands Of The 80s

As soon as the '80s started to happen, rock and roll had finally gotten its fangs. After flirting with the idea of getting heavier back in the '70s with Zeppelin and Sabbath, this was when the entire genre came into its own and started going for broke with any heavy riff they could get their hands on. In between the more by the numbers bands though, there were the few that poked through the cracks to lead the way forward.

Aside from just having great hits, these were the bands that set more of a standard on what could be done in the world of hard rock, from inventing new genres to turning the old ones on their head to create something a lot different than what had been heard before. In the midst of their reign, you had other bands coming to the forefront as well, being inspired by these acts to pick up instruments of their own and make something that could be heavier than what had come before.

This doesn't just include the framework of rock though. In this span of time, we blew through everything from the beginnings of underground punk to thrash metal to the era of glam rock that was coming off of Sunset. There's a lot to sift through here, but anywhere you fall with these bands is a pretty safe bet for kickass music.

For most of the hairsprayed portion of rock and roll, all signs pointed to the Sunset Strip. After all, this was the sunshine-y brand of rock and roll that was meant for LA, with the era of big hair and lipstick being the calling card for everyone from Poison to Faster Pussycat. So...how did we manage to have one of the biggest names at the time come all the way from Jersey?

Yeah, even though Bon Jovi definitely sounded similar to the hair metal bands of the time, these boys were proud to be from the East Coast, bringing with them some amazing licks on albums like Slippery When Wet. As much as their brand of rock and roll may have been a bit softer than even some hair metal fans would have preferred at the time, the group's knack for songwriting were miles above any of their contemporaries.

At a time when most bands were looking to write songs about the rock and roll lifestyle with occasional ballads being thrown into the mix, Livin On a Prayer and Wanted Dead or Alive are songs with genuine stories to tell and some amazing hooks that keep you wanting more every time you get done listening to them. Even though the band may have fit right in during the hair metal movement, the songs they wrote are the kind of slice of life tales that Bruce Springsteen would have recognized in an instant.