10 Perfect Albums That Will Make You Love Hair Metal Music

As far as Sunset Strip bands are concerned, there's a good case for Motley Crue to be called kings of the genre. While they may have told you they were trying to copy their heroes like David Bowie and KISS, songs like Dr. Feelgood and Girls Girls Girls became the national anthems for what Los Angeles stood for, being equally indebted to the excess of Hollywood as it was to the classic rock that shaped it. Dr. Feelgood may have been their most glamorous album, but the Crue always sounds better when they were a bit rough around the edges.

Much like Guns N Roses had done in 1987, Too Fast For Love sounds like what hair metal was supposed to be at street level, talking about the hard partying lifestyle with just a subtle hint of danger in the mix as well. For all of the glam influences that the band wear on their sleeves, there's almost a punk influence hidden in there as well, from the pure fire behind a song like Live Wire to lyrics about looking to cause as much mayhem as possible like Piece of Your Action.

Though this album might not have the typical power ballad in gear just yet, it doesn't really need to tone things down either. This was the sound of hair metal in its infancy, and it made for a perfect precursor that was on the horizon for the rest of the decade.