VH1 Classic's Top 20 Metal Bands...

[GNRfan2008]

Quiet Riot? One hit wonder.

You DO know that Randy Rhoads got his start in Quiet Riot, right? They were formed in the mid 70's and had albums out in the late 70's, so they're an important band in the development of American heavy metal. They were before the NWOBHM, which few metal bands can claim.

Ratt? One hit wonder.

I agree. Ratt was never that great.

Skid Row? POP metal crap.

No way! Skid Row were one of the heaviest of the glam metal bands. They had some pop songs and ballads, but they were a lot ballsier than Cinderella, Poison, Warrant, etc. Skid Row was a more aggressive band than people think.

Poison? POP metal crap.

Yep.

Motley Crue? Posers.

Their first 2 albums cement their place in history as one of the most important metal bands in the early 80's. Everything after those are pure cheese, but were still very influential and are really just guilty pleasures. They are actually underrated, because most people think of the poseur albums, without considering the merits of the first 2.

W.A.S.P.? Posers.

BULLSHIT. WASP backed up their image with both lifestyle and music, and they didn't sell out the way Crue did. The Crimson Idol is probably the greatest glam concept album ever made; the band was both intelligent and brutal. They are probably the heaviest glam band of all time.

The only real metal bands they had on the list were Metallica, Megadeth, and Slayer. The rest were either good bands but not metal (AC/DC), or just utter crap (the likes of Twisted Sister).

Twisted Sister was one of the first, if not the first, glam metal bands. Earlier glam was rock/punk based. Twisted Sister also wrote Burn In Hell, one of the heaviest songs ever written by a glam band. Plus, they were popular, iconic, and generally good.

You should be more upset that they didn't include Bathory, Burzum, and Suffocation.

You do realise MOST people form their opinions on music from the media etc. I never really listened to the media. so I listened to Motley Crue, Pearl Jam, GNR, Ac/DC new rock and classic rock without really caring..

Some people need to open their minds abit.. no use in disowning a music before you hear it just based on some image the media feeds you..

guns n motley,

It's not the media that tells me hair metal sucks. It's listening to the music BEFORE hearing the likes of Zeppelin, Hendrix, GN'R, Bob Dylan, Metallica, The Beatles, etc. that makes me think hair metal sucks. You see, back when I first really started getting into music about 10 years ago, one of the first genres I got into really quickly was hair metal by accident of course. And I thought it was great, but then I discovered what hair metal WISHES it could be: Guns N' Roses. And then I discovered Led Zeppelin and so many other Classic Rock artists that blow the fuck out of craptastic hair metal.

[GNRfan2008]

Finally, GnR was never a metal band, except in the very early pre-Appetite days, and perhaps the middle section of the song Crash Diet. That's about it.

They're a hell of a lot closer to metal than Poison and Ratt in my opinion. Appetite rocks just as hard as anything Metallica ever put out. My definition of metal is basically how much ass do you kick although there are obviously a ton of "cliches" about the genre to look for when trying to classify a band's sound. I consider GN'R straight-up kickass hard rock, but if you're going to include AC/DC on a list like that, then you should probably include GN'R because they (particularly on one landmark album) kick the living shit out of a vast majority of VH1's top 20 metal bands.

[icpillusions]

GnR may not have made this list but they were #9 on the Top Best Rock Bands of All Time list.

[mdttkk]

VH1 suck my wee wee

[Mooch]

i don't consider gnr metal i consider them hard rock so im not pissed about this

Do you consider AC/DC metal? LMFAO if you do. Their excuse for putting AC/DC in there was that they had one of the top 5 selling metal albums ever. If we're basing this on album sales, then GN'R should EASILY be in the top 5 on any list about hard rock/metal. Quiet Riot? One hit wonder. Ratt? One hit wonder. Skid Row? POP metal crap. Poison? POP metal crap. Motley Crue? Posers. W.A.S.P.? Posers. The only real metal bands they had on the list were Metallica, Megadeth, and Slayer. The rest were either good bands but not metal (AC/DC), or just utter crap (the likes of Twisted Sister).

How the hell can you call Motley Crue Posers!!!!!  Shout at the devil is an amazing metal album start to finish.  Almost as good as appetite in my book.

[LunsJail]

Any time MTV or VH1 mention "metal" they generally mean "hair metal," which isn't metal.? The idiocy of their list is proven by the inclusion of AC/DC, which belongs near the top of ANY best of hard rock list, but the argument that AC/DC is metal is even weaker than the same argument for GNR.?

Exactly......VH1 has an extremely loose definition of metal and normally just include hair metal groups to make fun of them.  As GNR fans we should be glad they aren't included on this list. It just pisses me off when they're lumped in with the Poisons and Whitesnakes of the world.

[freedom78]

VH1 also did a four hour program called "Heavy: The Story of Metal" (I think).  And it began with a bunch of artists, some metal, some hard rock, debating the definition of metal.  Anyway, here's my best summary, from memory, of the show:

Hour One---The Roots of Metal
Black Sabbath
Led Zeppelin
Alice Cooper
KISS

Hour Two---NWOBHM
Judas Priest
Iron Maiden
Def Leppard

Hour Three---LA Scene/glam/hair
Van Halen
Motley Crue
Poison

Hour Four---
Metallica & thrash
Guns N' Roses
Marilyn Manson
Nu-Metal

Interwoven in all of this is some actual history about the rise and fall of disco and punk and how metal survived through it all.  It's actually a very cool show.  The only problem is that most of the bands featured are NOT metal!  I see four confirmed metal bands on there: Sabbath, Priest, Maiden, and Metallica.  I'm not sure how to categorize Manson, so I won't try.  A lot of the other bands DID have important impacts on metal.  Kiss and Alice Cooper really upped the showmanship, Van Halen helped to create a legitimate American scene, and, obviously, GNR helped to make music about the music again, and not about make up and platform heels.  But, most of these bands belong to various genres of hard rock.  And, their attempt to focus on current metal by looking at bands like Slipknot is just sad.  There are so many incredible metal bands around today, who aren't corporate nu-metal mallcore garbage.

Anyway, still worth watching if you're a hard rock and/or metal fan.

[CheapJon]

what is "NWOBHM" ?

[freedom78]

New Wave of British Heavy Metal

[Walk]

VH1 also did a four hour program called "Heavy: The Story of Metal" (I think).

The first 2 episodes are actually very good. The early metal episode worked out, and the NWOBHM episode was also well made. After that, it degraded into garbage, as usual. The best documentary of metal is Metal: A Headbanger's Journey.

Most of the "hair metal" bands aren't really metal. They're closer to rock than anything else. The most notable hair metal bands that are actually metal are Lizzy Borden, Motley Crue, WASP, Twisted Sister, Quiet Riot, Skid Row, Def Leppard (first album only), Dokken, Racer X, Scorpions (really predate hair metal, but still rather glammy), and Nitro.

[Walk]

what is "NWOBHM" ?

Listen to Angel Witch, Diamond Head, Saxon, Samson, and Tygers of Pan Tang. Those are some of the most notable NWOBHM bands.

[freedom78]

VH1 also did a four hour program called "Heavy: The Story of Metal" (I think).

The first 2 episodes are actually very good. The early metal episode worked out, and the NWOBHM episode was also well made. After that, it degraded into garbage, as usual. The best documentary of metal is Metal: A Headbanger's Journey.

Most of the "hair metal" bands aren't really metal. They're closer to rock than anything else. The most notable hair metal bands that are actually metal are Lizzy Borden, Motley Crue, WASP, Twisted Sister, Quiet Riot, Skid Row, Def Leppard (first album only), Dokken, Racer X, Scorpions (really predate hair metal, but still rather glammy), and Nitro.

The problem is that, because hard rock and metal are so close, there are hard rock bands who'll make a metal song or album and metal bands who'll make hard rock songs or albums.  Sabbath are the fathers of metal, yet they have a number of very bluesy hard rock tracks (The Wizard, for example).  Metallica's "Load" is mostly a hard rock album.  Some former "hair" bands have made some great metal tracks.  "Waking the Dead" from LA Guns is one example.  Skid Row has been on that borderline with a number of tracks.  It really makes it hard to classify, though if you only like something for a label, then you're not really much of a true music fan (that comment isn't targeted at anyone...just a thought).

[guns_n_motley]

Any time MTV or VH1 mention "metal" they generally mean "hair metal," which isn't metal.? The idiocy of their list is proven by the inclusion of AC/DC, which belongs near the top of ANY best of hard rock list, but the argument that AC/DC is metal is even weaker than the same argument for GNR.?

Exactly......VH1 has an extremely loose definition of metal and normally just include hair metal groups to make fun of them.? As GNR fans we should be glad they aren't included on this list. It just pisses me off when they're lumped in with the Poisons and Whitesnakes of the world.

You do know dave coverdal the singer of whitesnake was in Deep purple in the 70s, and also did an album with jimmy page in the early 80s dont you???

dont diss a rock god like him..

[freedom78]

Any time MTV or VH1 mention "metal" they generally mean "hair metal," which isn't metal.  The idiocy of their list is proven by the inclusion of AC/DC, which belongs near the top of ANY best of hard rock list, but the argument that AC/DC is metal is even weaker than the same argument for GNR. 

Exactly......VH1 has an extremely loose definition of metal and normally just include hair metal groups to make fun of them.  As GNR fans we should be glad they aren't included on this list. It just pisses me off when they're lumped in with the Poisons and Whitesnakes of the world.

You do know dave coverdal the singer of whitesnake was in Deep purple in the 70s, and also did an album with jimmy page in the early 80s dont you???

dont diss a rock god like him..

I can't speak for anyone else, but I'm not dissing any of the bands discussed here.  I'm just saying there's a difference between metal (Slayer, Death, Emperor, and thousands of others) and hair metal (Poison, Warrant, etc.), and that GNR is neither metal nor hair metal.  They're best categorized as hard rock or sleaze. 

[GangstarrGabe]

GnR may not have made this list but they were #9 on the Top Best Rock Bands of All Time list.

number 9? they should of been in the top 5, personal opinion.

[mrlee]

80s glam metal is some of the best music from the 80s, thats including van halen, as they made way for it, even ozzy did it.

sure, thrash had some good stuff, but half of it sounded the same and was a mess, to me, only metallica and megadeth really got it right, i like slayer but they are way too repetative, anthrax i like but they are different from the usual thrash style to me.

whoever said "hair metal" tries to be like guns n roses and led zeppelin is bollocks, complete, because many of them, if not all were around before guns n roses, and i dont know bout you, but i dont think ive ever heard antoher band that sound like led zeppelin.

I agree, the list is crap in terms of what its ment to represent, but i think motley crue deserved to be there.

[Walk]

Slayer isn't repetitive at all. Reign in Blood just gets that reputation because it's so fast. Show No Mercy, Hell Awaits, and South of Heaven are composed much better.

As for other thrash bands, check out Exodus, Vio-Lence, Sepultura, Sodom, Mekong Delta, and of course Dark Angel. The big 4 are somewhat overrated.

[mrlee]

Slayer isn't repetitive at all. Reign in Blood just gets that reputation because it's so fast. Show No Mercy, Hell Awaits, and South of Heaven are composed much better.

As for other thrash bands, check out Exodus, Vio-Lence, Sepultura, Sodom, Mekong Delta, and of course Dark Angel. The big 4 are somewhat overrated.

which ones are exodus...were they the ones that had a a sole person for singing, rather than the more usual thrash line up  of instrument/singer for a frontman?

and with slayer, lyrically they can get a bit repetative too.

ive heard reign in blood (which i do like), seasons of the abyss and the new album which was ok.

[GNRreunioneventually]

They fucking left GN'R out!

Bullshit crappy bands that WERE included:

W.A.S.P., Poison, Ratt, Def Leppard, Motley Crue, Twisted Sister, Skid Row, Quiet Riot, hell KISS sucks too!

hey i agree with you on the being pissed they left out G'n'R (i watched it last weekend and i''m like WTF) but saying that W.A.S.P., Poison, Ratt, Def Leppard, Motley Crue, Twisted Sister, Skid Row, Quiet Riot, all suck then saying "hell KISS sucks too!". i'm sry but that pissed me off i try to go along with the karma thing but dude fuck you

[Malcolm]

Who cares...GNR is Rock N Roll not metal anyways...Metal is Slayer and bands like that...Rock N Roll imo is bands that have slow songs as well..November Rain,Stairway,Diamonds & Rust...Andbesides,VH1,Billboard,Rolling Stone....they always have different bands on there lists...One might have Nirvana as the top band, one might not even have them on there...Big deal