Tommy Lee Roller Coaster Solo

Perhaps, but Everclear (from Portland) plays the pub down the street from me all of the time. Bands like Pearl Jam keep putting out new music that doesn't suck. 90's music seems to have taken a different path. Much was simply forgotten, bands broke up, lead singers died, dudes went to different bands or they just kept on doing their thing and recording.

Don't get me wrong, I happen to think that Def Leppard defined "the" sound for the late 80's, but they never evolved. They just kept making the same crap over and over. Bands like Crue and Poison seemingly got frozen in time.

Lord Gonchar said:

90's nostalgia is just around the corner. The grunge era bands' chance to cash in is coming.

And Kurt won't be around to see it.

To be certain, finding groups (especially those that were big in the 80s) that can still put on a top-notch show can be a challenge, but I think the recent string of farewell tours is making it a bit easier. I was at Scorpion's Tampa show (with Ratt), and it was absolutely amazing. Hoping to catch the Judas Priest tour, as well as the Crue/Poison tour.

They were more 70s/early 80s, but Earth Wind and Fire is still an absolutely outstanding show, as is Chicago. Getting to see the two of them together...that would finally top a Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert for me (got to see them at Universal about a month apart).

Jeff said:
Perhaps, but Everclear (from Portland) plays the pub down the street from me all of the time. Bands like Pearl Jam keep putting out new music that doesn't suck.

80's bands kept playing small venues when their popularity waned too and if you like that kind of thing, then they also kept putting out music that doesn't suck.

90's music seems to have taken a different path. Much was simply forgotten, bands broke up, lead singers died, dudes went to different bands or they just kept on doing their thing and recording.

Interesting as I almost followed my post up with, "Assuming there's a nostalgia attached to be pissed, disillusioned or bummed."

Because it's definitely a different vibe than the 80's stuff and I can certainly see not necessarily wanting to revisit it.

"Remember when we were jaded and sarcastic and thought everything sucked and were all introspective in that way that kids in their early 20's are and think they're all deep and stuff? That was cool." - just doesn't have the right ring to it.

Don't get me wrong, I happen to think that Def Leppard defined "the" sound for the late 80's, but they never evolved. They just kept making the same crap over and over. Bands like Crue and Poison seemingly got frozen in time.

Because mindless fun is timeless and will always sell. The vibe of the early 90's isn't and quite possibly wouldn't.

I don't mean to sound so down on the 90's stuff. It should've hit me right between the eyes as someone who turned 18 in 1991, but it never did. Great music? Sure. Much of it was.

But I always identified with the shallower stuff (equally great in a different way) that was a few years before of what I should've identified with. I was born five years too late, I guess. I'll always identify with the big haired party girl more than the girl with all of her self-aware quirkiness singing about her feelings or period or whatever.

So I would of never found you at a Lilith Fair, Gonch? ;)

I never really got into the 90's female bands, except for Alanis, and that was only for "Jagged Little Pill." I was still listening to Joan Jett and Pat Benatar. :) I did like bands like L7 and Hole, though. The "angry bi*** bands" were fun.

When the 90's rolled around the vibe definitely changed. In the 80's it was about partying, getting laid, and just having a great time! When the whole grunge thing came around it was definitely more dismal. It went from "Let's PARTY!!" to "Life sucks, what's the point?" ;)

Poison and Crue are definitely frozen in time, at least for this tour. Both bands have gone through several lineup changes over the years, which pretty much sucked while their popularity went down. The fact that all the original members of both bands are back and touring is a time warp all in itself.

I hope I get to see the Crue/Poison show. It would be nice to be 17 again, at least for a few hours. :) I welcome the mindless fun!

-Tina

Lord Gonchar said:
Interesting as I almost followed my post up with, "Assuming there's a nostalgia attached to be pissed, disillusioned or bummed."

I really don't get how that sentiment is attached to the music of the time. Yes, Nirvana had a pretty dark edge to it, and its front man certainly hated his own success, but beyond that, I don't see it. I worked college radio at the time, and I've got a lot of fond memories from that time.

In fact, I'm surprised at how many things I still hear on radio... Breeders, Counting Crows, Gin Blossoms, STP, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Foo Fighters, Alanis... even Screaming Trees now and then! It wasn't all deep introspective junk, but as you mention, it wasn't the shallow sugary stuff of the 80's, either.

I was into more of the so-called 'musician's' bands in the 80s and into the very early 90s. Prog-rock, I guess...Rush, Yes, Zeppelin, The Police, Queensrÿche, Fates Warning, Dream Theater...a lot of which is really hard for me to listen to anymore. Most other stuff from the 80s (pop and 'hair bands', with a few exceptions--agree with Jeff that Def Leppard defined the 80s sound, or at least was the origin of glam rock) was crap to me, because the guitarists weren't playing symphonic solos and the drummers were stuck in 4/4 time and didn't play fills every 3 seconds.

I kind of got into the grunge scene when Alice In Chains' 'Dirt' was released. I dug the darkness of it but also recognized the musicianship that the sea of hair metal bands lacked. And I liked them despite the fact that they didn't play blisteringly fast licks or rock out in 17/8 time signatures. AIC (and Soundgarden, STP, early Pearl Jam, etc.) opened my mind to music other than progressive rock, and I started seeing that simplicity and songwriting was more important than virtuosity at one's instrument.

The post-grunge era was something I really got into, and most of my music collection was from this time period. Stuff like Better Than Ezra, Gin Blossoms, 311, Alanis, Cranberries, Filter...

The reason I'm babbling about all this in a thread about Tommy Lee? Ironically, I've sort of come full-circle. In 2005 I joined an all-80s tribute band and in the 3 years I played with them I came to appreciate all the stuff I hated from the decade. Everything from Madonna, Tiffany and A-Ha to Bon Jovi, Lita Ford and Poison. Oddly, though, we never did any Motley Crüe.

Vater said:
Def Leppard at least was the origin of glam rock)

I think David Johansen and Syl Sylvain might disagree with you on that point.

And I think the fact that the Dolls were part of the Poison/Crue tour this summer bears that out.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm having a personality crisis.

Just got my tix for Motley Crue/ Poison. New Van Halen album is supposed to drop in September with a tour to follow, I'll definately be seeing that. I gave up on them for the decade plus that Hagar ruined the band.

Glam was just the style back then.. even a "real" metal band like Pantera dressed like a bunch of poofsters back in the 80;'s

Slayer too

Lord Gonchar said:

Interesting as I almost followed my post up with, "Assuming there's a nostalgia attached to be pissed, disillusioned or bummed."

Because it's definitely a different vibe than the 80's stuff and I can certainly see not necessarily wanting to revisit it.

"Remember when we were jaded and sarcastic and thought everything sucked and were all introspective in that way that kids in their early 20's are and think they're all deep and stuff? That was cool." - just doesn't have the right ring to it.

I think you're thinking that way because you're equating 80's music with hair rock, and 90s music with being mopey. In reality both of those types of music were big, but probably in the minority.

The Cure, Bauhaus, and Morrissey are still selling out large venues. Sometimes larger than those they played in at the peak of their success. Yes, I think some of the emotion from their songs is a little silly now, but all three still put on kick-ass shows.

Wasn't really focusing on appearance, as apparently the New York Dolls influenced, but rather the sound of the mid-late 80s glam rock, of which I associate Leppard as the one of the forerunners.

Vater said:
Wasn't really focusing on appearance, as apparently the New York Dolls influenced, but rather the sound of the mid-late 80s glam rock, of which I associate Leppard as the one of the forerunners.

Sure, that makes sense. I'd put them there too. When I saw them open for Ozzy, their first album, ON THROUGH THE NIGHT, had just come out, and even though I didn't care for their later "hits," at that time they were just a good hard rock band, and even though I was a punk/New Wave guy, I'd say Leppard did what they did well.

kpjb said:

I think you're thinking that way because you're equating 80's music with hair rock, and 90s music with being mopey. In reality both of those types of music were big, but probably in the minority.

Probably. I'm certainly talking about popular rock at the time - just my assumption based on the topic at hand.

What surprised me about "alternative rock" in the 90's was how quickly I was willing to let go of everything I listened to before that. I mean, Def Leppard was my first concert, and I thought the live video for the Hysteria tour defined what arena rock was supposed to be (replaced ironically by Blue Man Group's arena shows, which both poke fun at, and pay homage to the genre).

But the scope and breadth of the stuff played on the alt rock format of the 90's was a weird mix of things that I couldn't get enough of. It was a little less defined, and it wasn't uncommon to hear Nine Inch Nails and Sarah McLachlan on the same station. That was before radio really started to self-destruct.

Radio is trying to recapture that spirit in some markets, and on Sirius-XM, but I suspect it will be a hard sell.

Jeff said:
I mean, Def Leppard was my first concert

Let's do a poll!!!

My first "concert" was at the Riverboat Cafe in the Empire State Building in the mid-late 70's. I used the quote marks because the setting was more like dinner theater than a concert hall. It was Davy Jones and Micky Dolenz of the Monkees with a bunch of session musicians. Got to meet both of them..my sister's friend, who joined us, had a cousin who had dated Davy. We gave a note to the waiter and next thing we knew Davy was at our table! He took us backstage to meet Micky. Give you one guess who was nicer.

My first "real" concert was the Joe Jackson Band in 1980 at the Asbury Park Boardwalk Convention Center. "I'm The Man" tour. Opening act was the Yachts. Seen Jackson three more times in the intervening years, coming full circle when he reunited the original band about 5 years ago for a show in NYC.

Sorry to take this thread even further off topic, but what can I say? I like reading about others' concert experiences.

When Hair metal was popular, I couldn't stand it. I was the guy who "put up" with watching all that hair metal on Headbangers ball so that I could see a few real metal band videos, like Slayer, Megadeth, Godflesh, Pantera, and Ministry.

My favorite band at the time, and the band that supplied most of my t-shirts, was Metallica. I was known as the kid who always wore the Metallica t-shirts. I had all of them, and when one wore out, I'd get a new one of the same design.

...And I had a liking for Def Leppard for some reason.

Then the Grunge thing happened, and I totally loved it. One thing I really liked about it was that the tunes were easy to play on my guitar. Not being able to "shred" wasn't a disability anymore. I could just bang on my guitar and the popular sound came out. This is about the time I discovered punk rock too.

The day the Cobain killed himself, I threw away my Nirvana CDs. I was pissed (and disappointed) that I would never hear another Nirvana album again. I still loved STP, Alice in Chains, Fudgetunnel, Smashing Pumpkins, Kyuss, and the other "grunge bands of the era.

All this time, I was a huge NIN fan, along with Ministry, Godflesh, Skinny Puppy, and all that "Industrial" stuff, leading into Filter and The Prodigy and others.

And then Tool happened, along with Korn, Mudvayne, Gwar (I do not recommend Gwar to anyone), and the other "Nu-Metal" bands.

(Rant over...Point coming) Like Vater and a few others have mentioned, I too have come full circle, in a way. All of that stuff I "was forced" to watch trying to get to the good videos on Headbangers Ball now sound pretty good to me. When I hear Motley Crue, Poison, Whitesnake, RATT (I've always loved RATT), I always get a little excited and nostalgic. Some of the bands that I didn't care about, but listened to anyways, still defines my early days, and still brings back great memories. It's taken me a long time to "get" them. I Like them much more now than I used to.

I still remember when my sister brought home the first Van Halen album.. up until that point I was all about KISS, but that crazy guitar, huge double bass drumming and background harmonies reeled me right in. I saved up my money to buy some crappy guitar from a pawn shop as soon as I could.

LostKause said:

My favorite band at the time, and the band that supplied most of my t-shirts, was Metallica. I was known as the kid who always wore the Metallica t-shirts. I had all of them, and when one wore out, I'd get a new one of the same design.

...

Somewhere around 1982 or 1983 I saw Metallica. I don't even think their first LP had been released domestically. They were the opening act for Venom. To this day, the loudest band I ever saw..and I saw the Ramones at least 30 times.

Jeff said:

It was a little less defined, and it wasn't uncommon to hear Nine Inch Nails and Sarah McLachlan on the same station.

Ah, so you listened to The End as well... :)

Listened? I damn near worked there. Ended up at what was then Jammin' 92.3, unfortunately, but that was such an awful occupation that it probably would not have mattered.