80s

12 Songs That Prove The 80s Were The Decade Of Hair Metal

Back when rock music was fun and not dominated by bands like Nickelback and whatever boring new project Jack White decided to work on this week, the absolute epitome of everything excessive, outrageous, and awesome about it was hair metal.

Hair metal was music that did everything big: the voices, the guitar solos, the outfits, the hairstyles, everything. We loved it, and especially these 12 absolute classics.

Guns N' Roses - "Welcome To The Jungle"

Relative latecomers to the genre, Guns N' Roses blew everybody away when Appetite For Destruction came out in 1987, and this lead single is a great example of why.

Def Leppard - "Pour Some Sugar On Me"

Everyone's favorite stripper anthem is still great today.

Quiet Riot - "Bang Your Head (Metal Health)"

The go-to instructional song on how you're supposed to react to a metal song.

Poison - "Every Rose Has Its Thorn"

Fun fact: Brett Michaels apparently wrote this song about his relationship with Pamela Anderson. Yes, the exact one you're thinking of.

Ratt - "Round And Round"

Between this song and "You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)" I can't imagine how dizzy everyone was back in the day.

There's more glam to come!

Van Halen - "Panama"

Van Halen themselves predate hair metal by a good while, but this song is definitely a hair metal jam.

Whitesnake - "Here I Go Again"

You've heard this song during every cheesy montage in every 80s movie, and it's still awesome now.

Bon Jovi - "You Give Love A Bad Name"

All you need to hear to remember the entire song is "SHOT THROUGH THE HEART!"

Motley Crue - "Kickstart My Heart"

Truth be told, Motley Crue were some of the least-talented guys in the genre, but they still managed to hit it out of the park once in a while.

Skid Row - "Youth Gone Wild"

Sebastian Bach is one of the best frontmen in the history of rock music. This is fact.

Europe - "The Final Countdown"

This song is immensely stupid, but also immensely catchy.

Warrant - "Cherry Pie"

The band absolutely hated the song, but we sure as hell didn't.

What was your favorite hair metal jam back then?