Those were some great times in the 80's!!
1) Kiss - Sure they're my favorite band of all-time mainly for their 70's phase but if I want to Crank Out an 80's Hair Metal song I'm going to throw on "Heaven's On Fire"! Plus, throughout the 80's Kiss could be heavy as hell with the Creatures of the Night,Lick it Up, & Animalize albums(actually all of their 80's albums had some heavy tunes!) but they also had those sappy hair metal tunes like Forever,Tears are Falling,Reason to Live, & Turn on the Night & they also had those tunes with that were almost embarrasing to listen to but I still love them(probably because almost all of those type bands had them).Songs like Uh! All Night,Let's Put the X in Sex,You Make Me Rock Hard, & Bang Bang You. ...If all of this isn't screaming 80's Hair Metal than I don't Know what is!!!
2) Twisted Sister - When I hear the phrase "Hair Metal of the 80's" I automatically see Twisted Sister."We're Not Gonna Take it" was a huge anthem back in the day as was "I Wanna Rock". For me though,"You Can't Stop Rock & Roll"was my anthem by the band & that song helped keep metal alive for me in the early 80's when my musical tastes had been changing.
3) Motley Crue - Right around the time Twisted Sister Kept Metal alive for me I discovered Motley Crue with their 'Shout at the Devil' album. I then got their debut album & that kicked ass as well. Motley Crue's route was kind of similar to Kiss in the 80's & with songs like "Looks That Kill" & "Too Young To Fall in Love" the Crue was right up there with "Heaven's On Fire" & "Lick it Up"
4) Hanoi Rocks - Actually I prefer Hanoi Rocks to Motley Crue but during those 80's times the Crue had a bigger impact on me. The first song I heard by these guys was their cover of "Up Around the Bend" & I loved it.I really enjoyed their 2 Steps From the Move album & I thought they were on there way to becoming huge but then tragedy struck when their drummer Razzle was killed.I picked up their double live 'All Those Wasted Years" & I still listen to that album religiously.All of their albums are fantastic but 'Back to the Mystery City' is my Favorite. My favorite tune is from Self Destructive Blues album & that tune is "Taxi Driver"
5) Anthrax - Anthrax was just a lot of fun.They were playing really heavy stuff but kind of had the look of all the MTV Hair Metal acts. My favorite album is 'Among the Living' but Fistfull of Metal & Spreading the Disease are up there as well. I always thought they did some great covers like "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath","I'm 18","Parasite", & "God Save the Queen"