Good comprehensive write up on Hair Metal. Nu Metal is sort of an in-between label imo but there are some definite characteristics, mostly ‘rap-rock’ which even Vanilla Ice dabbled in (it’s a shame it wasn’t a full comeback). It’s sort of made a small cult comeback recently with Poppy crediting it as an influence. Personally, I like both and the Peacemaker soundtrack was heavy on the Hair Metal fun tunes. Over the summer I listened to a lot of Static-X. That said, I like pretty much any music genre except pop-country.
Hair metal, if just for the nostalgia reason, but some of these bands are really good. Guns & Roses, Motley Crue, Queensryche, Whitesnake, Poison, Def Leppard(my fav), Bon Jovi and Journey are all great.
So my 16 year old son loves Linkin Park so I am going to give Nu Metal a try - Deftones, System of a Down, Incubus, Linkin Park, etc. Will weigh in later in this thread about thoughts..
I like both but if we are going by the stuff I actually listen to on these list Hair Metal has a slight edge,
Rage Against the Machine Might not fit perfectly in the Nu Metal box but if the kid likes Linkin Park, he'd probably like them.
I couldn't tell you a thing about Incubus other than "Dig" has been one of my most played workout songs over the last few months. Really good tune, IMO. Probably considered pop, but I don't care.
I think some of the hair metal guys are probably more appropriately described as nu hair metal guys these days thanks to male pattern baldness and hair plugs.
My 13 year olds have actually turned me on to some music I never thought I would be into. System of a Down is probably the first one they got me into a few years ago. Now I literally can't get enough of them. You have to go deeper than just Toxicity and Ariels. And not to open up a huge can of worms, but SOAD (how the kids refer to them) is definitely NOT Nu Metal.
Nu Metal is a lot of hair gel, rapping and a DJ scratching records with a rock band. I don’t know what SOAD is other than some weird ****ing music you have to be on a lot of drugs to appreciate. Three thumbs up.
