User:Tlogmer/Sleaze rock

Sleaze rock (or Sleaze glam)^[1] is a style of rock music emerged in the mid 1980s, and took off fully in 1987. Bands in the style primarily take influences from punk, blues, hard rock, and glam metal. The style is sometimes called street rock or sleaze metal, and continues on today, especially in Scandinavia, though it still has some popularity in other parts of Europe and the United States.

Characteristics

Sleaze rock bands are noted for having a raw, less produced sound than many of the bands who are part of the glam metal scene. In some respects it is similar to the aesthetics of the pub rock movement, with emphasis on high energy live shows. The lyrics are often raunchier and more tongue in cheek than many other of their glam metal contemporaries. These bands were seen as the reaction to the supposedly overproduced bands whose image had become soft and poppy.

Sleaze Rock makes use of the thick Guitar Chords heard in punk music, lyrics are commonly about sex, parties, and having a good time. Shred Guitar solos are almost always present. Vocals in Sleaze are usually a sort of yelling rather than standard singing, drawing influence from punk. Some bands have included blues instrumentation in their music. But this varies from band to band or song to song.

Influences

Sleaze rock bands are generally largely influenced by '70s punk rock combined with 70's hard rock^[1], including the New York Dolls, Aerosmith, Sex Pistols, and AC/DC. Hanoi Rocks are also particularly influential on the style^[1]. Guns N' Roses' 1987 debut Appetite for Destruction is often credited with changing the musical direction in the late 1980s.

Movements

There were two distinct movements or scenes that emerged from the sleaze movement; The United States and the UK.

United States

In America on the Sunset Strip with bands such as L.A. Guns and Faster Pussycat, who played from around 1983 onwards but became popular in the latter part of the decade (1987/88). These bands especially L.A. Guns, dressed in black leather jackets similar to what punks and bikers wore; a lot of the imagery (hairstyles aside) was derived from punk rock and Finnish band Hanoi Rocks.

England

In the United Kingdom a similar movement was emerging, although compared to their U.S. contemporaries the sound was more influenced by Hanoi Rocks and Faces. Hanoi Rocks had played in London during part of the 1980s at clubs such as the Marquee, this influenced the forming of bands such as London Quireboys. Though the American bands had more commercial success, the bands from London retained a cult following.

Around this time British band The Cult had also moved their music away from their post-punk roots and began playing a more AC/DC-influenced sleaze sound and toured the United States with Guns N' Roses (who were then unknown).

Bands

The term "sleaze" rock was not used to refer to bands associated with the style until the mid-1990s. The majority of the newer bands who have been referred to as sleaze rock are from Scandinavia.

1980s

Post-1980s

References

[metalstorm-1] Glam metal and Sleaze rock history on www.metalstorm.ee

[2] MTV.com

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