Favorite Rock Stars (Pre Grunge)
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Favorite Rock Stars (Pre Grunge)
I've been listening to a lot of hard rock and metal from the 80's and the lead singers of those bands were consummate front men. Rock stars like David Lee Roth and Axl Rose were larger than life characters that were really interesting people too. They were first and foremost entertainers and showmen. I love grunge and some bands from that era are my favorite bands of ever. But I feel like once grunge came out, it changed and all the lead singers then just kind of acted like junkies and had no stage presence or sense of showmanship. It seems that got lost. Rock stars before grunge were all about having fun, but also generally had more to them than that as well.
- Stalvern
- Posts: 1970
- Joined: June 18th, 2016, 7:15 pm
Re: Favorite Rock Stars (Pre Grunge)
All right, favorite rock stars. No artsy weirdos like Brian Wilson or David Bowie, just badasses (and a few people who at least were badass at some point).
Ten unconditional favorites (thanks for mentioning David Lee Roth so I don't have to knock someone off the list for him!):
Little Richard
James Brown
Frank Zappa (artsy weirdo but still a badass)
Jimi Hendrix
Phil Lynott
Bon Scott
Debbie Harry
Lemmy Kilmister
Robin Zander
Prince
Five qualified favorites:
Elvis Presley in his '68 comeback special
Bob Dylan in the mid-'60s and mid-'70s (the only times when I'd actually call him a rock star)
Mick Jagger before Goat's Head Soup
Carlos Santana before he got all slicked up like Steely Dan in the mid-'70s
Iggy Pop when he was in the Stooges
Five honorable mentions:
Janis Joplin
Neil Young
Alice Cooper
Rob Halford
Joey Ramone
Guy I feel guilty about leaving out but who's just too dang obnoxious on too many songs (and every live recording):
Robert Plant
Ten unconditional favorites (thanks for mentioning David Lee Roth so I don't have to knock someone off the list for him!):
Little Richard
James Brown
Frank Zappa (artsy weirdo but still a badass)
Jimi Hendrix
Phil Lynott
Bon Scott
Debbie Harry
Lemmy Kilmister
Robin Zander
Prince
Five qualified favorites:
Elvis Presley in his '68 comeback special
Bob Dylan in the mid-'60s and mid-'70s (the only times when I'd actually call him a rock star)
Mick Jagger before Goat's Head Soup
Carlos Santana before he got all slicked up like Steely Dan in the mid-'70s
Iggy Pop when he was in the Stooges
Five honorable mentions:
Janis Joplin
Neil Young
Alice Cooper
Rob Halford
Joey Ramone
Guy I feel guilty about leaving out but who's just too dang obnoxious on too many songs (and every live recording):
Robert Plant
- Stalvern
- Posts: 1970
- Joined: June 18th, 2016, 7:15 pm
Re: Favorite Rock Stars (Pre Grunge)
Also, I feel like I should point out that not everybody in the grunge scene/era was Kurt Cobain. Perry Farrell, Chris Cornell, and Scott Weiland were all total old-school rock stars, and they were far from the only ones. Even Layne Staley, the biggest junkie of them all, got up on stage in leather and shades and pulled off the rock star persona as well as anyone.
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Re: Favorite Rock Stars (Pre Grunge)
Perry Farrell freaked me out as a college aged kid.
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Re: Favorite Rock Stars (Pre Grunge)
Black sabbath ( though I like them better without ozzy )
King Diamond
Judas Priest
Helloween
Iron maiden
Dio
Metal church
Megadeth ,,,, to name a few
King Diamond
Judas Priest
Helloween
Iron maiden
Dio
Metal church
Megadeth ,,,, to name a few
- LoganRuckman
- Posts: 665
- Joined: April 10th, 2015, 1:04 am
Re: Favorite Rock Stars (Pre Grunge)
Ozzybear wrote:Black sabbath ( though I like them better without ozzy )
I will have to respectfully disagree with you on this one. Dio was a hell of a singer and Dio era Sabbath was great in its own way, but I will always prefer the slow, murky, down tuned "evil" sound of Ozzy's Sabbath to the more melodic and operatic Dio Sabbath. Ozzy era Sabbath is basically proto-doom, while Dio era Sabbath is basically proto-power metal. It essentially just boils down to me being far more of a doom/stoner doom/sludge metal kind of guy than a power metal guy. I like Dio Sabbath, but crushing, monolithic slabs of fuzz and scuzz will always win out in my heart of hearts when it comes to metal.
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Re: Favorite Rock Stars (Pre Grunge)
It's not disagreeing ! It's just preference that's all ! I love all the eras of sabbath , but personally , I like them much better with out ozzy , each era brought something great to the sab name! Rock on
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Re: Favorite Rock Stars (Pre Grunge)
I was scrolling through a bunch of rock songs from 2000 and found Kryptonite from 3 doors down. Now, back in 2000 I wrote these guys off as being overrated but one thing stuck out to me. Kryptonite today sounds way more important than it did in 2000. Back then it was just another textbook postgrunge rock hit, not unlike Creed or whoever. But listening to it now this song (that I didn't even particularly like back then) sounds way more important, because rock has been given such 3rd world status. I watched the video, and it shows them rocking, a bunch of seemingly good southern boys from Mississippi. A video or song like that would never become popular now. I used to long for the days of 80's metal, but things are so bad now that even a band like 3 doors down seems ancient, like I don't even remember what a rock band was.
- VideoGameCritic
- Site Admin
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Re: Favorite Rock Stars (Pre Grunge)
Ozzy was my man in the 80's, but in the 90's I came to appreciate Bowie.
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Re: Favorite Rock Stars (Pre Grunge)
Freddie Mercury
Steve Perry
Lou Gramm
Jon Bon Jovi
Sammy Hagar
Steven Tyler
Joe Elliot
Rob Halford
Ronnie James Dio
Kelly Hansen
Jack Russel
Gene Simmons
Paul Stanley
Alice Cooper
Steve Perry
Lou Gramm
Jon Bon Jovi
Sammy Hagar
Steven Tyler
Joe Elliot
Rob Halford
Ronnie James Dio
Kelly Hansen
Jack Russel
Gene Simmons
Paul Stanley
Alice Cooper