Featured Articles…XS ROCK includes some of the top subjects in rock music and take the spotlight to highlight everything from top music lists to Whatever Happened To…your favorite bands from the past?
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Rock Artists We Lost In 2025
Rock Artists We Lost In 2025…With the beginning of a new year, we close out 2025 with an in memoriam list of music artists who passed away this year. Mick Abrahams (Jethro Tull) died on December 19th, 2025, from long-term
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Skinny Puppy Co-Founder Cevin Key Diagnosed With Cancer
Electro Industrial Pioneers Skinny Puppy co-founder Cevin Key has issued the following news regarding his recurrence of cancer: “Hi Guys. So this week I have been at the doctor getting a Biopsy on a suspicious lump on my face. It
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Accept…Where Are They Now?
Accept is one of the most well-known German rock bands worldwide, along with The Scorpions and Rammstein. The band has released 17 studio albums including Accept (1979), I’m a Rebel (1980), Breaker (1981), Restless and Wild (1982), Balls to the
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Over 100 Of The Top Alternative Rock Bands Of The 90s
The 90s were the decade of Alternative Rock Music. The styles ranged from folk to grunge, indie, punk, and electronic, among others. The decade saw bands like Nirvana, Garbage, The Goo-Goo Dolls, and Nine Inch Nails take over the airwaves.
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80s Rewind Skating World Gets Ready To Go “Back In Time”
So, Get Your Mix Tapes Ready To Rock! 80s Rewind Skating World Gets Ready To Go “Back In Time”…For the majority of rock fans, or really any genre of music, our favorite songs accompany most of our favorite activities. We
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Ranked: Metallica Albums “Best To Worst”
Metallica needs no introduction…as one of the greatest rock bands of all time, they have weathered turmoil, disaster, and heartbreak over their more than 40 years on the scene. The band has had some ups and downs in their career
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The Top Goth Rock Bands That You Should Hear
Since the inception of Gothic Rock, a wide range of bands and artists have presented their take on the music, their visual style, and the culture itself. From Traditional Gothic, Gothic Industrial and Darkwave, Gothic Metal, and even Gothic Punk
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Over 100 Rock Bands From The 70s That You Should Hear
Over 100 Rock Bands From The 70s That You Should Hear… The 1970s was a great time for rock music. The 70s saw a lot more experimentation, which made the music landscape of the decade quite varied, with literally something
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The Top Southern Rock Bands
Southern rock has been part of the American culture since the 1960s and continues to thrive as a sub-genre of rock music. Often mixing country, blues, and rock together to form what’s been dubbed a “Southern Fried” sound, these bands
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Over 100 Industrial Bands That You Should Hear
Industrial music is a unique genre that contains many subgenres. In the beginning, the term industrial was used to describe the sounds made by non-conventional instruments including drills, hammering on metal plates, and electronically distorted sounds and voices. Throbbing Gristle
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Hair Metal Bands Of The 80s And 90s
The 1980s and early 90s saw many hard rock bands often nicknamed “Hair Metal” bands because of the amount of hair, usually hairsprayed and poofed up, many of these bands but not all also crossed over into being called “Glam
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80s One Hit Wonders, Do you Remember?
80s One Hit Wonders, Do you Remember? Take a trip down memory lane with this list of one-hit wonders on the U.S. charts from the years 1980 and 1981. How many of these did you remember and how many had
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The Top 20 Hard Rock And Metal Albums Of 2023
The Top 20 Hard Rock And Metal Albums Of 2023…2023 had some really good hard rock and metal albums released if you know where to look and listen. The hard rock and metal scene is littered with new bands that
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45 Christian Heavy Metal Bands From The 80s And 90s That You Should Hear
45 Christian Heavy Metal Bands From The 80s And 90s That You Should Hear… Angelica Attempting to hit on the sound of guitar slingers like Van Halen and George Lynch, Angelica went for a more glam-sounding singer, similar to Mark
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The Top 10 Sexiest Music Videos Of The 80s
The 1980s saw the invention of the music video thanks to MTV and it wasn’t long after that many of the videos started using sex as a selling point. Of course, everyone has their opinion, but here’s our list for
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20 Albums Released In 2023 That 80s Metal Fans Should Hear
20 Albums Released In 2023 That 80s Metal Fans Should Hear… Each year, it seems that the remaining 80s hard rock and metal bands that are still putting out new music seem to get smaller and smaller. However, don’t let
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80s Metal And Hard Rock Stars’ Real Names
Check out these 80’s Hard Rock And Metal Stars’ Real Names! Some of these names are well known to fans, while others might find these stars real names both fascinating and understandable why they chose a stage name in some
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Who Were The Top 15 Most-Glam Mainstream Metal Bands Of The 80s?
The 80s were the decade of excess and musically that was absolutely true as well. The hard rock and heavy metal musical landscape exploded with band members with huge, hair-sprayed hair, and outlandish, often colorful outfits, and both male and
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Who Were The Best Straight Up, No Frills Hard Rock And Metal Bands Of The 80s?
The 1980s hard rock and metal scene is widely known as a generation of excess and a lot of over-the-top imagery. In fact, most people refer to the 80s as the decade of Hair Metal or Glam Metal because many
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25 Bands That Were Influential To The 80s Glam Metal Scene
25 Bands That Were Influential To The 80s Glam Metal Scene… The 1980s were an awesome time thanks to the glam/hair metal scene. The image almost became as important as the music during this period, and MTV helped keep that
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Explore Front 242 Side Projects
Explore Front 242 Side Projects…As one of the most respected bands of the EBM movement, it’s almost hard to fathom that Front 242 has only released a total of 8 studio albums throughout their long career. Since the beginning, Front
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Super-Cringey Songs Of Forbidden Love
Super-Cringey Songs Of Forbidden Love…Sex, Drugs, and Rock N ‘Roll. Hard rock bands are no strangers to wild tales of groupies and debauchery, but three songs, in particular, from well-known artists like Motley Crue, KISS, and Winger pushed the envelope
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The Top 5 Worst 80s Music Videos By Good Artists
The Top 5 Worst 80s Music Videos By Good Artists…Let’s start by stating that we don’t hate these songs or the artists. However, the videos that accompanied these songs were just plain awful. Music videos exposed many of these artists
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Really Bad Metal Album Covers Of The 80s
Really Bad Metal Album Covers Of The 80s… Battle Axe – Burn This Town Burn this town? More like burn this album cover! Although, apparently this was only supposed to be an unfinished sketch of what the idea of
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Devo…Where Are They Now?
Devo…Where Are They Now? Devo proved that it’s never too late for you to “Whip It” and with that song, they reached #8 on The Billboard Charts which also propelled the album “Freedom Of Choice” to be a Platinum seller.
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400 + Hard Rock And Metal Bands From The 80s And 90s To Hear
400 + Hard Rock And Metal Bands From The 80s And 90s To Hear… The 1980s and early 90s saw hard rock and heavy metal go mainstream and reach a large audience worldwide. The genre was split into sub-genres like
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W.A.S.P. …Where Are They Now?
W.A.S.P. …Where Are They Now?… W.A.S.P. was originally known for outrageous antics such as throwing raw meat into the audience and appearing to torture people on a horror-themed stage. Lead singer Blackie Lawless wore a codpiece made like a buzzsaw
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Winger…Where Are They Now?
Winger…Where Are They Now?… Winger released their debut album “Winger in 1988 and it scored the band its first platinum-selling album. Winger released its second album In the Heart of the Young in 1990 and it also went platinum. Since
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Britny Fox…Where Are They Now?
Britny Fox was formed in 1985 with “Dizzy” Dean Davidson on vocals, former Cinderella drummer Tony Destra, former Cinderella guitarist Michael Kelly Smith and Billy Childs on bass. However, Destra would be killed in an auto accident in 1987 and
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Badlands…Where Are They Now?
Badlands…Where Are They Now?…After guitarist Jake E. Lee was fired from Ozzy Osbourne’s solo band, Badlands was formed when Lee recruited bassist Greg Chaisson, former Black Sabbath vocalist Ray Gillen and drummer Eric Singer (KISS) to round out the band.
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The 60 Best Classic Punk Bands From The U.K.
Some of the greatest punk bands of all time have come from The United Kingdom. While you would practically have to be living under a rock to not be aware of bands like The Sex Pistols and The Clash, there are many, many other great punk bands from England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland that…
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How Many Of These Ratt Facts Do You Know?
How Many Of These Ratt Facts Do You Know?
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Ranked: Billy Idol’s Albums “From Best To Worst”
Ranked: Billy Idol’s Albums “From Best To Worst” To call Billy Idol a rock music icon, might be an understatement. As a Grammy-Nominated and multi-platinum selling artist, Billy Idol reportedly took his stage name after one of his school teachers
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Ranked: Extreme’s Albums “Best To Worst”
Extreme’s most well-known line-up included Gary Cherone – lead vocals, Nuno Bettencourt – guitars, keyboards, backing vocals, Paul Geary – drums, and Pat Badger – bass, backing vocals. The band owns its place in rock music history with the incredible
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Ranked: Cinderella Albums Best To Worst
Ranked: Cinderella Albums Best To Worst… Formed in 1982 by Tom Keifer and Eric Brittingham, Cinderella was one of the biggest bands of the ’80s rock and metal era. Following several lineup changes, the band solidified their members with Jeff
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Ready For The World…Where Are They Now?
Ready For The World…Where Are They Now? In 1985 the band Ready For The World hit the scene, blending pop. funk, R & B, and electro elements. They scored a huge hit with their single “Oh Sheila” and as a
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Ranked: Lita Ford Albums “Best To Worst”
Starting out as a teenager alongside fellow rocker Joan Jett in the now legendary band “The Runaways”, Lita Ford would go on to pursue a solo career that would see her reach new heights and lay claim to her place
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The Top 15 Best Rock Albums Of 2021
#1 Ministry Album: Moral HygieneLabel: Nuclear BlastRelease Date: October 1, 2021 Never one to shy away from expressing his feelings about societal problems, Uncle Al returns with all guns blazing and a firm middle finger for those he deems a
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Ranked: Twisted Sister Albums “Best To Worst”
Ranked: Twisted Sister Albums “Best To Worst”… As big of a band as Twisted Sister was, it’s kind of amazing that they only released five full studio albums during their career. That is if you don’t count their Christmas album.
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4 Of The Singers For The Top 5 Grunge Bands Of The 90s Are Dead… So What Happened?
In no particular order, the top 5 Grunge bands of the 90s were Nirvana, Soundgarden, Alice In Chains, Stone Temple Pilots, and Pearl Jam. Of those bands, the only original singer left alive is Eddie Vedder, vocalist for Pearl Jam.
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250 Underrated Hard Rock Bands From The 80s And 90s
250 Underrated Hard Rock Bands From The 80s And 90s… During the 80’s hard rock ruled the airwaves. Quiet Riot’s Metal Health became the first #1 metal album of all time. Soon after the scene exploded with bands like Motley
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80 Hard Rock And Metal Bands From The 80s That Should Have Been Bigger
For every Motley Crue, Def Leppard, and Van Halen, There were many other bands that were really good, but somehow didn’t quite make it to the top. The 80s Hard Rock and Metal scene had some really great bands that
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Should These Songs Have Been Guns ‘N Roses’ “Ultimate Illusion”?
Should These Songs Have Been Guns ‘N Roses’ “Ultimate Illusion”?… When Guns N’ Roses released Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II on the same day back in 1991, a lot of critics slammed the band for releasing
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Ranked: Ozzy Osbourne’s Guitarists “Best To Worst”
Ranked: Ozzy Osbourne’s Guitarists “Best To Worst”… If Ozzy Osbourne has done one thing right with his solo career, it’s been employing some of the best hard rock and metal guitarists on the planet. Considering the company, being the “worst”,
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Ranked: Def Leppard Albums “Best To Worst”
Ranked: Def Leppard Albums “Best To Worst”… Def Leppard is one of those rare bands that has stuck together, for the most part through thick and thin to remain successful. From drummer Rick Allen losing his arm in a car
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Ranked: Motley Crue Albums “Best To Worst”
Motley Crue is a legendary band that became not only one of the biggest bands of the 80s but one of the biggest bands in heavy metal history. However, not every Motley Crue album was created equal. With this list,
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Ranked: KISS Albums Of The 80s
Ranked: KISS Albums Of The 80s… KISS released 8 studio albums during the 1980s. These albums cover a lot of territory including the albums that most likely saved and re-invigorated their career as well as the ones that almost ended
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The Top 5 Australian Metal Bands Of The 80s
Australia…the land down under provided some really good metal and hard rock bands during the 1980s. While one of these bands went on to superstardom, most flew under the radar. The five listed below are all worth your time to
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The Top 15 Canadian Metal Bands Of The 80s
Canada has produced some great metal bands over the years. This list is based on what was considered heavy metal during the 80s. Today, a few of these bands are often classified as hard rock or mainstream rock, but during
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The Top 15 Japanese Metal Bands Of The 80s
#15 Aion Formed in 1983 by guitarist Izumi Ochiai, Aion started out as a thrash band but would later develop into more of a power metal-sounding entity. . Along with X Japan, Aion was one of the creators of the
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The Top 15 German Metal Bands Of the 80s
# 15 Rage Rage actually formed in Germany in 1984 under the name Avenger but changed their name to Rage in 1985 after another band was also using the name. The band has had a large album output over the
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The Top 50 Thrash Bands
Sure, everyone who’s a true metal fan knows about “The Big 4” of Thrash, but do you know the other 46 bands that make up the “Top 50 Thrash Metal Bands”? Check out the entire list below counting down from
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Hurricane…Where Are They Now?
Hurricane started out in 1983-84 with the original lineup of lead vocalist Kelly Hansen (vocals/rhythm guitar), Robert Sarzo (guitar), Tony Cavazo (bass), and Jay Schellen (drums). Robert Sarzo is the brother of Rudy Sarzo (Quiet Riot, Ozzy Osbourne, Whitesnake) and
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John Waite “Missing You” About Nina Blackwood
Sure, we all know John Waite’s # 1 hit song “Missing You”, but did you know it was written about former MTV VJ, Nina Blackwood. During a new interview where he discusses his brand new album, Wooden Heart Acoustic Anthology
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Black N’ Blue…Where Are They Now?
Black ‘N Blue was formed in 1981 and released four successful and critically acclaimed albums through Geffen Records including their self-titled debut (1984), “Without Love” (1985), “Nasty Nasty” (1986), and “In Heat” (1987), with the latter two albums produced
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5 Good Lesser-Known Grunge Bands From The 90s
5 Good Lesser-Known Grunge Bands From The 90s… Grunge music exploded commercially with the first riff of Nirvana’s “Smell Like Teen Spirit”. The scene became huge very quickly with bands like Alice In Chains, Soundgarden, Stone Temple Pilots, and Pearl
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Biohazard…Where Are They Now?
Biohazard…Where Are They Now?…With their unique mixture of Hardcore, Metal and Groove/Rap, BIOHAZARD crested the Mount Olympus of the international Hardcore and Metal scene at the beginning of the 90s. What started out with »Biohazard« (1990) found its worthy continuation
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XS ROCK Featured Artist: Holy Mother
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200 + Hard Rock And Metal Bands From 80s And 90s To Hear (Part 5)
200 + Hard Rock And Metal Bands From 80s And 90s To Hear (Part 5) The 1980s saw heavy metal go mainstream and reach a large audience worldwide. The genre was split into sub-genres like Glam Metal, Thrash Metal, Speed
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Over 200 Metal Bands From The 80s To Hear
Over 200 Metal Bands From The 80s To Hear… The 1980s saw heavy metal go mainstream and reach a large audience worldwide. The genre was split into sub-genres like Glam Metal, Thrash Metal, Speed Metal, NWOBHM, Traditional Metal and more.
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White Lion…Where Are They Now?
White Lion…Where Are They Now?… White Lion was formed in New York City in 1983 by Danish vocalist/guitarist Mike Tramp and American guitarist Vito Bratta. The band had two top 10 hits with the songs “Wait” and When The Children
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200+ Hard Rock And Metal Bands From The 80s To Hear (Part 4)
200+ Hard Rock And Metal Bands From The 80s To Hear (Part 4)… The 1980s saw heavy metal go mainstream and reach a large audience worldwide. The genre was split into sub-genres like Glam Metal, Thrash Metal, Speed Metal, NWOBHM,
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Can K.K.’s Priest Compare To Judas Priest?
Can K.K.’s Priest Compare To Judas Priest?… Former Judas Priest guitarist K.K. Downing has started his own band called KK’s Priest. The band featuring Downing on guitars, AJ Mills on guitar, Tony Newton On bass, Les Binks on drums, and
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200+ Hard Rock And Metal Bands From The 80s To Hear (Part 3)
200+ Hard Rock And Metal Bands From The 80s To Hear (Part 3) The 1980s saw heavy metal go mainstream and reach a large audience worldwide. The genre was split into sub-genres like Glam Metal, Thrash Metal, Speed Metal, NWOBHM,
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200+ Hard Rock And Metal Bands From The 80s To Hear (Part 2)
200+ Hard Rock And Metal Bands From The 80s To Hear (Part 2) The 1980s saw heavy metal go mainstream and reach a large audience worldwide. The genre was split into sub-genres like Glam Metal, Thrash Metal, Speed Metal, NWOBHM,
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200+ Hard Rock And Metal Bands From The 80s To Hear (Part 1)
200+ Hard Rock And Metal Bands From The 80s To Hear (Part 1)… The 1980s saw heavy metal go mainstream and reach a large audience worldwide. The genre was split into sub-genres like Glam Metal, Thrash Metal, Speed Metal, NWOBHM,
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Dokken…Where Are They Now?
Dokken…Where Are They Now?… Dokken broke out with their debut album “Breaking The Chains” in 1981. The band consisted of what would be considered the classic lineup of Don Dokken on vocals, George Lynch on guitar, “Wild” Mick Brown on
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Vinnie Vincent Invasion…Where Are They Now?
Vinnie Vincent Invasion…Where Are They Now? The Vinnie Vincent Invasion hit the scene with their debut album in 1986. After scoring a tour with Iron Maiden the band continued to build a fanbase before releasing the album “All Systems Go”
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Seriously…How Many People Thought At Least Some Of The Band Members In Poison Were Female At First?
Okay, let’s talk about this for a minute. I seriously can’t be the only guy that thought at least one of the band members was a girl when this album first came out. Back in August of 1986, Poison released
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Five Finger Death Punch Is The Nickelback Of Metal
Five Finger Death Punch Is The Nickelback Of Metal… Anytime you write an article like this, you’re going to get some salty comments about your opinion. And that’s okay. I’d expect nothing less. However, my opinion remains the same. And
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Another 25 Great Hard Rock Albums Of The 80’s
Another 25 Great Hard Rock Albums Of The 80’s… One of XS ROCK’s most popular articles has been our article on 25 Great Hard Rock Albums Of The ’80s That You Might Have Missed. So popular in fact, that we
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8 Goth Rock Bands That Made A Big Impact During The 1980’s
Recently, we published the article “10 Bands That Helped Form The Gothic Rock Movement” which you can read here. Now, we’re going to start to dig in a little deeper and take a look at some more bands that started,
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10 Bands That Helped Start The Gothic Rock Movement
10 Bands That Helped Start The Gothic Rock Movement… If you’re a fan of Gothic Rock and you haven’t heard all of these bands before, by all means, check them out. These bands along with numerous others helped create a
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Autograph – Where Are They Now?
Known primarily for their biggest hit single “Turn Up The Radio”, Autograph released three major albums for RCA Records including “Sign In Please”, “That’s The Stuff” and “Loud and Clear”. The original lineup of Autograph got together in 1983. The
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King Kobra….Where Are They Now?
King Kobra was started by drummer Carmine Appice after he finished work touring with Ozzy Osbourne for the “Bark At The Moon” tour. The band was rounded out by mostly unknown musicians at the time consisting of Mark Free (Lead
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Cinderella …Where Are They Now?
Formed in 1982 by Tom Keifer and Eric Brittingham, Cinderella was one of the biggest bands of the ’80s rock and metal era. Following several lineup changes, the band solidified their members with Jeff Labar and Fred Coury. The band’s
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Def Leppard’s Change In Sound: The Tale Of Two Leppards
Def Leppard is arguably one of the most successful bands to emerge from the 80’s hard rock and heavy metal scene. The band found success early on, hitting the scene with their debut full-length album “On Through The Night” in
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10 Bad Albums By 10 Great Hard Rock Bands
10 Bad Albums By 10 Great Hard Rock Bands… You wanted the best….you got the best! Now here are some of their worst albums These 10 artists are some of hard rocks’ most famous bands. Most have long careers with
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The Good, The Bad And The Dirt On The Motley Crue Movie
On March 22nd, Netflix premiered “The Dirt”, the biopic about the infamous and sordid details of lives of Motley Crue. Having read the book, I was curious how they were going to fit everything into a two hour movie. And
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Top 15 Christian Metal Bands Of The 80’s
01. Stryper-Stryper has to be at the top of this list. Not because I think they’re the best, but because their contribution to Christian metal is the equivalent of Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, and Judas Priest in the non-christian metal
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How Beavis & Butthead Ruined Winger’s Popularity At Their Peak
From the late 80’s into the early 90’s Winger built momentum and became an overnight sensation, in part thanks to heavy rotation of their videos on MTV, which at that time, actually showed music videos. Winger’s debut album went platinum
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25 Great Hair Bands That Debuted In The 90’s
25 Great Hair Bands That Debuted In The 90’s. During the 80’s, glam and melodic metal ruled the airwaves. For all of the bands that made it big, there were plenty of other talented bands that got lost in the
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25 Great Hard Rock Albums Of The 80’s That You Might Have Missed
During the 80’s hard rock ruled the airwaves. Quiet Riot’s Metal Health became the first #1 metal album of all time. Soon after the scene exploded with bands like Motley Crue, Guns N’ Roses, Dokken, Ratt, Warrant, Poison, and many
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Best & Worst Lead Singer Changes In Rock Music
The Most Successful Bands To Change Singers Best & Worst Lead Singer Changes In Rock Music… While many bands have tried, only a few have been really successful with switching lead singers after they become famous. Let’s take a look
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Hard Rock and Metal From Japan
A BRIEF HISTORY OF JAPANESE HARD ROCK AND METAL Part One Recently, there has been a lot of publicity around the Japanese band Babymetal. This trio of Japanese teens have taken the world by storm and found international success. Now,
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