Top Three Glam Rock Albums (w/ Pictures!)

If I'm going to be totally honest with myself, my personal list would be:
1. ziggy
2. sparks - kimono my house
3. 3-way between electric warrior, the slider, and the sweet 16 compilation (because it's better than any of their albums)

Though I recognize the glam-ness, I don't place transformer in the genre. I could probably come up with an objective argument for that, but I'd rather just say that it doesn't feel like the same thing to me, so my brain doesn't know how to evaluate it against the other stuff being mentioned here.
 
Kimono My House!!! Wow, dumptruck, what a great disc! Glam as hell..and downright excellent!
 
For the purposes of this thread, we've established that Lou Reed was a poseur re: Glam and have kicked him to the curb.

That does not mean "Transformer" is not a great album. I love it. "Vicious" and "Perfect Day" are wonderful tunes. But not even Mick Ronson makes it Glam (see "Rolling Thunder" above).
 
No argument with the top 3, though not sure Alice Cooper doesn't fit here somewhere. Some will argue he was more "Shock Rock", but his early 70's show with the theatrics, androgyny, and such puts him in the camp for me.

Iggy/Stooges do not belong in glam. They were a genre defining group looking for a genre. Remember, there was no proto punk until there was punk.
 
313guy said:
No argument with the top 3, though not sure Alice Cooper doesn't fit here somewhere. Some will argue he was more "Shock Rock", but his early 70's show with the theatrics, androgyny, and such puts him in the camp for me.
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IMO Alice Cooper's sound went through two many stages to be labeled into any category. I will say there are some glamish (is that even a word?) tunes between 71 and 74 but not enough for me to consider the man or the band glam.

I'm OCD when it comes to AC. Below is a pic of my Cooper collection in it's dedicated bunk :D
 

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... hmmmmmm. I'm going to have to insert Cinderella here! Keifer's voice and LaBar's guitar make for some splendid ear-splitting R&R.
:banana: :music: :yes: :thmbsp: :beer: :guitar:
 
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tybrad said:
... hmmmmmm. I'm going to have to insert Cinderella here! Keifer's voice and LaBar's guitar make for some splendid ear-splitting R&R.
:banana: :music: :yes: :thmbsp: :beer: :guitar:
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I'm pretty sure the OP would agree were talkin' apples and oranges here or Glam Rock and not Glam Metal. Guess where Cinderella fits in? No offense I saw Cinderella way back when I sported the due and wore the skinny jeans and I'm still a fan today but they just don't fit in this thread. If I'm wrong I'm sure someone will let me know.
 
Cinderella can sneak into the "Today's Glam Playlist" thread, but since we've already kicked Lou Reed's "Transformer" to the curb for dilettantism, Cinderella is nowhere near the top Glam Rock outfit.

Ken
 
KeninDC said:
'Bout time Sweet and Slade showed up.

Most always mentioned in the same breath.

Thanks for the pix.
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I was going to say that you cannot discuss Glam without mentioning the great band known as Sweet.:thmbsp:

In third grade (1973), someone had the "Silly Willy" 45 and we used to play it at lunch every day on one of those public school turntables that looked to have been made in the USSR. I was hip very early in life.:yes:

"Rock & Roll Star" is another of their many classics. Great driving song. Imagine my delight when the BBC's Life on Mars used it in a car chase scene.

Time to break out the leather vest, platform shoes, and glitter.:banana:

Maybe rent Velvet Goldmine
 
finnbow said:
Although Aladdin Sane may have progressed slightly out of the Glam genre (or maybe not), I think it's my favorite Bowie album. It's not as influential or genre-defining as Ziggy, but Mike Garson's piano is simply stupendous on this album. Also, Bowie's sax shines on this album like on no other. Love it.

How about Mott's All the Young Dudes? If you gents accept it fully into the genre, it may be in the top three. Tremendous effort.
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+1 and +1. :yes:
 
Though they might be more accurately described as hard rock, I think Kiss definitely had some glam elements to their presentation. For me, their definitive statement is Destroyer.

As for T-Rex, I prefer The Slider to Electric Warrior, though it’s definitely a close call.

Never thought of Mott the Hoople as a glam band, but they did get lumped in with that crowd due to their association with Bowie.

Though Transformer is not really a glam album per se, it sorta belongs to the glam movement because of how Lou was marketed at the time. He was uncomfortable with being part of the “movement,” but he quickly shut up when he saw Transformer’s sales figures.

Sweet definitely deserves to be mentioned somewhere.
 
KeninDC said:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but that's gotta be a Gibson tone on that guitar.
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I don't know my make/model guitar tones, but if Mick Ralphs was responsible for that uplifting rift... you are quite correct.
Ralphs with his red Gibson a few years later.
 
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