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Vinyl and Big Hair 80's ROCK

Funky54

Funky54

Super Member
Ok so 80's transition years. Vinyl was loosing favor and digital was becoming the rage...

So what Big Hair Rock sounds good on vinyl? A lot was recorded bad and produced worse. What albums / artists sound great on vinyl anyway?

I'm talking all the music I didn't take serious when I was a kid but now I miss.
Montly Crew, White Lion, Autograph, Kicks, Cinderella, White Snake.... Big Hair 80's.
 
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So many of those groups were just trying to copy Van Halen. They were the game-changer, but they inspired a lot of bad music from their followers.

I still enjoy Motley Crue and Whitesnake when I hear them on the radio or whatever. Whitesnake had a great heavy sound in particular. A lot of that music jacked the treble way up to ear-damaging levels, I still cringe when I hear Quiet Riot. But that was a lot of 80s music.
 
I have the Motley Crue - Theatre of Pain and the W.A.S.P. debut records. Both sound great on vinyl....
 
I have 5 Van Halen albums. 5 ZZ Top Albums, DR Feel Good, ACDC, Deff Lepard, but could use some more.
 
Well, as cheesy as the music was for this era, I do love the sound that was as big as their hair.
Gobs of effects, big kick drum arena knocking over kinda' Gods of Rock sound.
Recording rock was at it's zenith as well, once the '90's hit, it was, "Hey, let's record in this old church with a 4 track Tascam recorder, it'll be so avaunt guard."
The Gods of Rock when to Valhalla, then it was all bowling shirts and stuff.

Along with some of the previously mentioned bands, Ratt sounds good on vinyl, and every time I look at Cinderella's Night Songs cover I laugh my ass off, hard to believe that was 30+ years ago.

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I cut my vinyl teeth so to speak on Ratt, Quiet Riot, Def Leppard and still have it all. Crue, Poison, Cinderella, etc... and I still love it all.
 
I don't know where the idea is that some how records where on their way out in the 80s. They where still very popular and the primary source for music along with tapes. CDs where at least 2-3 times more expensive then records and not all music was available on CDs especially kids hair bands. In fact it's a lot easier to get very clean 80s records as the equipment was better then as well.

By the early to mid 90s is where records really fell off.
 
I think a lot of us grew up close to this era, just looking for anything that sounds particularilly good from that era?

My vinyl collection is approaching 300 (big for me) now and I'd like to gather a little more diversity. I have lots of 50's - 70's and a lot from 2000's but I'm short on the in between.
 
Funky54 said:
I think a lot of us grew up close to this era, just looking for anything that sounds particularilly good from that era?

My vinyl collection is approaching 300 (big for me) now and I'd like to gather a little more diversity. I have lots of 50's - 70's and a lot from 2000's but I'm short on the in between.
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Well make a list of the music from the 80s you like and buy clean copies. When it comes to the 90s it will start to fall off on standard issues but still some R&B and top 40s male/female vocals. Some standard issues from the mid 90s where geared at the audiophile and they where very good in SQ but today are rare and cost a lot. Like Santana, Supernatural for instance. I know this is not hair bands but if you like Rickie Lee Jones S/T (1979) and Tracy Capman S/T (1989) you should get those albums on vinyl as SQ is awesome.

Edit>Enya Watermark (1988)
 
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Enya Watercolors
4-2-7 said:
Well make a list of the music from the 80s you like and buy clean copies. When it comes to the 90s it will start to fall off on standard issues but still some R&B and top 40s male/female vocals. Some standard issues from the mid 90s where geared at the audiophile and they where very good in SQ but today are rare and cost a lot. Like Santana, Supernatural for instance. I know this is not hair bands but if you like Rickie Lee Jones S/T (1979) and Tracy Capman S/T (1989) you should get those albums on vinyl as SQ is awesome.

Edit>Enya Watermark (1988)
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Sarah Mclachlan has quit a few albums on Classic Records, this is top notch audioplile mastering and pressing like MFSL.

Classic Records is the company and it's impossible to search eBay under "Records" using that name as records are classic as is classic rock. What I do is enter the vinyl name, QUIEX or QUIEX SV-P. Back in the day artist had some titles master and pressed on QUIEX vinyl for promos for best SQ to send out to DJs and radio stations.

Other names to search under records
Nautilus superdisc
Half Speed Mastered
DCC
Direct to Disc
MFSL
MOFI

You'll be surprised at all the records that where put out through the 80s on these labels that where geared for SQ.
 
Wow, Vinyl Hanger pulling out Accept! Pretty sure you and I are the only people with that album.

My tastes ran more to the British metal than the hair bands, but definite props to Van Halen on sound quality. Of course, when Ted Templeman is producing, you're in good shape.

Dokken definitely had a nice production. I especially liked the sound of the first album. Ridiculously huge drums and layers of guitar.

Personally, I really liked Saxon. The earlier albums are very clean and effect free, but if you're looking for massive and boomy, try Power and the Glory, and definitely try Crusader. I think it was their attempt at tapping the hair band market. It did not work, but if you like them, it's worth hearing.
 
I have a few, was not a big hair metal fan. But the SQ is very good, not considered BHMB, but Saxon-Crusader is fantastic SQ on vinyl, recorded at Sound City in 1984. Almost anything recorded at Sound City was outstanding, that Neve board was legendary
 
Lets see I liked athe metal from the 80's, grew up on ti really.

Actually I found the AC DC recordings to be quite decent. I really liked the SQ of Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution for instance.

The Def Leppard albums were quite decent, Pyromania and Hysteria. Although High and Dry was quite good.

I thought the Queensryche recordings were decent also.

While technically not a hair band, Triumph Allied Forces was also well done. Although later recordings like Thunder 7 were were not transparent and you could hear the over processing.

Some of the better recordings seemed to also come from Tesla.

At least this is some of the ones I remember.

Regards
Mister Pig
 
Dio comes to mind as that era. Working in record stores the iron Maiden stuff with Eddie and how the album art grew was pretty amazing. CD's could never compete with the pure size of an album and its art.
 
I think RATT Out of the Cellar sounds pretty good on vinyl. I just picked that up along with Quiet Riot (Metal Heath and Condition Critical), as well As Def Leppard Pyromania - all were like $3 or $4. I haven't given them all a serious listen yet, but these were staples of my youth on cassette tape. I was hearing distortion on the Ratt album toward the end of the record. I don't hear this on my other records (mostly jazz) so I wonder if the album is just shot or if it is my cartridge set up.
 
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